Japan No Longer a Little Kingdom.
IT is announced that Japan will put forward at The Hague Conference its right as a conqueror to annex outright all the territory that has come under its dominion as a result of its war with Russia. We are accustomed to regard the Sunrise Kingdom as a diminutive empire. As a matter of fact, the outlying peninsulas and islands that have come to Japan as the fruits of victory have transformed that country into a commanding nation. Including the Pescadores, the Kuris and Formosa, Japan had until recently an area of 162,153 square miles. To that the practical annexation of Korea added 90,000 square miles, and half of Sakhalin 14,500 square miles more, making a total area over which Japan exercises sovereignty of more than 266,-000 square miles. No nation in Europe, outside of Russia, now has a territory equal to Japan's. That country's ''benevolent assimilation'' of Korea has not awaited the sanction of The Hague. The Hermit Kingdom, which is as large as England and Ireland combined, contributes a population of 10,000,000 to Japan. Altogether Japan now has a greater number of inhabitants to draw upon for either war or industry than the German Empire has. It is idle longer to regard Japan as a Lilliputian land. And in the path of its destiny lies Manchuria, a fertile and coveted domain with an area of 350,000 square miles. From every point of view Japan occupies a leading place among the fighting powers.