T vim 1' ' i :vn i v -rcr p. im i : l f i u : ' ' 1 h i
TllK OMAHA SUNDAY BKK: FKHRlTATtr 2fl. 1009.
K I)
Comparison of Japan's National Debt with Governmental Resources
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JAPANESE EABIK8.
(Copyright, 1W, by Frank Q. Carpenter.
OKIO (Special Correspondence of
I The Qt'o)-Is Japan bankrupt?
I I The country owes altogether
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xpenaea last year were almoat
11.000,000 a day. The taxea on
the average are now between $15 and 130 per
family, and they have been ateadlly In
creasing for the taat fifteen yea ri. They
were considerably leas than 50,0OO,OU0 In
1X9S. Laat year they approximated $150,000,
000, and much of the Increase haa been
since the rloae of the Russian war. The
xpenaea of the nation have more than
quadrupled since the Chinese war, and the
foreign loans have jumped from almoat
nothing to more than $MO,000,OMK They are
now ao large that the government haa
called a halt and It la cutting down Its ex-
bitndlturea. Rv the new rtnllev luar loan
urate It haa chooned off a rnnl ilOOAOOono
and this la to be aaved during the next J0 000-00 "tomachs here would go on work
few years. Tha bankers ars demanding ,n Juat tne am- Notwithstanding tha
that the expenses be further reduced and
the whole nation Is calling out for re
trenchment, economy and reform.
Japan's Greatest Isaac, . .
Everyone In Japan, from tha emperor to
the poorest coolie, now realises that the
national future is based upon the money
Issue. Tha country must establish a sound
credit if it is to bold its place among tha
nations. Aa It la now It baa one of the
beat armlea of tha world. It baa mora
than 600.000 soldiers, with almost 70,000 of
ficers. It has mora than $,000,000 trained
men who could ba drafted into the ranks
at a week's notice and it Is adding half a
million young men to Its available foroea
avery year. Every boy la being drilled so
that he can form aa efficient cog in tha
fighting machine of the future, and alto
gether Ita bumaa military material Is sur
passed by none. It Is tha same with tha
navy, which now ranks among the bast,
and to which It Is soon to add mora bat
tleships of tha Dreadnought type.
"Pat Moaey la Thy Pars. woman who works In tha fields is thus
All thla la well. But without money It loaded, and ona meats old men and young
ia naught It takes gold to buy the food, boy olng along toting these almond
coal and ammunition to carry on sj war. eyed, yellow bits of solemn humanity. The
A single naval engagement often coats bablea look wall. They are healthy, and
millions, and a big International, struggle they seldom cry. I doubt not the birth rate,
. may run Into tha billions. In a war with will ba still higher, If tha conditions lm-'
a great power Japan can da nothing with- prove, and ona of tha burning queartona la
out a bis; money cheat or a sound national how Japan can keep on feeding all of Ita
credit At present It has no spare gold people If tha storks continue to bring In
a band, and Us credit la suob that It a half million mora babUis every year than
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ONE OP TOKIO'8 l-CENT TROULET CAHS.
cannot borrow more of any of Ita Euro
pean unclea, who, with the three golden
balls hanging over their doors, lend only
when the collateral la in sight 8lnce
peace was declared the conditions here
have been carefully Investigated, and the
nation will have to make a better allow
ing before It can float another great
foreign loan. T'nlll then there need be
no fear or Japan going Into a war with
any great power, much lesa with the
fnlted States, which la the richest of all
the world.
But thla letter Is not to describe the war
altuation. There Is no talk of war here
now; and I have looked for it .among all
claaaes of the people. The Japanese are
the friends of 'the United States and they
are not ashamed to say so. In the words
Of Baron Goto, one of the emperor's cabi
net, who talked to me recently, "You may
go from the top of the Hokkaido to the
bottom of Formosa, and ask at the door
of every Japanese home, rich and poor,
and you will not hear one word against
the United States." Thla feeling was
Amply shown In the welcome which was
given our fleet last October,
Wealth f Japan.
One thousand million dollars! It seems a
big pile for one people to owe. It means
a lot of money, but there are other na
tions who owe more and prosper. The debt
of France Is five tlmea aa great; that of
Itusila la $4,000.0no.no9, and Germany. In
cluding the empire and states, owea almoat
as much. Little Italy haa a debt of $2,700,
000,000, and aa for ourselves, we owe $i,too,
000,000 and are paying Interest on $AaO.Q00,OoO.
If a country la all right many think a na
tional debt a national Messing. I am In
doubt, however, whether ao big a debt
bleaaea Japan.
The question of a debt depends on the
security. What haa Japan got back of Ira
obligations? Can It meet the Interest
charges when due and wll It eventually
redeem lta Indebtedness?
I yet us take a look at the country and
see. Japan all told Is a little bigger than
California. Kour-mtha of it ia made up
of volcanic mountains, but the remainder,
including a territory perhaps aa large as
Indiana, has about the richest aoll on the
globe. It la rich enough to feed the whole
Japanese people. Thla country has more
tnhabltanta than the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, which Is now
poon-fed by the United States. If trffcle
Sam ahut his bread basket for three
months England would starve. All the na
tions of the world might keep their aup-
Plle" of foo(l ay f1" JPn th
i.mea oi louay ana tne nig taxes or ma
late war, there are no wrinkles In tha
(0,000,000 Japanese bellies. The people I sea
on tha streets are plump and the children
are fat. I We have In the United States al
most 3,000 poor houaes, with about 82,000 In
mates. I don't know what they cost, but It
must ba well up Into the millions, Japan
Is now spending less than $400,000 a year to
take care of Ita poor, and the government
gives for such purposes much leas than
ours.
Blaj Crop of Babies.
A good index of national prosperity Is
tha birth rate. Thla Is Increasing In Japan
and without Immigration the nation stead
ily grows. It had 83,000,000 in 1872; it has
now 60.000,000, and its population Is growing
at the rate of 500.000 each year. Within tha
last twenty years over 10,000,000 have been
added to It. and today the bablea swarm.
I have visited every great people of tha
world, and nowhere are there so many
new babies as here. Every other child has
a baby strapped to Its back; almost every
ONE OF TUB 8UAI.L DKEDGK0 CROSS ING THE ILLINOIS
they brought In the year Just behind. In
most countriea the birth rate falls with
want and hard times. Marquis ' Katsura
tells me that thla haa been the case with
Japan In the past, and that It would be so
today if Its people kicked food. The fact
that the babies come faster and faster
ahowa that the nation is not In desperate
want.
National Aasels.
Aa to the actual wealth of the country,
it compares favorably with that of other
lands. At present writing, without count
ing Ha debt, the nation Is worth about
$12,000,000,000 gold. Thla Is almost as much
wealth as Italy, more thaii twice as much
as that of Spain or Holland and about one
third o. the estimated possessions of all
the Russias. The richest countries In the
world are the United States. Great Britain,
France and Germany. We lead all the
real in having money to burn. Our assets
are estimated at $116,000,000,000 gold. Great
Britain's at $152,000,000,000, of France at $43.
000,000,000. and of Germany at $42,000,000,000.
Considering the short life of the new
Japan and the great wars It haa under
taken, ita cash account Is respectable, to
Bay the least. It haa almost $0,000,000,000 In
houses, lands and other buildings, about
$2,000,000,000 in furniture and works of art,
and over $1,000,000,000 in goods, and other
merchandise. Ita shipping Is estimated at
a $100,000,000. which Is probably low, and
Its marine products at $SOC,000.000, which
may be high. Japan haa over fciOO.000.OQO
worth of mlnea. It has about $1,000,000,000
Invested In companies and banks, and over
Great Drainage Ditch Being Excavated
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HE greatest drainage project In
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the middle west Is now being
developed in tha Missouri river
bottom In Iowa In tha countlos
of Woodbury, Monona and Har
rison. These countlea comprise
some of the rlohest land In the United
States. Thla Is a valley of about fifteen
miles In width, bordered on one aide by
tha Missouri river, and on the other by an
irregular line of bluffs above whldh stretch
the rolling prairies so characteristic of
Iowa. The soil la a rich, heavy, dark, drift
loam of alluvial depoalt, and of wonderful
and seemingly inexhaustible fertility and
unaurpassed In productiveness. .
The fall in this valley, however, la only
about ona foot to the mile. This district
CKNTKAL TRACKS.
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TOKIO SAVINGS BANK.
$0.000,000 worth of railways,
and telephones.
telegraphs
Baaka aa Stock Companies.
TheseNslanda are rapidly becoming a
land of factories. Formerly, everything
was made by hand In the houses, and to
day there are millions of men, women and
children who work at their homes. There
are also something like &,0(O factories
moved by ateam, gas, turbine water wheels
and electricity, and more than OXi.OOO hands
are employed In them. Over 2,000 of these
factories are devoted to textiles and about
400 to machinery and work in iron and
steel. The government alone haa 1,000 fac
tories of Its own, In which almost 200,0(0
men are employed. It has one connected
with its shipbuilding and naval establish
ment which employa over 60,000 men.
Many of the private companies have
large capitals paid In. The total aggre
gates over $aCO,000,000, with a surplus of
mora than one-fourth of that amount. This
Includes agricultural companies and In
dustrials of various klnda. It comprises
many commercial combinations and trans
portation companies, and also Insurance
companies, stock exchanges and a multi
plicity of banks.
Ais to the banks, there are now over
2.200. all managed by Japanese with Jap
anese capital. Their paid-up stock ag
gregate over $250,000,000 and their divi
dends are big. Take the Bank of Japan,
which does the business of I lie govern
ment. That bank has a capital and re
serve fund amounting to about $2?.W,000,
and Its aasets are $400,000,000. Its deposits
how a balance on hand of over $20O.0OO.OO0,
CUTTING THROUGH THE) CHICAGO NORTHWESTERN TRACKS
Is drained by the Missouri river and Its
tributary tha Little Bloux river. The Little
Sioux river drains an Immense tract of
land, over 409,800 acres, and In the spring
when the hills in which Its source Is
situated are deluged with rains, It rises
with great rapidity, and spreading out over
tha level bottom land for miles carries
in Ha wake ruin and dlaaster. In years
when the rains ara especially heavy, thla
land becomes a sea of water that ruins crops
and hay lands, and prevents any farming.
In Woodbury county there ara about 46,000
acres subject to this overflow, while a
Urge portion of Monona county bottom
land amounting to about 10,000 acres is, dur
ing this season, submerged. However, dur
ing a normal year thla section Is practi
cally unaffected, and wonderful results .
and yields ara obtained from It
To relieve tha flood situation was tha
problem that arose. It seemed that to
drain the land with large ditches wss the
only solution, thus providing an outlet for
all this accumulation of water. This was
agitated by the press and by the cltlsens
and farmers and In July, 1806, the two
boards of supervisors of Monona and Har
rison counties let tha contract for tha
Monona-Harrison ditch. Tha work was de
layed on account of litigation In court and
not until April, 1907, was it resumed.
A few years ago what was known as the
Woodbury-Monona ditch was constmntod.
This ditch commenced In Woodbury county
and ran south slong tha Una of Wolf creek
Into Monona county to a point connecting
with tha west fork of the Little Sioux river.
This connection Is three miles from the
confluence of the west fork of the Little
6rjux. At this connection the Monona.
HarrUon ditch waa started It runa In a
south and southwesterly direction for over
twenty-five miles and empties directly Into
tha Mlsaourt river. .
Bealdes the big ditch many laterals, cut
offs and email ditches were constructed.
By placing cut-offs In the benda of tha
river the channel lenpth of the stream la
shortened. In one cut-off of 400 yards'
length three and a half miles are saved
In the old channel. The engineer of this
pi i jut tallmaltra thai by atraighteiilug tha
river wtlh cut-offa It will carry three times
ss much water aa beore There are eleven
cut-offs constructed at the present time.
The upper part of tha Monona-Heriiacu
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and the net profits are about $.1,000,000 a
year. The stock pays 12 ikt cent. The
Ynknhanvt Specif bank made $2,000,000 In
1H07. and jald a dividend of 12 per cont,
whllo the Hypothcck bank paid 10 per
cent. There are forty-six agricultural
banks here which py dividends of 8 per
cent, and most of the ordinary bunks are
inylng the same, and some much more.
Postal Saving; Depositors.
One periion In every six In Japan has
soma money In the postal savings banks.
These were started In 1S76. and the de
positors have doubled In the past five
years. Trlere Is now four times as much
money in the postal savings banks as
there was at the time the war with Russia
began; and their accounts amount to al
most $M,000,CKO, with over 8,000,000 deposi
tors. The banks pay 4.8 per cent interest,
and the Interest Is compounded by adding
It to the principal every alx months. It Is
probably the highest savings bank rate
paid by any government.
Aa to t he private aavlngs banks, they
number NiO.or COO, with deposits aggregat
ing $100,000,000, and the dividends are on the
average about per cent. 'ine paid-in
capital of such banks amounts to more than
$2:,coo,ooo.
It must be remembeted that all these In
stitutions have been established within a
generation. Japan knew practically noth
ing of corporations until a few years ago,
and the people are still afraid of them.
Marquis lvjtsura, the premier, who orig
inated the new financial policy now start-
Ing, says lie wants combinations of capital,
and the bigger the better. Baron Shlbu-
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Alton Is forty-five feet wide at tha bottom
and an average depth of from eight to ten
feet, but when It gets down In the mlddlo
of Monona county It widens out to a fifty-
foot base, with a top seventy-five to eighty
feet wlda and from ten to eighteen feut In
depth, below tha surface of the land. Sumo
of the river cut-offs are deeper than this.
One can readily see that this straight,
deep and wide canal can carry an Immense
amount of water. Nothing in the middle
west In drainage syatems can approach
It his mammoth conatruation in size or
length. Connecting as It does with tha
Missouri river Itself It makes a permanent
and lasting drainage system.
This Is all being dug by dredge boats.
(Continued on Page Three.)
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FHlklHAStn RAILROAD STATION AT TOKIO.
sawa, one of Japan's rqulti-nillionalres,
who was Instrumental In starting some of
the first of such combinations, say a that
they have already quintupled the value of
every Japanese Induatry and have Increased
that of many twentyfold. He believes the
future of the country depends upon them.
Today Japanese capital la oiganlzlng. There
was a-big era of such speculation at the
dose of the China-Japan war, and a
similar one has just passed. During these
periods there were many over-capitallxed
companies, but moat of them have gone to
the wall, and the greater part of the cor
porations now In existence are paying divi
dends. There are now ,000 or 10,000 differ
ent companies with a paid-up capital of
more than $o00,000,000.
Klertrlo Roads and Dividends.
There are electric railways in the larger
cities. These have a capital of almost
$40,000,000. In addition there ars other com
panies, organised, but not yet In working
order, with an aggregate capital of over
$15,000,000. The elect rio railway busineaa la
in its infancy, and It la susceptible of
great Improvement. The Toklo electrio
tramways paid Si per cent dividends last
year, and the line from Toklo to Yoko-
haina paid more than 11 per cent. The
Osaka-Kobe line yields dividends of 12 per
cent, and there are other roads which are
paying from 4 to J per cent. All these lines
are overhead trolleys and the service is
good. The cars are crowded. In tho of
Toklo it Is often impossible to get a seat
during certain hours, and, aa usual, tha
'traps aid In paying the dividend. You -can
get more for your money on the Toklo
street cars than anywhere else I know.
The fare ia equal to 2 of our cents, and
the system of transfers is such that one
can ride over thirty-five miles of track
for that amount.
Government Railway.
Aa to the ateam railways, the most of
them are owned by the government More
are being acquired, and in time the whole
of such communications will belong to the
stste. I understand that tha government
railways are paying and that the profit
last year from them was slmost $20,000,000.
This will pay the Interest on the pur
chase of the lines and still yield a email
surplus. During my stay in Toklo I talked
with Baron Shlmpet Goto, the Imperial
minister of communications. He thinks
there is no doubt that the roads will
eventually yield a large profit. There are
t,000 miles of them, and ha tells me that
Japan needs 6,000 miles mora. He expects
to broaden the tracks and standardize the
equipment and to greatly improve the
rolling stock. He believes In the nation
alising of the roads, and says that govern
, ment ownership la a neceaalty In Japan in
order to prevent overchargea. The gov
ernment roads have cost $115,000,000 to build,
and when the loan issued for their pur
chase Is paid It is estimated tffat they
will yield the state $23,000,000 and upward
a year. In my talk with Baron ' Goto I
asked him whether Japan could afford
to carry Its railway passengers for i
cents a mile. He replied:
"Wo are doing better than that. Our
passenger rates are about 1H cents a mile,
and our , freight rates on the average are
Just about half those of tha United
States."
Baron Goto says that the traffic on the
the railroads shows that the bualneas con
ditions are Improving. Ha referred to the
fact that wa had last year something Ilka
$00,000 cars Idle on the American tracks.
while Japan had more freight than It could
handle, and Its stations ara now filled with
goods awaiting transportation.
Ski alMllrTra'wuteh ray.
Baron Goto says that tha shipping in
terests ara doing well, and that the gov
ernment subsidies are paying In tha In
crease of foreign trade. Japan has now
steamers which aggregate mora than 1,000,-
0u0 tone and sailing vessels whose tonnage
Is one-third that amount It has regular
lines of vessels to Europe, America. Aus
tralia and India, aa well as to Manchuria
and Siberia, and on all tha big rivers of
China. The steamship lines ara paying
dividend Tha Nippon Tuaan Kaisha,
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LARGEST INLAND DKfeDGE IN THE UNITED
which Is the largest in Japan, pays 12 per
ent, and the Toyo Klwn Kaisha has
dlvldmtls equally good. Many of the ships
are built In Japan, s.Mtie of the vessels
constructed being 9.PO0 tons or m rc. There
are 200 private shipyards In Japan.
In another letter I shall write about the
factories of Japan, pMvlng the amount of
bualneas they are doing snd showing how J
they are growing. SufU-e It to aay thai,
they Include many cotton and spinning
milla, mauhlne shops, chemical worka.
wood-working establishments, match fac
tories and thoae which make watchea and
electrical supplies.
Hard Tlmea and the Taxea.
From what I have written in this letter
It will be seen that the finances of Japan
are not founded altogether on wind. The
country Is In many respects rich, and it
lias considerable undeveloped resources,
the chief of which are In the Industrial
possibilities of Its people. At the same time
the cost of living ia comparatively 1 w. al
though more than In the past, owing to
the gradual changing to the more ex
pensive customs coming In with the new
civilization. Whether the country will con
tinue to proaeper with the extravagance.!
of thla civilisation remains lo be seen.
As It Is now, what the 1'nlled Statei
wastes at every breakfast would feed all
Japan for a whole day, and the money
Bhe spends for carpets wbuld buy all the
furniture of this nation of EO.O'o.COO people.
Tlila letter la about the hard times or
today. That they are hard there 1a no
question, although I doubt whether they
are ss bad as they were In many of. our
cities during the last year. Every one
seems busy, snd although some of the fac
tories have cut down the forces there are
fow unemployed. The men have other
Jobs, for In nearly every house the people
are making one thing or another fir sale.
At the same time, waees are liw, and the
taxes have been continued en the war foot
ing of the struggle with Russia.
i,Si
Taxes to Death.
Kverythlng In Japan la taxed There are
atampa on all bank checka. and when you
nay vour bill vour reoelnt ha 4 a stamn.
Kvery bualneas Is taxed according to the
amount of Its volume, and every peddler
and Jlnriksha man pava a license. Ther
is a tax on medicines, on aake ami llqunrn
and on Japanese soy, the aauce which the
people use with their food. This waa In
creased at the time of the war.
All Incomea pay taxes, and these grow
with the amount of one's property. There
are about 8,000,000 families In Japan, and
all are expected to pay a certain percen
tage. If they make more than $150 a year.
These taxes were Increased during the
war and they still hold. There are, of
course, taxea on lands, which now run
from I per cent upwards trt 17 per cent,
according to the class of the land. There
ara Inheritance taxes, mining taxes, taxes
on stock exchanges and the Isaue of bank
notes.
There are cuatoma dutlea on everything
lmporiea, ana mere is' a special tax on
travelers, whether they go by steamboat,
ateam train or o nelectrlo cars. This tax
depends on tha mileage, running from 8 sen
to CO sen, according to distance, for t'i
flrat class; from 3 to 25 sen for scond
class, and 1 to 4 sen for the third class. A
sen Is H cent. It will be seen that tho tux
is very light on the third class, t.ie
longest trip coating 2 cents, and that
It Is heaviest on the first class, where the
same distance is taxed 26 cents.
Government Monopolies.
In addition to all this are tho government
monopolies, including tobacco, salt and
camphor. There Is no place where good
cigars cost so much and where the home
made cigars are poorer. Any kind of
tobacco costs three times as much her
as In tha United States; an ordinary "twu
for" is sold for a dime, while a nickel
cigar easily brings 25 sen. Cigarettes are
equally high. The tobacco monopoly bring
in about $16,000,000 a year to the government
and the salt monopoly yields oxer $7.000,o
On the whole, the nation la taxed Jus;
about all it can atsnd.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.
aTATfcA