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 JAPAK

300

JAPAN

The Chamber of Deputies is composed of two kinds of members, the first returned by the cities having at least 30,000 inhabitants, tlie others by the districts. Each city and tiepartnient forms an independent dis- trict. To be an elector it is necessary to have at- tained the age of twenty-five and to pay a minimum of ten yen in direct contribution. One may be a deputy without paj'ing the contribution but it is necessary to have attained at least thirty. Those who are neither electors nor eligible are outlaws, Ijank- rupts, those whose property has been confiscated, those who have lost civil rights or have been sentenced to prison, soldiers in active service, pupils in the public or private schools, professors in the primary schools, ministers of any religion whatever, contractors of government work, officials charged with intervening in the elections, the employes of the ministry of the imperial household, judges, attorneys, collectors, police employes, and general councillors. At present the deputies are divided into four parties: (1) the Government Party (Sriyukioai), which in 1900 replaced the old Liljeral Party of Itagaki (1881); (2) the Progressive Party (Shimpoto), or opposition (1882), more or less divided in sentiment; (3) the United Party, formed of old imperialists, opportu- nists, and deserters from the Progressive Party; (4) the New Association {Yushinkwai) or Advanced Party, among whom there are a number of Socialists. The number of deputies (end of March, 1908), 379; number of electors, 1,583,076; number who cast their votes, 1,353,301; unable to write the candidate's name, 3338. Number of deputies in Government Party, 167; Progressives, 94 ; United Party, 68; New Association, 30; nobles (former Samurai), commoners, 273.

Diplomatic Corps in Foreign Lands. — Embassies, 7, viz. to England, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Russia. Legations, 8 ; to Spain, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, China, Siam, Mexico, Brazil. Staff, 90.

Consulates. — Consuls general, 11; consuls and vice- consuls, 31; staff, 365. Civil officials and employes of the Government, 152,159; annual salaries, 44,787,112 yen; government engineers, 9492; employfe under their supervision, 17,941; total, 27,458; salaries, 9,638,546 yen. Tax bureaus, 18; staff, 8443; an- nual salaries, 2,122,561 yen.

Pensions and Grants to retired officials, widows, or orphans; persons assisted or pensioned, 206,860. Total amount, 15,847,280 yen.

Political, Geography and Local Administra- tion. — Japan is divided into ten large regions com- prising eighty-eight provinces. The.se are: (1) Kinai (or Go Kinai), 5 provinces; (2) Tokaido, 15 provinces; (3) Tosando, 13 provinces; (4) San-indo, 8 provinces; (5) Hokurokudo, 7 provinces; (6) Sanyodo, S prov- inces; (7) Nankaido, 6 provinces; (8) Saikaido, 9 provinces (Kiusiu); (9) Hokkaido, 10 provinces; (10) Taiwan (Formosa), 3 provinces.

Before the Restoration Japan was divided into fiefs (Aon) administered by daimios. The han established by degrees in the course of the twelfth century were regularly organized liy Yoritomo (1192-99). Under the Ashikaga it was no longer the will of the emperor or the shogun but force of arms which designated the rulers. Tokugawa leyasu estimated the number of han as more than 300. They were divided into three classes, according to the importance of their revenues, the Dai-han (large fiefs) liciiig wortii upward of 4(10,- 000 koku of rice, the Cliii-linii (incdium fiefs), from 100,000to400,000koku,an(l the Shu-hari (small fiefs), upward of 100,00(1 koku.

After the Restoration Japan was divided into de- partments {ken) and prefectures (/»). The number of these varied several times. To-day for the cnnvi'iiicnce of the administration the country is divided iiilu three fu, 43 ken, and two special governments {cko), those

of Hokkaido and Formosa, comprising altogether 660 districts (gun or kori), 63 municipalities (shi), 1138 towns (cho or machi), and 11,801 villages [son or mura). The three/)/ (prefectures) are Tokio, Osaka, and Kyoto. Among the nuuiicipalities sixteen have more than 50,000 iiiliabitants and less than 100,000, three more than 10(1,000 and less than 200,000, and six a population exceeding 200,000 inhabitants. These si.x cities are Tokio, 1,811,655, inhabitants, Osaka, 995,945, Kyoto, 380,568, Yokohama, 326,035, Nagoya, 288,639, and Kobe, 285,002.

At the head of each department is a prefect assisted by a council of prefecture which represents the central government, while the general council represents the rights and interests of the people. The general coun- cil exercises over the finances of the department a control similar to that which the parliament exercises over the finances of the State. They regulate the distribution of taxes anfl vote on the needs of the de- partments. All the citizens residing in a department and who pay a direct yearl\' tax of three yen have the right to vote for the election of councillors. Payment of a tax of ten yen is necessary for eligibility. The term of office is four years. At the heail of each dis- trict is a sub-prefect, at the head of each town or village is a mayor assisted by a council. The depart- ments, districts, towns, and villages have a special budget administered by the general council, the dis- trict council, the municipal council, and increased by local revenues indepemlent of the taxes levied by the Government. These departments, districts, towns, and villages may contract loans with the authorization of the minister of finance. For loans payable in less than three years they are not obliged to secure this authorization. For the financial year 1907-08 the total of the budgets of the departm.ents and munici- pahties was as follows: receipts, 173,004,325 yen; expenditures, 166,614,817 yen; fund for public relief, 34,884,370; total amount of debt, 89,266,115 yen. Ten years earlier (1897) the receipts amounted to 100,588,000 yen; e.xpenses, 88,817,000 yen; debt, 16,350,000 yen.

Legislation. — For many centuries Japan had no legal code, the moral law and local custom taking its place. In 604, in the reign of the Empress Suiko, Shotoku Taishi promulgated a code of laws in seven- teen chapters borrowed from China. This is the earli- est code of which mention is made in history. Later the Emperor Momnm (696-707) appointed a commis- sion of scholars to draw up a new code, and the work was completed and promulgated in 701. It is called the code of the era of Taiho (Taiho-ryo), and save for some modifications was in force until the Restoration. At this time intercourse with foreigners and study of the laws in use in European countries brought home to the Japanese the necessity of a new code, more in harmony with their new situation. With the aid of foreign legists they undertook this work of codifica- tion, which they brought to a successful issue at the end of twenty years. The collection of laws thus drawn up forms six codes: the tlonstitution, the civil code, the criminal code, the commercial code, and the codes of civil and criminal ])niceihire.

For the application of this new legislation a judici- ary organization was created very similar to that which exists in France. It comprises tribunals of jus- tices of the peace {Ku-Saibanslio), lower courts (Clriho-Saibansho), courts of appeal {Koso-in), and a court of cassation (Taishin-in). The Constitution published February, 1889, established the irremova- bility of magistrates, who can only l)e suspended by special law. The tribunals nunilier 35S; court of cas- sation, 1; courts of appeal, 7 (Tokio. Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Miyagi. and Hakodate); lower courts (district courts), 4!) (at least one to a depart- ment); courts of justices of the peace (sub-distriot courts), 301. Staff of the tribunals, 11,826; judges.