Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 5.djvu/88

 ally promoted by "the man at the front," and that Korea would not be the terminus of her advance to-day any more than Geok Tepe was twenty years ago. Besides, their material interests in Korea are incomparably larger than those of Russia; the peninsula promises to be a prosperous settlement for their surplus population; they fought in 1894 to secure its independence, and history shows that if any Power has a title to shape its fate, that Power is Japan. It is easy to comprehend, therefore, how profound was the uneasiness felt by the Tōkyō statesmen when they saw Russia seated in Liao-tung, and how greatly their conviction was strengthened that among the Powers of Europe England alone had a sincere disposition to refrain from territorial aggression in the Far East. When these events occurred, Japan occupied Wei-hai-wei, which lies on the Shantung coast opposite to Liao-tung, and is one of the finest sites in China for a naval station. It was there that the Chinese troops and ships had made their last stand in the war of 1894-1895, and the subsequently concluded treaty of peace contained a provision that the place should remain in Japanese possession pending China's payment of an indemnity of 200,000,000 taels. The last instalment of the indemnity having been handed over shortly after Russia's appropriation of Liao-tung, the world looked to see Japan convert her provisional occupation of Wei-hai-wei into permanent tenure by way of rejoinder to Russia's action.