.I.M'AN. 





I lir agreement "f the chief power- will probably 

 determine ihf decision of Kgypt. 



Kctl rroxx Conrentlon. The fifth confer- 



!' the Society of the lied Cross was opened 

 in Koine mi April 21, 1892, by tin- president nf 

 iln Italian association, Count di Somaglia. The 

 conference was attended by delegates from all 

 i In- Kuropean countries except Turkey, from the 

 I'nited Slates, and Japan. A resolution. cx- 

 piv--ing the desire of the conference of having 

 the Mgnatorie- of the Geneva convention ex- 

 tend the activity of the society to naval war-, 

 ua- adnpti-d. < Hlier resolutions passed, expir- 

 ing the desire of the conference, were: The trans- 

 portation, free of charge and duty, of natural 

 products collected by the society and sent to 

 countries at war with each other; the training 

 of nurses and of carriers of the wounded in time 

 of peace : the study of electric light in the sani- 

 tarv service. It was further decided that in <-a-e 

 of a war beyond the seas, where both countries 

 carrying on war were signatories of the Geneva 

 convention, the aid of the society must be given ; 

 but before giving aid, where only one country 

 ha> signed, the other country hud "to bind itself 

 to comply with the rules of the society. 



Colonies. Italian colonies are confined to 

 Africa, where Italy owns several tracts and has 

 established a protectorate over others. Her 

 -ions include the country around Mas- 

 sowah. with Keren and Asmara, the Dahhik 

 archipelago, and the Assab Bay territory. 



Italian influence is claimed over the territory of 

 the Iliibab, Bogus Heni-Ainer, and other-: 

 the territory of the Danakil, including the sul- 

 tanate of Aussa; over Somali and (inllaland, ac- 

 cording to a treaty with England concluded in 

 1MU : and over the Kingdom of Abyssinia, in 

 virtue of a treaty for mutual protection entered 

 into between KingMciielek II, of Aby.vinia, and 

 King Umberto I, of Italy, in 1889. The total 

 e-timated area of the Italian protector.. 

 812,000 square miles, and the popuh-t ion " 

 000. The total Italian possessions on the lied 

 Sea were constituted as the colony of Kvitrea, 

 with an independent administration and man- 

 agement of its own finances. A civil and 

 military governor is the chief executive, and is 

 a--i-ted by three councilors, nominated by the 

 King. 



The estimated revenue of the colony for 

 1890-'91 amounted to 1,313,300 lire, and th'e ex- 

 penditures to 2,960,000 lire; thedeflcitof 1,646.- 

 700 lire is to be covered by contributions of the 

 Italian Government. Pasturing is the chief oc- 

 cupation of the people, who lead an essentially 

 nomadic life ; but pearl fishing is carried on along 

 the coast and the Dahlak archipelago. The 

 trade of Massowah amounted to 14,980,041 lire 

 in 1890, and in 1889. 2,442 vessels, of 213,955 

 tons, entered, and 2,519 vessels, of 219,712 tons, 

 cleared that port. In the year 1889-'90 the post 

 office at Massowah handled 258,810 pieces of 

 mail matter. 



JAPAN, a country in the north Pacific Ocean, 

 east of Siberia, Corea, and China. Geographical- 

 ly, Dai Nippon, as the natives call it, is an archi- 

 pelago. The empire is a limited constitutional 

 monarchy, governed by the hereditary Emperor, 

 Miitsuliito, born Nov. 3. 1852, the one hundred 

 and twenty-third of the line of mikados, in con- 

 nect ion with ministries and the Diet. The Con- 

 st ii ut ion was promulgated Feb. 13, 1889, and the 

 fourth session of the Diet began Nov. 29. 1892. 



Area and Population. With a coast line of 

 I7.:>7:> miles, 4,882 of which belong to Hondo, 

 lapaii is well furnished with facilities for sus- 

 taining a large population by means of sea food. 

 The area of 155.962 square miles in 1890 was 

 politically divided into 47 prefectures. The 

 a v em ,g population of a prefecture is 860,712. 

 <'n Dec. 31, 1890, there were 40,453,461 natives 

 counted in the census, of whom 20,431,097 were 

 males and 20,022,364 were females. These were 

 divided into the three classes of nobles, gentry, 

 and commons 3,768 nobles, 2,008, 641 gentry, and 

 38,441,052 commons. In 1890, 9.1 )(^ foreigners. 

 of whom 1,701 were English, 889 Americans, and 

 l.!i"> < 'hinese. lived at I he ports opened by treaty, 

 and by special permission in a few other places. 



Finances. The budget for IWM-'ii-J -hows a 

 total revenue of $80,701,473, and a total expendi- 

 t ure ..f $77,063,748. The receipts are : From taxes 

 on land, $38,771,339; sake brewing and sale, 

 *1.V,ss.i;.-,7; customs, $4,479.096; tobacco, $1,- 

 884,861; internal revenue, $3,673,297; profits 

 on Government industries, $9,262,709, and from 

 taxes on banks and societies, licenses, ete. The 



chief items of expense are : Interest on public 

 debts of all sorts and expenses in the nature 

 of debt, $17,829,890; provincial administration, 

 $4.944,836; colonization of Hokkaido, $1,648,- 

 913; extraordinary expenses. $9,278,815; and 

 for the various ministries: War, $12,507,162; 

 navy. $5.712,471; justice, $:'>.r>!-j.*>:{7; communi- 

 cations. $4,684,205; finance, $3,041,600; civil 

 list, $3.206,811; pensions. $1.027,847; payment 

 of public debt, $3,540,980. The public d"ebt in 

 1891 was $306,600,727, including $81,370,072 in 

 paper money. In 1890 there were in circulation 

 $1,724,082 in gold yen, $7,226,416 in silver, and 

 $2.100,000 in copper and nickel; total, $11,050,- 

 498. The total output from the mint sent into 

 circulation from November, 1870, to 1890 was: 

 Gold, $61,379,795; silver, $92,391.829; copper, 

 $12,289,560; nickel, $2,100,000; making a grand 

 total of $168,161.174. Of paper money in circu- 

 lation, April 1, 1801, besides $31,370.072 in na- 

 tional treasury notes, there were $25.4(1 1,718 of 

 national bank' notes, and $71,948.671 silver cer- 

 tificates of the Hank of Japan, making a total 

 of xr.2s.7si i. r.r,. In 1SS2 the national treasury 

 note- aggregated $105,635.228. the reduction in 

 volume being steady until 1891 or the pn-M-nt 

 time. Local taxes in the various prefectures on 

 land, houses, patents, etc.. amounted to $15,081.- 

 130 in 1890- <( .M. and expenditures to $14,965.- 

 757. The chief prefect ural expenses were : For 

 public works. *3.75!i..V.t!; police. $3.688,849; 

 prisons. $2.901.109: education. $1.193,879; sub- 

 prefectural administration. $ l.S42.!i'J2. etc. Com- 

 munal or township revenues aggregated $18,- 



