XII.--REMEMBER HILGARD 306

XXIII.--IN THE WHITE HOUSE 312

FOREWORD

Every American familiar with the modern international political horizon
must have experienced a feeling of solid satisfaction at the news that a
formidable American fleet was to be dispatched to the waters of the
Pacific, and the cruise of our warships has been followed with intense
interest by every loyal citizen of our Republic. The reasons that
rendered the long and dramatic voyage of our fleet most opportune are
identical with the motives that actuated the publication of this
translation from the German of a work which exhibits a remarkable grasp
of facts coupled with a marvelously vivid power of description. It is no
secret that our ships were sent to the Pacific to minimize the danger of
a conflict with our great commercial rival in the Far East, if not to
avert it altogether, and _Banzai_! it seems to me, should perform a
similar mission. The graphic recital, I take it, is not intended to
incite a feeling of animosity between two nations which have every
reason to maintain friendly relations, but rather to call the attention
of the American people to the present woeful lack of preparedness, and
at the same time to assist in developing a spirit of sound patriotism
that prefers silent action to blatant braggadocio. That the Pacific
Ocean may become, in truth, the Peaceful Ocean, and never resound
to the clash of American arms, is the devout wish of one who
believes--implicitly--with Moltke in the old proverb, _Si vis pacem,
para bellum_--If you wish for Peace, prepare for War.

P.

INTRODUCTION

As usual, it had begun quite harmlessly and inconspicuously. It is not
my business to tell how it all came to pass, how the way was prepared.
That may be left to the spinners of yarns and to those on the trail of
the sources of history. I shall leave it to them to ascertain when the
idea that there must be a conflict, and that the fruit must be plucked
before it had time to ripen, first took root in the minds of the
Japanese people.

We Americans realize now that we had been living for years like one who
has a presentiment that something dreadful is hanging over him which
will suddenly descend upon his head, and who carries this feeling of
dread about with him with an uneasy conscience, trying to drown it in
the tumult and restlessness of daily life. We realize the situation now,
beca