The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-11-11

ments of the New Year. The Soshi was
thunderstruck. He ook very sheepisn
and turned away.
men of Japan, including Count Ito:
whence the Soshi came, and 1 was told
that they We're in most cases dlsanecteu
and unsuccessful students. Thousands
of young Japanese have been dyi
professions, and there are hundreds
upon hundreds OF lawyers and doctors
more than are needed. The government
places are all overcrowded, n the uni
versities have been turning OUT tneir
graduates by the hundreds a year. The
brightest students nave been picked out
by the government and sent abroad 10
finish their educations. When they nave
come back they have been given POSI-
tons, and those who were not so fortu-
nate lave IA to stay out. The outs
nave banded together n they. have
formed these organizations when are,
to a certain extent, insurrectionary In
their tendencies. They would be a bad
element in case OF a revolution. ana
they form one of the worst features or
the new Japan. They hang around Par
lament, and they have been growing In
number rapidly ub to the time Of the
present war. This will probably carry
off a good many of them, IL the Chinese
had enough nerve to kill anything out
side of their own troops. which they
seem not to have.
n JAt<AN a.
Speaking of the Japanese Parliament.
it is the baby congress of the world, and
it is one of the most interesting legis-
lative bodies in existence. Tt has two
houses. which sit in a building not I'M
like a great seaside hotel in its archi-
tectural structure. 1t is made Of frame.
n is of two stories. 1t is situated in
the center of Toxic. not far from where
the Shotgun laid down the barbarous
laws of the past, and just outside of the
moats which run round the palace
grounds.
There is a wall around It. and when
the houses are in session you see about
five hundred black jinrikshas with bare
legged men In b~utter-bowl hats sitting
in them and waiting for their masters,
who are inside. You AVE to go through
a narrow entrance. so small that only
one man can get through at a time, in
getting to the reception room and also
in going into the hall, and this is prob
ably to prevent the danger of a rush by
Soshi or others. There are plenty OF
officers dressed in uniform, and there is
as much red tape as about the houses Of
Parliament in London. The two houses
do not look much unlike our Senate and
House. The desks run in concentric cir
cleS back from the rostrum, on which
the President and Vice President sit,
and they are more like school desks
than like those Of our Congress. The
seats are made so that they can be
turned up like opera chairs, and some
members from the back districts, who
have been more accustomed to sitting
on the floor than on chairs, now and
then get up and kneel on their seats or
sit cross-legged upon them. They do not
keep their hats OF as they do in Eng
land, and their nodes of procedure are
moro like the RQichGfaD than fhOCA Of
our Congress. The most of the members
dress in European clothes. though now
and then you find one wearing a XII
mono.
The membership Of the two houses is
about the same The upper house IS
called the House Of Peers, and ii con-
tains about three hundred abe 1t
comprises the aristocrats of the Japa-
nese empire, and contains, in the first
place. all the male members of the inn
perial family of the age of twenty and
upward. Thus, the Crown Prince will
be a member of this house when he gets
to be twenty. 1T also contains members
selected from the eleven princes and
twenty-eight marquises, eighty counts,
| three hundred n ffty-five viscOuntS
and tw~enty-nine barons of the empire.
These men have TO be elected by their
own order, and their number is restrict
ed. In addition to this, there are some
whom the Emperor has made members
L Ol dCCOuill III lit lcdIIllllR liz OF the
services which they have done for ia
pan, and it is probable that the present
wal will largely increase this number.
Then there are certain members who
come from the different counties and
districts in Japan, who have been nomi-
mated by the Emperor and who are
chosen by the vote of the fifteen men in
each district who pay the highest taxes.
Those who are members on account of
their blood. or have been appointed by
the Emperor, are for life. Those elected
by the different orders and by the tax
payers are for seven years. With all
this 1t is questionable whether the up
| per house contains the brains of japan
The House of Representatives, like that
of our own, is the noisiest and ablest. II
also number three hundred, and any
man can be a mi of Congress who
is of Japanese birth and over thirty
years of age n pays a tax of not less
than 81 a year. A Japanese has to be
twenty-five years old before he can vote,
and voters must have a similar tax-pay-
ing qualification to members of Con
greSS.
A LAND OF Low SALARIES.
Japan is a lane of low salaries. The
officials do not get half as much as ours,
and the members of the House of Peers
and Of the House Of Representatives re-
ceive 500 Japanese yen and their travel
ing expenses. The yen is now worth
about so cents, so they receive in reality
only s40O a year. Our congressman, you
know, receive 1000. The presidents OF
both houses receive 1900 yen, and the
Emperor appoints the officers of the
House of Peers. and he selects those OF
the House of Representatives from three
candidates who are elected by the
house.
All of the voting in the Japanese Par
lament is done in secret ballot. There
is a great deal of speech making, and
the Representatives grow very excited
when they discuss the measures relating
to the government. The Emperor has
the right to dissolve Parliament, and he
has dismissed the last two houses be.
cause they seemed inclined to cut dowr
the expenses beyond the possibilities Of
running the government. This dissolu,
ton caused a great deal of excitement
over the country, and the new election
was much feared by the administration
The country seemed to be torn up by thu
different factions. but this has been al
done away with by the war with China
and the Emperor will get all the none,
he wants from now on.
The Emperor has great power Over
Parliament, and the Constitution is Sc
adroitly worded that he can act inde
pendent of 1t. The laws provide tina
Congress shall vote all the money, blu
that the last budget shall be In force in
case a Congress is dissolved vii aou'
passing new appropriation bills. TIL
Emperor can veto all laws. and he car