Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/422

The growth of industries and commerce means an expansion of foreign trade, and in course of development an occasional excess observable in imports need not be taken too seriously. As a nation grows its needs will increase, and such goods imported are part of the country’s wealth, while many of them will be productive of further wealth for the nation at large. The expansion of the volume of foreign trade, even if there be temporary excess of imports over exports, must be looked upon as a healthy symptom of national growth.

In this connection it may be added that financial stringency observed in business circles is apart from the question of our national revenues and expenditures. Should the Imperial Government find a deficit in its revenues, there is an ample capacity in our national wealth to raise funds by issuing Government bonds. The financial danger so loudly talked about was nothing but a certain amount of trouble experienced among the commercial and industrial circles, and brought about by the causes already referred to. It had nothing to do with the condition of our State finances, which are on the soundest basis possible, as will be shown later. Here I would call the reader’s attention to the fact that the amount of our national debt is so limited that its per capita rate ranks lower than that of any other country. Japan, with its 45,000,000 population and almost limitless natural resources yet undeveloped, has indeed a bright future in every respect.

The disturbance in the condition of our State finances in 1901 was mainly brought about by the expansion of Governmental undertakings, and a deficit of about 21,000,000 yen was to appear in the 1898–99 fiscal year, and of a little over 37,000,000 yen in the year following. This deficit, however, was met by raising taxes on land, saké, incomes, etc., and also by floating a foreign loan; the former would realize fully 44,000,000 yen, while the latter was to have brought into the country £10,000,000. Both of these were successfully realized, and the Government finances for 1900–01 were restored to a sound condition, so that the Budget for the year presented a normal aspect:

A balance of 1,500,000 yen is clearly observable in favour of revenue, and in order to meet the extra outlay, measures for increased taxation were carried by the Diet, with results estimated at over 21,000,000 yen in 1902–03, which it was esti-