State Opposed by Entire Nation won A Conmsronorr Roceveuy 1" JAPA
Jan. 28.
The struggle between the Japanese Army and. the parties, findnelal elreles, liberal leaders and virtually. all other elements in the Japanese Empire can be reduced in its'simplest terms to an attempt by the Japanese militarists to revive a. 20th. century. version of the Shogunate. This type of government endured in Japan for more than 700 years and, in some-What different "form, had. existed several centuries prior to that, Tt was ended in 1867-68 when all power restored to the Throne and Japan embarked upon the troubled and chequered career of its own version of Constitutional government that the Army now threatens to bring to an end.
"This is for too simple a statement. of the situation, of course, and needs Aetalled amplification, There is noth-{ing inherently mysterious or beyond comprehension in. the really grave crisis which has arisen because of the Army's refusal to supply Gen, Kazunori Ugaki with a Minister of War, thereby. blocking his attempts to form a Cobinct despite the fact that he received the Imperial Command to do so. There is, however, much that fs complicated and intrleate and that involves an understanding of the Japanese governmental system, of the actual working forces the' Japanese political world and of the background against which the Gramatle developments of the moment are being projected, Peculiar Political Meology has been said, and with considerable justifeation, that the present struggle is one between Fascism and democratic government, but this does not afford a sufficiently exact analogy. Te ig neither the Fascism of Italy and Germany nor the democratic practices of Great Britain and the United States that are engaged In this battle, Dut peculiarly coloured Japanese ditions of, "these two "political Mdeotogles. The Shogunate of past centuries ip the nearest patu tht offers: itself, For centuries " the Emperor. acknowledged by all as the sovereign fof the nation, Ted a secluded tite in is palace in ancient Kyoto, while cither a Regent or a Shogun attended {fo the actual affairs of practical government, 'The Shogun, while recolv-Ing' his appointment from the hands. cof the Emperor, was the real temporal tuler" of the Empire, and his power to rule rested entirely upon his military supremacy over rival feudal Fords, From time to time as this valance in military power shifted from one powerful clan-family to another, the Shogunate itself shifted accord-'There existed in Japan a and gutocratie oligarchy 4 strength but ever vowing in allegiance to the Throne while actually pursuing the policies Which it, thought most beneficial to His own interests.
Absolute Temporal Power Wanted The Japanese Army would probably indignantly deny that it was secking In any way to revive this outworn aystem and would have a clea science in making such a don! if the Army be judyed by its actions rather than by its words—as it should Judged—this denial falls fat, What the Japanese militarists seck to-day Ig absolute temporal power for them selves under the moral aegis of the Throne. They would destroy the power of any and all rivals, of every roup which opposes them and their polley," They see in the Japanese Uiberais, in the political parties, in the press, In most of the close advisors fo the Throne and in the capitalists such rivals and, to them, dangerous enemies, "The Army, it must be added, Is not unit in the pursuit of this polley and objective, "There exist within. Jap-nese military circles three distinct groups: The moderates, of whom General Ugaki ts himself the Jeade the extremists known as the Younger Element and responsible for Japan bucanneering on the Aslatle Continent, for the pro-Fascist programme within Japan and, unless arrested and flverted, "for the disastrous war which wilt Inevitably follow; and a third group standing between these two as, neutral The Younger Element dominates at present. Tt dominates because it is fearless and willing to resort to direct action to achieve its ends, Neither assassination nor Insurrection (dis-luised as a patriotic move in support the Throne) are objectionable. te Because of this, the older and t wiser heads in the key positions of Japan's military organization dare not pul more moderate polley Into of ect, dare not ce-operate with General Ugaki, "They fear that if they do s0 a military revolt of much greater magnitude than that of February 20.29 might follow, They are not certain of this, but neither are they willing risk it by putting it to the test, General Ugakt stands in an enviable position Ju this respect For more than a decade he has sought the Premiership and he is quite willing to risk assassination now to achieve It and, If possible, to stifle the Younger Element and restore sanity to Japfanese affairs of State. The recent death of his wife leaves him quite] free to'take such risks, He must be credited with honest desire to serve the nation and to divert it from the, dangerous path along which the Younger Element is leading It, Japan has been crying for some years for a Strong Man at the head fof the Government. They furnished one with the designation of General Ugakt for the Premiership, The wholenatlon, except the dominant section in military elreles, welcomes The him and Is ready to ce-operate with. him, even at the sacrifice of certain. of the principles and policies which they hold to be of extreme "The Younger Element does not want, Strong Man Ugaki because he is too strong—and does not think as they do. "What they really want is a strong. man who holds to the same fanatical beliefs "and faith as the Younger Element, aman. strong enough to} enforce these beliefs on the rest of the nation, Nonesuch is available in the Japan of the present, There is no Prince Yamageta to lead the military to triumph, the ablest of all living military men being General
believes in party government and who zak "who "a "a moderate, "who would curb. the: Younger Element. General Sadao Araki, to whom they once looked, is no such leader. There Ig. good cause for believing that General, Araki experienced a complete change of heart afler the February military insurrection of last year, that he awoke to the dangers of the course he had been pursuing and reversed that course. Whether this be true or not, certain it is that he cannot. now emerge as the Strong Man of the Younger Element.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.