Tokio, Oct. 31.
One of the most daring, but least popular, phases of Japan's recent attempts to expand on the Asiatic continent has come to an end with the curtain rung down on the Japanese Expedition to Biberia. No one in the country pretends to attach the least pride to that adventure conceived and carried out by the militarists practically in the teeth of public disapproval, As a matter of fact, sober and liberal organs regard the history of the past two years, when Japan maintained a large armed force in Siberia, as one of the blemishes on Japan's recent history, while the final episode of the lost arms and ammunition at Vladivostok has tended to darken the picture yet more. The history of the expedition, from the moment it left the shores of Japan until the departure of the last Japanese soldier for his homeland, has been one of blunders, deceiving of the public at home with regard to the actual conditions in Siberia, and frequent overriding of the civilian authorities by the military satraps who at one time entertained dreams of a Japanese protectorate stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the shores of Lake Baikal. On several occasions, the militarists and their supporters endeavoured to awaken enthusiasm for the expedition, but as often the public refused to have anything to do with the business, and all the high talk and land-sounding phrases of "glory" failed to excite even a glimmer of martial ardour amongst the rank and file of the nation.
The expedition has cost Japan over Y.1,000,000,000 and the lives of nearly 2,500 men and has seriously strained the relations between the Japanese and their nearest European neighbours. When to these losses are also added the constant suspicion that Japan was inviting on herself as the swashbuckler of the Far East, and the steady fall in her international evedit ever since the 7,000 men which Japan had despatched to Siberia (in response to President Wilson's appeal that the Allies each send 7,000 men to rescue the Czechs) gradually totalled nearly 75,000 picked troops, it is not difficult to realize that the intangible costs of the filibustering expedition of two years ago are far more considerable than the stupendously heavy expense incurred in men, money and nation-reputation. The utter failure of the expedition to Siberia has dealt a staggering blow to the militarists and the public is genuinely relieved that Japan has at last freed herself of an adventure that was an incubus to the nation at large.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.