The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-15
THE FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC
CONDITION or JAPAN.

that OF the United States in 1879. The
for the current year are estimated
at sos. 72o. 900. and tho national debt Is re-
ported a. 7.7l7. Ia, 7ss yen. the equivalent,
IN round figures, OF 81. 100. 000. 900.
Practically all Of Japan's national debt
Is IN the form Of outstanding Dan bonds.
about equally divided between interior
and foreign accounts. A part Of the In
ternsl obligations is supported by collateral,
such al State railways and other public
utilities and industrial enterprises estab-
Iished or now owned by the Government.
Nearly all OF the foreign loan, and n very
large part Of the total indebtedness. rep
resents money obtained for the proseou-
! ton OF Japan's wars with China and with
Russia. Practically the whole Of the in
terror loan. amounting to q little more than
$500. 900. 900. bears S per cent. interest.
There is . foreign loan Of s4s. SIS 5000 at 4
per 9 for railways and public works.
OF the foreign war loan SLOT SOS. 900 bears
Q per cent. s2s2 500. 900 bears ~ per cent.
and si27.o 500 bears 4 per cent. The
total foreign debt is sS7i. 1856, 800. A part
OF the domestic loan also represents mill
tary and naval expenditures. In March
Of this year a loan OF E2s 900. 600 at 8 per cent.
49, O'Ny JN"tb N " tUS lCtubthtHH
OF the Q per cent. loans OF May. 1904 (eIO.-
600 ,ooo) and November, 1904 (cia, 900. ooO).
The national revenues Of the country
have increased from a little more than
t3l 100000 in 1880 to the estimated amount
for the current year, s90s, 600 .OO0. The
sources Of income are numerous and vari-
ous. Among the enumerated taxes there
appear h following: Land, income. bust
nno1 HOtNNr nAxy ,.-.- NN--vw-zss1D ~ A.--
tile fabrics, mining, bourses, issue OF bank
notes, customs. travelling and succession.
There Is revenue from the telegraph and
telephone service; from State railways; from
monopolies in salt, camphor and tobacco;
from tonnage dues and from forests. In the
matter Of its sources abou two-thirds Of
the revenue Is classed as -~ordinary." Thu
total land tax for the current year Ia about
s43, 900 900, the liquor tax about s3s, oO0, 900.
the customs revenue SIS. 600 600, the income
tax Gil 900 900, the receipts from public
undertakings and State property" tes. $780,
Ooo; receipts from salt monopoly, SIS. 900 900;
from tobacco monopoly SIS, $50, 900, and
railway profits nearly Si2, 900 900.
This is JApanis position in the matter Of
debts n means OF paying them. The
~soundness OF ker condition is In some meas
ure a matter OF individual opinion. The
Judgment OF the financial world In fairly
indicated by the terms OF the cas- 900. 900 loan
raised in London and Paris last March. Her
s per cent forty year bonds brought zoe los.
On the EiOO. On the whole this Ia not q very
oreditable showing even when all allowance
10 made for q tight money market. Forty
year investment securities at s per cent.
ought to be worth a little more than par.
II regarded as gilt edged they are worth
q good Heal more. The inference IL that
the money market does not regard Japanese
securities as In thai class.
On . per capita basis Japan's national
debt and annual expenditure are both oon-
siderably below he general run Of such
charges in other countries of large popula-
ton. Yet for Japan in her present oondi-
ton II Is only possible to regard them a.
heavily burdensome or her people. The
Japanese OF to-day are paying for the Japan
Of Tomorrow. The natural source OF
the country are not great and IL is "a a
whole land Of poor people who live simply
and work laboriously, because they must, on
a wage or income which from an American
point of view Is a mere pittance. Some idea
Of conditions is obtained when it is under
stood that there are millions Of Japanese
whose income is not more than 800 year
and that there are hundreds Of thousands
whose yearly income il considerably below
even that sum
Just what official Japan really thinks
about its present and future one car say.
The official EXPRESSIONS invariably point TO
entire satisfaction with the present and
absolute faith In the future. The oficial
view il accepted without question by the
great mass Of the people who must pay,
nav, pay" for war with Russia, for q splen-
did navy and great docks and shipyards,
and for the maintenance OF an army. The
strain upon the taxpayers is indicated In
the increase OF national revenues, derived
in large part from direct taxation, from
Sloa, 7ss, 900 in 1904 to tsos ,227 900 for the
present year.
In the almost impossible event OF war
with the United States It Is not to be thought
tina Japan would get out OF II any more
cheaply than she got out Of her struggle
with Russia. That cost her $500 900 900, on
which she must pay more than &2o, 0oo, 900 q
year for interest. In addition to hat her
payments for rewards and pensions" for
the last two years are greater by some
SiS, 900, 900 to Sis, 900, 600 q year than they
were for the years preceding the war period.
Another war would mean more interest
charges, more rewards and pensions and
another enormous increase In the taxation
Of her already bsavily burdened people.
The Der capita wealth OF the United States
10 estimated a. somewhat exceeding 81 1900.
A few years ago the Bank OF japan pre-
| pared q tabulated estimate Of the per capita
wealth of that country. II may be assumed
that the figures were set as high a. IL was
thought safe to place them. On tho basis
| Of liberal increase in value since that tine.
four years ago.. the per capita wealth Of
Japan to-day would be below rather than
| above $50. For q nation OF its olass this 10
q very meagre sum. Japan's national debt
is probably not far from ope-seventh OF
her total national wealth, Our debt 10 less
than 1 per cent. Of our wealth.
Japan's fighting abilities on land and sea
nave commanded the admiration Of the
world. Her economic development during
recent years has been remarkable. Her
place In the world Of tomorrow will depend
upon her cultivation Of the arts Of peace