JAPAN. 



anl all Europeans, especially those of the An- 

 glo-Saxon race, the critical condition of the 

 relations between the Chinese and English 

 (OM rnineiits, and the unsettled condition of 

 affairs in the western provinces of China, had 

 ti prejudicial effect on the foreign commercial 

 interests iii' Yokohama, as several trading linns 

 there had connections in China. A further 

 increase took place during the summer in the 

 price of goods for export, and a fall in the 

 prices of cotton and Manchester goods, of 

 which large quantities had accumulated at this 

 city. Tin- bankers were also embarrassed by 

 the change in the price of the dollar, and had 

 recourse to speculations as a means of improv- 

 ing their business. Among their speculations 

 was the negotiation of a loan to the Chinese 

 for the equipment of a new army to be sent 

 au p i i nst the Dunganians and Kashgarians. On 

 the other hand, the rise in the price of silk in 

 Europe proved a source of great advantage to 

 the native trade, and excited an extraordinary 

 activity in the market. At the close of No- 

 vember, 12,200 bales of silk had been exported 



during the year, against 1,500 bales exported 

 during the same period in 1875, uml 'J.-JiJU 

 bales in 1874. The silk waa worth at thin time 

 $'. i, against $485 in 1875, and $550 in 1*74. 

 The producers, however, failed to realize a part 

 of. the benefit of the rise, through the circum- 

 stance that they received in payment for their 

 silk Mexican dollars at a rate far above their 

 value in relation to the market price of silver 

 in the Western markets. The culture of silk 

 and preparation of silken goods, sheep-hus- 

 handry, and the production of modern fabrics, 

 have received increased attention. A stimulus 

 WHS given to the trade in rice by the report of 

 famine in Northern China. With a view to 

 increase the production of tea for foreign mar- 

 kets, the Department of Public Works dis- 

 patched a commission of schooled young men 

 to Assam, to study the methods of culture 

 practised there. A resolution adopted by the 

 assembly of officers and deputies in 1875 for 

 building highways has been approved by the 

 Government as a law. This will lead to the 

 introduction of vehicles and draft-animals. To 



IIAKODADI 



facilitate this object the Government has de- 

 cided to establish a stud, and has taken meas- 

 ures to procure draft-horses and stallions from 

 America. 



The report of the railroad shows that it was 

 used in 1875 by 1,081,243 persons, a very large 

 nse when the short extent of the line open to 

 traffic is considered. A new line of railroad 

 has been opened from Ozaka to Mukomuchi, a 

 place about five miles from Kioto, and five 

 miles more of the line from Mukomuchi to 

 Kioto were under way. The Japanese Post- 

 Office, it is reported, has now 4,500 post-offices 

 under its charge. The money-order system, 

 introduced in 1875, was followed by post-office 

 savings-banks in 1876. One of the features of 

 the Japanese registered letter system is that 

 for an extra rate of six cents a letter will be 

 sent directly to the person for whom it is in- 

 tended as soon as it arrives at the office to 

 which it is addressed. 



The Toksinna coal-mine, near Nagasaki, was 



yielding in May an average of 700 tons daily. 

 Decrees have been issued by the Government 

 forbidding swords to be worn by private citi- 

 zens, and changing the penalty of death for- 

 merly inflicted for the robbery of sums of 

 more than $250, with violence, to one of im- 

 prisonment for life with hard labor. 



An exhibit of the work of Protestant mis- 

 sionaries in Japan has been made, which shows 

 that in November, 1875, the total number of 

 foreign Protestant missionaries in the empire 

 was eighty-two, and the number of native help- 

 ers was thirty-three. Ninety stations were oc- 

 cupied, in which the gospel was preached 

 with an average weekly attendance of 4,000 

 hearers, of whom 1,020 were baptized con- 

 verts. Fourteen thousand new cases of disease 

 or disability were treated annually at sixteen 

 medical stations in different parts of the em- 

 pire. There were reported, twenty mi- 

 schools, with more than 500 scholars, of whom 

 forty were students for the ministry ; and ten 



