The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-09-20

and entrust to the weaker sex, who are "grestsr experts in the use of the devices for obtaining votes resorted to by our politicians"
 Further. there is lack of party news- papers. The sheets that are called party organs are no more than adver- Using media or means of circulating party. notices among members. And the Japanese politician Is mainly de- pendent on money spent at election time. The constituencies are corrupt ed. large sums of money being paid out for votes.
 That many of the electors regard their votes as articles of merchandise Is an open secret. The expense of by the extortions of the vote-buying commission agents. who are a despic- able crew.
 The journal further points out that. unlike the political parties in Eng land or the United States. Japanese po- litical parties are without funds beyond what Is provided by the annual party subscription of $25 per head, and reach es the conclusion that. as parties in Japan are at present constituted and managed. they form no adequate basis for the development of a frst-class type of constitutional government. Radical and extensive reform Is an imperative necessity If Japanese polit. ical parties are to fulhl the function such parties fuifil in Europe and Am. erica.
 A question constantly asked in Ja- pan Is, Why did the Salon Cabinet resiEn?" Many and various answers have been given. refecting the per- plexity of the public mind on the sub- ject. Certainly none of the causes re- cognized in strictly constitutional coun- tries can be cited.
 No special difiiculty had occurred in the neid of foreign policy: there had not been any friction among the min- isters themselves; the country had just recorded its verdict in the Cabinets fa- vor by returning its political support CTS in such numbers as to constitute. for the first time in the history of Jap anese parties. a working majority in the lower House. ana relations had been established with the Upper Cham Der such as would ensure its support.
 Thus everything seemed to be in fa- vor of Q prolonged tenure of ofhce, pro- longed even indefinitely. Some reason must be sought. outside any of those that usually make for such crises. and it is to be found in the fact that tho Cabinet had become unpopular. That cile with the verdict of the general elections held only a few weeks previ- ously.
 But 1t has to be noted that in Japan the general elections furnish only a partial index of the state of public opinion. They may be taken as show ing the trend of thought among the agricultural class. but they do not re- fleet the views of merchants and man. ufacturers. and 1t was with the latter l that the Ministry had lost favor. None | of the financial embarrassment felt in Japan since the last war has been ex- perienced by the farmers.
 Prosperity may be said to have been | their uniform condition. It is calcu- lated that during the decade ending in l 1905, the farm produce throughout the | empire grew in market value from I $500 ,o00, 900 to over $5oo.o0o,oo0, where as the land tax. originally a small amount, stands at a still very moder- ate figure But the case has been diff ferent with the commercial and indus | trial classes. These. since the spring of 1907, have been confronted by pe- riod of acute Oppression. and have wit | messed a continuous and sharp decline | in the market value of their invest ments. Causes for which the Govern mont had no responsibility were large, 1 ly operative in this matter. The depre. l ciation of silver. the downfall of cop per, natural calamfties, the panic ir
 the United States. the general dull.
 ness of trade throughout the world