Japanese Soldiers' Views For and Against: "Conscription True Democracy" how Ouz Own Comeseowoent Tokyo, June 18.
The report that the American delegate to the preliminary foment conference at Geneva wi propose the abolition of conscript tion has been received in Japan with mixed feelings.
Some of the newspapers and business organizations favour a volunteer system, pointing out that such a system has served some of the Great Powers, like Great Britain and the United States, splendidly, These maintain that Japan could very well fall into line place the Prussian conscription stem, which was imported from Germany in 1872, by the volunteer system. The trend of the world, there add, is toward abolition of conscription and Japan should follow the spirit of the times in this matter as she has done in so massy others.
There is, however, a strong ele-placement the conscription ment that is opposed to the re-
system by the volunteer system. The war machine here is. naturally, against the proposed change and so fare the fighting clans. The contentions of those opposed to the abolition of conscription are set forth by Major-General K. Tsunoda, 'a member of the Diet, who thinks that the volunteer system could not be applied to Japan.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.