The foregoing six branches of Japan's revenue account together for an increase of 128,891,270 yen, or for more than nine-tenths of the total increase of the revenue. This elasticity of the revenue of Japan is marvellous; but it is still more marvellous that this vast growth of revenue has not weighed down the labouring masses of Japan. The land tax has been increased only by a fraction, and the increased tax on sake, the rice beer of Japan, can hardly be considered a great hardship on the masses.

The rapid growth of Japan's prosperity can be seen most clearly when we look into the receipt from the principal public undertakings, the State railways and the post-office.

A State in which, during a decade of greatly increased taxation, railway takings more than treble and postal receipts almost quadruple must be considered prosperous, for such enormous increases can only be founded on a very great increase of productive power.

If Japan was being exhausted by taxation, the takings of the railways, the post-office, and the telegraph would remain stationary, or would even decrease, for people would not be able to afford the use of these institutions.

The rapid growth of Japan's productive power is visible in every direction, whether we look at agriculture, mining and fishing, at the manufacturing industries, commerce and banking, or at the carrying industries, the Clearing-House statistics, and the insurance statistics.

The following table shows the progress in the productive power of agriculture, by giving the changes which have taken place in the most important products raised: 1

1

The increase in agricultural production has been rapid and continuous, owing to improved and more scientific methods, and that increase has been particularly important with regard to silk, which is Japan's most precious agricultural product. Only in the

' 1 koku = 4·9629 bushels; 1 kwan = 8·2673 lbs. avoirdupois.

production of tea is there a slight decline, which promises to be but temporary.

The mining production of Japan has expanded most marvellously during the same period, as the following figures prove :

2

Momme 138,838 660,653 +521,815

Momme

9,498,097 14,598,749

Kin 18,439,613

Kwan

Tons

Koku

4,071,546

1,746,296

30,303

45,652,927

18,680,043

8,945,939

983,799

Difference

+5,100,652 +27,213,314 +14,608,497 +7,199,643 +953,496

During the short period under review the production of copper has increased almost threefold, that of iron more than fourfold, that of gold and coal fivefold, and that of petroleum more than thirtyfold.

The number of workers in the various mines rose from 86,917 in 1893 to 154,780 in 1901, and the value of the minerals produced in 1901 was no less than 58,343,038 yen. Since that year the mineral production has very considerably increased, and it seems likely that this progress will be greatly accelerated in the future. Japan possesses an enormous mineral wealth, but the development of that mineral wealth has, in the past, been hampered by very restrictive mining regulations, which of late have been amended.

Fishing is one of the most important industries of Japan, for 900,000 fishermen, or a population of 3,000,000 people, live upon it. The fishing statistics, unfortunately, reach only from 1896 to 1900.

This great increase is solely due to the much-improved methods in fishing, which have been introduced by the Japanese Government by means of fishery schools, bounties, subventions, &c.

Evidently, the primary industries of Japan are all extremely prosperous, and their progress has been great; but that progress appears insignificant if compared with the expansion of the manufacturing industries, as is apparent from the following table: Output of Principal Manufacturing Industries.

21,000 momme = 1 kwan 8-2673 lbs. avoirdupois; 1 kin = dupois; 1 koku ton.

=

1-3251 lbs. avoir

Since 1887 the production of silk has more than doubled, that of Japanese paper has trebled, that of porcelain has quadrupled, that of cotton piece-goods has quintupled, that of foreign paper has grown seventeenfold, and that of cotton yarn thirtyfold.

How enormous Japan's industrial progress has been may be gathered from the fact that in the cotton-spinning industry the number of spindles increased from 113,856 in 1888 to 1,181,762 in 1901. During the same period the number of operatives employed increased from 3,403 to 63,021.

The statistics relating to companies do not reach further back than to 1894. In that year the authorised capital of companies amounted to 245,251,624 yen. Seven years later, in 1901, it had increased fivefold to 1,201,080,355 yen.

Japan's exports grew, naturally, pari passu with her increased production, and expanded from 52,407,681 yen in 1887 to 258,303,065 yen in 1902, growing fivefold. The following figures show the expansion of Japan's most important export products during that period:

From these figures we may conclude that Japan will soon become a serious industrial competitor of Great Britain, the United States, and Germany in foreign markets, especially as the greatest and the most rapid expansion is shown in the exports of cotton goods to the continent of Asia, where Japan is displacing Europe and the United States.

Japan's imports increased sixfold during the last fifteen years, or more quickly than her exports; and it is significant for the economic progress of Japan that the chief increase took place in raw cotton, iron, and machinery-in short, in articles which serve to make her a great industrial country. The following important import and export figures show most clearly the economic revolution of Japan during the last fifteen years and the drift of her development:

Within the short period of fifteen years Japan has not only learnt to dispense almost completely with foreign cotton yarns, but has become a great exporter of cotton yarn and a serious competitor to Lancashire in the East.

Japan's shipping expanded hand in hand with her foreign trade. Between 1887 and 1901 the gross tonnage of Japanese shipping increased sixfold, from 179,781 tons to 919,968 tons. Whilst the Japanese steam shipping entering from abroad amounted to only 162,303 tons in 1887, it stood at no less than 4,309,164 tons in 1902. In the former year only one-sixth of the steamships entering Japan flew the Japanese flag; now almost half the steamships entering from abroad fly the flag of the Rising Sun, and Japan bids fair soon to acquire almost a monopoly of the carrying trade in the Eastern seas. Already the tonnage of her mercantile marine is greater than that of Russia, Austria-Hungary, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, and Holland. During the last fifteen years the fleet of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha increased its tonnage from 67,517 tons in 1887 to 221,871 tons in 1901, and this company is now one of the largest shipping concerns in the world, and makes a net profit of about 500,000l. a year.

>

If we now turn to the Japanese banks, we find again a marvellous progress. The Bank of Japan, which is the Government bank, has increased its capital from 10,000,000 yen in 1887 to 30,000,000 yen in 1902, and its business on deposit account has grown from 276,991,510 yen in the former year to 2,298,054,687 in 1902. The Yokohama Specie Bank, which finances Japan's foreign trade, has increased its capital from 4,500,000 yen in 1887 to 18,000,000 yen in 1902, and its deposits have grown more than thirtyfold, from 1,866,811 yen to 58,461,549 yen, during that period. The ordinary banks show the following progress:

The Japanese savings banks statistics, which only go back as far as 1893, show a similar progress, the deposits having increased from 6,035,455 yen in 1893 to 74,210,256 yen in 1901.

The figures relating to the Bank of Japan, the Yokohama Specie Bank, the ordinary banks, and the savings banks show that the savings of the nation have of late increased with marvellous rapidity, probably owing to the industrial development of Japan.

The Clearing-House returns tell a similar tale of prosperity. For instance, during the last decade the amounts cleared at Tokio increased from 113,576,595 yen in 1892 to 1,350,791,066 in 1902, and at Osaka the amounts cleared rose from 49,610,071 yen to 663,659,703 yen during the same period.

The growing wealth of Japan has led to a surprising increase in insurance business. Here we find the following truly startling

Japan's unparalleled economic progress is due, to a very large extent, to the energy with which the Government has developed postal service, telegraphs, telephones, and railways. Therefore it is worth while to see what has been accomplished in that direction during the last ten years:

Post, Telegraph, and Telephone Statistics.

The relative importance of these figures becomes apparent only when we compare the statistics of Japan with those of European countries. Then we find that the post-office of Japan employs a greater number of men than either Austria or Russia, and that more letters and parcels are transmitted by the post in Japan than in Italy or in Russia, though the inhabitants of the latter country are three times more numerous than those of Japan. As regards telegraphs, Japan has more miles of wire than either Russia or Austria, and she sends more telegrams than Russia, Austria, and Italy. Her telephone service has, likewise, more miles of wire than are to be found in Russia, Austria, or Italy. As we may fairly measure the degree of culture in a country by the length of its telegraph and telephone