

JAPAN. 



461 



The Japanese army in 1878 comprised 14 

 brigades or 28 regiments of infantry, 3 regi- 

 ments of cavalry, 18 battalions of artillery, 10 

 battalions of engineers, 6 companies of commis- 

 sary troops, and 9 companies of marine artil- 

 lery. According to the law of 1872, the lia- 

 bility to bear arms is universal, but in 1878 the 

 order had not yet been carried out. The army 

 is divided into six divisions, corresponding to 

 the six military districts of the empire. The 

 strength of the army on a peace footing is 31,- 

 C80, *vad on a war footing 46,350. The navy 

 in 1878 comprised 16 steam-vessels, of an ag- 

 gregate of 6,820 horse-power and with 78 

 guns. Three of the vessels are ironclads. The 



fleet is manned by 1,900 men, inclusive of 200 

 officers. 



The foreign commerce in the years 1868 to 

 1876 was as follows: 



The imports and exports of the ports opened 

 to foreign commerce for the year ending June 

 30, 1877, were as follows : 



The movement of shipping in the year 1876 -'77 was as follows : 



The following table exhibits the imports 

 from and exports to the principal foreign coun- 

 tries represented in the trade with Japan : 



The aggregate length of railroads in opera- 

 tion is 105 kilometres. Eight lines of electric 

 telegraph have an aggregate length of 2,934 

 kilometres. The number of post-offices on 

 June 30, 1877, Avas 3,744. The number of let- 

 ters forwarded was 22,912,838; number of 

 postal cards, 6,764,272 ; number of free letters, 

 856,637,- number of newspapers, 7,465,582; 

 samples of merchandise, books, etc., 322,642; 

 total, 38,321,971, against 30,162,614 in 1876. 

 Receipts, $897,846; expenditures, $794,343. 



The civil war with which Japanese affairs 

 were disturbed in 1877 ended in the fall of 

 that year, and the three great rebel gener- 

 als were killed in the final battle. So far as 

 outward manifestations were concerned, the 

 empire enjoyed peace at the beginning of 

 1878. Nevertheless, affairs were in a very un- 

 satisfactory condition. Trade was depressed 

 and political discontent was rife. The revolu- 

 tion had entailed a heavy expenditure on the 

 public treasury, and had shaken the confi- 



dence of the people in the Government. The 

 Mikado was believed to have concluded that 

 he had gone too far in the way of reform 

 and of concessions to foreign powers for the 

 convenient maintenance of pleasant relations 

 with his subjects. Measures were set on foot 

 for the revision of the treaties, and were shaped 

 particularly to the end of promoting a revival 

 of the native industries, which had suffered 

 greatly. A demand was set up for the estab- 

 lishment of a protective tariff and the abolition 

 of extra-territorial jurisdiction. At the same 

 time it was proposed to give more freedom to 

 foreign trade by opening the harbors so as to 

 afford the greatest possible facilities for the 

 exportation of the productions of the country. 

 Industrial exhibitions had already been opened 

 in the principal towns with the object of en- 

 larging the trade of the interior; and, to provide 

 a more convenient currency, the coinage had 

 been assimilated to the American standard, and 

 new coins corresponding to this standard had 

 been struck during the past three years to the 

 amount of $77;496,226. A national loan of 

 $12,500,000, receivable and payable in paper, 

 was announced in April, to be raised for the 

 purpose of establishing beneficial industries, 

 increasing the productions of the country, and 

 developing foreign trade, and was taken up in 

 a short time. The proceeds of the loan were 

 expended on railways, mines, and harbors. 



The Government began early in the year to 

 consider the means for giving the people some 

 voice in the affairs of the country. An assem- 



