There are other considerations, besides those already noticed, arising out of the recent condemnatory meeting at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, when resolutions denouncing Japan's aggression in China, proposing boycotts and generally seeking means to bring pressure to bear on Japan to persuade her to hold vhich require attention, notably the complete unwisdom of holding s zo It has been shown "e Archbishop of Canter-speaking at a similar function some o, despite representations asking him not to, led to the severance of the Japanese episcopal church from the Church of England. That was the result of the resentment felt by the Japanese over the Archbishop's action. Beyond affording an opportunity for a few speakers to deliver themselves of a large amount of high-sounding talk, and the passing of resolutions calculated to irritate the Japanese, that meeting did no real good. It is doubtful if this latest one will achieve anything better. Condemnation of Japan has already been so freely expressed that its continuance does nothing but increase Japanese exasperation. It contributes nothing towards the settlement of this unhappy and may indeed conduce to bringing state of affairs in which ultimately settlement may be considerably delayed. And that for a number of reasons. The Japanese will readily admit that they are poor propagandists. That is because of a number of reasons, chief amongst them is that while the Chinese will skilfully admit that occasionally they have been wrong, the Japanese consistently aver that they are always right, forgetting the law of probability and the human liability to err. The result is that China has succeeded in securing the sympathy of the world, with but very few, and then purely political exceptions, while Japan comes in for most of the condemnation. It must always be remembered that public opinion is not like a court of equity which demands that the plaintiff shall come before it with clean hand: formed purely on the b: sympathy, in this instance the sympathy for the under dog.
With all the regret which must be felt for China in her grievous trial it must always be remembered that her hands vis-à-vis of Japan, and of many other countries for that matter are not particularly clean, and the strongly-worded r lutions of condemnation, encouraging as they may be to China are nothing but a source of exasperation to Japan, They are dangerous too, It has to be remembered as is so ably stated by writer in the December "Round Table" that for international purposes Japan is unanimous over what she is doing and "it is a corollary of that proposition that any hint of outside criticism, not to speak of pressure or intervention, tends to make the Japanese sink their differences and close their ranks. This is an important point to bear in mind when considering what steps may be usefully taken by any ce that wishes to see the Sino-Japanese dispute brought to a speedy end. Sympathetic criticisms may in the long run have some effect, but moral condemnation and half-hearted threats of pressure or intervention are not merely useless, but positively harmful. The Japanese, from Great Britain in particular, sound to like all of us, hate preaching and sermons
them like warnings from a reformed burglar living in comfort on his swag.
That is written by a correspondent of the magazine in Japan, and may be taken as a very accurate picture of Japanese reaction to foreign criticism. There are plenty of people in Japan who watch present developments with dislike and dismay, but in the face of such resolutions as have been passed in London, the national habit of conformity, which is such a striking characteristic of the Japanese race, comes into play, and a united face is presented to the world at large. Of one thing it is possible to be certain; in this present muddle, the Japanese entertain no serious doubts as to the fundamental justice of their cause. That other people do, concerns them not the slightest. That such doubts are sed, merely serves to exacerbate irritation and confirm them in their determination to forge ahead regardless of moral consequences, which they firmly believe do not existefor them.
It is as well that these things should be remembered, nay, even imperative that it should be emphasized in quarters, which, however well-meaning they may be, allow their enthusiasms to obscure a complete view of the realities of the situation. Enough has transpired in the past to show that meetings such as that referred to have little practical value. As a moral gesture it is all very well, but indignation meetings of this nature, swayed by sentiment and distant from the actual fact, can do nothing towards procuring an early termination of hostilities. What for example is behind the organizers of the proposed world-wide boycott of Japanese goods? On the face of it they apparently hope to inaugurate so wide a movement that Governments will be forced to take action, to manoeuvre them into a position which they are at present doing their utmost to avoid.
That such a proceeding might plunge their country into a long and unprofitable war matters very little to these loud mouthed servants of pacificism. They would willingly embark upon another war to end war. They say they would do it for the perpetuation of peace, but no one who recognizes the realities and their pregnancy with dread possibility can witness these ebullitions with anything but the gravest anxiety. The realist to-day takes the view that in order to secure peace he must prepare against war: the doctrinaire on the other hand seems to think that the best way to achieve international amity is to go to war for it. That they are actuated by the highest of principles is undenied. Everyone would like to see justice done, but in this very imperfect world, justice is a very irregular commodity, and in some cases cannot be secured by the vindication of principles, but by resort to expedients. That is very much the position here. There is every ground for criticizing what Japan has done and is doing in China, every reason for wishing that steps could be taken to restore peace and order to this part of the world, but the situation being what it is counsels of perfection are not the easiest to apply, and the most useful course to pursue is one which, while it provides for the full recognition of very ugly facts, tends to provoke as little annoyance as possible.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.