416 



JAPAN. 



Majesty said it was the duty of the nation to 

 secure to the Supreme Pontiff the free exercise 

 of his religious offices and the maintenance of 

 his relations with the Catholic world. Im- 

 provements in the administration of the gov- 

 ernment and development of the military and 

 educational system were promised. In regard 

 to the election of the Prince Amadeus to the 

 throne of Spain, the King said : " A sister na- 

 tion has invited our son to rule over its desti- 

 nies. We rejoice in the great honor conferred 

 on our dynasty, and hope that it will bring 

 equivalent benefits to Spain." The royal 

 speech concluded with congratulations on the 

 present condition, and hopes for the future ca- 

 reer of the nation, and was received with en- 

 thusiastic cheers by the members. 



Signor Brancheri, the Government candidate, 

 was elected President by 189 votes, against 106 

 votes for the candidate of the opposition. On 

 December 21st, Parliament passed the bill rati- 

 fying the vote of the Roman people for annex- 

 ation to Italy, by a vote of 239 to 20. Two 

 days later, the Chamber of Deputies passed by 

 a vote of 192 yeas to 18 nays the bill providing 

 for the removal of the capital from Florence to 

 Rome within six months. A resolution, ex- 

 pressing the gratitude of the citizens of Flor- 

 ence to the Romans for their patriotism 

 during the siege of the city, was adopted. 

 The Chamber then adjourned, to meet on 

 January 16. 



The Duke of Aosta left Italy for Spain on 

 December 23d. 



J 



JAPAN", an empire in Eastern Asia. The 

 administration and the supreme executive 

 power of the country are vested in the Mikado, 

 the Tycoonate, which formerly shared in the 

 administration of the empire, having been 

 abolished. The United States Government was 

 represented at the imperial court, in 1870, by 

 C. E. De Long, minister resident at Yeddo. 

 The area of the country, comprising Japan 

 proper, and 3,850 islands, which are its de- 

 pendencies, is reported as follows : 



Russia claims the island of Saghalien as be- 



longing to her possessions on the Amoor. Of 

 the Kurile islands, all those on the west side, 

 inclusive of the island of Iturup, belong to Ja- 

 pan. The population of the empire, which 

 was formerly estimated at from thirty-five to 

 forty millions, has been recently computed at 

 only twenty millions. The total revenue was 

 estimated, according to the old budget of 1603 

 (which must be considered, however, far below 

 its actual amount), at $146,246,406, the greater 

 portion of which remains in the hands of the 

 princes, and of the governors of the provinces, 

 the revenue proper of the Government for ad- 

 ministrative purposes being thus reduced to a 

 very limited compass. 



A standing army of 12,000 men has been re- 

 cently organized after the European plan. In 

 time of war all the Sumurais liable to do mili- 

 tary service must place themselves at the dis- 

 posal of the Government. 



The movement of commerce and of shipping, 

 at the principal ports open to foreign nations, 

 was, in 1869, as follows: 



The principal articles of export, in 1868, 

 were: Silk, 19,000 bales, at 100 pounds each, 

 to England and France ; tea, 15,000,000 pounds 

 to the United States ; and Chow-Chow arti- 

 cles, 414,592 piculs (one picul=133 pounds) to 

 China. The imports consisted of English, Ger- 

 man, Dutch, and Swiss manufactures, which 

 formerly reached the ports of Japan by way of 

 England, but have of late been imported di- 

 rectly from Germany and Holland. On account 



of the failure of the crops in 1867 and 1868, rice 

 was imported from China and Siam to a con- 

 siderable extent, mostly in German vessels. 

 Another important article of import was Eng- 

 lish, Belgian, and German fire-arms. 



At the end of 1869 Mr. Hulay, late Inspector- 

 General of Customs at Yokohama, concluded 

 for the Government a loan of 1,000,000 ster- 

 ling to build a railroad from Yeddo to Kioto. 

 In January, 1870, English engineers obtained a 



