Part 15

It was in 1885 that Count Ito, as he had now become, by the favour of the sovereign, under the provisions of the law creating a Peerage, formed his first Cabinet, in accordance with the resolution arrived at, by the Emperor in Council, to introduce this vital change of system in respect of the political organisation of the Empire. The Supreme Council of the nation thenceforward became composed of the heads of the various departments of State, with a Minister-president at its head. The Count, as in duty bound, took his place as the first to occupy the presidential office, and around him were grouped the foremost men of his party, in which the Sat-Cho element as it was termed, predominated. Sat-Cho is a compound word evolved from the names of the two great clans of the south, Satsuma and Choshiu. The first syllables are seen to be united in the compound, a term which has for many years been employed in Japan to signify the ascendency enjoyed in the political affairs of the New Japan by the representatives of the two clans indicated. Satsuma and Choshiu have always, under the later regime, shone conspicuously in the annals of the navy and the army having been the pioneers in the introduction of modern naval and military science. The Ministers who formed the First Cabinet of Japan were:—

Count Ito Hirobumi: Minister-President. Count Inouye Kaoru: Foreign Minister. Marshal Yamagata: Home do. Count Matsukata: Finance do. Marshal Oyama: War do. Marquis Saigo (late): Navy do. Viscount Mori (late): Education do. Admiral Enomoto: Communications do.

The Privy Council, of which the special function is to advise the sovereign whenever it may be his pleasure to consult it, was established in 1888, and Count Ito became its first president, having resigned his post of Minister-president of State to take up this more important office. The expression is used advisedly, because in Japan, where the prerogatives of the sovereign place him nearly on a level with those rulers whose sway is absolute and autocratic, the Privy Council occupies a position of responsibility that is not shared even by the Cabinet, in those crises that must at times occur in the life of a nation. To the Privy Council in Japan belong all those surviving Elder Statesmen, as they are with fitting respect designated, who have helped to make of Japan the marvellous success as a world power that she has become. In the formation of the Japanese Privy Council we may trace a close resemblance to that body which discharges somewhat similar functions in Great Britain. The original idea was not improbably imbibed by Count Ito during his study of European systems of Government, but in Japan the plan is extended to admit of the adoption of an ever-widening field of selection. The Emperor may summon whom he may think fit among his people to aid him in his deliberations, and in his wise choice of counsellors he has been guided by the evidence afforded of sterling ability or rare virtue rather than by affluence or the world’s esteem. The Privy Council may boast a membership exclusively of patriots, proved in the fire, men who have in reality sought above all things their country’s welfare, the advancement of their ruler’s legitimate interests and the maintenance of his rights and prerogatives unimpaired. He is able as a result to invest them with his complete confidence in the hour of trial. It was to the Privy Council that was entrusted the solemn duty of finally deliberating upon the draft to be submitted to the Emperor of the new Constitution, prior to its adoption in February 1889, and it is obvious from the character of its members that in this body his Majesty has been able to repose the utmost confidence at critical periods in the life of the nation.

The first Ito Cabinet remained in office until 1888, and when it was replaced by a Ministry of which Count Kuroda was the President, Count Ito at the express command of the sovereign, continued to retain office as a Cabinet Minister, but without holding any portfolio. In 1892 he again formed a Cabinet of which he was the Premier, and this lasted four years, through all the storm and stress of the war with China, in 1894-5, only in the year following going out of office on the conclusion of peace. In April 1895, occurred the famous meeting at Shimonoseki to arrange the terms for a cessation of hostilities, when Japan was represented by Count Ito Hirobumi and China by Earl Li Hung-chang. The document as eventually drawn up is too long for quotation in its entirety, but in its main provisions it covered a wide field, the opportunity being seized by Japan to insist on the opening of additional ports in China to foreign trade, a service to the rest of the world which has perhaps been less appreciated than Japan had a right to expect at the time. Under this treaty of peace China definitely recognised the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea and agreed to the cessation of ceremonies and formalities and the payment of tribute derogatory to such independence. China ceded to Japan in perpetuity and full sovereignty the following territories, together with all fortifications, arsenals, and public property thereon:—

(_a_) That part of the province of Feng-tien (Southern Manchuria), south of a line drawn from the mouth of the Yalu upstream to the mouth of the An-ping, thence to Feng-hwang-cheng and on to Hai-cheng, thence to Ying-kow (Newchwang) including the towns and places named.

(_b_) The island of Formosa, and adjacent islets appertaining thereto.

(_c_) The Pescadores group, that is to say all islands between longitude 119° and 120° E. and between 23° and 24° N. latitude.

The indemnity was fixed at 200,000,000 taels, payable in eight instalments. Wei-hai-wei was to remain in the occupation of the Japanese forces as a guarantee of the faithful performance of the stipulations of the agreement.

In the Liao-tung Convention signed at Peking on behalf of their respective countries by Baron Hayashi Tadasu and Earl Li on the 8th November 1895, the Third article of the Shimonoseki Treaty was abrogated, and a sum of 30,000,000 taels added to the monetary indemnity.

Mention has here been made of the boundaries in Liaotung province of the region which was to have become part of the Japanese Emperor’s dominions. Had that bargain been carried out Russia, who had long before fixed her gaze upon the fortress of Port Arthur, would have had to abandon the hope of ever acquiring the coveted spot, and accordingly with the view of preventing its transfer to Japan she thought fit to address to the Government of Tokio, with the consent and approval of France and Germany, the subjoined remonstrance:—

“The Government of his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, in examining the conditions of peace which Japan has imposed on China, finds that the possession of the peninsula of Liao-tung, claimed by Japan, would be a constant menace to the capital of China, would at the same time render illusory the independence of Korea, and would henceforth be a perpetual obstacle to the permanent peace of the Far East. Consequently, the Government of his Majesty the Emperor would give a new proof of their sincere friendship for the Government of his Majesty the Emperor of Japan by advising them to renounce the definitive possession of the peninsula of Liao-tung.”

As Minister-President of State it fell to the lot of Count Ito, on the receipt of this historic document, to advise his Japanese Majesty to comply with the recommendation therein set forth, and to incur all the odium that attached in Japan itself to what was looked upon by the less thoughtful of the population as an abject surrender to the aggressive European Powers which were leagued in an unholy intrigue to deprive Japan of the legitimate fruits of her victory over China. For a time Count Ito went in danger of his life, for there are not rarely to be found those in Japan who are willing to regard themselves as the appointed agents of the gods for the punishment of what they deem to be an indignity brought upon the nation, no matter what the circumstances may have been. But that the Minister went well guarded at the express command of his sovereign in these days of uncommon excitement he might have shared the fate of other true patriots whose history is briefly recorded in this volume.

By his imperial master the Minister-president of the day, however, was throughout praised for the part which he took in respect of the war and of the settlement reached on its conclusion, and a signal mark of his Majesty’s favour was given in the statesman’s elevation to the rank of Marquis in connection with these notable events.

In 1897 Marquis Ito visited Great Britain for the fourth time, the occasion being the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The representative of the Ten-shi was Admiral his Royal Highness the Prince Arisugawa, so well known in the British Navy, he having served his apprenticeship to the sea in H.M.S. _Iron Duke_, after a course of education at Greenwich Naval College. Marquis Ito was for some weeks in London in the summer of that year, and paid a fifth visit to this country in 1900, to which reference will be made later on.

In the year 1898 the Marquis headed a ministry which included:—

Count Inouye: Finance Minister. Baron Nishi: Foreign do. Viscount Yoshikawa: Home do. General Katsura: War do. Marquis Saionji: Education do. and the late Marquis Saigo: Minister for the Navy.

In 1900 he took office for the fourth time as Minister-president, with Baron Suyematsu, so well known in Europe of recent years for his contributions to the literature of the day and for his reasoned and fearless championship of his country’s cause on the lecture platform and elsewhere, as the Minister of the Interior. In this Cabinet was Mr Takaaki Kato, formerly Japan’s representative at the Court of St James, who held the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, General Viscount Katsura, now Premier, was Minister for War, and Admiral Baron Yamamoto was Minister for the Navy, a position which he occupied under successive administrations, from 1899 until January 1906.

In 1900 Marquis Ito associated himself with the doctrines of party government, and an immense step was taken in that direction by the formation of a political body named the Sei-Yu-kai, pledged to the adoption and support of Constitutional methods. His views on the duty of a political party were set forth in a manifesto at the time and may with advantage be introduced here:—

“If a political party aims, as it should aim, at being a guide to the people, it must first commence with the maintenance of strict discipline and order in its own ranks, and above all must shape its own conduct in accordance with an absolute and sincere devotion to the public interests of the nation. It must, moreover, avoid falling into the fatal mistake of conferring posts on persons of doubtful qualifications merely because they happen to be members of its own political organisation.”

It is probable that when this Association was formed its founder intended that it should be a party of such wide scope that it would embrace all the then contending factions, and that thus while seeking to promote the principles of party government it would at the same time do away with the friction that was so much to be deplored. Nominally it did unite the factions under one leadership, but, sad to say, the friction in great part remained, and dissension was still rife within the party, to the manifest impairment of its capabilities for the attainment of the general weal. By Marquis Ito it has always been claimed that the Constitution was not a matter of agreement between the sovereign and his subjects, but a magnanimous grant of privileges to them by the Emperor purely on his own initiative, and it is not for the people, therefore, to question any of its provisions. Its sole aim, regarded from this lofty standpoint, is the substantial progress and well-being of the country, and it was because the leaders of political parties became too eager in their strife for the possession of power, to the detriment of their usefulness as regarded the advancement of the nation, that the idea of forming the Sei-yu-kai arose in the first place. Marquis Ito in former years was stoutly opposed to the theory of party government, and though he headed the association with which he was for two or three years closely identified, it may be held with some show of reason, perhaps, that he was never entirely enamoured of the system, for he has often alluded to the mischief which the friction inseparable from party rule is apt to create as altogether regrettable, and calling for the introduction of some form of administration of the country’s affairs that should be free from the drawbacks which he recognises and deplores. Marquis Ito, in truth, assents to the proposition that party government has its advantages as well as its disadvantages, but he is by no means a whole-souled convert to the doctrine that it is the best that could be devised for Japan. He aims at something higher and nobler, and though he is prepared at all times to admit that excellent work has been done in the thirty-eight years of his present Majesty’s reign, he would ascribe the national progress to the circumstance that the people have acted together under the guidance of the Imperial Oath, taken at the beginning of the Mei-ji era, when the present ruler ascended the throne, in which it was proclaimed that “a deliberative assembly should be formed; that the uncivilised customs of former times should be abandoned; that the impartiality and justice displayed in the workings of nature should be adopted as a basis of action; and that learning should be sought throughout the world in order that the foundation of the Empire should be firmly established.” There has never been discernible any slackening of the marvellous energy with which Japan entered upon the quest of those most commendable objects, and the only tendency towards reaction that the most uncharitably disposed of critics has been able to discover was in reality nothing more than a desire, and that most temperately and dispassionately expressed, for the preservation of the national spirit, at a moment when it appeared to be in some danger of undergoing temporary eclipse. In Europe constitutional government has been the growth of centuries, but to Japan it is still comparatively new. Even in the West the personal element is by no means obliterated, and it is unlikely that Japanese politicians would be found wholly capable of eliminating that element and of giving to the world an example of a perfect civilisation in which individual ambitions and the jealousies of cliques should become completely subordinated to love of country and zeal for public welfare. Nevertheless much has been accomplished in the direction of the elevation of political life to a high standard of purity, far above the sordid and despicable strivings for place and power that too often disgrace those countries of the Occident which ought to be foremost in setting the despised Orient a good example. It is a wise provision of the Japanese Constitution, if we may judge by results, that renders it impossible for the Cabinet to be affected by an adverse vote in Parliament, the appointment or dismissal of Ministers remaining the sole prerogative of the sovereign, as when once a Ministry has been invested with the imperial authority to perform its functions it holds a place removed from interference by party considerations with its deliberations, and from any unwarrantable intrusion, by even the members of its own side in the Diet, upon its complete privacy and abstraction from political concerns during its discharge of its duties to the State. There may be those in Europe who will yearn for the freedom which the observance of such a rule as this implies, and will be prone to regard the Japanese as a people who have found a way to improve upon the systems which served them to some extent as models for their modernised institutions.

It was the little rift within the lute caused by the inability of some of its members to see eye to eye with Marquis Ito that ultimately brought about the fall of the last Ito Cabinet, which was in office from October 1900, to May 1901, and then received his Majesty’s permission to dissolve itself, the Minister-president announcing his intention of retiring from political life, a resolution which was strenuously combated by all his adherents, who besought him to reconsider his decision. On the plea that his health would be the better for a sea voyage, however, the Marquis contrived to secure that rest from the cares of statesmanship which he had fairly earned, and he came to Europe once more at the close of the year, arriving in London on Christmas Day 1901, for a brief stay in the British metropolis which, as he observed, he had first visited as long ago as the year 1863. On this occasion his object was to gather information and ideas, as he declared, and his tour was devoid of all political significance. The journey from capital to capital in the Occident was not, however, undertaken exclusively, it was thought, for pleasure, nor was it believed in a general way that the veteran statesman had travelled many thousands of miles without having an adequate purpose, though he chose not to disclose it. His wishes were respected, and during his sojourn in London, though he was the guest of the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House, and was received in audience by King Edward at Marlborough House, it was accepted as sufficient that he had, as it was described, come to England for purposes of private study, though necessarily the knowledge that he sought to acquire could not fail to be of service eventually to Japan, on account of the prominent position which the Marquis has of late years continuously occupied in his own land. The Lord Mayor in a felicitous speech (3rd January 1901), gave utterance to British opinion at large when he declared that the career of his guest had been one almost unequalled in truth, and indeed in fiction. “The incidents of that career,” said the Lord Mayor (Sir Joseph Dimsdale), “do not only represent the achievements of a great character, of a wonderful brain, an indomitable will and public spirit: but they have carried with them from year to year the destinies of an empire which it is hardly too much to say has been created in a few decades. Whether we look to the growth of civilisation, the increase of political and commercial relations, the spread of science, or the establishment of constitutional freedom, we are amazed at the almost fabulous progress of Japan in the last forty years. The promotion of all that may be placed to the credit of our honoured guest.” The marquis spoke in his own language in making his reply, the following translation being given there and then by his travelling companion Mr Tsudzuki:—

“In thanking you for the high honour done me, and for the eulogy of my country, I regret that I do not feel entitled to the praise that has been showered upon me. The progress of Japan in the past is entirely due to the powerful guidance of her sovereign and the loyal patriotism of her people. All that I have done for my country does not exceed the limits of having served as one of the links in the harmonious co-operation of advancing civilisation. I am unworthy of the high opinion which his lordship has been good enough to express of me. I think it may not be out of place to give expression to my profound satisfaction at the cordial relations which have existed for nearly a century between England and Japan. It was the English people who were the first to come to our shores as the harbingers of civilisation. Who could compute now the number of Japanese who speak the English language or the closeness of the relations which now exist? I was one of the first Japanese to come to this country thirty-eight years ago—a country equally hospitable then as now. Since then how many of our countrymen have been studying in England in commerce, education, industries, the navy, and in the venerable institutions of education and learning? And how many of your institutions—social and political—have served as models in our task of assimilating Western civilisation? I need not remind you that we have never failed in our profound admiration of England and English ideas, and its excellent self-governing institutions. And how many of your countrymen have lent us a helping hand in the education and regeneration of our land, as tutors, professors, and as employees in the different branches of our public life, and, above all, in commerce, as constantly intermingling with the ever-increasing network of peaceful relations between the two countries? I believe that the focus of international competition is moving steadily towards the Pacific Ocean, and pledged as we are, not only by our historic relations with the west, but also the east, we are destined to play an ever-increasing part in the development of that portion of the globe. It is only natural for me to believe and sincerely hope that the continuance of those friendly feelings and sympathies which have existed in the past shall be daily more strongly cemented. With these hopes and convictions I trust I may be excused if I construe this hospitality as one of the many tokens of the continuation of our past friendship.”

At the dinner given the evening prior to his departure for Paris, on his way home, the Marquis was the recipient from Lord Lansdowne on behalf of the King, of the order of Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Bath.

On his way to London the Marquis had passed through Russia, where he was received in special audience by the Tsar, and Count Lamsdorff gave a Ministerial Banquet in his honour. From St Petersburg he travelled to Germany, Italy, and Belgium, receiving at Potsdam a decoration from the Kaiser, at a banquet specially arranged, the tour through Europe being one of unalloyed satisfaction to the veteran statesman, and of exceptional value to his country, in that he obtained information at first hand regarding the status of political parties, and added to his store of knowledge on subjects connected with the science of constitutional government, which is one of the many matters on which he is privileged to be the trusted adviser of his sovereign, in virtue of his position as President of the Council.