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made, foreign investors will naturally feel that there is little safety for their investments.

"I am also anxious to introduce the idea of a system of trusteeship in order to encourage foreign nations to invest their money in Japanese enterprises. There are very many uncompleted works in Japan, which need outside money to finish them and which would return good profits. I feel assured that it would be possible for prominent Japanese bankers and capitalists to make themselves personally responsible for the money of the foreign investor. By such a system the security of the investment would be much increased, and the foreign investor would have the assurance that his money was safe, even if the business in which it had been invested may have ceased to exist. The entire loss caused by the failure of Japanese business enterprises would thus be borne by the Japanese.

"The day will come when Japan will compete with the powers already in the field on all lines of manufactured goods, but this time must necessarily be far distant. The trouble at present is that, while the Japanese can imitate everything, they cannot, at the same time, invent superior things. But the trade of the Oriental countries will come to be regarded as Japan's natural share, and she is already well capable of supplying it.

"The resources of Japan are very varied and very fair in quantity at present. Raw silk and tea are abundant, while coal is plentiful, as also copper and silver; gold is not so much so. I hope to see our plentiful water supply turned into good account and harnessed to produce electric energy. This would be a great saving of expense and would cheapen the cost of production very much. Oil has been found in several districts and will take the place of coal to a large extent, and it is possible that if fully developed its export trade may be made to

the neighboring countries. In Hokkaido we have rich. coal and silver mines and oil wells, while in Formosa we have rich gold mines. The iron we use in our iron works in Kiūshiu comes partly from several mines of Japan and partly from China.

"My hope for the future is that foreign capital may be brought into the country and that the economic position of the country may be made so secure as to leave no doubt possible in the mind of the world as to the stability of the Japanese Empire."

We also take pleasure in quoting the same high authority upon the subject of the present financial situation in Japan, as follows:1

"The present financial difficulty in Japan is only the natural sequence of the over-expansion of business of some years ago. In every country there are waves of prosperity followed by periods of depression. I have known, in the economic history of Japan since the Restoration, five or six such waves. They do not necessarily injure the real financial standing of the country. The peculiarities of the Japanese business character have much to answer for in the way of increasing the appearance of financial insecurity during the times of depression. After the prosperous times of 1893 came the war with China and the subsequent indemnity. Much of the money paid by China was spent in Japan, and the Japanese people came to the conclusion that this increased circulation of money would be permanent. They acted impulsively in many enterprises, and rushed into all kinds of business because the government had over-expanded its enterprises after the war. The depression reached its height in 1900 and 1901, and busi

1 See "Japan and America" for June and July, 1903.

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nesses were abandoned or reduced because it was not such easy work as formerly. I agree with Viscount Watanabe in his views on the present financial situation of the country, but I do not agree with him in his opinion that the present condition of affairs will inevitably result in national bankruptcy. This will not be the case, because by proper management our national income can be made still greater than our expenditure."

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

For interesting accounts of travel when and where modern conveniences were not available, read "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan" (Bird); "The Mikado's Empire" (Griffis); "Noto, an Unexplored Corner of Japan" (Lowell); "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan" (Hearn); and papers in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. For similarly interesting accounts of travel with modern conveniences read "Jinrikisha Days in Japan" (Scidmore); "Japan and her People" (Hartshorne); "The Yankees of the East" (Curtis).

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On the industrial and commercial phases of these topics, consult books, papers, magazines, and pamphlets mentioned in the bibliography of the preceding chapter; also "General View of Commerce and Industry in the Empire of Japan," occasionally published for free distribution.

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