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tions; that no House was permitted to serve out its full term of four years, except the one which was elected in August, 1898, and which ran over into the next period. This we shall make a half decade, during which there were seven sessions (two special sessions); three cases of suspension and two of dissolution, the latter of which necessitated two special elections; and one House, elected in March, 1904, served out its full term, almost all of which was in the next period. On the other hand, during the last decade, there have been fifteen sessions (five special ones), with only a single suspension and a single dissolution and one special election. And the last dissolution, on December 25, 1914, was really in the interests of constitutionalism. In fact, as one looks down the table of sessions of the Diet for twelve years, from 1903 to 1915, he cannot help noticing one of the most significant proofs of the progress of constitutionalism in Japan. And, if one compares that table with the table of Cabinets, he will not fail to observe that there have been more dissolutions of the Ministry than of the Diet for the past ten or twelve years. In spite of the fact that the longer tenure of the members of the House of Representatives was often gained by unholy alliances with the administration, on the whole, there is good reason for encouragement over the general progress of representative institutions in Japan.