See also:

• FOREIGN

As to the necessaries of See also:

• LIFE

The sense of colour, indeed, seems to have been a See also:

• SPECIAL

As the bulk of a feudal chief's income was paid in See also:

• RICE (Greek 6p6 a, Latin oryza, French riz, Italian riso, Spanish arroz, derived from the Arabic)
• RICE, EDMUND IGNATIUS (1762-1844)
• RICE, JAMES (1843-1882)

The system of organized trading companies had its origin in the 12th century, when, the number of merchants admitted within the confines of Yedo being restricted, it became necessary for those not obtaining that See also:

• PRIVILEGE

Nothing is recorded about this See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

Here also the principle of monopoly was strictly observed, no goods being shipped for unaffiliated merchants. This carrying trade rapidly assumed large dimensions. The number of junks entering Yedo See also:

• ROSE
• ROSE (Rosa)
• ROSE, GEORGE (1744-1818)
• ROSE, HUGH JAMES (1795—1838)
• ROSE, WILLIAM STEWART (1775-1843)

As for the prices of gold or silver in terms of copper or See also:

• BANK

These agents went by the name of the " ten-men gild." Subsequently the See also:

• FIRM

They passed current as readily as coin, and advances could always be obtained against them from pawnbrokers. All these documents, indicating a well-developed system of credit, were duly protected by See also:

• LAW
• LAW (0. Eng. lagu, M. Eng. lawe; from an old Teutonic root lag, " lie," what lies fixed or evenly; cf. Lat. lex, Fr. loi)
• LAW, JOHN (1671—1729)
• LAW, WILLIAM (1686-1761)

The custom of advancing money to fishermen or to producers in the provincial districts was interdicted; even the fuda-sashi might no longer ply their calling, and neither bath-See also:

• HOUSE
• HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in Gothic it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

This was checked at first not only by the unpopularity attaching to all intercourse with out-side nations, but also by embarrassments resulting from the difference between the silver price of gold in Japan and its silver price in Europe, the See also:

• PRECIOUS (O. Fr. precios, mod. precieux, Lat. pretiosus, of high value or price, pretium)

It was not a uniform growth. The period of 35 years divides itself conspicuously into two eras: the first, of 15 years (1873-1887), during which the development was from 5 millions to 9.7 mil-lions, a ratio of 1 to 2, approximately; the second, of 20 years (1887-1907), during which the development was from 9.7 millions to 93 millions, a ratio of -1 to 1o. when the figures are added, it is found that the excesses of exports aggregated only I I millions sterling, whereas the excesses of imports totalled 71 millions, there being thus a so-called " unfavourable See also:

• BALANCE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. bilantia, an apparatus for weighing, from bi, two, and lanx, a dish or scale)

The special cause which, from 1885, contributed to a marked growth of trade was the resumption of specie payments. Up to that time the See also:

• TREASURY

As an importer, he enjoyed, in centres of supply, credit which the Japanese lacked, and he offered to native consumers foreign produce brought to their doors with a minimum of responsibility on their part. Finally, whether as exporters or importers, foreign middlemen always competed with each other so keenly that their Japanese clients obtained the best possible terms from them. Yet the ambition of the Japanese to oust them cannot be regarded as unnatural. Every nation must See also:

• DESIRE

Emperor and Princes.—At the head of the Japanese State stands the emperor, generally spoken of by foreigners as the See also:

• MIKADO (Japanese for " exalted gate ")

The titles are all hereditary, but they descend to the firstborn only, younger See also:

• CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

Out of this the households of the crown prince and all the Imperial princes are supported; allowances are granted at the time of conferring titles of nobility; a long list of charities receive liberal contributions, and considerable sums are paid to encourage art and See also:

• EDUCATION

It had been only 68,876 in 1898, from which time it grew regularly year by year. The salaries and allowances paid out of the treasury every year on account of the civil service are 4 millions sterling, approximately, and the annual emoluments of the principal officials are as follow: See also:

• PRIME, PRIMER AND PRIMING

In each case the ratio is one member for every 130,000 electors, and the electoral district is the city or prefecture. Voting is by See also:

• BALLOT (from Ital. ballotta, dim. of balla, a ball)

On the whole, however, there has been a remarkable See also:

• ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

Flights of See also:

• FANCY (a shortened form, dating from the 15th century, of " fantasy," which is derived through the O. Fr. fantasie, modern fantaisie. from the Latinized form of the Gr. cbavraoia, Oavrai'ecv, Oat Pais, to show)

Yet the result was 55 bills debated and passed, several of them measures of prime importance, such as the gold See also:

• STANDARD
• STANDARD, BATTLE OF THE

The Nankaido, or " See also:

• SOUTHERN

Another division of the old sixty-six provinces was made by taking as a central point the ancient barrier of Osaka on the frontier of Omi and Yamashiro,—the region lying on the east, which consisted of thirty-three provinces, being called Kwanto, or east of the barrier," the remaining thirty-three provinces on the west being styled Kwansei, or " west of the barrier.” At the present time, however, the term Kwanto is applied to only the eight provinces of Musashi, Sagami, KOzuke, Shimotsuke, Kazusa, Shimosa, Awa and Hitachi,—all lying immediately to the east of the old barrier of Hakone, in Sagami. Chu-goku, or " central provinces,” is a name in common use for the Sanindo and Sanyodo taken together. Saikoku, or " western provinces,” is another name for Kiushiu, which in books again is frequently called Chinsei. See also:

• LOCAL

749'76 1,795,128 2 8 I 20 157 Kanagawa. 927.79 776,642 II I 19 202 Saitama . 1,585.30 1,174,094 9 — 42 343 Chiba . . 1,943.85 1,273,387 12 69 286 Ibaraki 2,235.67 1,131,556 14 I 45 335 Tochigi 2,854.14 788,324 8 I 30 145 Gumma 2,427.21 774,654 11 2 38 169 Nagano . 5,088.41 1,237,584 16 I 22 371 Yamanashi 1,727.50 498,539 9 1 7 235 Shizuoka 3,002.76 1,199,805 13 I 38 306 Aichi 1,864.17 1,591,357 19 1 74 592 Miye 2,196.56 495,389 15 2 19 325 See also:

• GIFU (IMAIZUnti)

The Tozando, or "eastern-mountain circuit," which comprised eight provinces, viz.: Omi Mino Hide Shinano Goshu Noshu Hishu Shinshu Kozuke Shimotsuke Mutsu Dewa Joshu Yashu Osha Ushu or or 11 11 „ The Hokurikudo, or " northern-land circuit,” which comprised seven provinces, viz. : 3. Wakasa Echizen Kaga See also:

• NOTO

2,509.04 1,132,000 19 1 29 See also:

• HIROSHIMA

2,904'54 454,707 8 — 9 Kagoshima . 3,589'76 1,104,631 12 1 — Okinawa 935.18 469,203 5 2 The above 8 prefectures form Kiushiu. Hokkaido . 36,328.34 610,155 88 3 19 Local Administrative System.—In the system of JAPAN 205 456 he See also:

• SUMMONS (Fr. semonce, from semonner or semondre, Lat. summonere, summonitio)

He oversees the carrying out of all works undertaken at the public expense; he causes bills to be drafted for discussion by an assembly; he is responsible for the administration of the funds and property of the prefecture; he orders payments and receipts; he directs the machinery for See also:

• COLLECTING

It constitutes a thorough method of See also:

• POLITICAL

The property qualification for the franchise in the case of prefectural and sub-prefectural assemblies is an annual payment of direct national taxes to the amount of 3 yen; and in the case of town and district assemblies, 2 yen; while to be eligible for election to a prefectural assembly a yearly payment of to yen of direct national taxes is necessary; to a sub-prefectural assembly, 5 yen, and to a town or district assembly, 2 yen. Under these qualifications the electors aggregate 2,009,745, and those eligible for election total 919,507. In towns and districts franchise-holders are further divided into classes with regard to their payment of local taxes. Thus for town electors there are three classes, differentiated by the following process: On the list of ratepayers the highest are checked off until their aggregate payments are equal to one-third of the total taxes. These persons form the first class. Next below them the persons whose aggregate payments represent one-third of the total amount are checked off to form the second class, and all the remainder form the third class. Each class elects one-third of the members of assembly. In the districts there are only two classes, namely, those whose payments, in order from the highest, aggregate one-half of the total, the remaining names on the list being placed in the second class. Each class elects one-half of the members. This is called the system of o jinushi (large landowners) and is found to work satisfactorily as a See also:

• DEVICE

We are justified, however, in believing that at the close of the 7th century of the Christian era, when the empress Jito sat upon the throne, the social system of the Tang dynasty of China commended itself for 'See also:

• ADOPTION (Lat. adoptio, for adoptalio, from adoptare, to choose for oneself)

These latter, in their turn, transmitted their functions to their sons, so that there grew up in the See also:

• SHADOW (0. Eng. Schadewe, sceadu; a form of " shade "; connected with Gr. 6-Ore's, darkness)

The lengths of the bow and arrow were determined with reference to the capacity of the archer. In the case of the bow, the unit of measurement was the distance between the tips of the thumb and the little See also:

• FINGER

Many of them invented systems of their own, differing from one another in some subtle details unknown to any See also:

• SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

The distinction of wearing it, the rights that it conferred, the deeds wrought with it, the fame attaching to special skill in its use, the superstitions connected with it, the incredible value set upon a See also:

• FINE

In the 14th century a true See also:

• LANCE

Only one of its elements found a counterpart in the European suit, namely, a See also:

• TABARD

Galled backs or withers were unknown with such a saddle: it fitted any horse. The See also:

• STIRRUP (O. Eng. slirap, stigrap, M. Eng. stirop,styrope,&c.,i.e. a mounting or climbing-rope; O. Eng. stigan, to mount, climb, and rap, rope, cf. Du. stijbeugel, literally mounting bow or loop, Ger. Steigbugel)

An army consisted of a congeries of little bands, each under the order of a chief who considered himself independent, and instead of subordinating his movements to a general See also:

• PLAN
• PLAN (from Lat. planes, flat)

The disadvantage of such a mode of fighting was demonstrated for the first time when the See also:

• MONGOLS

At close quarters the spear proved a highly effective weapon, and in the days of Hideyoshi (1536-1598) combined flank and front attacks by bands of spearmen became a favourite device. The importance of a strong reserve also received recognition, and in theory, at all events, a tolerably intelligent system of tactics was adopted. But not until the close of the 17th century did the See also:

• DOCTRINE

These treatises came into the hands of the Japanese in the 8th century, when the celebrated Kibi no Mabi went to study See also:

• CIVILIZATION

In a See also:

• MARCH
• MARCH (1) (from Fr. marcher, to walk; the earliest sense in French appears to be " to trample," and the origin has usually been found in the Lat. marcus, hammer; Low Lat. marcare, to hammer; hence to beat the road with the regular tread of a soldier: cf.
• MARCH, AUZIAS (c. "1395-1458)
• MARCH, EARLS OF
• MARCH, FRANCIS ANDREW (1825– )

1. The routine of service must be strictly observed. From 6 a.m. military exercises shall be practised. See also:

• ARCHERY

The See also:

• STAPLE

Learning shall be encouraged. Military books must be read. The spirit of See also:

• LOYALTY

The plainly See also:

• PARAMOUNT (Anglo-Fr. paramont, up above, par el mont, up or on top of the mountain)

epochs when death was welcomed as a See also:

• RELIEF

He had no assurance that his death might not be wholly fruitless, as indeed it often proved. If the sacrifice achieved its purpose, if it turned a liege lord from evil courses, the samurai could See also:

• HOPE, ANTHONY
• HOPE, THOMAS (c. 1770-1831)

to familiarize their children of both sexes from very See also:

• TENDER

At Egawa's instance rifles and See also:

• CANNON (a word common to Romance languages, from the Lat. canna, a reed, tube, with the addition of the augmentative termination -on, -one)

The government, however, was not deterred by these apprehensions. It argued that since the distinction of samurai and commoner had not originally existed, and since the former was a product simply of accidental conditions, there was no valid reason to doubt the military capacity of the people at large. The justice of this reasoning was put to a conclusive test a few years later. Originally the period of service with the See also:

• COLOURS, MILITARY

See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

A comprehensive system of education for the rank and See also:

• FILE

An See also:

• ARSENAL

Rough estimates of Japan's war strength have, how-ever, been made, giving 550,000 as the war strength of the first line army, plus 34,000 for garrisons overseas and 150,000 special reserves (hoji) ; 370,000 second line or kobi, and 110,000 for the fully trained portion of the territorial forces, or Kokumin-hei. All these branches can further draw upon half-trained elements to the number of about 800,000 to replace losses. Japan's available strength in the last resort for home defence was recently (1909) stated by the See also:

• RUSSIAN

There are four principal kinds of service, namely, service with the colours (genyeki), for two years; service with the first reserves (yobi), for 73 years; service with the second reserves (kobi), for 7 years; and service with the territorial troops (ko kumin-hei) up to the age of 40. Special reserve (hoju) takes up men who, though liable for conscription and medically qualified, have escaped the lot for service with the colours. It consists of two classes, one of men remaining in the See also:

• CATEGORY (Gr. Karrlyopia, " accusation ")

Men who have been convicted of crime are disqualified, but those who have been temporarily deprived of civil rights must present themselves for conscription at the termination of their See also:

• SENTENCE (Lat. sententia, a way of thinking, opinion, judgment; vote, sentire, to feel, think)

Qualified teachers in the public service are only liable to a very short initial training, after which they pass at once into the territorial army. But if a teacher abandons that calling before the age of 28, he becomes liable, without lot,' to two years with the colours, unless he adopts the alternative of volunteering. Officers are obtained in two ways. There are six local preparatory See also:

• CADET (through the Fr. from the Late Lat. capitettum, a diminutive of caput, head, through the Provencal form capdet)

All these except the last apply to the same relative ranks in the navy. Pro-See also:

• MOTION (Lat. motio, from movere, to move)
• MOTION, LAWS OF

The emperor is the commander-in-chief of the army, and theoretically the sole source of military authority, which he exercises through a general staff and a war department, with the assistance of a See also:

• BOARD (O. Eng. bord)

Hiroshima, VI. Kumamoto, VII. Asahikawa, VIII. See also:

• HIROSAKI

Okayama, XVIII. Kurume. Some of these divisionsare permanently 'Conscription without lot is thus the punishment for all failures to comply with and attempts to evade the military laws. 2 Sons of officers' widows, or of officers in reduced circumstances, are educated at these schools either free or at reduced charges, but are required to complete the course and to graduate.on foreign service, but their recruiting areas in Japan are maintained. There are also four cavalry brigades, and a number of unassigned regiments of field and mountain artillery, as well as garrison artillery and army technical troops. The organization of the active army by regiments is 176 infantry regiments of 3 battalions; 27 cavalry regiments; 30 field artillery regiments each of 6 and 3 mountain artillery regiments each of 3 batteries; 6 regiments and 6 battalions of See also:

• SIEGE (0. Fr. sege, siege, mod. siege, seat, ultimately from sedere, to sit, cf. Class. Lat. obsidium, a siege)

When required for use the rice, SuuPIY• being placed in water, swells to its original bulk, and is eaten with a relish of salted fish, dried sea-See also:

• WEED, THURLOW (1797—1882)

There is an inspection department of military education, the inspector-general being a lieutenant-general, under whom are fifteen field and general officers, who See also:

• ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

There is only one type for the whole of the infantry, one for the cavalry, and so on (see See also:

• UNIFORMS

In 1896, as shown above, she virtually doubled her army, and a proportionate increase of See also:

• EXPENDITURE

To this See also:

• VESSEL (O. Fr. vaissel, from a rare Lat. vascellum, dim. of vas, vase, urn)

Steps were now taken to establish and equip a suitable naval college in Tsukiji, and application having been made to the British government for instructors, a second naval mission was sent from England in 1873, consisting of 30 officers and warrant-officers under Commander (afterwards Vice-See also:

• ADMIRAL

When the diet opened for the first time in 1890, a plan for the construction of two battleships encountered stubborn opposition in the lower house, where the See also:

• MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

157 Losses during the war were:—Battleships Cruisers (second and smaller classes) . Destroyers .. Torpedo-boats 8 2 7 Totals 19 . . . . 46,571 The captured vessels repaired and added to the fleet were: Battleships 5 62,524 Cruisers II . . 71,276 Destroyers 5 1,740 Totals 21 . . . . 135,530 The vessels built or purchased after the war and up to the close of 1908 were: Battleships .. 4 71,500 Armoured cruisers 4 56,700 Other cruisers . 5 . 7,000 Destroyers . . 33 12,573 Torpedo-boats .

5 760 51 . . . . 148,533 superannuated, and the serviceable 191,380 130,683 165,253 20,508 7,258 515,082 To the foregoing must be added two armoured cruisers—the " Kurama " (14,000) launched at Yokosuka in See also:

• OCTOBER

About 5500 are taken every year, and the ratio is, approximately, 55% of volunteers and 45% of conscripts. The period personnel. of active service is 4 years and that of service with the reserve 7 years. On the average 200 cadets are admitted yearly, of whom 5o are engineers, and in 1906 the personnel of the navy consisted of the following: Admirals, combative and non-combative . 77 Officers, combative and non-combative, below the rank of admiral 2,867 Warrant officers 9,075 Bluejackets 29,667 Cadets 721 Total 42,407 The highest educational institution for the navy is the naval staff college, in which there are five courses for officers alone. The gunnery and torpedo schools are attended by officers, and also by selected warrant-officers and bluejackets, &dNaval who consent to extend their service. There is also ucat/oa. a See also:

• MECHANICAL

Forced labour also was exacted, and artisans and tradesmen were subjected to pecuniary levies. The yield of rice in 1867 was about 154 million bushels,' of which the market value at prices then ruling was £24,000,000, or ' The reader should be warned that absolute accuracy cannot be claimed for statistics compiled before the Meiji era. Battleships . . .. 6 Armoured cruisers 8 Other cruisers . 44 Destroyers . . 19 Torpedo-boats 8o Number. Displacement. Tons. 84,652 73,982 111,470 6,519 7,119 2 283,742 27,300 18,009 705 557 Totals .. Some of the above have been fleet in 1909 was: Battleships . . .

. 13 Armoured cruisers . . 12 Other cruisers, coast-defence ships and gun-boats . . 47 Destroyers 55 Torpedo-boats 77 Totals 204 240,000,000 yen.' Hence the grain tax represented, at the lowest calculation, 96,000,000 yen. When the administration reverted to the emperor in 1867 the central treasury was empty, and the funds hitherto employed for governmental purposes in the fiefs continued to be devoted to the support of the feudatories, to the payment of the samurai, and to defraying the expenses of local administration, the central treasury receiving only whatever might remain after these various outlays. The shogun himself, whose income amounted to about £3,500,000, did not, on abdicating, hand over to the sovereign either the contents of his treasury or the lands from which he derived his revenues. He contended that funds for the government of the nation as a whole should be levied from the people at large. Not until 1871 did the feudal system cease to exist. The fiefs being then converted into prefectures, their revenues became an asset of the central treasury, less to % allotted for the support of the former feudatories.' But during the interval between 1867 and 1871, the men on whom had devolved the direction of national affairs saw no relief from crippling impecuniosity except an issue of paper Paper money. money. This was not a novelty in Japan. Paper money had been known to the people since the middle of the 17th century, and in the era of which we are now See also:

• WRITING
• WRITING (the verbal noun of " to write," O. Eng. writan, to inscribe)

The first duty of a centralized progressive administration should have been to reform the currency. The political leaders of the time appreciated that duty, but saw themselves compelled by stress of circumstances to adopt the very device which in the hands of the feudal chiefs had produced such deplorable results. The ordinary revenue amounted to only 3,000,000 yen, while the extraordinary aggregated 29,000,000, and was derived wholly from issues of paper money or other equally unsound See also:

• SOURCES

In brief, they acquired the fee-simple of their farms in consideration of paying an annual See also:

• RENT

The people had never been familiarized with combinations of capital for productive purposes, and such a thing as a joint-stock company was unknown. In these circumstances, when the administration of state affairs fell into the hands of the men who had made the restoration, they not only lacked the first essential of rule, money, but were also without means of obtaining any, for they could not collect taxes in the fiefs. these being still under the control of the feudal barons; and in the absence of widely organized commerce or finance, no See also:

• ACCESS (Lat. accessus)

Each bank had to pay into the treasury 6o % of its capital in government notes. It was credited in return with interest-bearing bonds, which bonds were to be left in the treasury as security for the issue of bank-notes to an equal amount, the banks being required to keep in gold the remaining 4o % of their capital as a fund for converting the notes, which See also:

• CONVERSION (Lat. conversio, from convertere, to turn or ,change)

Japan lost very heavily by this system, and its effects accentuated the dread with which her medieval experience had invested foreign commerce. Thus, when the balance of trade swayed heavily in the wrong direction between 1872 and 1874, the fact created undue consternation, and moreover there can be no doubt that the drafters of the bank regulations had over-estimated the quantity of available gold in the country. All these things made it impossible to keep the bank-notes long in circulation. They were speedily returned for conversion; no deposits came to the aid of the banks, nor did the public make any use of them. Disaster became inevitable. The two great firms of Ono and Shimada, which had stood high in the nation's estimation alike in feudal and in imperial days, closed their doors in 1874; a panic ensued, and the circulation of money ceased almost entirely. Evidently the banking system must be changed. The government bowed to necessity. They issued a revised code of banking See also:

• REGULA

Besides, the situation presented a new feature. The hereditary pensions of the feudatories had been commuted with bonds aggregating 174,000,000 yen. Were this large volume of bonds issued at once, their heavy depreciation would be likely to follow, and moreover their holders, unaccustomed to dealing with financial problems, might dispose of the bonds and invest the proceeds in hazardous enterprises. To devise some opportunity for the safe and profitable employment of these bonds seemed, therefore, a pressing necessity, and the newly organized national banks offered such an opportunity. For See also:

• BOND
• BOND, SIR EDWARD AUGUSTUS (1815-1898)

Up to 1881 fitful efforts had been made to strengthen the specie value of fiat paper by throwing quantities of gold and silver upon the market from time to time, and 23,000,000 yen had Resumpbeen devoted to the promotion of industries whose Con of products, it was hoped, would go to swell the list of Specie exports, and thus draw specie to the country. But payments. these devices were now finally abandoned, and the government applied itself steadfastly to reducing the volume of the fiduciary currency on the one hand, and accumulating a specie reserve on the other. The steps of the programme were simple. By cutting down administrative expenditure; by transferring certain charges from the treasury to the local communes; by See also:

• SUS

The outcome of these various arrangements was that, by the middle of 1885, the volume of fiduciary notes had been reduced to 119,000,000 yen, their depreciation had fallen to 3%, and the metallic reserve of the treasury had increased to 45,000,000 yen. The resumption of specie payments was then announced, and became, in the autumn of that year, an accomplished fact. From the time when this programme began to be effective, Japan entered a period of favourable balance of trade. According to accepted economic theories, the influence of an appreciating currency should be to encourage imports; but the converse was seen in Japan's case, for from 1882 her exports annually exceeded her imports, the maximum excess being reached in 1886, the very year after the resumption of specie payments. The above facts deserve to figure largely in a retrospect of Japanese finance, not merely because they set forth a fine economic feat, indicating clear insight, good organizing capacity, and courageous energy, but also because volumes of adverse foreign See also:

• CRITICISM
• CRITICISM (from the Gr. KpiTrlS, a judge, Kpivew, to decide, to give an authoritative opinion)

A 9% loan, placed in England in 1868 and paid off in 1889, produced 3,750,000 yen, and cost altogether 11,750,000 yen in See also:

• ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

The first was that, in view of the Bank of Japan's purchases, the market price of state bonds rose rapidly, so that, whereas official financiers had not expected them to reach par before 1897, they were quoted at a considerable See also:

• PREMIUM (Lat. praemium, profit, reward, prae+emere, to buy)

Reviewing this See also:

• CHAPTER (a shortened form of chapiter, a word still used in architecture for a capital; derived from O. Fr. chapitre, Lat. capitellum, diminutive of caput, head)

Osaka set the example, which was quickly followed by Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama, Kibto and Nagoya. In 1898 the bills handled at Ho Cleusesaring. these institutions amounted to 1,186,000,000 yen, and in 1907 to 7,484,000,000 yen. Japanese clearing houses are modelled after those of London and New See also:

• YORK
• YORK (HOUSE OF)
• YORK, EDMUND OF LANGLEY, DUKE OF (1341-1402)
• YORK, EDWARD
• YORK, FREDERICK AUGUSTUS, DUKE OF (1763-1827)
• YORK, RICHARD, DUKE

One was that a majority of the men gifted with originality and foresight were drawn into the ranks of the administration by the great current of the revolution; the other, that the feudal system had tended to check rather than to encourage material development, since the limits of each fief were also the limits of economical and industrial enterprise. Ideas for combination and co-operation had been confined to a few families, and there was nothing to suggest the organization of companies nor any law to protect them if organized. Thus the opening of the Meiji era found the Japanese nation wholly unqualified for the commercial and manufacturing competition in which it was thenceforth required to engage, and therefore upon those who had brought the country out of its isolation there devolved the responsibility of speedily preparing their See also:

• FELLOW

The end justified the means. At the outset of its administration we find the Meiji government not only forming plans for the circulation of money, building railways and organizing posts and telegraphs, but also establishing dockyards, See also:

• SPINNING (from O. Eng. spinnen, to spin, cf. Ger. spinnen, &c., the Teut. root is seen, to draw out, cf. span, spider)

Mechanically speaking, the operation was very easy. Gold having appreciated so that its value in terms of silver had exactly doubled during the first 30 years of the Meiji era, nothing was necessary except to double the denominations of the gold coins in terms of yen, leaving the silver subsidiary coins unchanged. Thus the old 5-yen gold piece, weighing 2.22221 momme of 900 fineness, became a so-yen piece in the new currency, and a new 5-yen piece of half the weight was coined. No change whatever was required in the reckonings of the people. The yen continued to be their coin of account, with a fixed sterling value of a small fraction over two shillings, and the denominations of the gold coins were doubled. Gold, however, is little seen in Japan; the whole duty of currency is done by notes. It is not to be supposed that all this economic and financial development was unchequered by periods of depression and severe panic. There were in fact six such seasons: in 1874, 1881, 1889, 1897, 1900 and 1907. But no year throughout the whole period failed to See also:

• WITNESS
• WITNESS (from O. Eng. witan, to know)