'M, Clemenceau Japan's Jubilant Householders:
It would be an impertinence to fapeak''in the ordinary mainer of obituary regrets of M. Clemenceau.
To live to the age of 88, with every faculty strong and keen to the last, to die fall of honours and with the respect of all, this ie a splendid esting; and i¥ only remaina to pav Stribute tothe memory of the great than to whom it was given to play Such a pares [tis interesting speculate on the sort of obituary notices that would have been written of M, Clemenceau if he had tied fifteen gears ago. Abroad he would have been known toa minority as "the wrecker of Cabinets" and founder of "WAurore" But, alter all, there are so many French newspapers. In the war he ful fied his destiny. He was already 76 when became. Prime Minister "and Minister of War. The fortunes of the Allies were at a low ebb. The enemy defence appeared unbreakble, and there seemed no end but eneral stalemate, Tt was M. Cremenceau's task to infuse new energy into military" and evian Silke, And in this connection one ig reminded of another, across the Channel, who. was_dolng. the, like work. Mr. Lloyd George seen is at present to have suffered some decline in public favour. But one must not forget that he was once, and deservedly, the hero of the nation Tu him Great Britain, asin Clemenceau Prance, found the men they needed in their sore. straits, and splendidly both of them un-twered to the call, No doubt, wi their Roxy matures, they Inast have wrangled often enough. But one fees that they must have under: stood one another thoroughly. And, one imagines that Mr. Lloyd-George will not be absent when the remains jof his great French colleague are Buried, "upright in the - Vendee Forest, 20 that even in death he Those who took up. a prolonged residence in Japan in former days, used to be solemnly warned by Japanese friends to. be extremely carefal when they became householders. The warning was in regard to burglars, but was not of the natare that might have been expected. Advice to have a revolver under the pillow every night because of the extreme likelihood of visits from burglars, would have seemed na tural, as burglaries are very _frequent in Japanese cities. But" the warning always. took the form that the use of firearms was to be wolded, owing to a peculiar provision of the law in Japan, There were. all sorts of restrictions regarding the weapons that householders might use in protecting themselves against burglars, and to attack a burglar from behind was strictly forbidden. Greater danger was to be apprehended from the law, if resistance were offered to a burglar, than from the burglar himself. "Although it sounds almost Gilbertian, the law dealing with this matter seemed to have been framed for the encouragement and protection of men who sought to obtain illegal possession, forcibly or otherwise, of the householder's possessions by night. That has just been changed, or rather will be xt} the next session of the Japanese Diet. The new law framed by the Ministry of Justice is to be of a simple nature. The householder, if he kills or maims a burglar, has. merely to prove that his life or property were in danger. It has taken long enough for the alters: tion of the law to have been seriously undertaken, as to the writer's personal knowledge the "protection to burglars" law was a jest among foreigners in Tokyo a quarter of a century ago.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.