Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-12-28

| of the mikado, and the government was solely
for his sake, and so it must be now.
Accordingly, no prince was allowed 10 as
sumo the authority of the vanquished tycoon.
But, Notwithstanding the conservative character
of the ruling party, and its false maxims of
! government, it has been working out such radi-
cal, even revolutionary changes, in almost every
| department of the state, and working them out
| so quietly, as to present Il spectacle rarely If
| ever witnessed in the history of nations.
Shortly after the overthrow of the tycoon, the
tile of the daimios or princes was changed, and
| they were called governors of their provinces |;
| yet still each possessed standing army, large
or small, according to the size and wealth of his
| province; some of them also small navics, and
| they might still transmit their Office and their
power 10 their children. All this is changed
now. The daimois have been deprived of their
authority, Or we might rather say, have voun-
tarily resigned it, and have been ordered to the
capital, where they are merely courtiers in at
tendance upon the mikado, unless he sees fit TO
call them to some Office in the state.
This is great change; for, besides the benefit
naturally resulting from a uniform government
throughout the country, there is the release Of
an immense number of men from the provincial
armies and courts, who are now at liberty to be-
come farmers, merchants and mechanics, and
thus by their industry contribute to the wealth
of the country.
Some idea of the number thus thrown in
whole or in part upon their own resources may
be gained from the estimate of an intelligent
japanese that, in former times, the soldiers,
officials aud priests amounted altogether to
about threetenths of the whole population of
the country, while under the new regime they
will not amount to more than one-tenth. This
is not, it is true all owing to this change,
though the principal reduction has been on this
account.
These men who have been thus turned off
have all or nearly all received some compensa
ton for their loss of a regular support, some of
them by the payment of a round sum of moIey,
Others by the pledge of a a yearly pension,
varying from one-tenth to onehalf of their
former pay. The princes themselves are PEN
stoned off as follows Those whose annual reve-
nue. exceeded 100000 kokus of rice Ga koku is
about five bushels, and is now worth in the
udIhCl dDOut COL dic ~ iCINlNC lUOu MINUS,
those whose revenue has been less than 100000
and more than 100000 are to receive 500 kobus;
those whose revenue has been less than
100000 kokus will receive only 800 kokus.
This pension is of course only intended for their
individual support, while out of the former
revenue they must support the entire expense
of the government of their provinces. In addi-
t;nn 10 fbic thn nontrol royernuant bos oScumnd
all The debts of the daimios, which it Intends it
is said to consolidate into one great loan to be
negotiated in Europe.
While the power of the mobiles has been thus
curtailed, the government has not forgotten the
oppressed. There has existed in Japan for
long time, a class of men called Yetas, who oc-
| cupy the lowest social position; they could not
live in the same village with other men, enter
houses or cook by the same fire. They are the
leather dressers ofthe country, and also bury dead
animals. 1t is supposed that they are the descend
ants Of Corean prisoners taken in war centuries
| ago, who were scattered about the country and
forced TO do this work which the nation alb
horred. However this may be, near every large
| town there is village of Yetas, entirely sepa-
rate in its government, which is administered
| by petty officers appointed from among them
selves. But however wealthy or however
| learned any of this people might be, and some
Of them are very wealthy and very learned,
they were considered below the meanest,
dirtiest beggar in the Streets Now these
| Yetas have been raised to the enjoy
ment of all the privileges Of other Japan
csc. They may live where they choose, en-
gage in such business as they choose, and who
| ever moests them, Or even calls them by their
old name, "Yeta," which means POLLUTED" is
| to be punished; and, as there is no physical pc
culiarity by which they can be distinguished
from others, it is TO be hoped that ere long the
| contempt of the people which no edict of the
most absolute sovereign can remove, will gradu-
| ally die away.
As pledge of its sincerity the government
has made the head of the Yedo Yeias Il Yakonin
l. e., has given him employment as an officer
Another Yeta, a shoemaker, has been called to
measure the foot of the mikado, who is said to
have held conversation with him. This may
not seem to an American to he anything
| specially remarkable, but ii must he remember
| ed that the person of the mikado has always
been considered sacred, that even his most
mental offices have been performed by princes,
aud that until within the last four or five years
no one of less rank than prince or daimio has
been allowed TO see en- any occasion, much less
to speak to his august majesty. To-day he has
talked with the vilest OF the vile.
have said that these changes have taken
place quietly but it is perhaps too early to speak
confidently on this point. There have been
some rumors OF disturbance in one or two
places, but nothing which threatens to be ser-
GUS. The presence Of so large a body of dis
banded soldiers, unframed to labor or to trade,
must always be regarded as an element of dam
| ger in any community. Still, these seem to take
more kindly to the new order of things than the
farming class, which probably gains the most by
the change, on account of the almost immediate
| reduction of taxation.
There are many other matters of interest
which must reserve for another time, as my
letter is already too long. KIYosHI.