JAPAN. 



347 



ever ferocious or insensate, profess principles which 

 they themselves denominate as anarchistic, and 

 carry on their propaganda by a secret press which 

 extols odious crimes and deeds of violence as the 

 most effective means of waging the war they had 

 declared against society. Favorable replies were 

 received at once from France, Austria, Germany, 

 and Belgium. The Russian and other governments 

 gave their adhesion also, England last, with a sug- 

 gestion that a concrete basis of discussion be formu- 

 lated in a circular. This was acceptable to the other 

 governments, and the conference was appointed to 

 meet at Rome on Nov. 25. The new Minister of 

 Marine proposed a programme of naval construction 

 involving the expenditure of 540,000,000 lire in eight 

 years, but as the suspension of the wheat duties left 

 a deficit, the other ministers would only agree to an 

 increase in the credit for construction for 1899 to 

 about 30,000,000 lire. 



Signor Vacchelli's budget statement on Nov. 23 

 showed that the year 1898 had really closed with a 

 deficit of 1,100,000 lire, instead of a surplus of 

 10,000,000 lire, and that, instead of the anticipated 

 surplus of 37,000,000 lire in 1899, a deficit of 14,- 

 000,000 lire was to be looked for, while the cessa- 

 tion of various sources of revenue, with the outlay 

 for railroad construction, would create in the next 

 two years a deficiency of 46,000,000 lire. This he 

 proposed to cover by using the fund destined for 

 the redemption of debts and proceeds of the sales 

 of the property of suppressed religious corporations. 

 The floating debt, which should be reckoned at 

 560,000,000 lire, and not at 410,000,000 lire, the 

 Government intended to convert into 4|-per-cent. 

 consols. The Minister of the Treasury rejected the 

 proposal of his predecessor to create a sinking fund 

 for the relief of small taxpayers, but intended to 

 abolish octrois on bread and flour, amounting to 

 30,000,000 lire a year, indemnifying the communes 

 by imposing other taxes. The state would be in- 



demnified by changes in the taxes on buildings, on 

 business transactions, and on persons exempted 

 from military service. Other reforms were prom- 

 ised for the relief of agriculture and industry from 

 taxation. If the revenue of the state should dimin- 

 ish in consequence of these changes, the wealthier 

 classes would be compelled to contribute more 

 largely to the expenses of the state by means of a 

 progressive income tax. 



Colonies. The Italian possessions on the Red 

 Sea coast, extending from Cape Kasar to the south- 

 ern limit of Raheita, on the Strait of Bab-el-Man- 

 deb, embracing an area of 88,500 square miles, with 

 a population estimated at 450,000, were organized 

 in 1894 as the colony of Eritrea, having an autono- 

 mous civil administration and the management of 

 its own finances. By the treaty of peace signed at 

 Adis Abeba on Oct. 26, 1896, Italy renounced the 

 protectorate claimed over Abyssinia and relin- 

 quished all the territory occupied south of the 

 rivers Mareb, Belesa, and Muna. Kassala, a post 

 in the Egyptian Soudan that was occupied by 

 Italian troops, was restored to Egypt in December, 

 1897. The expenditure of the colony for 1898 was 

 estimated at 19,800,000 lire, of which only 1,900,000 

 lire could be raised from local resources, leaving 

 for the Italian Government to supply the sum of 

 17,900,000 lire. The total cost of the colony to the 

 Italian treasury from 1882, when Massowa was first 

 occupied, to the end of 1896 was 303,950,926 lire, 

 of which 123,738,064 lire were spent during the 

 warlike operations of 1895 and 1896. The port of 

 Massowah has 7,775 inhabitants, of whom 600 are 

 Europeans and 480 Asiatics. Trade is mostly car- 

 ried on by Banians from India. The imports in 

 1896 were valued at 28,442,551 lire. Meat, hides, 

 butter, pearls, and mother-of-pearl are exported. 

 There were 5,811 vessels, of 248,567 tons, entered, 

 and 5,782, of 251,807 tons, cleared at Massowah in 

 1896. (See ABYSSINIA and EAST AFRICA.) 



JAPAN, an island empire in Asia, east of the 

 continent and extending from the Philippine to the 

 Kurile Islands. The long and narrow archipelago 

 includes 4.000 islands, of which about 500 are 

 inhabited. The total area is 169,140 square miles. 

 The extremities of the empire are in north latitude 

 at 21 48' and 50 56', and in east longitude at 156 

 32' and 119 20'. For administrative purposes the 

 empire is divided into 47 districts, 705 gun or sub- 

 districts. There are 44 shi or large cities, and 14,782 

 cities and villages. The Emperor, Mutsuhito, is the 

 one hundred and twenty-second in the line of Mika- 

 dos. The heir apparent, Yoshihito, was born Aug. 

 31, 1877. The imperial throne is succeeded to by im- 

 perial male descendants. The Emperor exercises the 

 rights of sovereignty, but shares legislative power 

 with the Imperial Diet, which he has the right of 

 proroguing or dissolving. In the upper house of the 

 Imperial Diet are 316 peers and imperial nominees. 

 In the lower house are 300 members, elected by 

 male voters, who must pay national taxes to the 

 value of $15 annually. His Privy Council is com- 

 posed of 20 veteran statesmen, and his Cabinet of 

 the 10 heads of departments. Besides this central 

 administration there are the 4 provincial govern- 

 ments subordinate to the Emperor the prefecture 

 of the police of Tokio, department of colonization for 

 the island of Yezo, the Fu and Ken (prefectures and 

 districts), and the government of the island of For- 

 mosa. The total number of salaried employees in 

 the National Government in 1896 was 57,502, whose 



salaries amounted to 14,516,262 silver yen. (A yen 

 is worth 50 cents.) Since Oct. 1, 1897, Japan has 

 used the gold standard. 



The total population of the empire, Dec. 31, 1897, 

 was 46,000,000. On Dec. 6, 1898, the Imperial Diet 

 unanimously voted to the Emperor $20,000,000 out 

 of the Chinese indemnity fund, because "the victory 

 over China in the late war was absolutely due to the 

 power and glory of the Emperor, and the gift is in 

 accordance with the will of the people." 



Finances. The budget for 1897-'98, as officially 

 published and digested in that annual publication 

 by the Imperial Cabinet, shows a total revenue of 

 238,709,484 yen, of which 121,428,570 yen are under 

 the head of ordinary, and 117,280,914 yen are ex- 

 traordinary receipts. "The chief items of revenue are 

 from the land tax, the manufacture of sake, patent 

 rights, imposts and customs, and various state en- 

 terprises. Under extraordinary receipts are the 

 Chinese indemnity, 50,509.121 yen, and bonds. 61,- 

 329,500 yen. The total expenses were 249,547,286 

 yen, of which 112,310,798 yen were ordinary and 137,- 

 236,488 were extraordinary expenses. In the for- 

 mer the chief items were : Interest on the public 

 debt, 22,828,942 yen ; for the War Department, 29,- 

 129,378 yen; and for communications, 11,671,749 

 yen. In the latter 66,994,126 yen for the navy and 

 31,484,591 yen for the army are noted. Japan's 

 public debt in 1897 was 419,380,217 yen, most of it 

 bearing interest at 5 per cent. In the same year 

 there were 289,322,349 yen of metal money in circu- 



