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ment, but the resources of the whole country were not yet under its command. It was not enough for the new Government simply to take the place of the old, but the social and political organization had to be changed radically so as to meet the requirements of the novel situation. Before anything like a sound financial adjustment could be hoped for, it was essential to effect the complete abolition of the feudal system with the fiefs and the undue privileges of the warrior class.

The impulse for unification, conscious in certain sections of the nation and unconscious in others, was indeed one of the most potent causes that brought about the revolution, and by the time it was effected the centralization of authority was almost universally perceived as an indispensable antecedent to the establishment of the new order. Thus, in 18609, the second year of the revolution, all the lords of the fiefs surrendered of their own accord their domains and people to the Imperial Government, and in 1871 a prefectural system was instituted for the administration of the whole country, putting it under the direct control of the central Government.^[1] The feudal privileges of the lords and their retainers were thus abolished, and the country could be henceforth governed by uniform laws, before which all sorts and conditions of people were to stand on the footing of equality. One of the important results of the abolition of the feudal system was that it became possible to make a clear distinction between the administrative power and proprietary right over lands which were united in the lords of the fiefs. In the petition of the lords for permission to surrender their domains and people to the Imperial Government, it is given as a reason of their decision that, ‘since all domains and people belong to the Emperor, we, subjects of His Majesty, must not own them privately.’ In confirming the territorial sovereignty over the domains thus put under its command, the new Government retained the administrative power according to the modern principles of public law, while the proprietary right over land was granted to private persons. Herein was laid the foundation for a stable financial system calculated to secure sufficient revenues to the Government, and to put the tax-paying duty of the people on a well-defined basis. The first step toward giving full effect to the new principle was the reform of the land tax law, which is to be counted among the most important events in the annals of new Japan.