452 



JAPAN. 



effect of dispelling Clerical expectations of an 

 intervention of Germany in the Roman ques- 

 tion. The Italian Ambassador at Berlin, Count 

 de Launay, was present at Signor Crispi's in- 

 terviews with the German Chancellor. On 

 his homeward journey the Premier had a con- 

 ference with Count Kalnoky at Eger. 



Colonial Possessions. Italy has occupied or ex- 

 tended a protectorate over about 500 kilo- 

 metres of the western coast of the Red Sea, 

 extending from the village of Emberemi, in 

 16 of north latitude, a short distance north of 

 the island of Massovvah, to the southern limit 

 of the territory of Raheita, in 12 of north lati- 

 tude, situated on the Bay of Assab, inclusive 

 of the small islands adjacent to the coast and 

 the Archipelago of Dahlak. Italian sovereignty 

 has been declared over Assab and its territory, 

 extending from Ras Dermah to Ras Sinthiar 

 in the south, a distance of about 60 kilometres ; 

 over Massowah and adjacent islands, and the 

 coast from Emberemi to the peninsula of Buri ; 

 and over the Dahlak Islands. The island and 

 town of Massowah, according to an enumera- 

 tion made in September, 1885, contains 5,000 

 inhabitants; Embererai, 1,000; the Dahlak 



Islands, 2,000; and Assab, 1,000. The extent 

 and population of the protected territories be- 

 tween Massowah and Assab, and south of As- 

 sab, are not known. By a law enacted on 

 July 10, 1887, a special corps of African troops 

 was created, numbering 5,000 men, of whom 

 238 are officers, with 492 horses. It is com- 

 posed of volunteers from the regular army. 

 The commerce of the African possessions of 

 Italy amounted in 1887 to 158,920 lire by land, 

 and 12,614,447 lire by sea. There is a railroad 

 in operation between Massowah and Saati, 

 having a length of 27 kilometres. 



In the summer of 1888 Italy took possession 

 of Zulla, in the Egyptian Soudan, and notified 

 the powers of the step, declaring that it was 

 taken in response to an urgent request of the 

 natives. The Egyptian Government, acting 

 under directions from the Porte, protested 

 against the occupation on August 16. About 

 the same time the Italian Government asked 

 of the Sultan of Zanzibar the grant of the 

 Kismaya Juba river, which flows into the In- 

 dian Ocean a few miles south of the equator, 

 and affords a route of doubtful value to Shoa 

 and southern Abyssinia. 



JAPAN. The chief ruler of the Japanese Em- 

 pire is Mutsuhito, born Nov. 3, 1852. The heir- 

 apparent, Haru, was born Aug. 31, 1877. The 

 Tenuo or Mikado is assisted in his government 

 by the Privy Council of 13 members; the Cab- 

 inet, consisting of the heads of the eight execu- 

 tive departments and a Minister-President ot 

 State ; the Senate, or Genro In, of 60 members ; 

 and a Supreme Court of Justice, or Dai Shin In, 

 consisting of 24 superior judges. For adminis- 

 trative purposes, the empire is divided into 44 

 ken, or prefectures, and 3 f u, or imperial cities. 

 Each ken has a local assembly with limited 

 powers, the members of which are elected 

 by ballot. The number of persons that pay 

 land-tax of over $5 per annum is 1,581,726, of 

 whom 1,488,700 have the right of voting. The 

 number of persons who pay over $10 tax is 

 882,517, of whom 802,975 have the right both 

 of voting and of being elected to the local 

 assemblies. In these petty legislative bodies 

 2,172 members sit, and the number of stand- 

 ing committees is 292. The Riu Kiu (Loo 

 Choo) islands, formerly semi-independent, now 

 form the Okinawa ken, but Yezo and the isl- 

 ands of Hokkaido are governed as a colony. 



Population, By the enumeration completed 

 Jan. 1, 1887, the native population numbered 

 38,507,177, of whom 19,451,491 were males 

 and 19,055,686 were females. These are di- 

 vided by law into three classes, nobles, gentry, 

 and common people, which numbered 3,430, 

 1,940,271, and 36,563,476 respectively. In 

 1886 there were 355,311 marriages. 1,050,617 

 births, and 938,343 deaths. The Central Sani- 



tary Bureau of Tokio reported that, &s the re- 

 sult of the violation of the quarantine by an 

 infected vessel convoyed into Yokohama by a 

 foreign man-of-war, the cases of cholera in 

 1886 numbered 155,474, of which 110,086 were 

 fatal. Only 17 days of the year presented no 

 cases. Of the cities having over 100,000 inhab- 

 itants, Tokio has 1,552,457; Ozaka, 353,970; Ki- 

 oto, 255,403; Nagoya, 126,898; and Kanazawa, 

 101,320. There are 30 cities having a popula- 

 tion of between 30,000 and 100,000. Foreign- 

 ers residing in Japan number 6,807, of whom 

 4,071 are Chinese, 1,200 British, 621 Ameri- 

 cans, 318 Germans, 220 French, and 371 of 

 various nationalities. Yokohama is the main 

 seaport, and here 3,837 foreigners live, of 

 whom 2,359 are Chinese. Of the foreign mer- 

 cantile firms in Japan, 103 are British, 39 

 American, 42 German, 35 French, and 255 

 Chinese. Over 400 adult persons are con- 

 nected with missionary operations. In 1887 

 5,489 passports were issued to Japanese to 

 travel or live abroad, no native being exempt, 

 by reason of absence, from the military laws. 



Army and Navy. The army consists of 43,897 

 privates, 7,189 non-commissioned officers, and 

 3,302 commissioned officers, of whom 41 are 

 generals. There are also 2,057 pupils in the 

 military schools, and 15,000 police, who are 

 drilled to act as a reserve in time of war. In 

 September, 1888, there were in the standing 

 squadron of the navy 8, and in the reserve 21 

 vessels of war ; besides two vessels for coast de- 

 fense building in France, one first-class man-of- 

 war in England, and three wooden ships at 



