i, since the conscription law had not yet produced any
trustworthy soldiers. He therefore voted to draw the sword at once,
and in this he obtained the support of several influential men who
burned to avenge the nation's disgrace. On the other hand, those in
favour of peace insisted that the country must not venture to engage
in a foreign war during the era of radical transition.
The discussion was carried to the Emperor's presence; the peace-party
prevailed, and Saigo with three other Cabinet ministers resigned. One
of the seceders, Eto Shimpei, had recourse to arms, but was speedily
crushed. Another, Itagaki Taisuke, from that moment stood forth as
the champion of representative institutions. The third, the most
prominent of all, Saigo Takamori, retired to Satsuma and devoted
himself to organizing and equipping a strong body of samurai. It is
not by any means clear that, in thus acting, Saigo had any
revolutionary intention. Posterity agrees in thinking that he sought
to exercise control rather than to inspire revolt. He had the support
of Shimazu Saburo (Hisamitsu), former feudatory of Satsuma, who,
although a reformer, resented a wholesale abandonment of Japanese
customs in favour of foreign. The province of Satsuma thus became a
seed-plot of conservative influences, where "Saigo and his constantly
augmenting band of samurai found a congenial environment." On the one
hand, the Central Government steadily proceeded with the organization
of a conscript army, teaching it foreign tactics and equipping it
with foreign arms. On the other, the southern clan cherished its band
of samurai, arming them with the rifle and drilling them in the
manner of Europe, but leaving them always in possession of the
samurai's sword.
ENGRAVING: IWAKURA TOMOYOSHI
THE FORMOSAN EXPEDITION
Before these curious conditions bore any practical fruit, Japan found
it necessary to send a military expedition to Formosa. That island
was claimed as part of China's domains, but it was not administered
by her effectively, and its inhabitants showed great barbarity in
their treatment of castaways from the Ryukyu, or Loochoo, Islands.
The Chinese Government's plain function was to punish these acts of
cruelty, but as the Peking statesmen showed no disposition to
discharge their duty in that respect, Japan took the law into her own
hands. A double purpose was thus served. For the expedition to
Formosa furnished employment for the Satsuma samurai, and
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