Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/311

Rh 3 and 5 yen monthly, and carpenters pay which is 1 yen a day. In others, the rise is very slight: thus, vegetable oil costs 6 sen in 1904 as against 5$4/10$ sen in 1900. The same lady contributes the following comparative list for the last twenty-nine years:—

A quarter of a century ago, the native traveller who sat down to rest awhile and sip a cup of tea at a wayside teahouse, bestowed, on departing, what was called a tempō sen, that is, 8 rin of modern money, or less than an English farthing. He now gives 5 sen, and if well-dressed, 10 sen, that is, two-pence halfpenny, or twelve and a half times as much as formerly.

If the whole subject were to be discussed in detail, it would be proper to draw attention to the fact that previous to 1897 the standard currency of Japan was silver, which had steadily depreciated in value during a long term of years as compared with gold. To state the case more fully still, however, it would be proper to draw attention to the further fact that, as the Japanese public had practically never known gold, the depreciation of silver as measured by foreigners in gold had for them no actuality. Moreover, prices have risen continuously and rapidly even since the introduction of the gold standard, as exemplified in some of the items above quoted. Standards and bi- and monometallisms have, therefore, little to do with the case. Prices have risen absolutely, and they go on rising daily, quite irrespective, too,