The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-03

bring ladies with you, or | will guarantee
that trouble awaits you. Truly. the joi. or
antl-foreign, spirit existing everywhere Is so
openly and so generally shown that a great
number of war vessels will be necessary TO
protect the lives and interests of our citi-
zens after the new treaty goes into effect
1t is no wonder that the British subjects
have forwarded a strongly worded memorial
to Lord Salisbury, treating of the dangers
and disabilities to which they will be ex-
posed if the absurd treaty is enforced on
the 10th of July. 1889. / will give few ex-
tracts of this carefully considered docu-
ment, becauses our citizens are in the same
boat. Whereas, Japanese they say, can
purchase land in England Or in the United
States. no alien can buy a single rod of
soil in Japan. The new codes which will
soon go into effect limit the period for which
land may be leased to foreigners to twenty
years. This is really prohbitive. since no
man will make Improvements on so short
tenure. The vagaries of the codes are
more serious cause of apprehension. Bail
is not allowed even in cases of simple mis-
demeanor, which, in a foreigner, are pun
ished more severely than felony in a native.
Thus, cases which would involve a nominal
fins in a British American court are pun
ished with Imprisonment in the courts of
Japan. A grave matter for consideration is
the personnel of the courts The judges re-
ceive an average salary of 600 yen, or about
$500.
Another arbitrary measure is the avowed
intention of the government to prohibit the
publication of foreign newspapers The
Yorodzu Choho discusses this feature as
follows: by a protocol to the British
treaty the Japanese government undertakes,
before the cessation of consular Jurisdiction
in Japan, to join the international conven-
tions for the protection of industrial prop
erty and copyright, and," the Yorodzu con-
tinues 'it was the wish of the government
to incorporate into one measure all the laws
relating to copyright, publications, photo
graphs and music, well as the press reg
ulations. But it is the intention of the
government not to allow foreigners to pub
lish newspapers the press law may possibly
be kept separate" The signers of tAe me-
mortal pray that the British government
shall insist upon satisfactory safeguards
and submit that if the Japanese govern
ment refuses to make reasonable conces-
sions her Majesty's government will be JUS
tilted in refusing to receive the years notice
which must be given by the Japanese gov
ernment before the new treaty can come
into operation.
anese character, gained by protracted res
idence, 1 may safely assert that if the
treaties do go into operation at the appoint
ed time there is going to be bloody and ex-
pensive trouble with Japan. Our people will
not stand by quietly and see our citizens
cruelty butchered while the confessed as
sassln Is lined paltry $50, as was the case
with Frank Epps, the murdered sailor of
the Olympia. The suggestion of the peti-
TONERS deserves. therefore, the earnest con-
sideration of the authorities at Washington
MONEY STRINGENCY.
Notwithstanding the indemnity recently
paid by China, the stringency of the money
market is very severely felt. Railroad
shares have declined. and many companies
experience great difficulty in collecting the
installments due upon the shares. The Kibe
Railroad, for instance, runs through the
coal districts of Chikuzen and Buzen: one
part of the road is finished and the pros
poets are excellent. When the time came
for shareholders to pay an installment the
owners of 6,201 shares were unable to do
so, and their stock was sold at public auc-
tion. Although yen 1850 had been paid up,
the highest bid was yen 475 the loss
amounting to yen $4,000. The Iga line in Ise
is in the same bad shape, 400 900 yen have
been paid up and 10000 yen have been
borrowed. Seven miles of the road have
been completed, and 10000 to 140 900 yen
are required Immediately. but the stock
hcldefs are wholly unable to furnish that
amount. The chances are that the creditors
will obtain possession of the line for the
amount of their loan
The native press is clamoring for the in
PRODUCTION of foreign capital urging that
10 and even II per cent would be willingly
paid. English financiers will have nothing
to do with Japanese enterprises, because the
alien capitalist is politically disabled from
owning good and sufficient security. The
Japanese have striven earnestly and long
to secure a reputation for commercial dis
integrity, and may now boast that they
have succeeded. They intend interviewing
American capitalists with golden prospectus
The fact itself that British capital refuses
should be sufficient to save American dol
lars.
To judge from tho editorials in the native
press little confidence exists in the stability
OF the present Cabinet, and, with the cessa-
ton of extra -terrtoriality at the door
Japan needs not only stable but a strong
government. Marquis Ito is glad that his
responsibility has ceased, and has gone to
China to prevent being called upon again
to take the reins. His object is not recrea-
ton; there is not much of that in the
Celestial empire. 1t is probable that he will
try to give momentum to China's awaken
ing. If this is the case he will have a hard
time of it. Chinas mandarins have not for
gotten that they owe their present distress
ing condition to Japan's revelations and
Itos action will be carefully watched by
Russia, to whom Japan is an ever-present
nightmare. 1t is a pity that the "Sage of
Waseda,' his admirers delight in calling
wavering, purposeless, Count Okuma,
should be premier at such a time as this
The great men who made Japan are dead,
and those who remain are small indeed!
A FRIEND OF SPAIN.
AS a general rule the native press has
sided with the United States in the late un-
pleasantness with Spain, and it is quite sure
that Japan will raise no objection If the
American people decide to retain those
islands. provided always that Count Okuma
does not deem fit to make an extraordinary
sensation as he did in the case of Hawaii
AT any rate, an editorial which appeared
in the Gaiko Jiho, a journal of consider
able influence, is remarkable at this time
because it takes the part of Spain and is
opposed to the cession of the Philippines to
Uncle Sam. The course of reasoning nv
which it arrives at its conclusions is re-
markable. Commenting upon the terms of
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