Japan.

Capital:
TOKIO.

The Empire of Japan consists of the Archipelago of Niphon, which includes the four large islands of Honsbiu, Kiushiu, Shikoku and Hokkaido, or Yezo, together with Formosa and the Pecadores, ceded to China in 1895, and nearly 4,000 smaller islands. The total area of the empire, according to the official estimate, is 161,198 square miles, and the population, January, 1899, was 46,561,133, including Formosa, with 2,798,000 inhabitants, mostly Chinese.

The Japanese claim that their empire was founded by the first Emperor Jimmu, 660 B. C., and that the dynasty then founded still reigns. It was revived in 1868, when the now ruling sovereign, after a short war, overthrew the power of the Shogun, the de facto sovereign, who had held the ruling power in successive

families since the twelfth century. In 1871 the feudal system was entirely suppressed. The sovereign bears the name of Kotei, or Emperor, though he is generally known in foreign countries as the Mikado, or "The Honorable Gate."

The present Mikado is Mutsuhito, born at Kyoto, November 3, 1852. He succeeded his father, Komei Tenno, February 13, 1867; was married February 9, 1869, to Princess Haruko, daughter of Prince Ichijo. The Mikado has five children: Prince Yoshihito, born August 31, 1879, married May 10, 1900; Princess Masako, born September 30, 1888; Princess Fusako, born January 28, 1890; Princess Nobuko, born August 7, 1891; Princess Toshiko, born May 11, 1896. The Crown Prince has one son, Prince Hirohito, born April 29, 1901. By the Imperial House Law of 1889, the succession to the throne was definitely fixed upon the nearest male descendant. "

Though Japan is included among the absolute monarchies of the world, a constitution was adopted February 11, 1889. By this constitution the Emperor is head of the Empire, having all the rights of the sovereign, and exercising full executive power, with the advice and assistance of the Cabinet Ministers, appointed by himself. There is also a Privy Council and House of Diet, consisting of a House of Peers and a House of Representatives, members of the latter being elected by popular ballot. The House of Peers consists of members of the imperial family, twenty-five years old and upward; counts, viscounts and barons of the age of twenty-five and upward who have been elected by their various orders; persons above the age of thirty years who have been nomi meritorious service to the state, or have been elected by each premale inhabitants thereof, above the therein the highest amount of direct and trade. and who have been entire membership of the House of The President and Vice-President nated by the Emperor from among Vice-President of the House of Rep Emperor from among three candi Presidents of both houses receive about $2,500 in gold. The Viceand the elected and nominated House of Representatives, 2,000 yen penses.

nated members by the Emperor for for erudition; persons who shall fecture from among and by fifteen age of thirty years and paying national taxes on property, industry nominated by the Emperor. The Peers must be about three hundred. of the House of Peers are nomithe members, and the President and resentatives are nominated by the dates elected by the House. The an annual salary of 5,000 yen, or Presidents receive 3,000 yen each, members of the House of Peers and each, together with travelling exfreedom of religious belief and pracprejudicial to peace and order. The toism, with 11 sects; Buddhism is no state religion and no state Catholics, of the Greek branch, and cated to the eminent ancestors of torious subjects. These are indesome of them are supported by state education is compulsory. In 1900 schools, 193 middle schools, 7 high 49 normal schools, 2 higher normal, 1,152 un-named, 230 kindergartens versities are at Tokio and Kyoto, ernment. Formosa has a special

By the constitution, absolute tice is secured, so long as it is not chief forms of religion are Shin with 16 sects and 25 creeds. There support. There are also numerous Protestants. There are shrines dedi the Imperial House, and to meri pendent of any religious sect, and or local authorities. Elementary there were 26,997 elementary schools, 37 high schools for girls, 303 special and technical schools, and 2 universities. The two uni and both are supported by the gov educational system. There are about forty libraries. A system of justice, founded on modern jurisprudence, has been recently established. There are four classes of courts, sub-district courts, district courts, courts of appeal and courts of cassation. For the trial of cases connected with the military and naval services there are courts-martial. Formosa has a special system of justice.

Emperor of Japan.

The supreme command of the army and navy is vested in the Emperor. The Imperial army has been organized on a uniform system based on conscription. All male subjects of the age of seventeen to forty are liable to military service. The active army is levied from males of the age of twenty, and the term of service consists of three years in the army and four in the navy. The reserve is composed of those who have quitted the active army, and the term of service is four years and four months in the army and three years in the navy. The total active army consists of 167,929 officers and men, and the grand total is 632.007. The Japanese Navy has its Ministry and the Department of Naval Command in Tokio. The navy has undergone remarkable development within the last few years, and during the war with China the squadron was bandled with considerable skill and with very decisive effect. An extensive shipbuilding programme has been laid down which provides for the building of many battleships and cruisers and about 100 torpedo craft. According to the last official report (1898) taxed land owned by private persons and local corporations amounted to about 33,545.710 acres, of which 12,680,907 were under cultivation. The principal agricultural products are rice, wheat, barley, rye, tea, sugar, and silk. Silk, cotton, and other textiles are manufactured extensively, though trade conditions have not been of the best during the last two or three years. camphor industry of Formosa is now a Government monopoly, and is being carried on by a British corporation under contract with the Government. The foreign commerce is carried on through the open ports of Yokohoma, Kobe, Osaka, Nagasaki, Hakodate, Niigata, and twenty special export ports. In 1901 the imports amounted to $127,396,689, and the exports were $124,208,923.

The

In 1900 the Ministry of Marquis Yamagata was succeeded by that of Marquis Ito. One of the first acts of this Ministry was to propose a financial scheme which aroused much opposition in the House of Peers. The proposition was for an increase of taxes on sugar, spirits, beer, tobacco, etc., to meet the expenditures caused by the Chinese troubles. The entire Ito Ministry resigned on May 2, 1901, and a new Ministry was set up by Viscount Katsura, made up almost entirely of Peers who belonged to neither of the political parties. but included two of the Ito Ministry. This Ministry was constituted as follows: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jutaro Komura: Minister of War, General Kodama; Minister of the Navy, Admiral Yamamoto: Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, Tosuke Hirata: Minister of Interior, Tadakatsu I'tsumi: Minister of Finance, Arasuke Sone; Minister of Education, Daikoru Kikuchi; Minister of Justice, Keigo Kiyoura; Minister of Communications, Akimasa Yoshikawa.

February 11, 1902, official announcement was made of an alliance between Great Britain and Japan. The preamble to the treaty stated that the Governments of the two countries, "actuated solely by a desire to maintain the status quo and general peace in the extreme East. and being, moreover, especially interested in maintaining the independence and territorial integrity of China and Korea, and in securing equal opportunities in those countries for the commerce and industry of all nations,' agreed to take such measures as might be indispensable in case the interests of the contracting parties be threatened by aggressive action of any other Power or by disturbances arising within either China or Japan; that in case one party became involved in war with another Power threatening interests in the East, the other would remain neutral; that if other Powers should join the aggressor in hostilities against one of the contracting parties, the other should come to its assistance. It was further agreed that whenever, in the opinion of Great Britain or Japan, the above-mentioned interests are jeopardized, the two Governments will communicate with one another fully and frankly.

This treaty on the part of the two countries was looked upon with suspicion by the rest of Europe, for it was generally thought that it was directed primarily against Russia, whose operations in Northern China were becoming aggressive. Russia, however, diplomatically declared that the settlement of this treaty stilled all her fears regarding Japan's intentions toward Korea, and while not a party to it, had acquiesced to the agreement.

Japan's rapid advance into the first rank of civilization almost within two decades, cannot be better characterized than by quoting Marquis Ito to show the attitude the statesmen of the country take toward modernization. He said: "Nothing has been accomplished in comparison with what has to be done in Japan. The mind of the nation has not yet been civilized. The people have not the business instinct. Everything of old Japan must be uprooted." Japanese civilization is being based, not so much upon the introduction of Western civilization as upon the destruction of indigenous civilization.

The American Asiatic Association of Japan, with headquarters at Yokohama, is an organization having for its objects, to foster and safeguard the conimercial and other interests of America in Japan, the social union of the members, gathering and distributing information and co-operating with the American Asiatic Association of New York. The officers elected October 24 are: President, N. F. Smith; Vice-President, B. C. Howard; Secretary, G. H. Scidmore; Treasurer, W. L. Merriman; Executive Committee, J. W.. Copmann, E. S. Booth, G. W. Bramhall, F. H. Ziegfeld, D. H. Blake, E. W. Frazer and J. H. Jewett.

Jews and the
Zionist
Movement.

The members of the Hebrew race who have settled in the United States of America have become, especially during the last twenty years, an important factor in the development of the country. The population is somewhat over one million. In New York alone there are 584,788 Jews, and they are to be found in nearly every State of the Union. Jewish money assisted Columbus to make his famous expedition, and since that time the Jews have become an integral part of the States, assisting in the development of its commerce, industry and arts. Jews have been statesmen, politicians, soldiers and men of business, and the new arrivals to these shores speedily become acclimatized to the condition of things prevailing here.

I. L. BRIL, of the Jewish World.

The majority of Jews who have settled here come from countries where persecution has been rife, and have taken full advantage of the freedom vouchsafed to them under our liberty-breathing Constitution. Up to 1882 the Hebrew was mainly represented by those coming from Germany, where many had fought for the struggle for freedom in 1848, and had fled from their native country to escape political persecution. The majority, however, have come, since that date, as a result of the Russian persecutions.

These two sections of the Jewish people, German and Russo-Polish, have hitherto kept, and still to some extent, hold aloof from each other. The German Jew was responsible for the extreme reform movement which was, and is, distasteful to the Jew coming from Eastern Europe. The union of forces which is so evident among the Jewish communities in other countries, does not exist in the United States. The teachings of the one do not harmonize with the teachings of the other, and whilst the Russian, Roumanian and Galician Jews will, as time goes on, become impregnated with the free atmosphere of the United States, they still cling to Judaism as taught to them in the old countries. The German Jew, on the other band, goes the full length of extreme reform. There are districts in this country where Jews hardly remember that they are Jews. And the new settlers from Russia find it hard to work in unison with the older settlers. There is a constant conflict of ideas between these two branches of the Jewish family, but with the constant stream of conservative men and women, the dominion in Jewish affairs is slowly but surely passing into the wisest hands. Zangwill has said that the future of Judaism in this country lies in the reawaking of a spirit of conservatism, and present events seem to tend toward this end. In New York, which is the largest Jewish centre in the world, those who have become alarmed at the laxity displayed by the second generation (thoroughly American), are about to take steps to remedy the existing state of affairs. Even the reformers have evinced some anxiety as to how far the offspring of the older people are interpreting the older teaching.

On the other hand, little respect is shown for strictly orthodox rabbis, who are out of sympathy with the ideas which are bound to be inculcated in a country like the United States. There is now a tendency to combine both schools by creating a conservative element. It has been recognized that a means must be chosen in order to preserve something of the Jewish traditions, at the same time adapting them to conditions prevailing here.

That the strictly orthodox rabbis realize this is shown by the fact of their meeting in convention in New York for the purpose of discussing ways and means which would enable them to put their house in order. They, as well as those holding different views, recognized the necessity that only organization could solve the problem. In no country in the world is there such a lack of combined effort on religious matters as exists among the Jews of the United States. It is too early yet to say whether this Jewish renaissance will be of a permanent character. The step has been a right one, and the next few years will show whether the new leaders have profited by the lessons of the past.

Politically the Jew, especially in New York, has made his influence felt. The large proportion of Jewish voters in a city like New York, has made it imperative for those seeking political honors to pay regard to the wishes and desires of the new citizens. In Eastern Europe the rank and file of the Jewish people have little, or next to no political freedom. Their wishes are disregarded, they are governed and must expect of the governing classes nothing but what they are pleased to give them. Arriving on these shores, they meet conditions which are absolutely different to those they have been accustomed to experience. They suddenly find themselves treated as men whose voice in public affairs must be heard. The great difficulty has been to teach these new arrivals a right conception of their newly acquired duties. They had not been used to this kind of free citizenship, and the many agencies at work, both in New York and in other large Jewish centres, are accomplishing a great deal in inculcating right and proper ideas of citizenship. Too much cannot be expected of the older generation; but the younger generation, who are brought up here, soon see the difference between the country of their parents and this land of freedom, and, naturally, they evince a great interest in public affairs, the majority of them desiring to work only for the welfare of their new country.

Among the forces for good are the great fraternal orders and many similar beneficial societies which exist in every Jewish community. The Independent Order Bual Brith, the most important, not only cares

Rou

for its own members, but also aids those Jewish non-members who are in distress. During the manian immigration movement, the Order distributed in about three hundred towns and cities in this country nearly 3,000 Roumanian Jews who had come to America in order to escape the persecution to which they were subjected in their native land. The Order maintains homes for the aged and orphan, and substantially assists the National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives. During the course of the last year the Order took up the question of relieving the congestion on the lower East Side of New York City, and also of interesting the immigrants with a view to their becoming good citizens. The other orders have satisfied themselves, mainly, in supporting their members.

Educationally, much progress is to be reported for the year 1902. The sixth Summer Assembly of the Jewish Chautauqua was held in Atlantic City, N. J., in July, when matters relating to the training of the young, and various phases of philanthropic work were discussed. Of no little interest was the opening of the Jewish Theological Seminary, which has for its object the training of Jewish conservative rabbis, ministers and teachers. Owing to the munificence of Messrs. J. H. Schiff, Guggenheimer and the late Leonard Lewisohn, the Seminary began its work fully endowed and installed in a building, near Columbia University, worthy of the work to be accomplished." The principal of the Seminary is Professor Dr. S. Schechter, who was formerly the Reader in Rabbinic in the University of Cambridge, England. This institution was originally founded by the late Rev. Dr. Fabbato Morais as a protest, as it were, against the Hebrew Union College at Cincinnati instituted by the late Dr. Wise, the organizer of the reform movement in this country. In the labor movement there is very little to chronicle. It is the most difficult matter in the world to organize the Russian, Roumanian and Galician Jews, who have little knowledge of organization and cannot appreciate its value. The unions, however, are making steady progress, and while nothing of a startling character has been accomplished, the work of organization is gradually, but surely, continuing. The only event has been the annual tailors' strike, and this was settled by arbitration.

The fact that the children of the immigrants, all the young men and women, speedily become acclimatized has called forth the necessity of addressing them in the English language, and the great Yiddish dailies have thought it wise to have a page printed in the vernacular so as to be better able to influence the younger people, for the great problem has been, and still is, to Americanize the immigrants as speedily as possible, and the principal men among the Jews have considered means whereby the Ghetto can be broken up. They view the congestion in large cities like New York, Philadelphia and Chicago with no little concern. The economic, social and moral conditions of these large centres do not, in every case tend toward good citizenship. Moreover, they retard in a very great measure, acclimatization of those who have only recently arrived here. The independent Order Bnai Brith in New York finds employment for, and assists those who are willing to go to other States in the Union, and the work of dissemination is now being assisted by the Jewish Colonization Association, founded by the late Baron Hirsch, the directors of which have instructed their representatives in this country to help those agencies engaged in this work.

This practically sums up the activity of the Jews during the year 1902. That the Jew in this country has a great future before him cannot be gainsaid. It is only a matter of organization. Dr. Schechter, in a memorable interview, has deprecated the lack of organizing capabilities of those coming from Eastern Europe; but the conditions under which these people have been compelled against their own will to live, must not be forgotten. To-day the tendency is upward, for nearly every one arriving on these shores makes up his mind to strive hard in order to attain the highest possible success. The Jew makes a good citizen, even in those countries where he is persecuted; he has shown that he understands good citizenship, and that only leaders are needed to guide the masses in the right direction.

What the Jews lack here, therefore, is a guiding force. They have been accustomed, abroad, to see two or three men lead and shape a policy for them to follow. Here they find everything different, and they have neither the time nor the means to effect a permanent organization. Moreover, the sudden change from the Pale of Settlement and the chronic Ghettos of the Old World to absolute freedom and liberty of conscience in the New World sometimes causes those who undergo these new experiences to jump from one extreme to the other.

It is only a matter of time, however, when things will rectify themselves and the balance is restored. The Statue of Liberty attracts more in the hope that they will be able to live better and happier lives on this side of the Atlantic than does the fact that economic conditions are more favorable here than in the places whence they came. The chasm between the old and the new settlers is also being slowly but surely bridged over. There is now a general desire to work in harmony, and the year 1903 may witness even greater activity in everything that will tend toward promoting the welfare of the Jews in the United States of America.

THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT.-Since the dispersion of the Jewish people 1832 years ago. the dream of once more re-settling in Palestine has been a vivid one, and from time to time there have arisen men who desired to lead the Jewish people back to the land of their forefathers. It was not until the year 1882, however, that any definite steps were taken to re-people Palestine with Jews, but the persecutions in Russia and Roumania at last drew the attention of those who could not and would not assimilate, to the Holy Land. Young men and women gave up their academic careers, left behind them flourishing businesses, and set out for the land which had lain barren for centuries, with a view to transforming it into a veritable garden. The history of the colonization movement is full of romance. These people, who had been accustomed to every possible comfort, to a life of ease, went out to work the plow, the scythe, the hoe and the pruning hook. The difficulties were many, and in 1884 Baron Edmond Rothschild, of Paris, decided to assist the colonists by advancing them money and supplying them with all necessary implements. Colony after colony was thus called into existence, and it was thought that the dream of many ages was at last to be realized. The work went slowly on, but administrative ignorance and the fact that the head was far away from the scene of operations, did not cause the colonies to flourish as successfully as they might have otherwise done. There are now in Palestine about thirty colonies in a more or less flourishing condition. In 1896. however, the whole idea underwent a change. Dr. Theodore Herzl, then unknown to the mass of Jews. came forward with a proposal to acquire Palestine by purchase from the Sultan and to establish there those Jews who desired to return. For this purpose he convened, in connection with Dr. Max Nordau, a congress, in August. 1897, at Basle, Switzerland, which was attended by four hundred delegates, coming from every portion of the globe, and, at this time, it was decided to secure "a legally recognized and properly safeguarded home for the Jewish people in Palestine." Since then five similar congresses have been held.

The Jewish Colonial Trust, the financial instrument of the Zionist movement, was called into existence in 1898, and, up to date, nearly $2,500,000 have been subscribed by the adherents of the movement. Dr. Herzl, who naturally became the leader, has conducted negotiations with the Sultan of Turkey, and, although His Majesty has not seen his way to grant the full concessions asked for, he has expressed a sympathy with the movement. The leaders, therefore, express the opinion that it is only a matter of time when they will be able to gain their ends.

The movement has gained a strong foothold in the United States. There are affiliated to the Federation of American Zionists 245 societies, representing 15,000 members. Professor Richard Gottheil, of Columbia University, is the president, and Mr. J. de Haas, who is also editor of the official organ, "The Maccabaean.' is the secretary.

The movement has made the most rapid strides in Russia, however, and the Russian Government, for the first time, allowed a public conference to be held in Minsk in September last. In England the English Zionist Federation accounts about ninety subordinate societies, and the headquarters of the Jewish Colonial Trust are in London. Societies have also been formed in Morocco, Siberia, Algeria, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. An important conference was held in October in Vienna for the purpose of deciding what steps should be taken with a view to considering the proposals of the Sultan.

The movement all over the world has at least 500,000 contributing adherents, and there is evidence that the number is still increasing. The followers of Dr. Herzl are enthusiastic and are prepared to make every sacrifice to attain their object.

The following table was prepared by Mr. Brill, the writer of the articles which precede, and the statistics were collected by him especially for The American Almanac. The figures are the most accurate obtainable, and while those for population are given in round numbers, they, are as nearly exact as possible.

It