differences 



1900] Kquity as against Contract 



heavy — and although an extra man had been pro- 

 vided, it was still a hard pull." The demand seem- 

 ing entirely reasonable, I promptly met it. 



That incident illustrated two typically Japanese Typical 

 traits. In the first place, the professor hoped to get '™''^ 

 the men away and save embarrassment; he thus 

 equivocated at the outset, and would very likely 

 have paid the extra yen himself. Secondly, by tra- 

 dition, equity takes precedence over contract; it 

 was fair that I should pay more, hence quite proper 

 to ask for it notwithstanding our agreement. 



This latter point of view, characteristic of old Certain 

 Japan, explains why the system of deferred payments |^'^°"^^ 

 or credit (on which world commerce is built) took no 

 root there, although in China it constitutes the very 

 foundation of business. And certain discrepancies in 

 Japanese commercial affairs arise out of the clash 

 between two radically different methods. Another 

 element to be considered is a purely social one. Under 

 the feudal system, traders found their place near the 

 bottom of the series, only a little above the despised 

 eta or outcast; a samurai, the soul of personal honor, 

 never descended to barter or trade. It took years, 

 therefore, for any merchant to gain respect, even self- 

 respect. To remedy these conditions and to bring 

 his nation into line, the far-seeing Baron (now 

 Viscount) Shibusawa some years ago established, 

 with others, the University of Commerce of Tokyo, 

 the scholarly Baron Kanda being its leading teacher. 



But I am here reminded of an experience not 

 without pertinence in this connection. Needing an 

 additional stock of formaldehyde for our work about 

 Osaka, I went over to an English pharmacy in the 

 neighboring city of Kobe. There, however, the 



1:75 :i 



