400 



JAPAN. 



public until the winter of 1887-'88, during the 

 debate in the German Parliament over the 

 Landwehr bill. Contrary to the current belief, 

 it contained, so far as is made known, no pro- 

 vision for combined action against France in 

 case of aggression against Germany. The pre- 

 amble of the treaty declares that '' considering 

 the cohesion of the two empires will the more 

 easily secure their own safety, while it can 

 threaten no one, and at the same time is well 

 adapted to consolidate the peace of Europe on 

 the basis of the Berlin Treaty, the two emper- 

 ors, while giving a mutual and solemn prom- 

 ise never to impart au aggressive tendency in 

 any direction to their purely defensive agree- 

 ment, resolve to conclude an alliance, and ap- 

 pointed as their plenipotentiaries Count An- 

 drassy and Prince Henry of Reuss." The terms 

 of the treaty follow : 



Article I stipulates that, should either of the two 

 countries, contrary to the nope and wish of the con- 



tracting parties, be attacked by Eussia, each is 

 pledged to assist the other with its entire military 

 force, and only to conclude peace upon such terms as 

 both agree to accept. Article II provides that, should 

 either country be attacked by any other power, the 

 other pledges itself not to support the aggressor, but 

 to maintain an attitude of neutrality. Should Kussia 

 assist the aggressor, however, Article I comes into 

 force, and war operations will then be carried on in 

 common and terms of peace be conjointly arranged. 

 Article III sets forth that the treaty, being of a peace- 

 ful character, shall, in order to prevent misinterpre- 

 tation, be kept secret or be communicated to a third 

 power under the consent of the contracting parties. 

 Both parties express the hope, in view of the inten- 

 tions announced by the Czar at the meeting with 

 Emperor William in September, 1879, _ at Alexan- 

 drowo, that the Russian military preparations may not 

 prove to be in reality menacing to either of them, and 

 may give no cause for them to adopt similar measures. 

 Should this hope, however, contrary to expectation, 

 prove erroneous, both parties recognize it to be their 

 loyal duty to acquaint Emperor Alexander with the 

 fact that an attack upon one country will be regarded 

 as an attack upon both. 



JAPAN. This empire, consisting of an archi- 

 pelago in eastern Asia, is officially designated 

 Dai Nihon (great day-root or sunrise). It has 

 had but one line of emperors, who form the 

 oldest dynasty of rulers now existing in the 

 world. The present Mikado, Mutsuhito, is the 

 one hundred and twenty-third of the line. He 

 was born Nov. 3, 1850, assumed power Feb. 3, 

 1867, married Feb. 10, 1869, made Tokio the 

 national capital Nov. 26, 1868, took an oath 

 before gods and men at Kioto April 6, 1868, 

 which was reaffirmed in public proclamation 

 Oct. 12, 1881, to form two houses of parlia- 

 ment, limit the imperial prerogative, and trans- 

 form the government into a constitutional 

 monarchy in 1890. He proclaimed his son 

 Haru, born Aug. 31, 1877, heir-apparent to 

 the throne Aug. 31, 1887. With the Mikado 

 is associated a Senate, or Genro-in, of sixty- 

 eight members, a Sanji-in of fifty-five mem- 

 bers, and a Council of State consisting of the 

 ministers or heads of departments. The em- 

 pire, for administrative purposes, is divided 

 into forty-four ken, or prefectures, and three 

 fu, or imperial cities. There are five cities 

 containing over 100,000 people, six containing 

 over 50,000, and seventeen containing over 30,- 

 000. By census of January, 1886, the popula- 

 tion numbered 38,151,217 persons, of whom 

 3,419 were nobles, 1,948,283 gentry, and 36,- 

 199,515 common people. During 1885 there 

 were 259,497 marriages, 1,004,989 births, and 

 676,369 deaths. Among the foreigners resi- 

 dent in the empire are 4,122 Chinese, and 3,912 

 Europeans and Americans. There are 410 for- 

 eigners in Government employ, and 226 in the 

 Yusen Kaisha, or Ocean Transportation Com- 

 pany, besides many in private Japanese serv- 

 ice. Tokio, the capital, has 225,610 houses 



and 1,132,470 inhabitants, among whom are 

 485 white aliens who reside in 192 tenements. 



Diplomatic Establishment. Until 1868 the For- 

 eign Office was but a sub-bureau, but not long 

 after the restoration of the Mikado to supreme 

 power, the Gai Mu Sho, or Department of 

 Foreign Affairs, was established, its head out- 

 ranking the other Cabinet officers. There are 

 now on the staff 18 high native officials, with 

 2 American, 1 French, and 3 German assist- 

 ants, the two highest advisory offices being 

 held by Americans. The subalterns number 

 82. "Whereas, in 1868, there was no envoy or 

 consul from Japan abroad, there are now lega- 

 tions at London, Paris, Vienna, St. Petersburg, 

 Washington, Berlin, Rome, the Hague, Pekin, 

 and S6oul, with consulates at London, Lyons, 

 New York, San Francisco, Honolulu, and in 

 China and Corea. The salary of a foreign 

 minister is $11,750 per annum, of consul-gen- 

 eral, $5,000. The expense of the Foreign 

 Office is $189,202, and of legations and con- 

 sulates, $650,026. 



Finances. By the report of Matsukata Masa- 

 yoshi, rendered March 2, 1887, in the estimates 

 for the twentieth year of Meiji (1887-'88), the 

 total revenue is stated at $79,936,870, and ex- 

 penditures at $79,955,552.75. An analysis of 

 the sources of income shows that the farmers 

 bear the heaviest burdens, and that after these 

 come the manufacturers of sak6 (rice-liquor), 

 soy, and tobacco ; the taxes on land and these 

 three articles of luxury amounting respectively 

 to $42,559,441 ; $13,697,723; $1,273,210; $1,- 

 244,002; or, in all, to $58,774,374. The remain- 

 ing home taxes on banks, shipping, vehicles, 

 confectionery, patent-medicines, marine prod- 

 ucts, exchanges, and for Government stamps 

 yield only $3,623,196. Customs duties amount to 



