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imperative in order to secure the carrying out of those measures with the best possible results. Later, by means of the creation of the Opium Monopoly, steps were taken towards the stamping out of the vice.

The state of communication in 1896 between Japan and Formosa did not meet the growing necessities, much less the needs of developing the resources of the island. The Formosan Government, by allowing an annual grant of 60,000 yen to the Osaka Shosen Kaisha, first opened two lines of steamship service between Kobe and Kelung, one of them touching at Bakan, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa, and Tayeyama, and the other at Oshima and Okinawa. But the vessels plying were only three in number, of a little over 1,000 tons each, and running the distance only thrice a month. They were only aided by a few vessels chartered by the Government, which, besides running on Government services, were employed for the conveyance of ordinary passengers and cargoes. It was purposed to establish the following lines by the grant of due subsidies from the next fiscal year:

(a) Kobe to Kelung, via Ujina, Moji, Nagasaki, and Misum.

(b) Kobe to Kelung, via Kagoshima, Oshima, Okinawa, and Tayeyama.

(c) The direct service between Kobe and Kelung.

(d) Coasting service.

(e) Tamsui—South China line—from Tamsui to Anping, Taku, Hong Kong, Swatow, Amoy, and Foochow.

In the interior of Formosa natives live in detached isolated groups, having little or no communication with their neighbours. The whole island, viewed from the point of communication, may well be compared to a human body with choked arteries. Under these circumstances, an effective, thorough administration is more than we can hope for. The question of road-making and railway construction demanded the immediate attention of the Government. The railway system in Formosa as originally designed may be divided into four sections: (1) from Kelung to Takow, through Taipeh, Taichu, Tainan, etc., along the western coast; (2) from Kelung to Giran; (3) from Takow to Taito; (4) from Taito to Giran, along the eastern coast. Of these, the first line was, of course, the most urgent and important. Our railway corps was first engaged in the work of reconstructing the existing line between Kelung and Taipeh, which was built and used by the Chinese, and it was not long before it was put in working order. As to the lines south of Taipeh, it was estimated that the cost of construction would reach at least 18,000,000 yen. But the completion of a comprehensive programme of railway construction, it was felt, would provide Formosa with a splendid means of