Evening star., 1898-12-13
JAPANESE POLITICS
A Republican Suggestion Causes a
Cabinet Crisis.
SERIOUS CONDITION OF The FINANCES
Diminishing Exports and Increasing
Government Expenditures.
TIE CHINESE INDEMNITY
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
YOKOHAMA. Japan. November 10. 1s9s.
1t is scarcely four months since the clan
government, which. in slightly varied
forms has had complete control of the ad-
ministrativc affairs of the empire of Japan
ever since the overthrow of the feudal sys-
TEN and the restoration of the emperor to
temporal power was compelled to hand
over the rcins of Office to cabinet formed.
for the first time in the history of the
country. Of men selected by the represen-
tatives of the people. From the time when
the frUdaI system was abolished many OF
the most enlightened and progressive OF the
Japanese have looked forward to the days
when the country would he freed from clan
rule and be governed by men who were
sponsibIe 70 the electors and the people
for the laws they made for the country
and the money they spent in its admins
tration; but scarcely one among them ever
dreamed Of living To see those days much
less that they would be within positive
grasp within ten years of the promulga-
tiOn of the constitution.
However. the taste for power which the
constitution conferred on the representa-
tives Of the people, by the SanctiOning of
th- diet, to he composed entirely of mem
bers selected by the electors. small and
'
powers Of that bOdy-fOr they We're little
more than the privilege of sanctiOning the
Supplies required for the expenditure in
Cured by the various government depart
mcats-S,imulated those members to use
the poxers conferred on them to the very
extreme limits. and. unfortunately. only too
often to considerably exceed those limits.
in the eudtaVor to harass the government
in Cffice to such an extent as to make its
position untcnable and this has been done
mainly 10y. under one preteXt or another.
refusing 10 pass the budget presented t"
them by the government at the time beng
unless they got from it certain information.
which generally the government declined to
Financial Difficulties.
This information. if given. would relate
To- the state Of the nations finances. which
are admittedly in a serious condition. Tha
government has preserved. under persistent
questioning. an uuhruken silence concern
ing the manner in which the Chinese war
indemnity has been expended. Many peo-
pie are inclined to believe that considerable
sums Of this enormous fund have been used
10 I'LL the pockets Of unScrupulous partisans
and officials. Meanwhile the governments
exuendltUres have grown tremendously. In
lS-it tICE were set down at gl.3W.WD yen
hut by lS,i~ they had SWelled to 264 ,U'O rsg
yen Ey far the larger part of the money
IS solely for military and naval aggrandize-
ut. Il purpose which. if it is to be main
tai-cd. viii he a continuous and an increas-
ing burden. Again. the currency * not in
tEe most satisfactory shape. Japan has
$1-''Nst OH yen Of paper money and less
than .'tfEH,'tFl Yen Of gold to redeem it
with. while tn" imuorts have exceeded the
eNI'IEtS ny about 5000 WW Yen during the
first hH'f of the present year. and more
than -H'.taEWD yen in silver and god have
actually lFft the country during the same
period Should the foreign banks at any
tim" Insist on receiving gold instead Of pa
per money the whole foreign trade of the
country wOuld come TO Il StandstilI. Under
thrs" circumstances a loan of 1un.U'1U;n
yen has been discussed. but. with the gov
errmcrt proposing low rates. speculators
are not likely 10 float the loan eagerly
These facts serve To aCCentuate the diff
Guilty OF thu government in facing the rc-
Feat'i demands Of the opposition for fr,-
formation about the finances.
Eyading the Issue
Consequently time after time has "A GOV
eminent used lis powers and dismissed the
diet. only to he followed a few DAYS later
by rendering its own resignation to the en-
pe~or. fearing the result Of its facing
Tc|iy elected diet which would decline to
sanction the huGSrt, as its predecessor had
done. unless the desired information were
Forthcoming but which il felt itself unable
to sulTly. And 50 We have gone on for
more than three years. a new elan govern
msGt being formed by slight changes in
the officers and another diet elected con-
tanning more advanced thinkers. only to
meet for q few layS and renew th. old
tactics. ami with similar results; the result
being that We have been accustomed to a
general election about every five or six
H'uiE- and claDge Of government lI-
most as often Consequently. as the gov
eminent has no power 10 alter the budget
without the sanction of the Diet We are
now working on a budget made more than
tETt" years ago. and in the face of the
li"lAE!dl tlfflrultItS and the increasing dis
satisfaction Of the people. the further ten
Cre Of office by a clan government became
no; only difficult. but for the time positively
dangerous 10 the peace Of the empire.
The power of the diet which had enabled
that body to 50 persisiently reject every
budget presented 10 it for so many years
W'S achieved by tn" combination Of the lib
err ard the pro2r-ssivss and in June
laSt- upon the resignation Of the last clan
government. the emperor called upon Count
OHurJa the leader Of the proSreSSiyrS. and
Count ltHsaki. The leader Of the liberals. 10
form -oyrrum MT. This was done without
any apparent difficulty the former being
prime minister, the various offices being
equally divided among liberal and progress
SiNe IaFti~d1S and for "a time the people
were luDi.ant believing that they had at
last s"t government that would consult
their interests and carry out their bch-sts
f'""N-f. from speeches which We're de
HN"ft1 from time To time by prominent
members Of the newly formed cabinet md
more especially from the speeches IF Count
1kuma himself whether in his official ca
paci'y as head Of the government or as Il
private individual. that it was not as easy
u carry out promises as it was to make
them. and that fhc government was not an
inyNhauStlhle gold mine from which the
demands ~ all those who chos,. to make q
Request could be promptly and fully met
Efforts To- Raise Funds
In fact. il soon became evident that. in
stead of the financial difficulties being
m"-" y apparent they were more than
critically real for almost the first thing
that the newly formed cabinet undertook in
r,u earnest was to lind a means of So
raising the taxes Of the country as to pro-
vide for the deficiency which they found in
the -NcHeqUrr- And here thu first real diff
1icIlty arose II was evident that money
must he raised, and that il must he raised
by Increased taxation, for. notwit thstand-
Ing the nigh talk which has 51cn INDUCED
In for the last year or TWO. rhout the intro
Gu'tiau OF foreign capital and the raising
OF foreign loans, the new cabinet must
have found. much To their dism ~. that the
Iprmcr Was very doubtful ana the latter
actually Impossible ON any terms al the
moment But the question was n what
WY the taxation should be increased.
ThS pTpGreSSivrS are in "a ma jOrity among
the capitalists and commercial people
Whereas the liberals owe their strength TO
the landed proprieturs and agricuIturists
uuI tho. leaders Of either NJ rtv s..p,a1 fo-