I shall show, this episode was particularly important for us because it gave the Allies incisive proof of Austria’s untrustworthiness and insincerity. In Tokio, too, I heard some account of the Rome Congress of oppressed Hapsburg peoples on April 8, 1918; of this, and of the important Declaration of Corfu which had been signed by the Serbian Prime Minister, Pashitch, and Dr. Trumbitch on July 20, 1917, I shall have more to say when I deal comprehensively with our relationship to the Southern Slavs.
My fortnight in Japan added little to my knowledge of the country, for my whole attention was given to the fate of our Legions, to the war and to the prospective peace. I visited various temples in Tokio, saw what was accessible, but cannot say that I studied Japan. I sought, indeed, to learn something of her economic condition and to see what the economic effect of the war would be upon so active a country. The circumstance that England and, to a certain extent, France, were prevented from exporting their goods to the Far East, naturally gave the Japanese an opportunity to extend their business in Asia and even as far as Egypt. I kept an eye on bookshops and art dealers, bought a few woodcuts and not a few European books. The influence of German (particularly German medical) literature was obvious, and I found a second-hand bookseller who dealt chiefly in German books.
On April 19th I went on to Yokohama. By a lucky chance, a big boat, the “Empress of Asia,” was starting for Canada. She was intended to transport troops from America to Europe. Thus I reached the American continent quickly. We sailed on April 20, 1918, at noon, and reached Victoria and Vancouver only nine days later.
