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the domain of maritime enterprise, indicate that she will not allow herself to be outdistanced by other nations. It is, indeed, difficult to predict accurately the direction which the extension of her efforts will take, but the fact that they will be extended does not admit of any question. There is no room to doubt that the wealth of Japan has increased largely during recent years. A comparison of the figures relating to the export trade during the years from 1880 to 1900 inclusive shows that the value of exports in 1880 was 29,373,400 yen, whereas in 1890 it rose to 56,603,506 yen, and in 1900 to 204,207,873 yen. Thus, during these two decades there was an increase of nearly 170,000,000 yen; or, to put it differently, the export trade of 1900 was nearly seven times as great as that of 1880, and the average annual increase during the period of 1890–1900 was 14,750,000 yen, against an average annual increase of only 2,750,000 yen for the period of 1880–1890. The returns further show that during the fourteen years from 1880 to 1894, the year of the outbreak of the war between China and Japan, the annual volume of exports was invariably greater than that of imports, with three exceptions only. These facts bear testimony to the development of the country’s wealth and economic activity. It is true that, since 1894, the total volume of imports has exceeded that of exports, but when the figures relating to the latter are carefully studied, it is found that, whereas between 1894 and 1900 inclusive the value of the commodities imported exceeded that of the commodities exported by 307,500,000 yen, the outflow of specie during that time aggregated only 19,750,000 yen, this large difference being covered by the indemnity which China paid to Japan.

Further, a considerable portion of the excess of imports took the form of articles for productive purposes, such as steamships, railway materials, machinery, and locomotives. Thus, while disbursing a comparatively small amount of specie, Japan laid in a large stock of materials which will sensibly help her industrial development. Her recent depressed economic condition was simply a natural reaction from the booming time that followed the victorious war of 1894–1895. Nor are the consequences of this depression nearly so disastrous as some foreign journals represent them to be. On the contrary, this small storm has had the salutary effect of purifying the economic atmosphere from the excessive elements of speculation and false buoyancy with which it was previously charged. In the full tide of enterprise that swept over the country after the war, many thousand industries were started, with corresponding waste of capital and labour, whereas the petty crisis through which the people have now passed has reinforced their sobriety, seriousness, and industry. In my opinion, the real benefits