Full text of "The Japanese nation : its land, its people, and its life, with special consideration to its relations with the United States"
CHAPTER IX
JAPAN AS COLONISER
HISTORY has repeatedly shown ''how wide
the limits stand between a splendid and
a happy land." As with individuals, so with
nations, greatness and happiness lie, alas ! too often
at opposite poles. What belongs to the one may
be shared by the other; but, as a rule, he who
plucks the flower must forego the fruit. Falsely
or truly (it is not now my purpose to discuss the
moral or political issues involved in colonial enter-
prise), modem nations vie with one another to
express their greatness and splendour in territorial
expansion, or else in ethnic colonisation.
With the acquisition of the small island of For-
mosa in 1895, Japan joined the ranks of colonial
powers. Since then, she has added the southern
half of the island of Saghalien by the treaty of
Portsmouth in 1905 and the kingdom of Korea,
now officially called Chdsen, by annexation in 191 1.
Besides these territories, Japan holds the small
province of Kwang-tung in the Liao Timg penin-
sula, as well as a long and narrow strip of land
231;
232 THe Japanese Nation
along the South Manchurian railroad. These
last two were leased from China in continuation of
the contract which that nation had made with
Russia before the war.
In recounting what Japan has done as a colo-
niser, I shall for several reasons devote my time to
a review of what she has achieved in Formosa. In
the first place, because it is the first, and may be
called the only colony with which' we have had
experience of any length ; in the second place, be-
cause it has served the purpose of educating us
in the art of colonisation ; and in the third place,
because the administration of this island forms
a precedent for the government of later acquisi-
tions. To these three reasons may be appended
one other — ^namely, that I can speak of Formosa
from a long and personal connection with it ; and
to me the last is here the strongest and the best
reason.
Before proceeding further, let us refresh our
memory regarding geography.
Scattered over a wide surface of the globe are
about a dozen places christened with the Portu-
guese term Formosa — * ' Beautiful. ' * It is needless
to add that the word is of Latin origin, despite the
fact that it is not to be found in the ancient or in
the mediaeval list of nomina geographica. Among
the modem places bearing the name, some are so
small that many gazetteers do not condescend to
notice their existence.
There is an immense territory of the name of
Japan as Coloniser 233
Formosa covering 42,000 square miles, in the
north of Argentine. Then there is a Httle town
of the same name on the north-eastern coast of
Brazil, as well as one on the southern coast of
South Africa. Among the group of the Bissagos
islands, is a Formosa. In the interior of Europe,
too, on the Russian border, near the Danube, is a
village of the same name. On a map of Asia, we
find Mount Formosa, Formosa River, Formosa
Strait, Formosa Banks, etc. On the American
continent, in Bruce County, Ontario, there is a
settlement called Formosa. In the slightly modi-
fied form of Formoso, there is a banking and post
village in Kansas (Jewell Co.), and in the still more
modified Spanish form of Hermosa, one meets with
the same name in New Mexico (Sierra Co.), in
South Dakota (Custer Co.), and in California.
Thus, in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South
America are found Formosas. But the Formosa
which is the subject of my discourse, is, I suppose,
the best known of them all. It is an island, lying
a short distance off the eastern coast of China. Its
area is 14,000 square miles, being about 240 miles
in length, with the Tropic of Cancer crossing
through its centre. Of volcanic formation, ranges
of slaty and schistose mountains, mainly of the
Tertiary age, run through its length, some of their
peaks towering as high as 1 3,000 feet. The eastern
coast is rocky and steep, affording very few landing
places ; but the western coast consists of flat, fertile,
alluvial plains, where are raised rice, sugar cane,
234 THe Japanese Nation
tea, ramie, bananas, oranges, and sweet potatoes.
Among the mountains grow gigantic trees of
various kinds, the most important being camphor
and hinoki {Thuya ohtusa,)
The island is as beautiful as it is fertile. The
Portuguese navigators, as they sailed along the
eastern coast, were so charmed by its precipitous
but wooded moimtains, its fantastic rocks and
the foaming billows which dash against them, that
they put down in their log-book their favorite
name of "Ihla Formosa." From the other side,
the Chinese, who can quite easily reach the western
coast in their junks — the distance from Foochow
to a Formosan port is only a little over a himdred
miles — were struck with its beauty, as from their
anchorage they saw hillsides inhabited and culti-
vated, and they called it Taiwan, the "Terraced
Bay," which is still the official designation of the
island. The Japanese, too, had long known of it,
and in times past venturesome spirits used to
frequent it, but in later days only the poetical
name "Takasago" (The High Sandy Tract)
remained, suggesting in popular fancy a land of
lotus-eaters.
Our knowledge of Takasago was as fanciful as
the account given of the island by that famous
literary impostor, George Psalmanazar. A French-
man by birth (bom about 1679), he was taken from
Holland to England by the chaplain of a Scotch
regiment, and was there received with much curi-
osity and honour because of his well-maintained
Japan as Coloniser 235
pretension of being a native of Formosa. His
amusing treatise on A History and Description of
the Island of Formosa off the Coast of China, pub-
lished in London in 1704, still remains an amazing
document of fabrication. The man evidently
showed no lack of intellectual ingenuity when he
constructed an entire linguistic system including
grammar and vocabulary. It is only to be ex-
pected that his description did not tally with facts.
Our acquaintance with Formosa, however, was
not much better. But it came quite forcibly and
unpleasantly upon us in 1874, when the report
spread that the savages of Southern Formosa had
slaughtered some Japanese sailors who were
wrecked on its coast. China at that time held
sway over the island. For the murder of her sub-
jects, Japan demanded satisfaction of China, but,
as the Celestial Government evaded responsibility,
we sent an army to the island itself. It is inter-
esting to notice that a number of American officers
at first joined in this expedition ; but, being warned
by their Government to observe strict neutrality,
they reluctantly left our service. After subju-
gating the hostile tribe, our army left the island,
China in the meantime offering to pay for damages.
Our interest in Formosa then ceased, and nothing
was done towards its conquest or even towards
securing its trade.
More than twenty years later, when the war
between China and Japan came to an end, For-
mosa was most imexpectedly brought into promi-
236 TKe Japanese Nation
nence. When Japan proposed that China should
cede the island, we were not at all sure that the
suggestion would be regarded with favour. But
the Chinese plenipotentiary, Li Hung-Chang, took
up the proposition, as though it were wise on the
part of his coiintry to be freed from an encum-
brance, and he even commiserated Japan for
acquiring it. He pointed out that the island was
not amenable to good government: (i) that brig-
andage could never be exterminated ; (2) that the
practice of smoking opium was too deep-rooted
and wide-spread among the people to eradicate;
(3) that the climate was not salubrious; and (4)
that the presence of head-hunting tribes was a
constant menace to economic development. The
island, somewhat like Sicily, had, in the course
of its history, been subject to the flags of various
nations. Holland, Spain, and China ruled it at
different times; a Hungarian nobleman once
dominated it; and at one time Japanese pirates
had practically usurped supreme power over it.
In 1884, the French under the celebrated Admiral
Courbet planted the tricolor on its shores, where
it waved for eight months. Such instability in
government is enough to demoralise any people;
but among the inhabitants themselves there were
elements which put law and order to naught.
If these were the main causes of chronic misrule
or absence of any rule in Formosa, let us see what
Japan has done.
In accordance with the stipulation of the treaty
Japan as Coloniser 237
of Shimonoseki, one of our generals, Count Kaba-
yama, was dispatched as Governor-General of
Formosa. In that capacity, he was about to land
on the island with a large army, when he was met
by the Chinese plenipotentiary at the port of
Kelung, and in an interview which took place on
board the steamer Yokohama Maru, the 17th of
April, 1895, it was arranged that a landing should
be effected without opposition. This marked the
first occupation of the island by our troops.
There were at that time some Imperial Chinese
soldiers still remaining in the island, and they
were ordered to disarm and leave the country.
Many did so, but a few remained to oppose our
advance; there were also a few patriots who did
not feel ready to accept our terms — ^not prepared
to accept alien rule, — and these either went from
the island or took up arms against us. The so-
called patriots proclaimed a republic, one of the
very few republics ever started in Asia. Tang
Ching-Stmg was elected president. The republic
of Formosa lasted three weeks, during which
mobocracy and deviltry in all its forms reigned su-
preme, leaving behind no evidence of its existence
other than some postage stamps valuable for
collectors ! At this time the professional brigands
took advantage of the general disturbance to ply
their trade. Peaceful citizens suffered more from the
hands of their own coiuitrymen — that is, from
Chinese troops and brigands — than they did from
us. Evidence of this lies in the fact that, as our
238 THe Japanese Nation
army approached the different towns, it was every-
where received with open arms as a deHverer from
robbery and slaughter. As for Tang Ching-Sung,
he fled to China, as did also some of the wealthiest
inhabitants, although many of these, learning of
the security enjoyed imder Japanese rule, have
since returned.
Though the island was pacified, no one knew
what would happen next. We did not understand
the character of the people. Very few Japanese
could speak Formosan, and fewer Formosans
could speak Japanese. There was naturally
mutual distrust and suspicion. The bandits
abounded everywhere. Under these conditions
military rule was the only form of government that
could be adopted until better assurance could be
obtained of the disposition of the people. To
carry out a military regime, it was calculated
that some ten million yen (five million dollars)
wciild be needed yearly. Out of this necessary
sum only three million yen could be obtained in
the island by taxation and from other sources of
revenue. The balance had to be defrayed by
the Imperial, that is by the Japanese, exchequer.
Now, in those years, an annual appropriation of
six or seven million yen, to be spent in an island
far from home, with no immediate prospect of
return, was a heavy burden for the rather limited
finances of Japan. We know how land values are
rising everywhere. Even in Africa, England had
to pay very much more than she expected she
Japan as Coloniser 239
would have to, in getting land in the south ; and I
think Italy has by this time found Tripoli rather
more expensive than she at first anticipated.. A
colony that looks at a distance like the goose that
lays the golden egg, on nearer approach, and
especially when you have to pay the bills, often
proves to be a white elephant. So among us,
impatient people, infatuated with gloire politique,
who had expected great things and great benefits
to come from Formosa, began to clamoiu* for
greater thrift, and some of the very best pub-
licists went even so far as to propose that the
island should be sold back to China or to some
other Power. To remedy this state of affairs, in
the course of some thirty months governors were
changed no less than three times.
The first Governor- General was Coimt Kaba-
yama, known as a hero of the Chino- Japanese
War; the second was no less a man than Prince
Katsura, of international fame as our Prime-
Minister during the war with Russia; and the
third was General Nogi, of Port Arthur renown.
Finding that the country could ill afford such
a luxury as a colony, the Parliament of Japan cut
down its appropriation of six or seven million
yen payable from the national treasury by about
one-third, thus reducing the subsidy to only four
millions. Now who wotdd accept a position
held by such a galaxy of talents, but now reduced
financially to two-thirds of its former prestige?
Only a man of imboimded resource, of keen per-
240 THe Japanese Nation
ception and quick decision — or else only a second
or third-rate man — ^would accept such a place.
Japan is forever to be congratulated on finding the
right man at the right time for the right place.
Viscoimt Kodama, who, as a member of the Gen-
eral Staff, had made a study of the Formosan prob-
lem, was ready to accept the governorship and the
task of putting to rights the bankrupt housekeep-
ing of the colony. I am afraid that this name, so
well known among us, is much less familiar in
America. Perhaps you can best remember it, if I
tell you that he was the real brains of the Russo-
Japanese War. In the choice of his assistant, the
civil governor, he made the discovery, as he called
it, of a man who proved himself a true right hand,
and who in efficiency actually exceeded his most
sanguine expectations. I refer to Baron Goto,
who in the last cabinet held the post of Minister of
Communications and was President of the Railway
Board. Until he was made civil governor of
Formosa imder Kodama, he had been known as
an expert on hygiene, having been a physician.
The advent of these two men in Formosa marked
a new era in our colonial administration. Upon
entering their new duties early in 1898, the first
thing they did was to bring about a practical sus-
pension of military rule; at least, it was made sub-
servient to civil administration. Military rule is
apt to become harsh, and to the Chinese especially,
who are not accustomed to respect the army, it is
doubly harsh.
Japan as Coloniser 241
Kodama and Goto, to whom English colonial
service was an inspiring example, surprised the
official world by a summary discharge of over one
thousand public servants of high and low degree.
They collected about them men known and tried
for their knowledge and integrity. They used
often to say: "It is the man who rules and not red
tape." In an old and well-settled country "red
tape*" may be convenient, but in a new colony
great latitude of power and initiative must be left
to individual men. I emphasise this point because
these men, I mean the Governor-General and the
civil governor, attributed their success largely to
the selection and use of right men.
When General Kodama went to Formosa, he
found brigandage still rampant, and with military
rule in abeyance there was some likelihood of its
becoming worse. To offset this, the constabiilary
department was organised and made efficient by
proper care in choosing men for the police and by
educating them in the rudiments of law and in-
dustries, to prepare them for their difficult and deli-
cate tasks. Exceedingly arduous are their callings,
for these policemen are required not only to repre-*
sent law and order but are expected to be teachers
as well. They keep account, for instance, of every
resident of the island, and they watch over every
man and woman who smokes opium; they must
become acquainted with children of school-age
and know which children go to school and which
do not. Our Formosan police are expected to
16 —
a^ TKe Japanese Nation
instruct the people how to take care of themselves,
especially in regard to pests and about disinfection.
They perform many duties that would scarcely
be required even of the Trooper Police of Australia.
They often live in villages where there are no
Japanese other than the members of their own
famines. Of course, they must know the Formosan
language and speak it.
Now, imder civil administration, armies Were
not mobiUsed against brigands, and if there was
any trouble, it was the policemen who had to go
cope with the situation. The brigands were first
invited to subject themselves to law, and if they
surrendered their arms, they were assured not only
of protection but of means of subsistence. Not a
few leaders took the hint and were given special
privileges. Those who resisted to the end were
necessarily treated as disturbers and as criminals.
Twelve years ago the brigands were so powerful
that the capital of Formosa, Taihoku (Taipeh),
was assaulted by them ; but in the last ten years we
have scarcely heard of them. I went to Taihoku
ten years ago, and, whenever I went a few miles out
of the city, half-a-dozen policemen armed with
rifles used to accompany me for my protection.
For the last five or six years a young girl could
travel unmolested from one end of the island to
the other — of course, outside of savage or abo-
riginal districts, of which I shall speak later.
Thus, what Li Hung-Chang said in the con-
ference of Shimonoseki turned out to be of little
Japan as Coloniser 243
consequence. According to him, brigandage was
something inherent in the social structure of For-
mosa. He said it was something that could not be
uprooted in the island; yet here is Formosa to-day
with not a trace of it. That is one of the first
things which was accomplished by Japan as a
coloniser.
Then, another great evil in the island, to which
Li Hung-Chang alluded, was the smoking of
opium. When the island was taken over, this
subject was much discussed by our people. Some
said opium-smoking must be summarily and
unconditionally abolished by law. Others said:
**No, no, let it alone; it is something from which
the Chinese cannot free themselves; let them
smoke and smoke themselves to death." What
took Baron Goto for the first time to Formosa was
the mission of studying this question from a medi-
cal standpoint, and the plan he drew up was for
the gradual suppression of the evil. The modus
operandi was the control of the production by the
Government; because, if the Government mono-
polises the production and manufacture of opium,
it can restrict the quantity as well as improve the
quality so as to make it less harmful. Smuggling
was watched and punished. A long list of all
those who were addicted to this habit was com-
piled, and only those who were confirmed smokers
were given permission to buy the drug. Children
and those who had never smoked were not
allowed to buy, much less to begin the use of,
244 THe Japanese Nation
opium, and strict surveillance was instituted by
the police, who, as I mentioned before, know
every man in the villages to which they are
appointed. The annual returns made of confirmed
smokers and of the quantity consumed in the
island, show a distinct and gradual decrease. In
1900 those addicted to the habit numbered in
round figures 170,000, or 6.3 per cent, of the
population. As the older smokers die off, younger
ones do not come to take their place ; so there is a
constant diminution. In five years the number
decreased to 130,000 or 3.5 per cent, of the popu-
lation. We think this is the only right way to
deal with this vice. It may interest you, perhaps,
to know that American commissioners from the
Philippine Islands came to study our system, and
that they expressed much satisfaction with its
results. Thus, the second evil which Li Hung-
Chang said was ineradicable in Formosa, has been
greatly weakened and seems destined to disappear.
What man has built up, man can destroy.
The artificial habit of opium-smoking can be
discouraged by law. But there are formidable
natural enemies which confront the sound eco-
nomic development of the island. I mean its sani-
tary disadvantages, especially some prevalent
forms of disease — above all, malaria and bubonic
plague and tropical dysentery.
What money and the spirit of enterprise have
undertaken has so often been largely nullified by a
small mosquito. There are no less than eight
Japan as Coloniser 245
kinds of Anopheles, responsible yearly for at least
twenty per cent, of all cases of sickness, many of
which end in death.
Chiefly owing, directly or indirectly, to malaria,
the population of Formosa has never been very
great. It appears that in pre-Japanese days, the
population of the island was recruited by immi-
grants from China. Only lately is the birth-rate
slowly showing a net increase over and above the
death-rate. The mortality from malaria has been
roughly estimated at three-and-a-half per thou-
sand of population. Among the Japanese, this
rate is diminishing, but not among the Chinese.
The fact that new-comers from Japan are so easily
attacked, is the greatest drawback to colonising the
island. Sugar-mills, for want of sufficient labour,
have imported Japanese; but usually one-third of
them cannot be depended upon — that is to say,
the efficiency of labour maybe said to be diminished
by one-third on account of malaria. When I
went to Panama last winter, nothing commanded
my respect for the American work conducted there
more than Colonel Goethals's system of sanitation.
As I meditated upon the careful detail of medical
supervision in the Canal Zone, I natiurally com-
pared the results with the situation in Formosa,
and thought if we could afford to spend as much
money as the Canal Commission does, if Taiwan
were smaller in size, if it could be brought imder
military administration, and if there were no rice-
fields — then we[might succeed better in our crusade
246 THe Japanese Nation
against the insect. Even under present conditions
every effort is made to drive out malaria; and in
the meantime an army of scientists is advancing
against the Anopheles in biological, physiological,
and chemical columns, with clearly visible results.
In the barracks outside of Taihoku, there is little
malaria. In the town itself, the improved drain-
age — a sewerage system having been constructed
of the stones of which, in Chinese days, the city
walls were built — has evidently contributed toward
the same end. So, also, has the good water supply,
which has taken the place of wells and cisterns.
Then, too, new building regulations enforce better
ventilation and access to sunlight. In the prin-
cipal cities, large portions of the town have been
entirely rebuilt. I have heard it said by medical
men that if the Japanese coming to Taiwan make
their domicile in the capital (Taihoku) and remain
there, they are quite free from malaria. Other
cities, notably Taingtn in the south, are making
sanitary improvements, so that they will probably
show a similar immunity within a few years. As
for the island at large, owing to the fact that
irrigation is the very life of rice-culture, there
are necessarily unlimited breeding-places for mos-
quitoes. Consequently, general hygienic progress,
such as Dr. Boyce describes with just pride in
writing of the West Indies, will not be so easy to
accomplish in Formosa.
Smallpox and cholera have been practically
eliminated from the list of prevalent diseases.
Japan as Coloniser 247
With the bubonic plague, the Government has had
a pretty hard fight. Dr. Takaki, who has been
chief of sanitation for some years, has devoted his
energy and scientific knowledge to the eradication
of it by every possible means, so that there has
been a steady and regular decrease of pest since
1906.
To give an idea of the decline and fall of the
sway of the Black Death, I will state in round
numbers the death-rates for the following years :
1905 4>5oo
1906 3,350
1907 3.250
1908 2,700
1909 1.300
1910 1,030
191 1 20
Though we still suffer from its sporadic appear-
ance, we have every promise of its near extinction.
At present, the most troublesome disease is trop-
ical dysentery, which, if not usually fatal, is ex-
tremely persistent and enervating.
Allow me to insert here a remark about the
rinderpest. Some ten years ago, its ravages were
so great that we feared we might lose all our water
buffaloes and bullocks ; but, thanks to vigilance and
inoculation, we have for the last five years .been
having only a few hundred deaths annually,
whereas they used to be counted by thousands.
34^ THe Japanese Nation
Thus the third great impediment which Li
Hung-Chang thought would prohibit progress in
Taiwaji is being steadily overcome, and now I
reach the fourth and last obstruction, — ^namely
the presence of head-hunting tribes, allied to the
head-hunters of Borneo made familiar by the pen
of Professor Haddon. These Malay people are
the oldest known inhabitants of the island. That
they are not autochthonous is evident from the
tradition, current among many tribes, that their an-
cestors arrived in a boat from some distant quar-
ter. At present they number about one hundred
and fifteen thousand. They are in a very primitive
state of social life. The only art with which they
are acquainted is agriculture, and that of a very
rude sort — ^what in Europe is called spade-culture,
or what scientific men dub "Hack-Kultur"
(hoe culture), as opposed to agriculture proper, — a
kind of farming which Mr. Morgan in his Primi-
live Society first explained as a precursor of real
agriculture, in which the plough is used. They
raise upland rice, millet, peas, beans, and some
common vegetables, such as pumpkins and rad-
ishes. They do not know the art of fertilising
land, and they look upon manuring as an act of
contamination.
They have scarcely any clothing; a few tribes
wear none. Their houses are usually built of
wood and bamboo and are roofed with slate or
straw. Scrupulously clean in their personal habits,
bathing frequently, they keep their huts very
Japan as Coloniser 249
neat. In character, they are brave and fierce
wlien roused to ire ; otherwise, friendly and child-
like. They must have occupied the alluvial
plains of the coast in years gone by, but were
driven upward by the Chinese immigrants, Hakkas
and Haklos,*until they now dwell among almost
inaccessible heights.
What concerns us most nearly in their manner
of life, is their much venerated custom of conse-
crating any auspicious occasion by obtaining a
human head. If there is a wedding in prospect,
the young man cannot marry unless he brings in
a head, and the susceptibility of the human heart
being much the same in savagery as in civilisation,
this is a tremendous spur to head-himting. A
funeral cannot be observed without a head.
Indeed all celebrations of any importance must be
graced with it. Where a bouquet would be used
by you, a grim human head, freshly cut, is the
essential decoration at their banquet. More-
over, a man's courage is tested by the number of
heads he takes, and respect for him grows with his
achievements. Thus the gruesome objects adorn
the so-called skull-shelf, for the same reason that
lions* and stags' heads are the pride of a gentle-
man's hall. One sometimes comes across a hut,
near which is placed a tier of shelves ornamented
with heads in all stages of decay — the trophies of
some brave head-hunter !
The district where they roam is marked off by
outposts, which I shall soon describe. Like the
250 TKe Japanese Nation
"Forbidden Territory" or boma in British East
Africa, no one is allowed to enter the "Savage
Boundary" without permit from the authorities.
The importance of this decree will be obvious if I
state that its area covers more than half of the
island, and when the savages want a htad, they steal
down, hide themselves among the underbrush or
among the branches of trees, and shoot the first
unlucky man who passes by. I was told of one sav-
age who had his rifle so placed on a support that
he could shoot any person who happened to walk
past a certain fixed distance and at a certain
height. There he waited for days for somebody
to come within range ; and he succeeded in getting
a head ! With such people it is practically impos-
sible to do anything. We have made repeated
attempts to subjugate them; but so far we have
not succeeded in doing as much damage to them as
they have done to us.
During Chinese ascendency the Government
built a line of military posts, somewhat like the
irocha, of which one still sees remains in Cuba.
But after we had tried different methods, we came
at last to the use of electrically charged wire fences.
At a safe distance from savage assaults, generally
along the ridge of mountain ranges, posts about
five feet high are planted at intervals of six or seven
feet, and on them are strung four strong wires.
On each side of the fence a space of some thirty
feet or so is cleared of brush, so that any one
approaching may be detected at once. All along
Japan as Coloniser 251
the fence are block-houses, perhaps three, four or
five in a mile, guarded by armed sentinels (usually
Chinese trained as police), who are semi-volun-
teers. The most important feature of the fence
is that the lowest wire has a strong electric current
running through it. Such a wire fence stretches a
distance of some three hundred miles. It costs
thousands of dollars to keep it in order; yet every
year we extend some miles farther into the savage
district, so that their dominion is being more and
more restricted to the tops of the mountains.
When they are practically caged, we make over-
tures to them. We say, *'If you come down and
don't indulge in head-hunting, we will welcome
you as brothers," — because they are brothers.
These Malay tribes resemble the Japanese more
than they do the Chinese, and they themselves
say of the Japanese that we are their kin and
that the Chinese are their enemies. Because the
Chinese wear queues, they think that their heads
are especially made to be hunted. And now every
year, as I say, we are getting better control over
them by constantly advancing the fence, and
owing to the fact that they are in want of salt, cut
off as they are from the sea. Then we say, "We
will give you salt if you will come down and give up
your weapons.'* Thus tribe after tribe has recog-
nised our power through the instrumentality of
salt, and has submitted itself to Japanese rule.
Here I may say, to the credit of these primitive
men, that when once their promise of good be-
252 THe Japanese Nation
haviour is made, it is kept. When they submit
themselves, we build them houses, give them
agricultural tools and implements, give them
land, and let them continue their means of live-
lihood in peace.
Thus I have dwelt in a very sketchy manner
on the four points to which Li Hung-Chang, in
the conference at Shimonoseki, alluded as great
obstacles in the way of governing Formosa. What,
now, is the result? At first we could not manage
the colony with the money that we could raise in
the island ; every year we had to get some subsidy
from the national treasury. It was thought
that such a subsidy would be necessary un-
til 1 910. But by the development of Formosan
industries — the better cultivation of rice, the im-
proved production of Oolong tea, for which you
are the best customer, the control of the camphor
industry (for nearly all the camphor that you use,
if not artificial, is produced in Formosa), the suc-
cessful encouragement of cane culture, which has
increased the output of sugar sixfold in the last ten
years — by developing these industries, we can get
money enough in the island to do all the work
that is needed to be done there. An accurate
cadastral survey made landed property secure,
enhanced its value, and added indirectly to its tax-
paying capacity. The consumption tax placed on
sugar alone brings in more than one-third of the
public revenue. The growth of Formosa's foreign
trade has been such that the customs now return
Japan as Coloniser 253
no mean sum. The administration of the Island
has been so successful that it attained financial
independence two years before the expiration of
the term fixed for it.
There still remains much to be done. Irrigation
work, for instance, is being carried out on a large
scale. Then, there is the improvement of the
harbours. Both in the north, at Kelung, and in
the south, at Takao, commodious and deep har-
bours are now being constructed or improved. We
have built a railroad from one end of the island
to the other, but there is demand for further ex-
tention. Schools and hospitals are to be met with
in every village and town, but more are needed.
In all these things we think that we have succeeded
quite well, especially when we compare our colony
of Formosa with the experiments that other nations
are making.
In giving this very rough sketch, I have only
tried to show the general Hnes of policy pursued in
the development of Formosa. Though the colony
was at first thought to be a luxury, it is now a
necessity to us. And the example that we have
set for ourselves will be followed in our other
colonies.
I may say that the general principle of our colo-
nial policy in Formosa was, first of all, the defence
of the island. Much is said about our increased
navy. Some people in America think that we are
enlarging our navy prompted by a dubious motive ;
but with the acquisition of Formosa, of the island
254 THe Japanese Nation
of Saghalien, and of Korea, our coast -line has been
greatly increased, and still the augmentation of
our fleet is not sufficient for the proper defence
of all our shores.
The second principle is the protection of prop-
erty and life, and the dissemination of legal in-
stitutions — the rudimentary functions of a well
ordered state. People unaccustomed to the pro-
tection of law feel as though it were despotism.
But they will soon find that, after all, good govern-
ment and good laws are the safeguard of social
well-being, and we have to teach in Korea as well
as in Formosa, what government is and what laws
are.
You read now and then in the newspapers of
arrests in Korea, and forthwith Japan is charged
with being a cruel master. Let the world remem-
ber that a change of masters is rarely made without
friction. It takes some time for a people to know
that a jural state means enforcement of justice,
and that this does not imply encroachment upon
personal liberty, which under the old regime
Korean courtiers identified with royal favour.
Without law, no real liberty is conceivable, and
lawlessness must suffer its own consequences.
Then the third point is the protection of health.
I have spoken to you of what we have done in
Formosa. A similar policy will be pursued in
Korea. In an interview with Prince Ito in Seoul,
when I said that the population in Korea had not
increased in the last hundred years and that per-
Japan as Coloniser 255
haps the Korean race was destined to disappear,
he replied: "Well, I am not sure. I wish to see
whether good laws will increase the fecundity of
the Korean people.'*
The fourth consideration is the encouragement
of industries and means of communication. In
Formosa we have seen how much the Government
has done to improve the quality as well as the
quantity of rice, salt, camphor, and sugar. Nearly
all the improvements in these industries have
been initiated or suggested by the Government.
As to means of communication, the prefectures vie
with each other in building new roads or in making
old ones better.
The fifth point in our policy is that of educa-
tion. In Formosa we have just reached the stage
where we are taking up educational problems seri-
ously. We could not do it sooner, because our
idea was first of all to give to our new fellow-sub-
jects something that would satisfy their hunger
and thirst ; their bodies had to be nourished before
their minds. Now that economic conditions are
so much better, schools are being started in all the
villages.
These, then, are some of the broad lines of
colonial policy which we have practised with good
results in Taiwan, and which will be carried out in
Chosen. In writing of the Japanese rule in For-
mosa, Mr. MacKay, the British consul there, con-
cludes his article by expressing two doubts: one
in regard to the commingling of races, Japanese
256 TKe Japanese Nation
and Formosans; the other, in regard to the Jap-
anisation of the Formosans. He seems to doubt
whether either will take place. As far as the
Japanese are concerned, they do not trouble
themselves about these questions, any more than
do the English in their colonies. I think assimi-
lation will be found easier in Korea, for the reason
that the Korean race is very much allied to our
own. In Formosa, assimilation will be out of the
question for long years to come, and we shall not
try to force it. We put no pressure upon the
people to effect assimilation or Japanisation.. Our
idea is to provide a Japanese milieu, so to speak,
and if the Formosans adapt themselves to our
ways of their own accord, well and good. Social
usages must not be laid upon an unwilling people.
An ancient saying has it : " He who flees must not be
pursued, but he who comes must not be repulsed."
If the Formosans or the Koreans approach us in
customs and manners, we will not repulse them.
We will receive them with open arms and we
will hold them as our brothers; but if they do
not desire to adopt our way of living, we will not
pursue them. We leave their customs and man-
ners just as they are disposed to have them, as
long as they are law-abiding.
Our principle is
firmness in government and freedom in society.
Firmness in government is something which they
did not have before, and that is what we offer to
them. If they look upon it as they used to look
upon cx)urt intrigue and family vendetta, they
Japan as Coloniser 257
must leam at their own cost what modem nomoc-
racy means. At the same time, Japan must know
that the secret of colonial success is justice sea-
soned with mercy. Should she fail to recognise
this ancient truth, she will but add another illus-
tration of the poet's words cited at the beginning
of this chapter.
n
