were counted upon. The psychology of the purchaser is sorry reading for one with a stimulated economic conscience. During the progress of the war I had increased opportunities to learn the methods of the strong with the weak. I met an interesting young woman at a table in a Mid-Western hotel who told me, in the midst of a conversation on conservation, that she was in the employ of a well-known manufacturer of paper patterns. With the general practice of thrift the demand for these patterns had greatly increased. The manufacturer had decided to raise the price. It was this young woman's business to go to the larger cities and stand at the shop counters where the patterns were sold to see what the women would say and do when they learned the new prices. "And what did they say?" I inquired. She laughed. "They say, 'Oh, dear, isn't it awful?' and then they pay the price." The helplessness of the purchaser is easily understood, and points directly to the strength of organization. It is equally impossible for the individual buyer to When the women of New York City women began to act individually, a point which only emphasizes the necessity for a permanent organization. If women as ultimate buyers had put as much energy and intelligence into their business as they have into clubs, civic and philanthropic work, I believe it would not be so necessary to stimulate the farmer and his wife into taking on new industries and abandoning specialization. I believe also that, there would now be a co-operation between farm and city through which the producer would receive a fair price for his products, and the ultimate buyer would purchase for a price that should reasonably paya co-operation which would leave room for such middlemen as may be necessary in a complex modern society. The profit. eering system could not have so submerged us if it had not been for our primitive methods as unorganized consumers. Even now it is the new economic consciousness born of desperate necessity that will eventually solve the ultimate buyer's problems. JAPAN IN A AN AUTHORIZED INTERVIEW WITH FIELD MARSHAL PRINCE The following article has something of a history. Just before Mr. Mason left Japan about a year ago he was given the unusual privilege of interviewing Marshal Prince Yamagata, the leader of the Elder Statesmen, and the most influential man in Japan to-day, not excepting the Emperor. This was the first time Prince Yamagata had ever granted a private interview for publication to a foreign journalist, and, wishing to weigh his remarks as carefully as possible, he arranged to write them out in Japanese, have them translated, and have the transcription sent to Mr. Mason, who was leaving Japan for Europe. This was done, but the first copy of the translation of Prince Yamagata's statements was lost in the mails. Many months later a second copy reached The Outlook's correspondent, being brought around the world to him by a Japanese friend who went to Paris to attend the Peace Conference. Prince Yamagata's conversation with Mr. Mason, however, dealt not so much with affairs of the moment as with general questions of policy affecting Japan, and, in our judgment, the delay in the publication of this interview with Japan's foremost statesman has not detracted from its interest.—THE EDITORS. MAGINE a man with the political influence of Charles Murphy, Nicolai Lenine, and Woodrow Wilson combined. That gives you some idea of the power wielded in Japanese politics by Marshal Prince Aritomo Yamagata, President of the Privy Council and leader of the Elder Statesmen of Japan. For fifteen years Prince Yamagata has been the supreme force in the island Empire. Theoretically the Emperor has great power and Yamagata little. In practice the Emperor is a figurehead, while the country is moved by invisible wires which all lead to what his enemies call the "cold black figure" of the silent Prince. The whisper" Yamagata " opens locks and shakes ministries. The slightest acquaintance with the stern old nobleman entitles either native or foreigner to the awe and envy of the public. When I left Japan, I forgot to comply with all the police requirements in regard to passport supervision. Five minutes before my steamer was to sail from Shimonoseki for Fusan, Korea, a police officer entered my cabin. Giving me to understand that I was under suspicion, he began to search my baggage for incriminating evidence. On top of other effects in the first suit- Like most of the remarkable group of ment. He was on hand, however, in time to command the First Army in the war of 1888-9 with China, which first opened the eyes of the world to the military possibilities of Japan. And in the war which finally lifted his nation into the ranks of the Great Powers-the war with Russia -Yamagata served his country ably as Chief of the General Staff. Twice Premier of Japan, it is nevertheless his military glory that Yamagata prizes most, and he loves to speak of himself as "an old soldier." To the people of modern Japan, however, he is known mainly as an influence which creates and kills Prime Ministers and makes and breaks Cabinets at will. It is as the leader of the bureaucracy and as the manipulator of the strings of intrigue that Prince Yamagata rules Japan to-day. When I was told that Prince Yamagata would see me at his house in Tokyo, I was informed that I was the second foreign journalist to have the privilege of a private conversation with the Japanese Solomon, and that The Outlook would be the first foreign paper to publish an exclusive authorized interview with him. The inscription in Japanese characters on the photograph reads, as translated: on the left, "Field Marshal Prince Aritomo Yamagata ;" on the right, "Presented to Mr. Gregory Mason" Japanese statesmen have never acquired the Western practice of taking newspapers into their confidence, and the President of the Privy Council is more reserved than any of them. In a parlor on the second floor of the Prince's European-style house I sat down to wait for him with the gentleman who had arranged the interview and volunteered to act as interpreter, Mr. Y. Tsurumi, son-in-law of the then Home Minister, Baron Goto. Although young, Mr. Tsurumi has already distinguished himself as a publicist and man of affairs, and a bright political future seems to await him. A sliding door opened and we rose to face a thin old man in Japanese civilian costume. Prince Yamagata has a long head, long ears, and eyes as kind as they are shrewd. His manner is marked by a directness and a pleasant simplicity which spring from his soldier training. While we drank tea, which a "boy" brought in, we exchanged compliments in the customary manner. Then I said: "Your Excellency, the wonderful progress which Japan has made during the past fifty years is a source of astonishment and admiration to us foreigners. This is, we believe, the result of the capable leadership which the Japanese people had in yourself and other statesmen of the Meiji era. It would be most interesting to hear from your own lips the principles and policies by which you and your associates ruled your country at the outset of the Meiji restoration." "I am an old soldier, not a statesman," replied the man who is perhaps the most astute politician in the Far East, "so that I can talk at the most only about the military side of the administration of the country, if that will interest you. In the first place, Japan was most fortunate in having an illustrious Em-peror in the late Meiji Tenno, by whose powerful personality the development of the national prosperity was directed. The men who best understood and embodied the will of the great Emperor have since been attending to the affairs of state. In the beginning of his distinguished reign the Emperor laid down two fundamental principles of national rule for the guidance of the people. The first is, in order to keep pace with the progress of the Western world, Japan should adopt what. is best in the Western civilization to improve the internal administration of the state. The second is, having opened the country to foreign intercourse, Japan should make it the leading policy of her diplomacy to maintain and improve friendly relations with foreign nations. "As a soldier I rendered some service under the leadership of the astute Emperor in the military administration of the country. In military affairs we were naturally influenced by foreign example. The first thing that we set about was the problem of conscription. In ancient and mediæval times all Japanese people were wont to act as soldiers in time of emergency; then there were no such distinctions as between Samurai, farmers, etc. But after the adoption of feudalistic government the distinctive class of Samurai, or warriors, came into existence, and continued till the time of the Restoration (1868). At that time there were throughout Japan two million families belonging to the Samurai class. Japan's adoption of universal military conscrip tion, after models taken from some European nations, may therefore be regarded as a restoration of the system that once obtained in ancient Japan. "In giving military training to the people under the new conscription we employed French officers. This was simply because some French officers had already been employed during the latter period of feudal government as our military instructors, though in Kishu some German officers were employed. It may be said that both French and German officers aimed only to transplant to Japan the European system of military education." "You, sir, who have seen such remarkable change in the past, what course do you think Japan should follow in the future?" I asked. " "All over the world the social fabric is crumbling. You Japanese who were alive before your Imperial Restoration in a sense can look at the modern world with the eyes of the Mid dle Ages. You, who stepped from feudalism into capitalism at one stride because you saw that the capitalistic nation was a stronger vehicle than the feudal tribe, what do you think now when on every side capitalistic society is threatened with dissolution? You see the marked development of labor in England and America, and of Socialism in Continental Europe, and in Russia you see yet more radical change. Although there are few countries in the world, if any, where the people from highest to lowest enjoy a larger degree of peace and comfort than in Japan, already little waves thrown off by distant commotions in human society are beginning to strike your shores. Socialism, though little developed, is growing in Japan. The increasing number of strikes in your great industries proves that labor is beginning to feel its strength. How will your country face such problems in the future?" Prince Yamagata slowly rotated his little teacup with a long forefinger before he answered, as follows: The progress of the times, like the of the times, like the ticking of the clock, will never cease. There can be no stopping the course of evolution. So it is necessary in the career of a nation that you should adopt such a policy as shall fit the degree and state of progress which that nation has reached. And the question as to what form and principle of government should be taken must necessarily differ in different nations and different ages, because the conditions and circumstances of one nation are not the same as those of another. Thus we cannot take the German style or the English style or this school or that as a perfect model for our emulation. In Germany, for instance, the people are systematic and methodical-a people amenable to discipline for organization of a military character, so that the systematic government control which Germans have may have helped a good deal in the development of their country. But Japan does not necessarily share the condition of Germany, neither is she the same as Britain or France. So the rule that holds good in the case of a foreign country does not necessarily apply to Japan. "But it is a fact that the increase in Japan's population is a matter demanding careful study. Even in a private home, the more its members increase the more difficult become the problems which are apt to arise. In such a case the best thing to do would be to study and consider carefully the desires of each individual and to see to it that each person does enjoy life. Similarly, many difficulties will arise in the government of a state as its population grows, and the best way to apple with the difficulties would be to csider the hopes and desires of the people and take such measures as will enable them to pursue their vocations in contentment. This is the duty of administrators. It is important that the hopes and desires of one class should not be exclusively promoted at the expense of the rest of the people." Since he had mentioned Japan's grow 66 ing population, I asked Prince Yamagata what he considered would be the best outlet for it. "Would you prefer to send your surplus to the United States. if American immigration restrictions were removed," I asked, removed," I asked, " or would you prefer to find new colonies, and if so, where?" "It is granted that our country is densely populated," the President of the Privy Council answered, "but the situation has not as yet assumed a very serious nature. Supposing it becomes necessary to send many people out of Japan proper, the authorities seem to consider that Chosen (Korea) and Manchuria are proper places to receive our emigration. Since the United States is a highly civilized country with a higher standard of living than ours, our people naturally consider it an excellent place for emigration, especially as they can save capital there. Of course we can say nothing which concerns the sovereign rights of another nation to its territory; but it seems to me strange that a country such as yours, which sets great store by the principles of humanity and equality of human rights, should vary its treatment of aliens according to races. But at the present time we do not think the problem of population a very pressing one. "As I understand your Excellency, then, in regard to Japan's growing popu lation you are mainly concerned with it as an internal question. As the number of Japanese increases, and particularly as the number of Japanese leaving the farm for the factory increases, Japan cannot help facing some day such difficult problems as are now confronting the Western nations, with the result that she will have to make some change in the government of the state. 66 "I agree with you," replied the Elder Statesman. The progress of the times may necessitate various changes undreamed of before." After sipping more tea the former Premier continued: Something that was said a moment ago reminded me of a thing which to me has always been incomprehensible. The international Peace Conference at The Hague has proved so far powerless to abolish war. On the contrary, after it was inaugurated war after war broke out until we came to the bloodiest war in history. It seems strange that the problem of the world's peace should have remained unsolved despite the co-operative wisdom of the weightiest brains of the world." From this remark the Prince went on to the suggestion that perhaps the problem of world peace had been approached too much from the theoretical rather than from a practical standpoint, and from this he turned to the importance of frankness between nations, and between Japan and the United States in particular. He concluded with: It is my sincere hope that the peoples of America and Japan should continue in the future to associate with one another in the same cordial friendship as now." 66 "Some ten years ago," he replied, “another foreigner asked me that same question. I answered that China's rise or fall would depend on the appearance or nonappearance of great men who could save the country, and I added that I hoped that such saviors might appear from among the Manchurians-I said Manchurians because China then was under the Manchu dynasty. But seven years ago a revolution broke out, and the country has since been a hotbed of political excitement. Now, if I am to express my candid opinion, most of the men responsible for the government of China are actuated by self-interest and are lacking in patriotism. The teachings of Confucius, beautiful as they are, have become only a moral ornament which has little practical value. That is the reason why China has been plunged into her present predicament. I should think it would be extremely difficult to save China unless some great men should appear to make some reforms. "Yet China is verily the storehouse of the world because of its vast population and inexhaustible resources. Once its internal administration were reorganized and its national defenses perfected, China would become a formidable Power against which no nation in the world could even contend. But, as I have said, if China continues to be as feeble as she now isher statesmen egotistic and her people unpatriotic-it will be extremely difficult to effect the necessary reforms. It is my sincere wish that China should adopt such measures as would make her a free, independent, powerful nation.' After this statement Prince Yamagata stood up and shook hands in the European fashion, and then, in the Japanese manner, followed us downstairs to the front door, where he stood bowing as we drove off-a mark of extreme politeness from one in his exalted position. As we bowled over his well-kept driveway I thought of how what he had said about China fitted in with what he had said about Japan. China is mediævally misgoverned because she has not been able to change as the world has changed. Japan is well governed to-day because she has been able to change in time with changing world. a Although he is an old man, and reckoned a good deal of a conservative, Prince Yamagata's remark about the necessity for Japan to "keep pace with the progress of the Western world," and his prediction that "the progress of the times may necessitate various changes undreamed of before," indicate that, despite his eighty-one years, he still knows how to "keep on keeping on." But he is very old and his people cannot expect to have Aritomo Yamagata's leadership very many years more. Will Japan find other Yamagatas to lead her in the future? Probably she will, for she is fortunate above many other nations in the quality and quantity of the educated young men who go into I asked Prince Yamagata his opinion public life as a career. about the future of China. These future Yamagatas can be counted W E never knew where he came from, for none of the nurses remembered seeing him before. He merely appeared at the beginning of the epidemic and seemed a very part of it. The "flu " had seized on us there at the hospital, whirled us into desperate combat, and left ussome beaten and fallen before it, the others weary and heartsick. The thing seemed a live spirit, and after it swooped over the city our wards were filled, our linen was gone, and the men who should have laundered it were panting on mattresses which we had placed on the floor. Then it was that Father Satterlee came. I had 'phoned to the office to hurry the priest, for Portia Bassano was dying, and even epidemics cannot forget the hells her Church would condemn her to did the Father come too late. But I forgot her for a moment in the necessity of quieting the woman in the next bed. No sooner was she dozing than far down that dim white-bordered lane of cots another woman slipped from her high bed and wavered unsteadily toward the brightness of the corridor. Often, there in the ward at night, I had a silly notion that I was the ball in a game of ninepins. I learned to know the movement, furtive or resolute, of a patient who planned to steal to the cool balcony. Faster than thought I'd reach her, for Heaven alone knew what her galloping heart would do should she once slip out. Portia was still there, a faint breath of her, when the priest came. He stood in the arch of the doorway, a tall figure of a man silhouetted against the light. A breeze from the windows caught at the folds of his robe and swayed them. When he saw me, he moved in noiselessly save for the click of his rosary. "This way, Father," I said, and he padded along behind, his great shadow preceding me to Portia's bed. I put a screen about them, and hurried to the next patient, who was restless again. She was a diver and an acrobata glorious figure of a woman, whose lithe arms got the best of me when she was delirious like this and whose smile won my heart when she was calm. From behind the muslin wall came the priest's voice, a rattle of Latin. It would interest no God, I thought and Portia herself was only a wisp of breath. The girl on the bed beside me sobbed very softly, for her tongue would not talk straight and she wanted to be understood. Still from the curtain came the rapid mechanical monotone-I'd never heard a man rattle at prayers before, and I turned cold. Why didn't he me out? Oh! I strained and struggled, one sees, the war and its outcome have FATHER SATTERLEE AN OUTLINE PORTRAIT Twice again he came that night, and always on the same errand. For he was there to administer the last rites to the dying. They said that he never went to bed during the entire epidemic, that he slept on a couch in the office. He always came at the call for a priest, for there seemed to be no other on duty. One night there was no screen to be given him, and in sight of all the ward he prayed and recited his Latin-the silly rattle that had sounded so fruitless and feeble in the midst of the cries of suffering. Mary O'Brien had not known that she was dying-I'd not dared tell her when I thought of the three little ones down in the hospital nursery. I saw the terror on her face, and hated a faith and a priest who could tell her like that and make her know a fear like that. Why couldn't she go out like Jewish Ruth, in rest and relief from pain? A little later he came again, and from far down the ward I could hear the murmur of his prayers, whose cadences had come to sing themselves in my mind. Passing by, I looked toward the bed, and Passing by, I looked toward the bed, and the woman there had such a look of glory and peace as I had never dreamed of. It left me, somehow, a little weak, and back at the desk I closed my eyes a moment, still dazzled by the brightness of that woman's faith. It happened often after that. For there were no more screens to be had, and I learned to watch for the glory that followed the terror in those faces. Sometimes it did not follow, and the woman's fear would clutch at me and seem to drag my feet. Sometimes she would be drag my feet. Sometimes she would be so far gone that no sound could reach her. Then I'd find myself a-tingle with resentment that the rest of us had cared for her, with toil and fatigue, and would care for her again when the time came, while he, Father Satterlee, who overtopped us all, sat there muttering at Latin. had the extraordinary spectacle of a plain "Mister" being made Premier of Japan. Yet all the time I never thought of him as a man, but rather as a sort of prayer person, a gown and chain of beads, whence came a voice that blessed or cursed-or did naught, so far as I could see, for the dying one. One night, though it was when my beautiful diving girl died, and I saw her face glow in response to his service-I watched him. He looked into the calm, unfrightened eyes, and his own were calmer and more clear than they. His low voice chanted the swift words all unheedingly, and his face was solemn and pale, like that of a carven saint. Then somehow there came over it a glow that was not a smile yet seemed more than a smile, and in answer to it came the glory in the eyes of the girl on the bed-that same peace which had come to so many others during those nights. I followed him out to the door then, for I wanted to see more of the man in this priest."Sit down a moment, Father, here in the kitchen," I asked him. He stood there in the door, and it took a long moment for his sunken eyes to find my face. I saw that the man was half drunk for lack of sleep. How had he managed to pull himself out and be all strength and surety for these people? His face was gray under the thick black hair and the skin strained over the straight nose and high cheek-bones, while purple circles under his eyes darkened his cheeks."Sit down," I begged him. "Sit down, Father." He dropped into a kitchen chair, and I turned to mix him an egg-nog. But there in his chair he had fainted-the long, powerful arms out across the tabletop and the rosary slipping over loose knees till the cross touched the floor. I stood aghast for a moment-there is something terrifying in the sight of a big man helpless like that, and every fold of his robe seemed limp and exhausted. But he came out of it soon, and some faint color stole into his face as he sipped the glass I gave him. I watched him, and wondered how I'd ever thought of him as anything but a very human man, buoyed up, like the rest of us, in this emergency. Then he rose, and seemed to withdraw again behind the gown and rosary. He stood in the bright corridor, very erect and stately. His deep eyes looked seriously at me, and I tingled at the steadiness of their gaze. "Good-night, sister," and he made some gesture of benediction that sanctified the place and made it beautiful for a moment. Then he turned and moved silently down the stone hallway, his black robes swaying with his easy stride, his beads clicking softly. THE PRINCE OF WALES PRESENTING COLORS TO A CANADIAN BATTALION The scene is at St. John, New Brunswick, one of the first places to be visited by the Prince while on his American tour. The colors were presented to the Twenty-sixth New Brunswick Battalion, a unit that won the name of the "Fighting Twenty-sixth " |