2278 C0]^OIERCIAL JAPAK. [Decembek, 



Art. II. All profit.? arising from seigniorage and other items at the mint, resulting under a si)ecial comptabilite after 1897, shall be 

 turned into the coina^re adjustment fund. . . i .. 



Art. III. When' 1-yen eilver coin withdrawn from circulation through exchange, or other corns withdrawn from circulation on 

 account of their inconvenience, are to be sold as bulUon, such sales may be transacted by the Government by any contract it may choose 



to enter into. . ..,,.,, ,. x- xi. f 



Now, such being the coinage law and the subsidiary laws, the mam points m the practical scheme of executmg the reform set on 

 foot by the finance minister may be stated as follows: 



I. To mint the now gold coins with gold bullion bought with the Chinese indemnity money. 



II. To exchange with gold coin the l-yen silver coins and the silver promissory notes of the mint previously issued. 



Now that gold v,a.s made the standard of coinage, according to the coinage law, it is very clear that the silver 1 yen, which had 



hitherto occupied the position of the unit of coinage,^ ought to be exchanged for gold coins. Should, however, the actual amount of 



these silver yen brought in for exchange exceed their estimated amount, it would not only be impossible to accomydish the work of 



exchange, but also the latter fact would at once destroy the very basis of the new coinage system. For this reason careful researches 



were made as to the amount of the silver yen which would be brought in for exchange with gold coins. 



The estimated amounts stood as follows: 



Yen. 



1-yen silver coin circulating at home 39, .320, 000 



1-yen silver coin which would l)e brought back from abroad for exchange 10, 000, 000 



Silver bullion corresponding to the promissory notes of the mint .- 30, 000, 000 



Total 79,320,000 



III. As to the method of dispo.sal of the silver yen withdrawn from circulation: 



The total amount of the silver yen to be exchanged, some 79,000,000 in all, according to the estimate in the preceding paragraph, 

 shall be disposed of partly by minting them into subsidiary coins, according to the purposes explained under Paragraph V, and partly 

 by transporting them abroad for sale, after disfiguring them so as to make them legally unfit for circulation at home. 



IV. As to the disposal of the silver bullion corresponding to the promissory notes of the jnint: 



Although with the promulgation of the coinage law of 1897 the further coining of silver yen was to cease, there must be provided 

 a means for the disposal of the silver bullion corresponding to the promissory notes of the mint. It was intended now to di-spose of it 

 in the same way as the silver yen, by partly devoting it to minting .subsidiary coins and partly selling it abroad. 



V. To make an increased issue of subsidiary silver coins, the gold piece which w^ould correspond with 1 yen, if coined, would be so 

 small in weight as to be inconvenient for daily transactions. For this reason no provision was made in the coinage law for the minting 

 of 1-yen gold pieces. Yet in order to keep firm the foundations of our coinage system the people must be supplied with hard money for 

 the purpo.ses of small daily transactions. There was therefore the more need of making an increased issue of subsidiary coins, since not 

 only were the Government paper money and national-bank notes to be retired, but the convertible 1-yen notes, which were being 

 largely used in the smaller transactions among the people, were to be reduced in amount. For these reasons it was now planned to 

 makothe increased issue of subsidiary coins, consisting of 50-sen and other smaller coins. 



Such, in general, were the lines of policy according to which the coinage law w-as carried into operation. * * * 



ItEGULATIOXS CONCERNING THE EXCHANGE OF l-YEN SILVER COINS. 



In accordance with the Article XVI of the coinage law (law No. XVI of 1897), where it is provided that 1-yen silver coins shall 

 be exchanged gradually, at the rate of 1 yen gold for 1 yen silver, the Government now issued regulations concerning the exchangee! 

 l-yen silver coins by finance department notification No. LXI of September 21, 1897. The regulations run as foUows: 



FINANCE DEPARTMENT NOTIFICATION NO. LXI OF THE 21ST DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1897. 



From the 1st day of October, this year, 1-yen silver coins hitherto issued shall be gradually exchanged with gold coins. Persons 

 iesirou.H of having them thus ex(;hanged may apply at the central Government treasury. The a]:)plication may be made at the Yokohama 

 Specie Bank and its branch office at Kobe, both of which act as agencies for the Nippon Ginko, and the Government treasuries in 

 different parts of the country, where the officials in charge will accommodate the applicants by getting the coins exchanged at the 

 central tnuisury. 



In rcfiard to the circulation of the 1-yen silver coins, there was issued on the 18th of September, 1897, imperial ordinance No. 

 CCCXXXVllI, as follows: 



IMPERIAL ORDINANCE NO. CCCXXXVllI OF THE 18tH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1897. 



The circulation of 1-yen silver coins hitherto issued is prohibited after the 1st day of April, 1898. 



While the circulation of 1-yen silver coins was thus to cease altogether on April 1, 1898, a term of full five years after these coins 

 ceased to circulate was allowed for making their exchange. Yet, on the other hand, when the actual state of affairs was studied soon 

 after they ceased to circulate, as well as the state of affairs since October of the previous year (1897), at which date the Government had 

 begun to make the exchange, it was seen that the work of exchange had progressed with unexpected speed, so much so that there was 

 no need to further continue making the exchange. In fact, there was not onlv no need, but some danger that, if the five-year period 

 was allowed to remain, counterfeit 1-yen pieces might be imported from abroad. For these reasons, already at the end of iS97, Count 

 Matsukata, finance minister at that time, presented to the cabinet a draft of the law for the shortening of the period allowed for the 

 exchange, of 1-yen silver coins. Yet, owing to the di.^solution of the Imperial Diet, that draft was never laid before the houses. When 

 Count Inouye Huccccdcd Count IMatsukata as finance minister, he also saw the need of cutting short the five-vear pcrioil, and the draft 

 of the I;i\v ti) that effect laiil before the extraordinary meeting of the Diet was passed by both houses. The clraft became law No. V of 

 the loth of .June, l.SilS, and runs as follows: 



LAW NO. V OF THE IOtH DAY OF JINE, 1898. 



No exchange of 1-yen silver coins shall take place after the 31st day of July, 1898. 



>^'hile it liail been the rule hitherto to exchange 1-yen silver pieces with gold coins and transact the business connected with that 

 exchange only at the central treasury (the trea.'^uries in different parts of the country simply accommodating themselves in a.'v'^istinf; 

 applicants to get the exchan;xe niaile at the central (iovernnient trea.-^ury), the Government n\<:arded it ncce-s.-^ary to make certain chang«j 

 in connection with the process of exchange in onler to make sure that there should be no 1-yen silver coins left over unexchanged on 

 account of the shortening of the five-year period. These changes were embodied in the finance department notification No. X LI X of 

 June 16, 185»8, and are as follows: 



FINANCE DErAKTMENT NOTIFICATION NO. XLIX OF THE lOTH DAY OF JVNE, 1898. 



I. Any persnn desirous of petting the 1-yen silver c(Mn exchanged for any kind of currency may apply during the ix»riod allowed 

 for its exchang(> at any of the (Jovernment treasuries ami subtnasuries. 



II. The 1-ven silver coin may be u.«ed in the payment of taxes or in otherwise making payment to the Government during the 

 period allowed lor its i>xchai\ge. * * * 



The mint now immediately incre.a.oed it." working rapacity, bopan minting the.«^ coins, and worked l>oth dav and r- -^^ «^ — ^^ly 

 without cessation, so that by the prescribed day — i. c, Septomlvr 3l) — it snecet^Ied in turning mit 4n.riS7,l(iO yon of the Ui ■)•-•. 



The original estimate of the new cuius to l>e minte<l was now increased, and it was docidetl to coin by tiio 31st day of M - ^, in 



atltlilion to tlie amount mentioned above, 500,000 yen of 5-yen goUl pieces and 24,500,000 yen of 10-yen gold pieces; total, 25,000,000 yen. 



