ntervention of 1895,
it must not be forgotten that just as the Japanese navy is the child of
the British navy, so is the Japanese army the child of the German
army--and that Japanese army chiefs largely control Japan. These men
were averse from "spoiling their army" in a contest which did not
interest them. There was also the feeling abroad that England by
calling upon her Ally to carry out the essential provisions of her
Alliance had shown that she had the better part of a bargain, and that
she was exploiting an old advantage in a way which could not fail to
react adversely on Japan's future world's relationships. Furthermore, it
is necessary to underline the fact that official Japan was displeased by
the tacit support an uninterested British Foreign Office had
consistently given to the Yuan Shih-kai regime. That the Chinese
experiment was looked upon in England more with amusement than with
concern irritated the Japanese--more particularly as the British Foreign
Office was issuing in the form of White Papers documents covering Yuan
Shih-kai's public declarations as if they were contributions to
contemporary history. Thus in the preceding year (1913) under the
nomenclature of "affairs in China" the text of a _dementi_ regarding the
President of China's Imperial aspirations had been published,--a
document which Japanese had classified as a studied lie, and as an act
of presumption because its working showed that its author intended to
keep his back turned on Japan. The Dictator had declared:--

... From my student days, I, Yuan Shih-kai, have admired the
example of the Emperors Yao and Shun, who treated the empire as a
public trust, and considered that the record of a dynasty in history
for good or ill is inseparably bound up with the public spirit or
self-seeking by which it has been animated. On attaining middle age
I grew more familiar with foreign affairs, was struck by the
admirable republican system in France and America, and felt that
they were a true embodiment of the democratic precepts of the
ancients. When last year the patriotic crusade started in Wuchang
its echoes went forth into all the provinces, with the result that
this ancient nation with its 2,000 years of despotism adopted with
one bound the republican system of government.

It was my good fortune to see this glorious day at my life's late
eve; I cherished the hope that I might dwell in the se