Java program runs but it is brutally slow. Possible causes?

I am running a Java program in Suse Linux for s390. Its a very simple program that retrieves a couple of dozen records from a DB2 database running under a remote VSE partition. The program works, it just takes about 15 seconds to run. The exact same program in C++ runs in about 200 milliseconds.

If I go to the command prompt and type "java -version", it takes 5 to 10 seconds to get a response back (here's the response to show what I'm running):

linux:~ # java -version
java version "1.3.0"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build .3.0)
Classic VM (build 1.3.0, J2RE 1.3.0 IBM build cx390130-20010925 (JIT enabled: jitc))

I'm sure there is a configuration setting that I don't have set correctly but I can't figure out what it is. Has anyone had a similar experience? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Darryl