2304 



COMMERCIAL JAPAN. 



[December, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



There are no trustworthy data for estimating the value of miscellaneous properties. Mr. Kusaka has therefore followe^l Mulhall, 

 who adopts a fi;,'iire repre-senting 6.8 per cent of the country's wealth. That method of calculation gives 1,028,000,000 yen ia Japan's 

 case. It is difiicult, however, to indorse such a manner of estimate. In Great Britain, objects such as jewelry, plate, and books 

 are included in the category of mi.«cellaneous; and since they represent the accumulations of hundreds of years in a country where 

 confiagrations are comparatively rare, their value must reach an enormous figure. Plate and jewelry have practically no existence in 

 Japan, and the value of the public and private libraries does not, we think, amount to anything like as large a fraction of the national 

 wealth as it does in Great Britain. Mr. Kusaka, it will be observed, estimates the miscellaneous objectS at a figure equal to one-tenth 

 of the value of the land. It is a pity that he has not explained precisely what he includes under the heading. We do not pretend to 

 assert that his figure is too large, however. What we desire to point out is the difference between England and Japan. If it be 

 correct to assert that "miscellaneous" objects in Great Briti.in repre.sent only 6.8 per cent of the country's total wealth, then it can not 

 be correct to say the same of Japan, where such objects are obviously of far less value comparatively than in England. On the other 

 hand, the estimates for England may be too low. A tolerably easy way of approaching the matter is to consider, as the main basis of the 

 estimate, the average value of the clothes, jewelry, books, household utensils, and other personal belongings of each unit of the nation. 

 Mr. Kusaka's figure, 1,28,000,000 yen, gives 24 yen approximately per head of population, and that certainly does not appear excessive. 



Mr. Kusaka's principal object in making the above calculations is to obtain some means of determining what Japan's yearly 

 national expenditure ought to be. lie adopts as fundamental the rule that the State's ordinary annual outlays should not exceed yi^ of 

 its total wealth, and thus arrives at the figure of 150,000,000 yen for Japan, to which he adds 50,000,000 for extraordinary expenditures. 

 Ho far as we are acquainted with the Government's estimates, there will soon be no difficulty in keeping the outlay-^ within that total. 

 Tokyo newspapers puljlish some other statements which they attribute to Mr. Kusaka, with regard to the comparative wealth and the 

 burdens of taxation in occidental countries and in Japan. But we imagine that there is some mistake on the part of the reporter, for 

 the wealth of each unit of the British population is put at only 383 yen on the average, whereas it is really about 2,300 yen. 



COTTON MANUFACTURING. 



Cotton manufacturing in .Japan continues to increase. A report to the British foreign oflBce (annual series, 2277) shows that the 

 number of spindles in operation at the end of 1898 was 1,108,404, or more than 200 per cent more than six years ago. 



The following ta])le shov.s the niiinl)er of spindles, nnmber of employees, wages, and profits per spindle for the latter half of the 

 year 1898 in eighteen of the leading sijinning companies in Japan: 



SPINNING FACTORIES. 



Number 



of 

 spindles. 



Scttsu 



Iliraiio 



Siikui 



Mivc 



Kiikiiyuina 



Owiiri 



Koriyiiinii 



Ainnkusi'ki 



Kiir.'sshiki 



Osakii 



Lciisliu 



Okayaiiia 



Tcnima 



Kaslni 



Tdkyi) (ias SjiinninK Factory 



Ki>lii\va'ln 



Fiikusliiiiia 



Tainato 



608 

 400 

 12« 

 712 

 «24 

 104 

 9.')(i 

 108 

 (■>72 

 344 

 2(54 

 13() 

 0.\S 

 WO 



r-,e,s 



056 

 000 

 520 



NUMBER OF EM- 

 PLOYEES. 



DAILY WAGES. 



Male. 



Profit per 

 spindle. 



d. 



•6i 

 2 to 20 

 2i to 13J 



3J to 17i 

 2i to 9i 

 1 j to 15 



•5i 

 2 to 14 

 4i to 15 

 »0i 

 •6i 

 3J to 16 

 31 to 18J 

 U to 13} 

 24 to 71 

 1} to 16 



Female. 



d. 



1{ to 7i 

 lit«7 



•3i 

 1} to C'i 

 3 t0 8j 

 •4} 

 •33 

 2 to7i 

 2J to 5| 



1 toC.i 



2 lo7i 

 li to O.L 



IJtoSj I 

 li to SI 

 li to G'; I 



«. d. 

 5 7 

 3 

 2 5 

 3 

 8 

 7 

 2 

 7 

 

 4 

 4 

 5 

 1 



1 



2 



1 



1 



>>3 



2 



»>2 



*3 



1 



3 



1 



2 



'Average. 



"■Loss. 



The rapid growth of cnldtn maniifacturing in Japan indicated by the above statement accounts for the rapid increase in the exportation 

 of iiiiMiainifiiclnrcd cotton from the United States to Japan, and for the <lecrea.«e in the exportatit>n of cotton clolhs. 



Tlu' following table sliows the exportation of raw cotton and cotton cloths from the I'nitetl Slates to .lajian since 1893: 



