The Japanese Government has decided to appoint a diplomatic Tepresentative to the Vatican and sum of Yen 116,000 has been earmarked in the budget for the forthcoming financial year to meet the necessary expenses. The press views this new departure with mixed emotions. The "Jiji," a liberal organ, with a circulation that extends into the hundreds of thou-ands daily, welcomes the decision and thinks it would materially benefit this country, as the latent power of the Roman Catholic Church has come to be greatly felt amongst the nations of the world wince the war. It is pointed out by this paper that, in the new oriental tion of international relations that hae recently resulted, the! Roman Catholic Church, owing to the national affairs, and to this it sets down the tendency in Europe and American countries to have _representatives in the Vatican. The advantages to Japan, according to the paper, will be great as the influence vf the Roman Catholic Church is to be met with in any land and in riy clime. But many dissentient voices are also raised against the idea of Japan having a permanent representative to deal direct with the Vatican, and the "tokio Asahi," which has as much influence and as Jarge a circle of readers as the "Jiji," thinks the move made by Japan is a wrong one. "There isa rumour," says the paper, '"'that the Japanese Government is trying to demonstrate pacificism to the world by exchanging diplomatic representatives with the Vatican." The paper declares that the only reason why the Vatican to-day is at peace with the rest of Europe is Because "the European countries are strong enough to cope with the Vatican's influence, but when the influence of the Roman church increases, serious troubles, as in the old days, will arise and Japaa will be implicated in them."
The move towards establishing direct diplomatic relations between Japan and the Holy See was foreseen when the Prince Regent, during his recent visit to Europe, visited the Pope. oe The spirit of Christmas, as rein Japan, manifested itself in.a variety off ways. First and foremost must be set on record the handsome manner in which the call for help from Gensan was respond-to. The committee formed to aid the Russians there asked for Yen 25,000. Japan's response was with Yen 41,000 in cash and boxes of clothing, bundles of books and sweets, and a fair amount of toys to the unfortunate little ones in the Korean port. This represents the amount collected through the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.