became larger by fully one-half. Further, in 1882,
another expansion of armaments was effected in obedience to an
Imperial decree, so that when war with China broke out in 1894, Japan
possessed an available force of seven divisions (including the
guards), and these, raised to a war-footing, represented about
150,000 men. She had already learned that, however civilized the
Occident might claim to be, all the great States of the West depended
mainly on military and naval force, and that only by a demonstration
of that force could international respect be won.

Of course, this creed was not publicly proclaimed. Firmly as Japanese
statesmen believed it, they could not confess their conviction openly
in the Diet, and therefore much difficulty was experienced in
inducing the two houses to endorse the Government's scheme of
increased armaments. Indeed, the subject came to be a frequent topic
of discussion between the Cabinet and the House of Representatives,
and in the end Japan was obliged to go into war against China without
a single line-of-battle ship, though her adversary possessed two.
Nevertheless, the Island Empire emerged signally victorious.

It might have been supposed that she would then rest content with the
assurance of safety her prowess had won. But, in the immediate sequel
of the war, three of the great European powers, Russia, Germany, and
France, joined hands to deprive Japan of the fruits of her victory by
calling upon her to vacate the southern littoral of Manchuria from
the mouth of the Yalu to the Liaotung peninsula. Japan thus acquired
the conviction that her successes against China were not estimated by
Western States as any great evidence of belligerent power, and that
it would be necessary for her to fight again if she hoped to win any
considerable measure of international respect. Prince Ito, then prime
minister, keenly appreciated this necessity. He invited the Diet to
vote for a substantial increment of land and sea forces, and after
much opposition in the House of Representatives, funds were obtained
for raising the army to thirteen divisions and for an increase of the
navy which will be by and by spoken of.

The wisdom of these measures found full justification, in 1904, when
swords had to be crossed with Russia. After that war, which raised
Japan to a leading place among the nations, the old problem came up
again for solution. Once more the Elder Statesmen--as the Meiji
leaders were called--