JAPAN IN THE COMMERCE OF THE WORLD. 537 



pectatlons about this new field. They hoped that the efforts of the 

 Japanese to appropriate occidental means of education, intercourse, 

 and defence would soon extend to their manner of life, house- 

 keeping, and clothing. In this confidence they ventured upon' 

 daring speculations, without remembering that the multitude 

 possessed neither inclination nor means to forsake their old cus- 

 toms. Side by side with highly respectable houses, in the treaty 

 ports, many persons without resources or experience, or with 

 elastic consciences, established themselves. As agents, they received, 

 held, and stored all sorts of European and American manufactures 

 on commission, with very little prospect of speedy sale. The 

 storage charges grew to be enormous ; the manufacturer pressed 

 them to sell ; and consequently the goods were often disposed of 

 at public auction, with scarcely enough profit to cover their cost. 

 In consequence of these unsound relations, many things, such as 

 umbrellas, hats, and flannels, could be purchased cheaper from 

 Japanese shopkeepers than in the land of their production. And 

 it often happened, too, that the worst sort of goods came in this 

 way into Japan, e.g. wretched shoes, which went to pieces after 

 being worn a few times. These and various other obstacles long 

 stood in the way of a healthy development of the import trade. 

 And to exportation also there were many hindrances. 



In its foreign commerce Japan appears like a young colony 

 going through a rapid transition in its economics. In the three 

 decades of its freer development it has conquered many extra- 

 ordinary difficulties in a most surprising manner, and has ex- 

 hibited a vitality that is astounding. On several occasions there 

 was cause to fear political and economical bankruptcy. Instead of 

 this, the body politic has grown stronger and healthier, and the 

 prospects of a flourishing development of intellectual and material 

 life are greater than ever before. The financial difficulties culmi- 

 nated at the time of the Satsuma rebellion (1877), when the 

 national treasury was empty, and the negative exchanges of many 

 years had caused a dangerous scarcity of cash. The government 

 was compelled to issue a large amount of paper money, or Kin- 

 satsu. This, in consequence of its incalculable sudden fluctuations, 

 became a universal obstacle to trade. Cash had become so scarce 

 that, for example, Enslie, the English consul at Niigata, expressed 

 the opinion, in his report for October, 1878, that there were not 

 twenty-five gold and silver yen pieces in circulation in the great 

 Niigata-ken, with a population of ij millions.^ 



Kinsatsu formerly stood at par — nay, was in the home trade 

 even preferred to real money. Now its worth sank so much that 

 one had to allow for the constant fluctuation of a considerable agio, 

 which occasionally amounted to 180 per cent. Not until of late 



1 " The only currency used here is paper money, gold and silver are never 

 met with nowadays, and I think I may safely say that there are not twenty-five 

 gold and silver yen in circulation throughout the whole Ken.'' 



