The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-04-17
JAPAN'S FRENZY
Of INITIATION
advertiser Correspondence. Copyright
1S0S. by Frederic J. Haskin)


TOXIC, Mar. sS.-When Japan too
unto itself the blessings OF wester
civilization II was inevitable that III
curses must be included. Today il |
suffering from having taken flyer a
frenxied finance. After the war wit
Russia. the japanese rushed headlon
into a boom. The collapse has com
and the nation is gasping. II nigh
have borne the burden OF its own Toll.
without great trouble. but the sins o
America are also visited upon Nippon
For every American girl who is pout
ing because that horrid Wall Stree
has deprived her OF new sIIk gown
there is q sorroyful almond-eyed maiC
in beautiful Japil who mourns the los:
o. the six cents q day which she earned
by feeding six worms, Among the
most marked effects Of the recent pan
IL In the United States was the falling
OF in demand for silks. Consequently
the godoWns OF Yokohama contain $50,
eeo.0OO worth Of raw silk al a time.
when in a normal year they would be
empty. This silk is unstable at a
profit. and every time bale changes
hands now il means loss.
not foresee the financial crash, neither
did his country banker. The grower
needed ready money and the banker
advanced it on the security Of the silk.
Now the price has fallen and the silk
is practically unstable. The silk
grower cannot pay the banker. The
banker must pay his depositors. From
these things come bank runs, from
hank runs come failures, from failures
comes loss OF employment, and from
loss OF employment comes starvation.
And this in country where twenty
cents a day is high wages for an able
bodied man.
II there had been money in the coun-
Try the temporary cessation of Ameri-
can purchases here would not cause
such serious embarrassment. But Jap
an has never had much money, and
what little it did have has gone into
the great Industrial companies organ
lied during the boom which started
a few months after the close Of the war
with Russia and which tumbled into
nothingness with the crash Of last year.
The japanese government tried in
many ways TO restrain the fever for
speculation, knowing that the resources |
of the nation were not sufficient to sus-
tain half billion dollars worth Of new |
industries al this time. But the advice 1
was not needed and speculation stopped 1
only when the bubble burst. Now the 1
government seems 10 forget its role Of l
friend 10 commercial interests and re-
fuses TO take any steps TO relieve con-
ditions. on the other hand, the bur-
Of aorafA tod hN-
the levy OF new taxes, although the
war tax has not been leSsened after
three years of peace. And of this tax
money collected from these poverty
stricken people, the government spent
last year:
On the army and navy-s115,7 704. $50.
On educauion-S4,11s,470.
The war with Russia brought to
Japan so many haIleIujahs and ban
zais from all parts of the world, that
the japanese were almost convinced
that there was nothing which they
could not do. II was natural that they
should turn 10 industrial fields and seek
TO astoniSh the world there as they
had done in war. Companies were or
sanized TO exploit the meager mineral
resources Of the islands, others to man
Ifacture raw materials to be brought ,
rom China. others 10 take advantage
II growing internal business, and still !
,thers TO push commerce into foreign !
andS. Millions were subscribed, and ,
1efOre the ink was dry on the papers !
II inCorpOratin a dividend would be .
declared. This artful dodge deceived
he innocent lamb Of Nippon and he
ushed 10 his little Wall Street with his
ayings. The prices of shares SCARED
o the skies.
Then came the Notwithstanding finan-
ial troubles. Copper, Japan's greatest {
mineral product, dropped TO the bot
ON Then came the silk disaster, and
apan's greatest domestic industry was
aralyzed. The balance of trade in
s06 had run in Japan's favor and its
eOple bOasted that theirs was an ex- \
orting nation. Within a few months
le exports dropped almost half. The u
ank OF Japan pays a twelve per cent l
ividend, and is considered a thorough RI
? sound institution. The par value
: its shares is 200 yen. a yen Is III
Iuivalent TO fifty cents in American 81
Ioney.) In a few months the market al
alue dropped from $50 to 5ss yen The .,
lAAQ L-AENAA-G GN@4lhG GN SlONhs
alue so yen. dropped from I06 to SO, g
I'd now municipalization Of the prop oil
" is in sight The Osaka Spinning NJ
Ompany has never missed a dividend
ID il pays twenty per cent annually. :.
Its shares, par 50 yen. fell from 1a6 to n
in the face Of the One-ffth dividend. ia
How foolish the payment Of such a,
yidends is has been proved in the
.ry case Of this spinning company. '"
he japanese cotton spinning mills, of b
uTse, use foreign raw material. They Dc
I've excellent mills and they have good -,
Dor at next 10 nothing compared to =
e cost in American cotton mills At IL
le time they had built up a good b
ace in China. the greatest consumer in
cotton among the nations. But the
'om caused an effort to esta blish
saving on larger scale in Japan and al
e small weavers were greatly en- /
uraged- They bought the japanese TT
rms at fancy prices and the spinners
ereupOn allowed their stable business ie
China 10 go by default. Now the
ast Indian yarns have suppIanted the
panese yarns in the Chinese market,
z home market is dead and the Jap
lese spinners are making yarn 10 store "
their gOd0wns. The dividends have m
.hausted the treasury and ruin is i'm III
inent-