JAPAN. 



401 



$2,704,553; fees and licenses, $2,370,183; posts 

 and telegraphs, $3,096,697; forests, $416,783; 

 sales of property, $306,346; or, in all, to $8,348,- 

 507. Subscriptions to naval loan bonds, amount- 

 ing to $6,486,240, form the last item of income. 

 The details of expenditure are reduction of the 

 public debt, $20,000,000; annuities, pensions, 

 and allowances, $885,593.85 ; imperial house- 

 hold and shrines, $2,751,911.25; Government 

 departments, $55,528,388.52; national build- 

 ings, $769,659. The public debt is now $241,- 

 491,249.50; national paper currency in circula- 

 tion, $67,263,274 ; reserve and special funds in 

 the treasury, $59,645,945. For the second time 

 in her history, Japan's financial exhibit, as of- 

 ficially given, is sanctioned by the Mikado, and 

 sliows several old sources of expenditure dried 

 up, and better methods and objects in both 

 collection and disbursement. There are 138 

 national banks, with a capital of $44,456,100, 

 a reserve fund of $7,923,220, issuing paper 

 money amounting to $34,396,880. 



Before the era of Meiji (1868) and the cen- 

 tralization of power in the person of the pres- 

 ent Mikado, the various han, or local authori- 

 ties, issued their own paper scrip, which usual- 

 ly circulated at par only within the boundaries 

 of the provinces, or fiefs, in which the notes 

 were printed. In 1869 the National Govern- 

 ment issued its own kin-satsu (gold notes), nnd 

 called in all the local paper money, assuming 

 also the debts of the extinguished han. For 

 twenty years this national paper has circulated 

 freely, often at a premium as high as 12 per 

 cent., and occasionally falling as low as 20 per 

 cent, discount. There were in circulation, Oct. 

 1, 1887 : 



Government paper money $57,397,619 



Exchangeable [for gold or silver] notes 51,788,760 



National bank notes 28,757,902 



These "exchangeable notes" are presumed 

 to be at any time safely convertible into coin. 

 In June, 1885, the issue amounted to $3,801,- 

 330. In two years this had increased to $43,- 

 935,696, which was further added to, Oct. 1, 

 1887, making the total circulation 151,788,760. 

 While the ordinary issue of the Government 

 and national banks decreased, that of these 

 "exchangeable notes" increased from three 

 to thirty millions, that of 1887 amounting to 

 $13,676,927. The total volume of paper money 

 during recent years is as follows: 1880, $143,- 

 098,268; 1881, $140,385,578; 1882, $140,032,- 

 041; 1883, $132,618,040; 1884, $124,844,639; 

 1885, $124,267,354; 1887, Oct. 1, $137,944,- 

 281. 



The Japanese values are those of the yen, 

 nominally worth one dollar, but at present 

 about eighty cents gold. The amount of gold, 

 silver, and copper coinage of the mint at Ozaka 

 from November, 1870, to March, 1887, is $138,- 

 044,050.72, of which $137,979,708.82 was put 

 into circulation. The pieces struck are : Gold, 

 20, 10, 5, 2, and I yen pieces; silver, 1 yen, 

 silver trade-dollar, 50, 20, 10, and 5 sen (cent) 

 pieces; copper, 2, 1, , -^ sen pieces. 

 TOL. xxvn. 26 A 



The Army. The peace establishment consists 

 of 59,086 officers and men. 



Infantry, 11 regiments, officers and men 45,502 



Cavalry, 2 regiments, officers and men 605 



Artillery, 7 brigades, officers and men 4,476 



Engineers, officers and men 2,148 



Transport and commissariat corps, officers and men . . 8,7C8 



Yeomanry 752 



Gendarmes 1,805 



The war establishment comprises 183,612 

 officers and men. The artillery equipment in- 

 cludes 144 field-guns and 72 mountain-guns, 

 both of 7-centimetre bore. The Artillery Body 

 Guard have twenty-four Krupp field-guns, of 

 7i centimetre bore. One general, sixteen lieu- 

 tenant-generals, forty major-generals, and 2,552 

 commissioned officers, with salaries ranging 

 from $5,000 to $250 per annum, comprise the 

 official staff. The War Department employs 

 five French, one German, and three Italian offi- 

 cers; and 260 officers and clerks in its offices. 

 The expenses of the War Department are $384,- 

 848; of the army, $11,321,670; of the gendar- 

 merie, $293,482; total, $11,999,600. 



The Navy. The energies of the nation being 

 especially directed toward fortification of the 

 coast and enlargement of the navy, there are 

 now in course of construction a fleet of tor- 

 pedo-boats, 2 iron-clad cruisers, 3 corvettes, 4 

 gunboats, and 2 smaller vessels for coast de- 

 fense; total, 11 vessels, with 49 guns, having 

 a tonnage of 13,300, and to be manned by 

 16,600 men. In actual service, afloat, are: 1 

 powerful iron-clad, 1 frigate, 3 cruisers, 11 cor- 

 vettes, 1 yacht, 1 dispatch-boat, 5 gunboats, 1 

 transport; in all, 24 vessels, with a tonnage of 

 36,790, mounting 172 guns, and manned by 

 36,790 sailors and officers. In the coast-de- 

 fense scheme, 153 forts are thought necessary. 

 By popular subscription, to Nov. 19, 1887, $2,- 

 115,027.22 had been raised for this purpose. Of 

 the subscribers, 11,985 were officers, 35 nobles, 

 69 gentry, and the remainder of the common 

 people. Five million dollars in naval loan bonds 

 were issued by the Government in 1887, and 

 taken by the people. The annual expense of the 

 naval establishment is: For the Department, 

 $543,176; navy, $4,345,820; training-schools 

 and aid to disabled, $404,468; total, $5,293,- 

 464. 



Postal Statistics. The educative influences of 

 the national system of posts, instituted under the 

 restored Government which began its existence 

 in 1868, is shown by the foil owing figures: The 

 total revenue of this administration for the year 

 ending March 31, 1886, was $1,600,298.86, 

 expenditure $1,720,519.15; carried on in 4,- 

 136 post-offices, 659 receiving-agencies, 24,964 

 stamp-agencies, and 24,823 street letter-boxes; 

 44,525 miles of mail-routes, with a total trans- 

 portation of 20.365,704 miles; and handling 

 87,049,872 covers. Money was sent in 733,639 

 money-orders, postal-notes, or by telegraph, 

 aggregating in value $5,762,545.51. In the 

 postal saving-banks $7,820,148.29 were de- 

 posited, making the amount held on deposit by 

 the Government $14,561,293.88; of which $2,- 

 876,494.65 were repaid, including interest 



