Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1904-04-01

Get out map of the United States
and look at the space occupied by the
state of California. Now imagine
that a few more than half the total
population Of the United States, in.
GLIDING Alaska and the insular pos
sessions. are living in the state Of
California and that California is en-.
tirely surrounded by water. Then you
will begin to have an idea Of the sit
uation In japan.
But to make the conception true you
will have to imagine California divided
into four good sized islands and some
thing more than 1000 small ones.
The total area of California is 1885,
$50 square miles. The Japanese is
lands cover not quite the same amount
Of space. The population Of Califor.
mia is not quite 100000. Japan mum.
bers 100000 people.
In other words, thirty times as many
people are living in the same space in
Japan as in California.
If the whole United States was as
thickly populated Is is Japan the pop
ulation Of this country would be 1,000,-
100000 human beings, or 100000
more than the present estimated popu-
lation Of the earth.
Nor does that tell the whole story.
In order to gain true idea Of the
situation of the Japanese people you
must take into consideration the fact
that only small percentage Of the
small area of the empire is under eul-
tivation.
In Belgium, which is even more
thickly populated than is Japan. the
proportion of cultivated land to the to-
tai area of the country is 81 per
cent. In France it is so per cent and
in Germany it is 43 per cent. But in
tiny Japan with its swarming mill
lions, which, without additions from
immigration, increases at the rate Of
half million year, only IA per
cent Of the total area Of the empire
is under cultivation.
Japan has always claimed that the
small percentage Of her area under
cultivation is not due to any lack Of
industry but to the fact that so large
part Of the empire is made up Of vol
canic mountains and rocky slopes,
which cannot be made arabic.
In spite of this fact, however, ia
lpan Is still chiefly an agricultural
country. In fact until the ports Of
the island empire were thrown open
to commerce its great population lived
almost exclusively on what was raised
ION the little patches Of farming land,
amounting in the whole empire to a to-
ltal of less than one-third the area Of
the state of Illinois, added to the
product Of the fisheries.
A Japanese farm would make one
Iof our western farmers laugh in de-
Irision. AS one traveller says: There
are no farms in Japan; there are only
gardens" A farm of twelve acres
would be considered extremely large
lin Japan. The average holding for the
whole Of agricultural Japan is only
fraction over two acres. Naturally the
farmers of Japan have no hired men.
They and their families cultivate the
tiny patch of ground. They have prac-
Itically no cattle or other live stock.
Their chief instrument Of cultivation
is the spade. and working entirely by
hand they bring their little farms 70
high state of cultivation.
A Japanese farmer needs little to
sustain life If he is rich enough to
control a big farm Of twelve acres he
may get an income Of from $50 to $50
q year. In addition he and his family
may add to their income by devoting
their spare time to the production of
silk, indigo, and cotton. If he should,
in the busy season, need the assistance
of some outside helpers in gathering
his harvest he can hire all the male
peasant laborers he wants at wages Of
IL cents a day, while female helpers
will be satisfied with 81 cents day.
Small as these Japanese farms are,
It is a fact that the taxes paid by
their owners furnished about half the
total income of the mikado's govern
ment. At present the tax rate is 3B
per cent of the assessed valuation of
the cultivated lands. Large as this
may seem to American farmers, 1t is
as nothing to the taxes paid by Japa-
nese farmers in the old days Of the
feudal system, which went to pieces
in 1867. For a time the government
took two-fifths of the total crop as its
share Of the taxes. Later the gov
eminent share was raised to one-half,
and at the same time those farmers
who rented the land they titled were
forced to turn over one-half Of the re-
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Strange Rumor About Hetty Green.
HErc uattv Green is said to have