2290 



COMMEKCIAJj JAPAlf. 



[jDecembeh, 



Art. 3. The provisions of articles 95 and 97-101 of the law concerning the operation of the commercial code apply correspondingly 

 to foreign insurance companies. 



Art. 4. If it appears to the Government that the continuance of the business of a foreign insurance company is endangered, or if 

 the foreign company acts in contravention of an order of the Government, the Government may order that the prosecution of the 

 business be suspended or tlie representative be removed. 



Art. 5. WJienever a foreign insurance company makes an inventory and a balance sheet, it must, without delay, submit it to the 

 Government, together with a business report, an account of profits and losses, and a statement as to the distribution of the profits. 



Art. 6. A foreign insurance company which has set up a branch office or an agency in Japan before the taking effect of the 

 commercial code must, within six months from its taking effect, obtain permission of the Government. 



The provisions of article 95, 2, of the law concerning the operation of the commercial code apply correspondingly to such foreign 

 companies. 



Art. 7. The provisions of articles 1, 2, 4, and 5 of this law and of articles 98-101 of the law concerning the operation of the 

 commercial code apply correspondingly to foreign insurance companies which have established a branch ofiice or an agency in Japan 

 before the commercial code takes effect. 



FOREIGN TRADE IN JAPAN. 



[From the British Board of Trade Journal.] 



The following totals relating to the foreign trade of Japan during the years 1897 and 1898, taken from the customs returns, have 

 been published in the Japan Weekly Mail: 



Exports 

 ImporLs. 



1897 



Yen. 

 163,135,077 

 219,300,771 



1898 



Increase. 



VCTI. 



1G.5, b<;jt, 304 

 27G, 9%, 520 



2, .527, 227 

 57, C95, 755 



Total 



382,435,848 442,658.830 



00, 222, 982 



The total growth of the ^trade is the largest on record, the nearest approximation being the growth shown in 1894 as compared 

 with 189.'>, namely, 52,758,011 yen. But in the year 1894 the increase was tolerably evenly divided between exports and imports, the 

 increment in the case of the former being 24,000,QOO yen, and the increment in the case of the latter 29,000,000 yen in round numbers. 

 In 1898, on tlie contrary, exports showed a development of only 2,500,000 yen, whereas imports increased by 57,500,000 yen. These 

 facts, however, must not ))c taken without analysis. Japan's export trade is made up of raw products and manufactured goods, in the 

 proportion of 5 to 3, approximately, as seen in the following table: 



It appears therefore that whereas the export of raw products fell off by 11,500,000 yen, that of manufactured goods increased by 

 14,000,0(X) yen. Indeed of the twelve chief staples making up the export trade in manufactured goods only one failed to increase, 

 namely, carpets, which fell from 973,871 yen in 1897 to 850,879 yen in 1898. Nothing is more interesting in Japan's foreign trade than 

 the steady develo[)nK'nt of iiiaiuifaotured goods. Tlic following table gives the figures for 1S98, 1897, and 1889, so as to show not only the 

 growth in tho.^e years, but also the growth that has taken place in a decade: 



1898 



1897 



1889 



Ilahutayc 



oihiT tiilk piece goods 



Silk haiidkorchiofs 



( 'oitoii piece goods 



Carpi'ts 



Malchcn 



Flowored matting 



Cntton yarns 



I'orcclnin and pottery 



LllccllHT . . 



Straw braid 



Umbrellas 



Total 



Yen. 

 12,0:V),.V)C 

 573, 551 

 3,.%V>,114 



2,r.oi,r)t)7 



S50, ,S71 



6,273,572 



3,93M,218 



20,]0.'.,67l 



1,989,515 



7S.\, 1.31 

 5,981.125 



087,190 



59,405,018 



Yen. 

 9,530,670 



lSi;,040 

 3,390,146 

 2,512,370 



97;{,871 



5,6-n,993 



1,232,738 



13,490.157 



\, 819, 068 



707. 408 

 3,181,915 



628,057 



45,303,445 



Yen. 

 804,147 



2,104.459 



143,574 



W.214 



1,137.951 



106,883 



l,4»y,S88 



.\'<9, 049 

 146, 847 

 2t;, 928 



0,524,510 



It thus apiH-ars tluit the exported value of these 12 staples of mnnufacturo increased ninefold in a decade. The Japan Weekly 

 Mail, from which the above is taken, says that it would appear from these figures that Japan's future will probably Ix! industrial. On 

 the otiier hand, the export of raw products is made up of seven principal .'Staples, namely, silk, tea, rice, copper, coal, camphor, and 

 marine proilucts. Tiie last, marine producti*, may be capable of great development. It L«, perhai^s, one of the fields where foreign 



