368 



JAPAN. 



Finances. The budget for the empire for the 

 financial year 18!)6-'97, often amended and supple- 

 mented and finally accepted by the Diet, was divided 

 by the Minister of Finance into three parts: (1) The 

 special war fund; (2) the Chinese war indemnity; 

 (3) the general finances of the empire and their dis- 

 posal. Including one paid installment of the war 

 indemnity (40,093,389 yen), the revenue is set down 

 at 138,000,000, and the expenditure at 152,000,000, 

 showing a deficit of 14,000,000 yen. Interest on the 

 war loans and temporary loans, the increase of- the 

 jinny and navy, enlarged enterprise in public works, 

 the extension of education, and the encouragement 

 of industries have greatly increased national expend- 

 iturc, as follows : Interest on loans, 8,700,000 ; pen- 

 sion fund, 1,200,000 (a continuous expense) ; expan- 

 sion of the navy, 94,000,000 (to be expended during 

 the next seven years) ; increase of the army, 43,000,- 

 000 ; 1,000.000 for encouraging industries and edu- 

 cation ; 9,000,000 for extending communications ; 

 and 1,500,000 yen for embankments of rivers and 

 administration. The revenue, apart from indem- 

 nity, is but 97,200,000, or an increase of but 7,000,- 

 000 yen over last year. The deficiency of 14,000,000 

 yen is to be met by the new registry and business 

 tax (1890), increased sake tax (1898), and the tobacco 

 monopoly (1898). Owing to improved conditions 

 of living, these taxes are not expected to be a 

 strain. The wages of laborers, now 18 cents a day, 

 are double what they were a decade ago. The im- 

 port duty on raw cotton is abolished. The total 

 proceeds possible from the new taxes is 52,068,400 

 yen, but the estimate of the Minister of Finance is for 

 16.000,000 in 1897 and 26,000,000 yen in 1898. The 

 deficiency for 1896-'97 is made up by a special supple- 

 mentary budget. In the expenditures for 1896-D7 

 the heaviest items are, in their order, for the finance, 

 war, communication, home, naval, judicial, and im- 

 perial household departments, or 89,000,000, 168,'- 

 000,000, 7,000,000, 7,000,000, 7,000,000, 5.000,000, 

 3,000,000, 4,000,000, and 3,000.000 yen, respectively. 

 In the revenue the chief items are the general taxes 

 on land, etc., and the profit from Government in- 

 dustries and properties. All show an encouraging 

 increase over the preceding year : the land tax, 180,- 

 000; income, 140,000; sake'l ,020,000 ; soy. 120,000; 

 customs, 78,000 ; post and telegraph, 3,300,000 ; rail- 

 ways. 1,500,000 yen. Japan's liabilities now amount 

 to 385,773,119 yen, but, adding the public under- 

 taking loan (for the extension of railways, telephone 

 ^service, tobacco monopoly, administration, etc.), 135,- 

 000.000 yen, we have a total of 520,753,119. The 

 debt is to reach its highest figure in 1901, and all is 

 to be redeemed in thirty-eight years. The burden 

 of the national debt of Japan is now but 65 yen, 

 and the taxation (1892-'9G) 2'18 yen per inhabit- 

 ant (not including Formosa). Under the new esti- 

 mates (1896-1900) the taxation will be about 50 per 

 cent. more. 



The Army. The military establishment of Ja- 

 pan in 1894-'96, on a war footing, consisted of 737 

 superior officers, 4,911 officers, 17,240 subalterns, 

 2,262 cadets, 265,247 privates, and 1,147 noncom- 

 batant employees, making a total of 291,544. Be- 

 sides the Imperial Guard of 16,725 in Tokio. com- 

 posed of picked men, there are 5 other divisions, 

 stationed at Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, and 

 Kuinamoto. The reserves, territorial militia, and 

 armed police number 129,551 in all. The army on 

 a peace footing consists of 73,941 men and 8,857 

 horses. The official announcement (1896) of the 

 reorganization of the empire's fighting force shows 

 that it is to be nearly doubled, the divisions, apart 

 from the Guards, being 12, and the total number of 

 regiments 52, instead of 28. A total effective force 

 of over hall' a million, with a peace organization of 

 144,070 men and 19,,650 horses, is thus in prepara- 



tion. Of the 43,000,000 yen voted for military ex- 

 pansion (1896-1901), the items are : For forts, 17.- 

 342,070; construction and equipments, 17,342,070; 

 arms, 8,486,766 ; arsenals, 2,949,107 ; military build- 

 ings, 429,574 yen. The total amount required for 

 the new army (1896-1902) is 181,522,612 yen. The 

 war expenses of 1895-'96 (China, conquest of For- 

 mosa, etc.) amounted to 225,000,000 yen. 



The Navy. In 1894 Japan had 33 men-of-war, 

 of 61,372 tons displacement and of 100,115 horse 

 power, mounting 355 guns, besides 26 torpedo boats, 

 manned by 76 superior officers, 584 officers, and 

 6.882 men a total personnel of 7,542. In Septem- 

 ber, 1895, there were 49 war ships afloat or nearly 

 ready, all but 17 (iron, wood, and composite) being 

 of steel and of the finest make and equipment. 

 There are now over 50 war vessels, of 80,000 tons 

 displacement, in good order. Of the great steel 

 battle ships building in England, each of 12,000 

 tons, the " Yashima" is ready for delivery and arma- 

 ment. In the programme of expansion 29,392.750 

 yen have been already voted, 12,749,647 yen being 

 for new ships, 7,147.529 for their armament, and 

 1,759,298 for dockyards, etc. The programme of 

 expansion (1896-1902) requires a total of 94,776,225 

 yen, and looks to the further possession of 4 battle 

 ships of 15,000 tons each, 4 cruisers of 7,500 tons 

 each, 5 second-class cruisers of from 2,000 to 4,850 

 tons each, 3 torpedo tenders of 1.200 tons, and a 

 torpedo depot ship of 6,700 tons a total addition of 

 101,860 tons, or a grand total by 1906 of 121.860 

 tons, making, with the fleet now serviceable, 226,- 

 000 tons. Contracts for 2 steel war ships have been 

 placed with American builders. The "Fuji "battle 

 ship is now on her way home from England. 



Formosa. This island, 220 miles long and 70 

 wide, consists of a back bone of mountains rising 

 between 2,000 and 10,000 feet. Its resources are 

 coal, iron, gold, rice, camphor, and indigo, with 

 many varieties of woods, spices, fruits, and grain. 

 The conquest of aborigines and Chinese, after 

 cession by China, has cost Japan 12,000 lives, 

 mostly by disease, and nearly 25,000,000 yen. Local 

 outbreaks were numerous during 1896, and a large 

 force of soldiery in several detachments was kept 

 busy. The civil administration is making steady 

 progress in the introduction of Japanese law, edu- 

 cation, ideas, and institutions. In the supplement- 

 ary budget voted by the Diet the revenue from 

 Formosa, the chief item (3,557,827 yen) being the 

 Government sale of opium (prohibited among the 

 Japanese, but allowed to the Chinese), is calculated 

 at 6,182,232 yen. The total needed revenue of 38,- 

 413,503 yen is supplied by special appropriations. 

 Among the items of expenditure (38,413,503 yen) we 

 find 6,031,714 yen for the details of civil adminis- 

 tration. 4.597,399 yen for industrial development, 

 6,378,271 for ordinary military expenses, and the 

 remainder for gendarmerie and garrison expenses 

 (including 1,571,052 yen for Wei-IIai-Wei, where 

 troops are still kept until China's indemnity is 

 paid). 



A submarine cable to Formosa is being laid and 

 is in working order to the southern end of the Oki- 

 nawa Islands. Lighthouses are in process of erection 

 on the chief promontories in Formosa, and the Riu 

 Kiu Islands, one of which, at lyejima, when finished 

 will be the highest (100 feet) in the empire. Riu 

 Kiu is now the potato farm of Japan, 320,000 tons 

 having been harvested last year. 



Events. The Diet that opened Dec. 28, 1895, was 

 prorogued from Feb. 15 to 25, and sat until March 

 29, the Government encountering less opposition 

 than in any session since the Constitution went into 

 force. Of 135 Government bills submitted. 129 were 

 passed, and 17 out of 57 private measures became 

 law. In January the cruiser " Kohei " was lost with 





