The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-03-15

GI Get out map OF tho United States
and look nj the space occupied D! ING
State or California. Now imagine that
a few more than hulf the total popuil-
lion OF the United States. including
Alaska and the insular possessions. are
living In the State Of California and that
California is entirely surrounded by
water. Thcr YOU begin to have an idea
Of the situation IN japan.
VI But. 10 make the conception true YOU
will have to imagine California divided
into four good sized Islands and some
thing more than go small ones.
The total area OF California is l's.SGp
square niles. The Japanese Islands ccYer
not n,iItp.thc same amount pr sI,a &C. me
popuinlon Of California Is not quite
1, 800 ,Oc0. japan numbers $4,000 GOO #peo-
pie.
In other words thirty t.lues as many
peoplc are living iii the same space III
Japan az IN California.
If the whole United States was rs
thiclsiy populated as Is japan. the poPu..
tlatiOu Of this country would be Vp.GtV,.pV
human beings. or 100000 more than the
present estimated population OF the$earth.
Nor does thattell the whole story.
In order to gain a true idea of the
situation Of the Japanese people you must
take into consideration the fact that
only a small percentage OF the small area
Of tho empire IS under cultivation
In Belgium, which Is even more thickly
populated than is Japan. the proportion
OF cultivated land to the total area OF
the country Is 81 per cent. IN France
iit Is 30 per cert, and IN Gcrman%it Is
40 per cent But in tiny Japan, Win US
swarmng millions, which. without add
tons from immigration. increases Mt the
rate OF half n million year. orly II
per cent. ofgthe total area OF the empire
is under cultivation.
Japan has always claimed that the
small percentage OF her area under Gull
tira tion Is not due to any lack OF indus
try but to the fact that 90 large a.
part Of the empire Is made Up OF volcanic
mountains ard rocky slopes, which can
not be made arabic e
In spite OF this fact however, japan is
still chiefly mn agricultural country. IN
fact, until the ports OF tho Island empire.
we're thrown open to commerce It's great
population lived almost exclusively OH
what was raised or.tlthe little patches
of farming land, amounting In the whole
empire TO q total OF less than one-thirdg
tho area OF the State OF illinois, added TO
the product OF tho fisheries.
~ A Japanese farm would make one or
our Western farmers laugh IN dersion.
AS ono traveller says: There are 70
farms lntJapan; there are only gardens"
A farm OF twelve acres would be consid-
cred extremely large IN Japan. The aver
age holding for the whole o. HORTICULTURAL
Japan is only q fraction over two acres
Naturally the farmers Of Japan have no
tiyate tho tiny patch Of ground. They
have practlcallysno cattle or other live
stock. Their chief Instrument Of cultt-5
walton is tho spade. and working entirely
by hand they bring their little farms
to high state Of cultivation
A Japanese farmer needs little to sus-
tair life. IL he is ricl, enough to con-
troll a big farm Of twelve acres no may
get an income Of from $50 to 500 q year.
In addition. he and his family may add
to their income by devotng their spare
time to the production Of silk, indigo
ard cotton. ! e he should, IN the busy
season, need the assistance y Of some
outside helpers liz gathering his harvest.
he can hire all the male peasant laborers
he wants Mt wages OF fifteen cents q
day while female helpers VIII be salts
fied with nine and one-hulf carts a day.
Small ms these Japanese fnrn,s are,
It is a fact that the taxes paid by their
owners furnished about ina the total IN
come OF the MIkados government, ~
third per cent OF the assessed yaluatlor
OF the cultivated lands, Large as this
may seem to American farmers, u IL
as nothing to taxes paid by Japanese
farmers in the old days OF the feudal
system. which went to pieces IN 1851,
FOR time tho government took two
fifths OF the total crop rs It's share OF mo
taxes, Later the government share Was
raised TO one,hRlt, ard at tho same time
those farmers who rented the lana ihey
titled We're forced TO turn oyer ohe-Ihtl
Of the remaining half Of the crop 70 their
grasping landlords. ],
thousands Of Japanese nre emplo!ea
in tho fisheries, as is natural mar island
population, The product Of The flsherles
furnishes q large proportion Of the food
|iof the people, and within reeen y, years
crn methods OF taking the fish largely
adopted The, ancient and extremely
pct,,sesqueSi native method OF ga tchingi