390 



JAPAN. 



ment, and to call for the establishment of courts 

 of arbitration to precede disarmament. A reso- 

 lution was also adopted to urge arbitration for 

 the settlement of disputes between employers 

 and employes. (3) The establishment of an in- 

 ternational peace bureau. Bern was selected 

 as the seat of such a bureau, as a central place 

 of information concerning the labors of the va- 

 rious peace societies. The bureau is not to ex- 

 ercise any authority, nor to control the labors of 

 any peace society. Hodgson Pratt, Frederick 

 Bajer, Ducommun, Mazzolini, and Love were 

 elected to compose the bureau. (4) The estab- 

 lishment of a yearly conference for the purpose 

 of securing a communion between the universi- 

 ties of Europe and America, particularly with 

 respect to all questions of arbitration. The con- 

 gress voted for a yearly conference of teachers 

 and professors, and for unions of the students to 

 meet at the various universities in turn. (5) The 

 means whereby the public press may be influ- 

 enced. The public press is too often the cause 

 of a nation's quarrels. It was voted that the 

 peace societies can not attain any lasting results 

 so long as public opinion does not strive against 

 national hatred and war ideas. The press has 

 been too willing to encourage national preju- 

 dices. The next congress will be convened at 

 Bern in August, 1892. 



Colonies. Italy possesses and actually occu- 

 pies in Africa the country around Massowah, the 

 sea-port giving access to Abyssinia, with Keren 

 and Asmara, having a total area of 3,100 square 

 miles ; the Dahlak Archipelago, with an area of 

 420 square miles ; and also the territory of As- 



sab Bay on the Red Sea, opposite Aden, 548 

 square miles in extent. A protectorate is claimed 

 over the Empire of Abyssinia, and, by an ar- 

 rangement with Great Britain, Somaiiiand, as 

 far southward as the limit of the British K,-;st 

 Africa Company's territory, is recognized as 

 lying within the Italian sphere of interest, which 

 extends inland to the borders of the Egyptian 

 Soudan. Italy has the right to occupy the town 

 and district of Kassala, if strategic considera- 

 tions require such a step, but has agreed to sur- 

 render the place to Egypt if the latter should 

 wish to resume her rule "in the district. In this 

 region the line of demarkation between the 

 Italian sphere and that of England runs from 

 Ras Kasar on the Red Sea, through Bisha, which 

 is between Kassala and Keren, to Famaki. 

 The Italian Government has decided for the 

 present to restrict military operations to the pro- 

 tection of Keren, Asmara, and Massowah. De- 

 giac Mangascia, who is recognized as ruler of 

 Tigre under the Emperor Menelek, was ap- 

 proached with a view to establishing good neigh- 

 borly relations. A diplomatic representative 

 was accredited to Degiac Makonnen, the Em- 

 peror's representative in Harrar, with whom 

 friendly relations were established already. 

 Overtures were made to Menelek for peaceful and 

 cordial relations, based on assurances that Italy 

 had no design to raise internal difficulties for 

 him or to weaken his independence. Gen. Gan- 

 dolfl, governor of the Italian colony of Erythria, 

 was specially appointed to establish a civil ad- 

 ministration, and to separate the duties of the 

 governor from those of the military commandant. 



JAPAN, a country in the north Pacific 



Ocean, east of China,' between longitude east 

 156 32' and 122 45' and latitude north 50 56' 

 and 24 6'. The most eastern portion of the 

 empire is the island of Shimushiu in the prov- 

 ince of Chishima, and the most western Yona- 

 kunishima in the Riu Kiu archipelago. The 

 portion most northerly is the island of Araito- 

 shima in Chishima, and that most southerly is 

 Hatermashima in Riu Kiu. The Russian term 

 Kurile and the Chinese name Liu Kiu or Loo 

 Choo are no longer known in Japan, and both 

 these archipelagos at the extreme ends of the 

 empire are integral parts of Japan. The Gov- 

 ernment is a constitutional monarchy, at the 

 head of which is the Emperor Mutsuhito, born 

 Nov. 3, 1852, and officially the one hundred and 

 twenty-third of the line of mikados. The Em- 

 press, Haruko, was born May 28, 1850, and de- 

 clared Empress of Japan on the day of her 

 marriage to the Emperor, Feb. 9, 1869. No 

 children have been born of this union, but by 

 the imperial concubines there are four sons 

 and seven daughters, the last born Aug. 7, 1891, 

 all of whom have died, except Yoshihito, born 

 Aug. 31, 1879, proclaimed heir to the throne 

 Aug. 31, 1887, and elected Crown Prince Nov. 3, 

 1889. There are ten imperial houses or families, 

 from which heirs to the throne may be taken, 

 and which furnish the princes who sit in the 

 upper house of the Diet. Their total allowance 



out of the civil list is 212,000 yen, the silver yen 

 being worth 80 cents. The civil list for 1890-'91 

 required to be taken from the treasury 3,214,381 

 yen. 



Area and Population. The geodetical, trig- 

 onometrical, and geological survey of the whole 

 empire is being steadily carried on. The plani- 

 metric calculations for five provinces have been 

 brought to completion. The measurements cor- 

 rected to Dec. 31, 1889, showed the coast line of 

 Hondo, the main island, to be 4,882 miles, and of 

 the whole empire to be 17,575 miles. The area 

 of Hondo is 91,819 square miles, and of the em- 

 pire 155,962 square miles. The number of isl- 

 ands under official knowledge or inspection is 

 nearly 4,000, but of these only 520 have a coast 

 line of 1 ri, or 2'5 miles, or are inhabited, or 

 serve for light-houses or other guides to naviga- 

 tion. For meteorological purposes the empire 

 is divided into 7 divisions, in which are 31 wt-11- 

 equipped stations of observation and record. 

 Politically, there are 85 provinces, 804 counties, 

 or shires, 42 large cities (on communal organi- 

 zation of 1888), 1,111 towns, and 3,374 villages. 

 The taxes are levied on private property as fol- 

 low : Rice fields, 110,213 acres ; ordinary meadow 

 or arable land. 92,048 acres; land occupied by 

 buildings, 12,737 acres; forests, 292,238 acres"; 

 .other lands, sea-shore, springs, waste, etc., 42.G69 

 acres ; total, 552,424 acres. The property thus 

 assessed is divided into 85,440,000 separate lots 



