Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 3.djvu/237

Rh then, seeing the country threatened with speedy exodus of all its gold, adopted an obvious remedy. It issued a new silver coin of the same denomination as the old but weighing three times as much. In short, it exercised a right which belongs to every independent nation, the right of so modifying its currency, when suddenly brought into circulation with foreign coins, as to preserve a due ratio between gold and silver, and thus prevent the former's being drained out of the country at one-third of its intrinsic value. Nevertheless this equitable view of the case did not commend itself to the men who looked to profit by the old conditions. They raised a vehement protest against what they called "a gross violation of treaty right," and "a deliberate attempt on the part of the Japanese authorities to raise the prices of all native produce two hundred per cent against the foreign purchaser." There is documentary evidence that the Foreign Representatives appreciated the difficulties of Japan's position. None the less they held her to the unfair version of her agreement. She had to revert to coins of the old standard, and though she bowed to the necessity, the result of this complication was an abiding sense of injustice on her side, and an impression on that of the foreign resident that she had dishonestly sought to evade her engagements.

The trade, then, did not recommend itself to