New Britain herald., 1916-03-10
WAR ORDERS SWELL
 JAPAN'S PROSPERITY
Flood Of Money Pouring Into
 Island Empire From Allies
Correspondence of The Associated Press)

(Corrcspondcnce of The Associated Press) | Tokio, Feb. 2O.-Never in her his. l tory has Japan met with such a l period of material prosperity as to- 1 day. This is entirely due to the war i The Entente Allies have been buying 1 great quantities of war supplies since l the beginning of the conflict and more
 orders are being placed constantly. 1 Money is literally pouring into the 1 country in such quantities that there l is actually plethora of it. Money 1 has become so cheap that bankers | have begun to complain.
 The first great call upon Japan has 1 been made and will continue to be l made by Russia, The exports to Rus
 sia have realized several hundred mil- 1 lion yen They include not alone ] military equipment and supplies such ] as guns rifles and ammunition, but i large quantities of cloth many hum
 dred thousands of pairs of boots, 1 leather pouches. caps, sashes, food
 products and medical supplies Even 1 rice is exported to Russia to be made 1 into sruel for wounded soldiers and l of the medical exportation a notable ] item is tincture of iodine.
 Another great channel in which
 Japan is finding prosperity is through her shipping. He big merchant ma
 rine is not only transporting supplies | for the Entente Powers but so far as l the Orient is concerned has practical 1 ly taken over at an immense profit | the sea transp portation which is held l in time of peace by the vessels of
 Great Britain. Freight charges to all
 points including the United States 1 I,Dy 1 companies recently petitioned the de- partment of communications to sane l ton further increase in tariffs. France is at present seeking either 1 to charter or purchase ten or q doz-
 ell steamships, but suitable vessels
 are scarce. The pr1ces are almost
 limitless in their elevation. The ex- 1 tent to which steamers have risen in value may be instanced by a recent
 incident at Kobe. The owner of a
 steamship, the charter for which had 1 just expired who had been received
 about S3,200 a month for his vessel 1 received an offer of charter at the
 rate of 37,0OO per month. The ex-
 traordinary demand for hulls is in day and night but they cannot hope
 to approach the demand.
 Success Without Precedent
 The year 1915 was exceptional in
 Japanese trade but this year is eX- 1 pcct to prove still more remarka ble. l Last year the total exports amounted to about $350, 100000 and the imports to about s266.OOO,OOO. The total 1 trade was SS16,OOO,OOO. Compared with the preceding year the figures & j1G of n on exports and d decrease of $31,5OO,- ! 900 in imports. Whereas in 191f inn { ports exceeded exports by $2,317,OOO l the balance of trade last year was in favor ot exports by about SS4,0OO,OOO 1 Anything approaching such a large excess ot exports is unprecedented in ] the annals of foreign trade in Japan By glanc1ng over the trade returns TOT the last ten years, it will be found that With the exception of 19OC and '9V9 when exports owing to greatly reduced imports were in excess by $2,4 5000 and by S9,456,OOO respec tlNeIy, the balance of trade for the re- Ina1nlnS eight years shows an excess
 ol imports ranging from $2,317.00O to %lS, ,fSo, ,O00 In 1914 the outbreak of
 the War diminished the volume of trade, especially that of imports. This explains the fact that in that year the
 excess of imports over exports amount
 ed to only $2,317,OOO as compared
 with $48,4S5,OO 900 accorded for 1913
 and with $46,O00,OOO for 1912.
 With the continuation of the war
 last year importations still further
 diminished while a remarkable in- crease was noted in the export trade ne markets in India, South America and other places previously taking German and Austrian goods de- | handed Japanese substitutes for, | goods which no longer came out from | Europe. All this combined to create l a new record in exports, while the l Gfhculty of Europe in sending it's 1 goods abroad contributed to de- l crease of imports into Japan.
 Among the import goods showing a l failing off are iron, dyestuffs and | other important requisites for manu- featuring industry This had the i eHect of checking exportation to some extent, and has encouraged company promoters to form plans for placing Japan's industry and commerce on a | self-suppOrting and permanent basis
 One result of all this is tthat Japan, Which before the war had come to feel apprehension for the stability of it's note conversion system, has now specie accommodating to it's credit to the extent of 6OO,000,000 yen or S300,0OO,O00 an amount never be-