rge of God"; in
France the "yellow peril"--a phrase really made in Germany--was
seriously debated; while Russia many times sought sympathy from the
Christian world on the ground that she was fighting the white man's
battle against paganism. Solitary in her preference for the Japanese,
expressed in the form of an astute and fortunate alliance, England
gloried when her Oriental ally revealed the weakness of the vaunted
power of the north that had dared to cast covetous eyes at India. All
these nations hold Asiatic possessions, each has aspired to have a say
in Chinese affairs, and each confesses to having a panacea for the
innumerable ills of the Celestial Empire--each is hungry, likewise, to
extend her trade with the awakening Orient.

Japan intruded, and deranged the plans of all and sundry for rousing
China to a realization of her greatness; and in all human probability
Japan will do for herself what several European powers wanted to do for
Asia. Japan can always justify her claim that she was driven to war to
preserve her national existence, by pointing to her rapidly-increasing
population, existing in an archipelago incapable of producing food for
even two thirds of her people, since every possibility of obtaining a
foothold on the adjacent continent had been cut off by self-imposed
Russian rule. There was no room for expansion, that was clear.

When Japan shattered the strength of Russia she gained many coveted
advantages. One of these was the opportunity to commercialize
neighboring Korea, a goodly section of Manchuria, and practically the
whole of China--enough to recoup the war's outlay; and once entered
upon, why not perfect and extend the enterprise wherever she might,
thereby providing occupation for her increasing millions of people?

For a long time to come Japan will remain conspicuously in the public
eye, but her achievements and victories hereafter are to be those of
peace. Her scheme for national betterment, already well under way, is as
thoughtfully prepared as was her war program. The Mikado's people
emerged from the Russian conflict with energies enormously aroused, and
a few months later every condition was favorable to a realization of the
dream of empire giving to Japan an importance amounting almost to
sovereignty over a vast section of the Far East. The new treaty with
Great Britain, which Germans claimed to be anything but altruistic, is
having a steadying influence on the policy of the Tokyo