Feb, 22, By the time these lines are in type the main result of the Japanese elections will be suffciently known for no particular disturbance of them to be caused by returns from outlying constituencies. The chief interest was the admission to politics life of the intellectuals, debar from voting under the old sy tem. Even with manhood suffrage adding ten million voters to the register, the proletariat were never expected to return more than a handful of cai didates. They were too in perienced, moneyless and divi ed. That is certainly no bad thing for Japan. The time for political education of the masses has been none too long, even if we start from the beginning of the Meiji era, and especially considering how very recent is the emergence of Labour in Japan as an audible entity. But from the intelligentsia, whose voice though kept out of the Diet h made itself increasingly hear: through magazines and associations of many kinds, it will be intensely interesting to seo what influence is exerted on the policy of Japan.
this respect China is particularly concerned. It is obvious to all that both her markets and produce are of paramount importance to Japan: the question hotly discussed by the Japanese is low best these are to be secured. It is, we believe, fairly well known that at one time in the past autumn Japan favoured the idea of taking action in this country to put an end to its intolerable civil wars, if she could have found anyone to ce-operate with her. At the dissolution of the Diet last month, Baron Tanaka made no bones about it that "should some, availing themselves of the cha tic state of affairs in China, endanger the lives and property of foreign residents and the foundation of our economic interests which we have built up in that country by painstaking efforts for many years, we shall not tolerate such a situation." But there is a large party in Japan which dissents vigorously from this attitude; and even the sending of Japanese troops Shantung. for which the fed state of that province appeared to give reason, was very' adversely criticized." Peking's resentment at the" proposed:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.