Yokohama, 11th December.
The unusual character of the Reply to the Address from the Japanese Throne, made public here Inst evening, followed as it was to-day by the announcement of the dissolution "f the Lower House, hes focussed the general attention on that particular phase of the "war fever" with which the majority of Jap.'s people and Press ix u.doubudly smitten. Mild as the wording of it may appear to sealer unfamiliar with the formal abjeciness usual in past Rep ies, it caus d as much sensation as might have *ccompanied the presentation (say) of a demand for theabol.- tion of the House of Lords in a R-ply to any Royal Address to the Commoners of England. More perhaps, because in addition to its unprecedentedness, it appewed to be tinged with the colour of a coming change in the spirit of Jajan's Constitutional dream. Foieigners who have taken any intelligent interest in the development of its sourcely yor digested Coustitutiow, felt as if they stond upon the verge of Revolution, and expected in after years to refer to the night of 10th December as turning-point in the vital history of Japsn. Was it not sri indication almvat of the woy ie which the baluace of public opinion was falling, in the weighing of democratic ideas versus divine might? With discussions of it as the prevailing topic" wherever two or three were gathered together, with the bells of the "express" runners jingling in almost every street, with frenzied telegrams coming down from Tokio to the local editors:—" Wild. excitement in Diet, capital in uproar, full details for thirty dollars "—th: re was sine excuse for such uss, and for anticipating at the very suspension of the Constitution Instead of revolution came dixsvlution, and that (as your readers already awite) with the utmost promptitude. What a fall, mseoy-r, was oh ervable in the vernacular comments on the cident! Almost without exception, the Jap"mese journals have given expression to the popular belligerent feeling against Russia, Instead. however, of exaggerating the significance of this thing, they appear to have minimised it. Instead of seeing in it any evidence of dissatisfaction with the "treaty" between the Emperor and the people, some "f them are describing it as almost a piece of political jobbery. The Representatives, unprepared for anything unusual, paid little attention t" the realine, and (soit is alleyed) pissed it in virtual ignorance of its contents. When they realised thst which they had done, many clamoured for another reading. one thing to voi i thole constituencies, by _interpell and elbow-jous fur the Government was another to disturb the of the Mikado with their—pol While there is as yet some doubt, some misunderstanding concerning the real esoteric history of the unique Reply, there is no reason to doubt that large percent tage of truth abides with those who insist that it was by the oijority at all events, unpremeditated and unintentional. The Constitution drafted by Ito does not, has not, yet materialized in the minds of the men of Japan as it would have obsessed and dominated Western imagi tions. To most it probably still fixures as nothing more important, nothing more significant, than any other manifestation of the sovereign power Emperor. In theory thit is probable and in' fact it looks like it. The Government, in direct touch with the Emperor, could not be hampered at the present juncture by " trivial embarrassment like a popular vote. Popular or not, they simply dismissed the voters. Nothinghappers. The high-strung mob has had another of the thrills to which it must "be growing callous, and goes about its business, So far as eye can see, the situation, if changed at all, is changed for the beter. The Government of Japan has its hands free, and that is all.
Tom Waricat.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.