The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-07-17
THE EDGE OF THE EAST.
Rudyard Kipling.
oprteAs 1895. BY Ne Aahor.
PART n.

It's only BY walking ops At least half mile
that you escape from the aggressive evi.
douces OF civilization. and como out into the
rice fields at tho back OF the town. Here mon
with twists Of blue and white cloth round their
heads are working knee deep In the thick
black mud. The largest field may DO some-
thing less than two tnblecloths. while the
smallest Is. say. n speck OF undercliN. on to
which 1t were hard to back q 'rlckshaw. wrest-
ed from the bench and growing its
clump Of barley within spray-shot Of the
waves The field paths are the trodden tops
OF the irrigatinR cuts. and the main roads as
wtde as two perambulators abreast From the
uplands-the beautiful uplands planted In ex-
actly the proper places with Pine and maple
the ground comos down In terraced pocket on
pocket OF rich Garth to the levels again. and It
would sebm that every heavily -thatched farm
house were chosen with special regard to the
view. II you look closely when the people 60
to work you will see that hou old spreads
itself over plots. may be. quarter OF a milo
apart Arovenue map Of village shows that
this scatteraton is apparently designed.
but the reason Is not given. Ono thing
at least Is certain. The assessment Of these
patches cnn be no light piece OF work-just the
thing In fact, that would give employment to
alarse number OF small and vArlegated Gov
ernmont ofllcSs. any one OF whom. assuming
that he was OF an Oriental cast OF mind. might
mako tho cn!tivators life interesting. re-
member nova second tms-seen place brings
back things that were altogether burIed-see.
ing three years ago tho pile OF Government
papers required In the case OF ono farm. They
were many and systematic. but the interest
ing thing about thom was tho amount OF
work that they must have furnished to those
who were neither cultivators nor officials.
n one kpaw Japapeaa ona couId colIoouo
with that gentleman in the straw hat and the
blue loin cloth who Is choppng within six
teenth Of an inch OF his naked toes with the
father and mother OF all weed-spuds. His YER
sion OF local taxation might be inaccurate. but
1t would be sure to be picturesque. Failing
his evidence. be plensed to accept two or three
things that may or may not be facts Of &c neral
application. They differ In a measure from
statements in the books The present land
tax is nominally 2K per cent. payable In cash
on three. or as some say a i've. yearly
settlement. But according to certain Of
fcials there has been no settlement since
1875. Land lying fallow for a season pays tho
same tax as land In cultivation. unless 1t is
unrroductive through food or calamity Tread
earthquake heroL Tho Government tax Is
calculated on the capital value OF tho land.
taking q measure OF about 1000 square feet
or a quarter OF an acre as the unit
Now. one Of the ways ofgetting at the capital
value OF the land Is to sec what the railways
have paid for it. The very best rice land.
taking the Japanese dollar ut three shilings.
is about EOS los. per acre. Unirrigated land
for vegetable growing is something over
60 12s.. and forest 81 lis. As those are rail-
way rates. they may be fairly held to cover
large areas. In private sales the prices may
reasonably be higher.
II Ia 10 ha ,,,,ha ra5t hot ~ fhox
best rico land will bear two croDs in the year.
Most soil will bear two crops the first being
millet rape. vegetables. and 80 on. sown on
dry soil and ripenlnR at the end OF May. Then
the ground Is at once prepared for the wet
crop. to be harvested in October or therea-
bouts. The land tax is payable in two INSTALL
ments. Rice land pays between the first Of
November and the middle Of December and
the first OF January and the last OF February.
Other land pays between July and August
and September and December. Let US
see what the average yield is. The
gentleman in the sun hat and tho lion
cloth would shrek at tho figures, but they
are approximately accurate. Rice naturally
fiuctuates good deal. but 1t may be taken In
the rough at five Japanese dollars Fifteen shil-
lngs) per koku OF $50 pounds. Wheat and
maize OF the first spring crop is worth about IL
shilings per koku. The first crop gives nearly
Il. koku per tau tho quarter acre unit OF
measurement aforesaid. or eighteen shillings
per quarter acre. or f3 12s. pcr acre. The rice
crop at two koku. or 81 los. the quarter acre.
gives f6 an acre. Total. 60 12s. This is not
altogether bad II you reflect that the land In
question is not tho very best rice land. but Or
binary No. l. Mt s23 los. per acre capital value.
A son has tho right to inherit his fathers
land on the fathers assessment. 80 long as its
4 l..
a prior claim or even money MS against any
one else, Part OF the taxes. 1t Is snid. lies by
in the local prefecture's office as reserve
fund against foundations Yet. and this seems
u little confusing. there are between five and
seven other local. provincial and municipal
taxes which cnn reasonably be applied to the
same ends. No one OF these taxes exceeds a
half OF the land tax. unless 1t be tho local pre-
lecture tax OF pa per cent.
In the old days the people were taxed. or
perhaps squeezed would be the better word. to
about one-haf Of the produce OF the land
There are those who say that the present sys-
tenn is not so advantageous as 1t looks. Be-
foretme tho farmers. 1t is true. paid heavily.
but only on their nominal holdings Thoy
could. and often did. hold moro land than they
were assessed on. To-day q rigid bureau
cracy surveys every foot Of thoir farms. and
upon every foot they have to pny. Somewhat
similar complaints are made still by the sim
pie poasantry OF Indin. for II there Is one
thing that the Oriental detests moro
than another. 1t is tho damnable Western vico
OF accuracy That leads to doing things by
rule. Stil by tho look Of those terraced fields
whcro tho water is led so cunningy from leyol
to ovol. tho Japanese cultivator must enjoy Mt
least ono excitement II tho villages up tho
valley tamper with the wator supply there
must surely be excitement down the valley
argument. protest. and the brea king OF heads.
The days OF romance are not all dead.
This that follows happened on the coast
twonty miles through .he folds from Yoko-
hama. ut Kamnkura. that Is to say. where the
great bronze Blu llha sits facing tho sea to
hear the centuries 60 by. He has boon de-
scribed again an asan-his laarsty. his
noofnoss. and ovory one of his dimensions.
| the smoky llttlo shrine within him, m tho
| plumed hill that makes tho bnci; ground to his
| throne For that reason he remains. rs he re-
manned from tho beginning. beyond all