ments published in the Japanese press that the two Western powers are in hearty accord with and prepared to back the Japanese policy; and any reversal in their present attitude will be bitterly resented. In this connection it should be remembered that Japanese policy as it now appears to Americans is very different from the idea obtaining in Japan. Of course, Japanese statesmen know the real facts; but a wide intellectual gulf separates the oligarchy from the people. It may be that Japanese statesmen hope to get British and American investors so deeply involved that they will be impelled by their own interests to keep Japan financially afloat; and that this will also operate against a possible revulsion of Western popular sentiment.
On the whole, I cannot see a very flattering future for Japan in this showing. And if there are important facts and circumstances of opposite tendency I have been unable to discover them. One hears much optimistic talk, but probe it a bit for facts and it evaporates. It is clear that no matter what may be the details of Japan's real designs and ambitions, no one expects that one of their features will be military retrenchment. Quite the contrary is anticipated. One of the effects of the war is to eliminate Russia temporarily as a naval factor in the Pacific, and the fact that this is not assumed to imply a relaxation of Japan's energy in naval matters throws a beam of light upon her intentions. A new and more powerful navy is contemplated. For what! Success is a great stimulant,
