JKWS. 



369 



many of her crew off the Pescadores. The envoy 

 Miufa ainl 47 other Ja| anese wen' acquitted of 

 complicity in the murder of the Korean Ujieen Min. 

 in Seoul. Oct. S. ls!;,. 



Feb. 14. the foreign (jiiarter of Kobe was nearly 

 destroyed l.y fin-. On the 17th the centenary of 

 Franz Siebold. the scholar, was celebrated in Tokio. 

 and a subscription to Imild a statue of Dr. Jeniier. 

 \\hose introduction of vaccination in Japan ha.- go 

 greatly helped to increase the population, was 

 opened. His centenary was celebrated in Tokio, 

 May 14, under the presidency of Hachisuka. Presi- 

 dent of the House of Peers, by a dinner. Rinder- 

 pest prevailed extensively, making great havoc 

 among cattle. 



The " Tosa Maru." the first of the new line of 

 Japanese steamers to Europe (London and Antwerp), 

 left March 15. reaching Kobe on her return trip 

 Aug. 7. The southern and western coasts were vis- 

 ited by a severe typhoon, May 19 and 20, which did 

 much damage to shipping. 



June 10, at a meeting of the Nippon Yusen Kai- 

 sha (Japanese Navigation Company), the capital was 

 raised from 8.800,000 to 22.000.1 100 yen for exten- 

 sion and opening of new lines, one to cross the Pa- 

 cific to Seattle, one to ply to Australia, one to Eu- 

 rope. June 15. a tidal wave rolled over the north- 

 eastern coast of the main island, by which 30,000 

 people lost their lives and 60,000 were rendered 

 homeless. Aug. 1. memorial postage stamps, bear- 

 ing portraits for the first time, were issued in four 

 kinds to the number of 14.000,000. They were in 

 honor of the Princes Arisngawa and Kitashirakawa. 

 who died during the late war. Marquis Ito re- 

 signed, and Marquis Matsugata. was called Sept. 18 

 to form a new Cabinet, which was duly announced. 

 Oct. 1. by treaty with England, a parcel post is now 

 in operation between the two countries. Oct. 3. the 

 new line to Australia was inaugurated by the sail- 

 ing of the " Yamashiro Maru." Orders have been 

 issued for the establishment of legations in Hawaii, 

 Peru. Brazil, and Siam, and consulates at Chicago, 

 Sydney, and Antwerp. By virtue of a treaty with 

 Germany, securing to Germans protection in Japan 

 of their inventions and trade-marks, steps have been 

 taken by other powers in regard to trade-marks, 

 patents, and designs, under the favored-nation 

 clause. 



The statistics of Japan's foreign trade for the six 

 months from January to June. 1806. show the fol- 

 lowing : Imports, 80,256,231 yen: exports. 53.442.- 

 401 yen : total. 183,678,632 yen. Of this total. Great 

 Britain and her colonies had a share amounting to 

 44.697.746 yen in imports and 17.505,626 yen in ex- 

 ports : total. 62.230.372 yen. or nearly one half. The 

 share of the Tinted States was 7.449.197 in imports 

 and 12.283.838 in exports: total. 19,733.035 yen. 

 Germany sold to Japan 7.757.676 yen of goods and 

 bought '1,634.212 yen: total trade. B.891.888 yen. 

 Figures for the last six months of 1896 are not 

 ivndy in detail, but they show an excess of imports 

 over expi ri>. 



JEWS. The coronation of the new Emperor of 

 Russia was not followed by any proclamation of 

 civil religious freedom. The chief of the counsel- 

 ors of the late Czar declared that the Jewish ques- 

 tion in Russia is purely social, and its solution 

 requires a long period of time. Perhaps it is un- 

 reasonable to expect that the Slav can hurry the 

 process; but so long as unjust and prescriptive 

 legislation prevails the Jew will not cease to be a 

 pariah. It is one of the paradoxes of the situation 

 that it has been reserved for a Russian Jew. Dr. 

 Dembo. to vindicate the Jewish method of slaughter- 

 ing animals that is now introduced in the military 

 hospital of Kovno. There have been, happily, no 

 outbreaks in the past year, and the Government 



VOL. xxxvi. 24 A 



seems inclined not to neglect entirely the Jewish 

 question. Anti-Semitism which met its YVa: 

 in Germany when llammerstein was convict, -d and 

 Stoecker dNirract d continues in Austria, with the 

 result that Vienna is likely to lose some of it- << m- 

 mercial prestige, to the benefit of Biida-Pesth. 

 Lueger's success is simply an outbreak of populism, 

 aided by the Clericals, who hope thus to defeat the 

 Liberals for all time. But a revulsion may be an- 

 ticipated, as the r-mperor has repeatedly expn 

 his displeasure at the agitation that would ruin 

 the fair Kaiserstadt. In his despair at the situa- 

 tion Dr. Herzl. a Vienna journalist, propo- 

 Jewish state and travels east and west to propagate 

 his ideas. In France Marquis de Moiv-'s deal i 

 nifies a lull in anti-Semitism, which never had a 

 deep hold and was a kind of fad with Drnmont and 

 his friends, to favor their political advancement. 

 The literary movement fostered by the Society for 

 Jewish studies continues. Already Jewish Wi- 

 se ha ft in Germany has close rivals in Hungary and 

 France. With the broadening of French univer- 

 sities. Jewish scholars may find more inspiration in 

 Paris in certain lines of research than in Berlin or 

 Breslau. In England, which has just witnessed 

 the inauguration of a Jewish Lord Mayor of Lon- 

 don in the person of Sir George Faudel Phillips, 

 the liberal movement in ritual and life only awaits 

 a courageous leader. Claude G. Montefiore is its 

 Mclanchthon. but its Luther has not yet appeared. 

 Baroness de Hirsch has given 50,000 for the en- 

 dowment of a Jewish Home for Consumptives. 

 "Jewish Ideals.'' by Joseph Jacobs; "The Bible 

 for Home Reading," by Claude G. Montefiore ; 

 "Jewish Life in the Middle Ages." by Israel 

 Abrahams; and S. Schechter's "Studies in Ju- 

 daism " are four notable English books of the 

 year which can not but lead to a juster estimate of 

 the Jew and Judaism. Israel Gollancz was elected 

 English lecturer at Cambridge, which university 

 conferred the degree of LL. D. on Prof. Felix 

 Liebermann. of Berlin, and Prof. Asser. of the 

 Hague. Michael Emanuel was elected Mayor of 

 Southampton, and Hon. Emanuel Cohen, of Syd- 

 ney. Supreme Court judge in Australia. Owing to 

 the death of Sir Julian Goldsmid, Claude G. Monte- 

 fiore was appointed president of the Anglo-Jewish 

 Association. The vacation in Parliament was 

 filled by the election of his son-in-law, Herbert M. 

 Jessel. New synagogues were erected in London 

 and in Cardiff and Pontypridd. Wales. Baron de 

 Worms was raised to the peerage with the title of 

 Lord Pirbright. Solomon J. Solomon was elected 

 an associate of the Royal Academy. 



In the Orient the process of education continues 

 slowly but satisfactorily. The schools of the Al- 

 liance Israelite are centers of useful influence, 

 which with more liberal support would be still 

 more fruitful of results. The lads from the Orient 

 who acted as guard of honor at Baron de Ilirseh's 

 funeral were an object lesson to the Jews of Europe. 

 The political background in Persia. .Von ceo. Ara- 

 bia, and Syria may delay further amelioration in 

 the condition of the Jews, but the Alliance acts as 

 a watchful protector. The colonization of Pales- 

 tine seems to continue in exact proportion to the 

 benevolence of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, but 

 even so generous a donor may tire of the colonizing 

 fad. The movement has a' few enthusiastic ad- 

 herents, but not the elements of permanence and 

 success. The energy with which the Jews settle in 

 new lands is shown by the new synagogues dedi- 

 cated in Johannesburg. South Africa, and Perth. 

 Australia. On Dec. 8. the anniversary of Baron de 

 Ilirseh's birthday. Baronc-s de Ilirscli distributed 

 his bequests to charities in Moravia amounting to 

 1,000,000 francs, half of which went to Jewish in- 



