1901.] 



COMMERCIAL JAPAN. 



2235 



■went back and was distributed to tho soldiers, laborers, merchant^, and pensioners, biioincss excitement ran hi^h. New factories, 

 bai)k.=, and corporations arose, one after another, and new navigation lines v.ero opened, extending to London, Seattle, South America, 

 and Australasia. These figures show the increase of capital of several corporations in yens: 



k Expectation of the opening of the Parliament next year. 



••During the war. 



= 1898. 



* About. 



PAID-UP CAPITAL. 



An increase of fivefold in a decade. 



Thn.=5 the country suddenly became a strong power, and made a jump from agriculture to the industrial arts. Altogether it has 

 been moot succe?sfp.l. The new treaty resulting in the increase of customs refiected accurately the expansion of trade. The people's 

 purchasing power increased, general price of commodities and wages v.ent up;" in fact, the standard of living of the people was rapidly 

 raised. Average increase in price of commodities and wages in two largest cities are as follows, taking the year 1S92 aa 100: 



» See pp. 606-015 and 523-532, the Nineteenth Annual Census of Japan, and pp. 29 and 47, Resume Statiatiquo do PEmpire du Japon, 1900. 



i> Osaka, 

 c Tokyo. 



