March 7.
Tt Is to be hoped that Mr. Kok Hirota, accepting the Imperial command to form the new Japane: Cabinet, will be able to overcome the opposition which is reported to have developed in obstruction of his plans, For he has chosen well. Sour experience marks the careers of Mr, Shigeru Toshida and Dr. Elicha Baba to whom the portfolios of Foreign Affairs and Finance have' respectively been entrusted. The Minister of the Navy, Admiral semi Nagano, has just returned from participation in the abortive Conference in London. The 'Supreme Military Council has dorsed the offer of the War Office to Count Hisafeht Terauchi, a soldier of good family, distinguished service and moderate' views. Mr, Tsunco Matsudaira will not return to London; he becomes Minister the Imperial Household, an appoint ment which he is eminently fitted to hold by reason of his outstanding diplomatic ability and his daughter's position as consort to Prince Chichibu, Other selections show that a Cabinet has been formed on national lines and in a healthy spirit of compromise. The desire for national solidarity is shown in the rellroments of General Hayashi and General Mazaki who may be said to have been on opposite sides in the recent controversy over the Army. Thus ends over a week of acute suspense, during which the august authorities, charged with the duty of repairing the ravages wrought by the tragedies of February 26, have been in anxious consultation. "Once again Prince Saionji has vindicated the trust imposed by the Emperor the nation in his qualities of ugacity and patriotic leadership. Moreover, realizing the implications of his years, he has, itis understood, prescribed the method for giving the monarch in future the guidance for which he himself has become famous and has earned the abiding gratitude of the nation, His task, this time, has been graver than pot haps ever before. The rebels threatened to subordinate the whole machinery of Govern ment to the dictation of an army junta, That danger has not passed. Even now hesitations show that Mr. Hirota has to contend with powerful resistance to the formation of his Cabinet on lines which promise to check the assumption by certain military emeers of a more direct political authority than even the privileged position of their order make convenient or justify able, Behind the necessary screen of scereey pregnant decisions have probably been reached. Their exact signifeanee can be judged only by future events, The full story of the ghastly murders which gave rise to the crisis will probably never be known. Discretion which limits itself fo the bare outlines should be respected. It Ix suMicient to observe that Japan has been on the verge of a national upheaval. She has—it is hoped—emerged with digni ty from the ordeal, thanks to the ingrained discipline of her people, to the fundamental loyalty of the Army and to the blend of firmness and moderation with which her Emperor and his advisers have handled a difficult situation. There can be little doubt that publi opinion, expressed without extravagant flourishes but plainly asser tive despite the mechanical operation of an effective censorship, has played an important part in determining the composition of the Government, In a less, but still significant, degree, the sense of th world's attitude toward the cata strophe has strengthened the hands of those who have resolved to protect the constitution. Underneath the restrained comments from abroad has been dlcernibla " ear their desire to. vindicate the spathy with the Japanese people
authority of constitutionalism, The remarkable success of the testlmonia} organized to provide for the families of the policemen killed in
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.