It is admitted in so many words that it
is too early to know who is to triumph in the gigantic European
struggle; it is also admitted that Germany will forever be the
enemy. At the same time it is expected, should the issue of the
struggle be clearcut and decisive in favour of the Allies, that a
new three-Power combination formed by England, France and Russia
may be made to operate against Japan. Although the alliance with
England, twice renewed since 1902, should occupy as important a
place in the Far East as the Entente between England and France
occupies in Europe, not one Japanese in a hundred knows or cares
anything about such an arrangement; and even if he has knowledge
of it, he coolly assigns to his country's major international
commitment a minimum and constantly diminishing importance. In his
view the British Alliance is nothing but a piece of paper which
may be consumed in the great bonfire now shedding such a lurid
light over the world. What is germane to the matter is his own
plan, his own method of taking up arms in a sea of troubles. The
second part of the Black Dragon Society's Memorandum, pursuing the
argument logically and inexorably and disclosing traces of real
political genius, makes this unalterably clear.
Having established clearly the attitude of Japan towards the
world--and more particularly towards the rival political
combinations now locked together in a terrible death-struggle,
this second part of the Memorandum is concerned solely with China
and can be broken into two convenient sections.
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