Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-10-17

tai. being ahead Of II. In wYajth -
Incorporating powers II II far snd awa1
the FIRST. On It's eight square naIIcs 2
land and water there h nearly half T
million OF population, and 60.00e hnn11|
ind employment in the mills and feel
tories. all the creation Of local capital And
enterprise, effected within less than =
generation. Only thirty years ago the
picturesque but unprcgressive Dsimiol|
were still masters Of Japan; the indus-
trial era only began In 1865, and sevsn|
years later Japanese imports OF raw
cotton were stIll under four miIion|
pounds year; I'm 1885 II was over two|
| hundred million pounds. This marks,
| however, the zenith OF their prosperity,
and 1895 Is likely to be long looked back
10 regretfully by every cotton spinner Ia
Japan as year of perfect happinesy-|
cheap production. unlimited demand, high
prices, and Fat dividends.
In those days no Japanese would be IN
good society without holding cotton-mlll
shares. The Imperial household set the
example. the Court followed IL. the pub
lie offices followed the Court, and be-
came centers OF speculation. In Par
lament the monotony of debate was re-
leved by frequent study OF the cotton
snare lists, and every fashionable tea
mouse had to provide itself with a daily
bulletin OF quotations. Stock-broking in
Tokyo and Osaka became as profitable
an industry as spinning Itself, ard ma
tive banks sprang up In every street TO
supply the demand OF speculative bor-
rowers.
The most was made OF all the avail
abIe capital. ard man with 1000 yen
OF his own had no difficulty In borrow
ing five or six times az much more.
RANL-rN.fs cVxs,rr.x,
This country has enjoyed from TINA
INN. emorial, even In tho feudal days. q
banking system peculiarly adapted 10
the development OF new ventures. Both
In China and Japan money-lending is
as old and well understood science as
In Europe. In its methods II is even
simpler than ours
IL may be easily imagined how such
banking facilities. provided with a libe-
raj hand, and appealing to patriotic az
Well as pecunary emulation, soon ex-
cited a gambling Juror. The better the
mills paid-and up to a certain point
they have undoubtedly paid well--the
wilder became the gambling
New mills were started and tho output
Of yarn greatly increased. The original
holders who got in at par and paid for
their shares with their own money have
SO far had an excellent investment, but
later purchasers who came i'm on the rise
and paid large premiums with money bor-
rowed at usurous rates. can never have
much even out OF the high dividends.
Looking at the question from all Sides
[ may safely be affirmed that the cotton
industry has proved profitable one for
Japan. bringing In from 10 to l6 per cent.
On money invested. Up TO this time
much Of the raw material has been sup
olied by America, but with the compile
ion Of the Siberian railroad we will find
Russia n formidable competitor I'm East
I'm markets This fact. joined to Japans
almost unlimited capacity for manufac-
uring al prices far below ours. may wei
,ause our political economists to look
we'll to our laurels in this unequal contest.
Ind try, II possible, to find better and
more equitable solution OF the question
han Is found in the Dpgley protective
tariff bill. IRENE l.. MANN.