together. Linesman Tokimoto was among the number.
The course lasted for three days. During that period the members slept in the temple. All day they were drilled or set to cleaning. In the evenings they listened to lectures.
Such was the “culture” given to these conscripted government employees.
“In the event of war the linesman’s responsibility is very great,” the lecturer would say. “In war-time all manner of telegrams, code ones and other vital ones are passing all the time over the wires. On receipt of messages, forces are moved, stratagems planned, orders carried out. They hold sway over the destiny of our nation. You will therefore understand that you who toil so hard to keep the wires in proper order, you men who doctor the telegraph and telephone, so to speak, carry the fate of the nation on your shoulders. Once you have awakened to this mission of yours you will never become poisoned by imported, foreign ideas which have been spreading lately, and you will never let yourselves be led into doing anything rash.”
War is coming, the lecturers warned them. In such a vital service it was essential that the workers be drilled into obedience. To hide the imminence of war by mouthing pacifist phrases would be fatal. Here they made no bones about their preparations for war. They were terrified lest when war came the linesmen lined up with the working-class. So terrified were they lest the proletariat should take possession of that vast
