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various islands, in order that the telegraphic communication should be extended as rapidly as possible.

During the war of 1894–95 strategic necessity called for the laying of a cable between Kagoshima (Kyushyu) and Keelung (Formosa), to connect the military lines of Japan with those of Formosa, and at the same time to permit of public communication with Formosa.

The Pescadores were soon put into telegraphic communication with Japan, and to-day all the principal islands and cities of Japan are supplied with the telegraph.

Internal telegraph correspondence may be carried on in either Japanese or European languages. For the despatches in Japanese the Government determines the methods of compilation, of distribution, of cipher, etc., by a regulation published in 1869, and for the despatches in a European language the same resolutions were settled upon in 1870.

Despatches are divided into three classes—telegrams of State, telegrams of service, and private telegrams. There are seven methods of transmission: Ordinary telegrams, urgent telegrams, telegrams à suivres, repeated telegrams, telegrams sent to collect, telegrams with acknowledgment of receipt, and reply paid telegrams. Telegraph charges were paid in coin till 1885, when ten kinds of telegraph stamps (from 1 sen to 1 yen) were employed. When later the postal and telegraphic services were joined, telegraph stamps were abolished, and postage stamps only were used for both.

Before 1885 telegrams in Japanese were charged by message, while telegrams in European languages were charged per word. Still the charges for internal despatches varied according to the number of bureaus of transit, and according to the economic and geographical situation of the localities; but in 1885 a uniform charge for all Japan was adopted, except for telegrams in the same city and those exchanged with the islands of Iki and Tsushima. In 1887 the charge for telegrams in European languages was diminished one-half for all Japan, and one-third within a city. The exception made for the two islands of Iki and Tsushima being abolished in 1891, the charges since then have been the same as for all Japan.

During the first years after the establishment of the telegraph system the number of despatches was insignificant, but as Western civilization penetrated into the interior of the country, and commercial and industrial methods developed, the Administration had to make an effort to extend the lines and increase the offices to keep pace with the growing demand; though in 1883 and the five years following there was a remarkable decrease in the number of despatches despite the great increase in lines and offices. This curious phenomenon