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Japan. Here I will call attention to a detail of some importance. It is the constant desire of our authorities that the police should be especially civil and obliging to foreign visitors, but I fear some unhappy incidents may sometimes occur without intention. I once read in a newspaper that in a country town a policeman went up to a foreign lady who was watching the Crown Prince and Princess as they passed and requested her to take off her bonnet. In Japan it is the usual custom that men should take off their hats on such occasions. Of course, our women wear nothing on their heads. The policeman in question did not know the Western custom concerning ladies’ bonnets, hence the request to take it off. There was no wrong intention in the matter. At another time I heard of an incident taking place of a foreign Prince, incognito, shooting pigeons in a temple contrary to the law. A policeman, without knowing who he was, and knowing that he was only doing his duty, tried to stop him. Both these occurrences were very unfortunate, but, of course, they were soon satisfactorily explained, and the matter ended. It is our hope that foreign visitors will always make certain allowances, remembering that they are in a foreign land, and that they, on their part also, will take the trouble of explaining calmly rather than becoming irritated. I may also add that discrimination in treatment according to the social position of a person with whom one comes in contact is, as a rule, a matter of great difficulty in Japan, especially on the part of such people as policemen. Here, therefore, some allowance must be also made. Apart from the police question, it is needless to say that there are many things which are socially permissible in one country and not so in another, and many things quite vice versâ. It is therefore desirable for foreign visitors to keep these facts always in mind, and make due allowances in such cases.

But to return to our subject. Although it is the endeavour of the Japanese authorities to keep up the standard of the police, the tendency of late years has shown that it is difficult, inasmuch as the remuneration given them is not sufficient either to men of the same standing as in former days to enlist or to remain long in the service. The salaries have been lately increased to some extent, but they are, after all, small, for they vary from between 9 yen to 15 yen per month, and this scarcely keeps pace with the general development of the country. The increase of local expenditure, however, prevents any significant augmentation. There is a system of pensions for policemen of long service, or for those disabled in the discharge of their duties. There is a regulation of rewards for conspicuous services done by them, and a few other kinds of inducements; but all these are not quite able to maintain the old standard.