true "blue-joint" grass, a species highly esteemed in America. The extent of grazing land on the north side of the Digitaki chain is, perhaps, greater than that already described. It is low and rolling in nature, and is covered with the short Shita grass, intermingled with other wild varieties. All of this vast extent of country lies nearly in a body. The only break is the valley of Goten. With the exception of this valley, about 2 ris in width, there is a distance of nearly eighty English miles, in which there is not a house, and almost all of which is well adapted to the raising of sheep and cattle. This district would maintain, at least, one million head of sheep. CHARACTER OF THE SOIL AND GRASSES. That space around the foot of Fugi-Yama within a radius of six ris, must once have been covered with volcanic cinders or scoria. A rich soil has gradually formed over this black waste, until now a deep, fertile loam covers the whole surface. Like all lava soils, it produces the best crops. The soil has been made in the other localities which I visited by the decay of deciduous vegetable matter, but resting on a different substratum. But, with very rare exceptions, the soil of all this portion of Japan is a black vegetable loam. In some places I found a peaty, porous earth, indicating, I think, the previous existence of bogs; but the soil is now productive, being thoroughly mixed with decayed vegetable matter. A great deal of this land is capable of producing the cereals, and, I am of opinion, also the American upland cotton. Wherever the grass is unmown, the kaya is the prevailing variety; but upon being cut a few times, it quickly yields to finer and more nutritious varieties, such as the annual spear-grass, the fine and broad-leaf meadow, and the species known as "fox-tail," and "meadow fescue." A species of wild vetch also makes its appearance in these places, showing conclusively that the wild lands of Japan only need stock to develop a sward unprecedented for its thickness, beauty, and nutritious qualities. The grass remains green for nearly nine months in the year. On the 5th of the present month (November) I culled the choicest wild-flowers at an elevation of 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. Here stock would need shelter for not more than two months in the year. There is one wild species of grass in Japan, the "hiye," which many of the farmers have used as hay, and which is most valuable in its nature. It contains one thousand per cent. more seed than any of the clovers, and the leaves and stalk are far more succulent. When Japan becomes a stock country I confidently predict that the hiye will form the chief winter provender for her horses, cattle, and sheep. Will sheep thrive in Japan? I have no hesitation in answering yes. If any difficulty has been encountered in the past, it has been owing to the manner, the very bad manner, I might say, in which the sheep have been kept, and not because the grasses are poisonous or wanting in nutrition. Horses and cattle do well in Japan on the native grasses; and I have not the slightest reason for supposing that sheep will not do equally well, if properly attended to and cared for. As yet, in Japan, the sheep has had no fair trial-indeed, no chance to live, on account of the manner in which it has been treated. Instead of being pastured on the beautiful ranges I have visited and described, where it could roam and crop its favorite food, it has been kept in dirty pens, irregularly fed, and that too on food only of one kind and of an inferior quality. Then, too, the sheep introduced into Japan, the Chinese breed, is an inferior animal. It is not hardy, and its fleece is very light and of an exceedingly poor quality. There are breeds of sheep much more valuable, which would thrive everywhere in Japan. From my observation, I am convinced that the Cashmere goat, an animal of rare value, would also thrive in Japan. The public domain of Japan, unoccupied, is of vast extent in comparison with the area actually under cultivation. This domain is covered with grass, and grass is only another name for beef, mutton, clothing, hides, and tallow. I am told on the authority of an official of the customs, that Japan imports, annually, woolen goods, and woolens mixed with cotton, to the amount of five million dollars. If the grass crop of Japan could be utilized by stock, the value of that stock would exceed $150,000,000. This statement can be readily verified by comparison with statistics furnished by other countries. The annual yield from this stock would save a vast drain upon the resources of the country, and would call into life very many new industries. The poor, hard-working farmers of Japan to-day pay four-fifths of the nation's taxation. Every new source of wealth created and subjected to taxation would relieve this class, which should be specially the care of every government, for theirs is the most important interest. If this interest languishes, there can be no prosperity; if too heavily taxed, there will be universal discontent. If we could compare the agricultural products of the present day, with the exception of tea and silk, since the country has been opened to commerce, with those of a century ago, I do not think that we will find any increase in the productions of the country. Agriculture cannot advance, and wealth consequently cannot increase, when the chief fertilizer is obtained only from the retiring-houses, and the greater part of the extensive, rich, fertile domain of Japan, without the introduction of live stock, must forever remain unproductive, and agriculture to a great extent cease to advance. In Japan there are too many people engaged in unproductive labor, and nothing will nor can correct this state of things but the introduction of new and varied industries. The care of one million of sheep would require the employment of about four thousand persons. Woolen-mills would probably follow and create demands for new labor. Thus one industry would create another, the condition of the laboring poor would be improved, and whatever conduces to the strength and improvement of that class inevitably adds to the wealth and prosperity of the nation. I am your excellency's obedient servant, D. W. AP JONES. No. 30.] No. 415. Mr. Bingham to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION, JAPAN, Yokohama, December 18, 1873. (Received January 26, 1874.) SIR Referring to your instruction No. 14, 7th November, 1873, I beg leave, in reply thereto, to call your attention to my dispatch No. 19, 18th November, 1873, and especially to inclosure No. 2, therewith, in which, among other things, I said to the minister for foreign affairs that I had "carefully abstained from declaring for or against the regulations hitherto presented by the foreign representatives," &c. The regulations referred to are the proposals mentioned in your instruction No. 14, the third article of which provides for the $200 deposit. I was of opinion, at the time the regulations were under discussion, that the provision for a deposit with the minister or consul ought not to be accepted, and am glad to be informed that it does not meet the approval of the President. I am, &c., JNO. A. BINGHAM. No. 416. No. 18.] Mr. Fish to Mr. Bingham. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, January 7, 1874. SIR: Your dispatch No. 17, of the 17th of November, 1873, in relation to the "hunting regulations" recently promulgated by the government of Japan, has been received. Your views in relation to the character of these local laws and regu lations, as containing nothing which conflicts with the privileges secured to American citizens resident in that country under existing treaty regu lations between the United States and Japan, are entirely in accord with the views entertained by this Department. The right of the authorities of Japan to enact and promulgate laws for the government, security, and good order of its own people, cannot, of course, be questioned for a moment, and of the character and suffi ciency of these laws, that government must be the sole judge. Citizens of the United States resident in Japan are expected and required to observe and obey such laws in the same manner and to the same extent that the like obligations rest upon the subjects of that empire. In regard to the enforcement of these laws, and the imposition of penalties for their infraction, citizens of the United States have secured to them, by the provisions of existing treaties, the right of being tried in the consular courts of their own nation, established in Japan, and according to the mode prescribed by the laws of the United States, and are protected from the infliction of any other penalties than those prescribed or warranted by the laws of their own country. So long as these privileges are recognized and respected by the government of Japan, there can be no cause of complaint on the part of this government in relation to the promulgation of any municipal law or regulation which the legislative authority of that country may deem necessary to its public interest and welfare. SIR: Your dispatch of the 18th of November, No. 18, has been received. In answer to the inquiry made therein as to whether it is desirable to press the payment of the unpaid balance of the Simonoseki indemnity, I have to state that a bill to release said payment passed one House but failed in the other. The Department must regard this as a refusal by Congress to release. But it is not thought best to unduly press the claim. I am, &c., HAMILTON FISH. No. 41.] No. 418. Mr. Bingham to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION, JAPAN, Yokohama, January 12, 1874. (Received February 21.) SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of the speech of felicitation addressed to the Tenno by the diplomatic body, through their dean, Sir Harry S. Parkes, at the audience granted them by His Majesty on New Year's day, and also a copy of the Tenno's reply. I am, &c., JNO. A. BINGHAM. [Inclosure 1 in No. 41.] Address of the foreign representatives to the Mikado on the new year, 1874. SIRE: In the name of the foreign representatives accredited to Your Majesty's court, I beg to convey to Your Majesty our united congratulations on the occasion of the year now commencing, and to express our sincere hope that it may be marked throughout its course by much personal happiness to Your Majesty and by increasing prosperity to your country. Your Majesty will doubtless have learned with satisfaction from your embassadors, who have lately returned to Japan, how friendly are the sentiments which are entertained toward Your Majesty by our respective sovereigns and rulers, and how cordially they desire that, by the removal of all barriers to free intercourse in the interior of your country between their respective subjects and citizens and those of Your Majesty, the fullest advantage may be derived from the happy relations which already exist between Japan and their respective states. We feel satisfied that these wishes are reciprocated by Your Majesty, and we therefore trust that the efforts of Your Majesty's government will be entirely directed to the advancement of measures which are calculated to promote so desirable an object, and to permit the natural expansion of those material interests which form the closest bond of union between states. [Inclosure 2 in No. 41.-Translation.] Reply of the Tenno to the address of the foreign representatives. I am highly rejoiced at the felicitations which, on the occasion of this new year, have been made to me by the representatives of the friendly powers on my own happiness and the prosperity of my country. I felicitate the sovereigns and presidents of the freindly powers on their happiness and the prosperity of their respective countries. I trust that the amicable relations of my country and the friendly powers will be rendered closer by the public law of mutual intercourse. No. 43.] No. 419. Mr. Bingham to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION, JAPAN, Yokohama, January 14, 1874. (Received February 21.) SIR: Herewith I beg leave to call your attention to a letter of J. H. Hawes, United States consul at Hakodadi, No. 288, dated the 6th instant, inclosure No. 1; and to my reply thereto, inclosure No. 2. You will observe that the case presented by Mr. Hawes is not within either of the exceptions mentioned in the act of June 22, 1860; nor is it a case arising under the twenty-fourth section of said act. I am, &c., JNO. A. BINGHAM. No. 288.] [Inclosure 1 in No. 43.] UNITED STATES CONSULATE, SIR: I beg leave to report my action in fining an American citizen for willful violation of the treaty. One Wood arrived at this port last fall, and made application to the authorities here for permission to go to the upper part of the island of Yesso. This request being refused by the governor, Wood started off in defiance of the authorities, and pushed on some two hundred and fifty miles or more before he was arrested and brought back by the Yakunins. The authorities have presented a bill amounting to $93.62, for expenses in returning Wood to this consulate. After an examination of this case, I imposed a fine of $51.27, and as Wood had no means to pay said fine, I accepted two sureties, Americans, guaranteeing that the amount should be paid in five months, and discharged the accused, and he left the same day in a Danish vessel for a cruise in the North Pacific Ocean. I have, &c., J. H. HAWES. No. 45.] [Inclosure 2 in No. 43.] Mr. Bingham to Mr. Hawes. UNITED STATES LEGATION, JAPAN, SIR: In reply to your No. 288, of date the 6th instant, I have to say that the general original jurisdiction in all civil and criminal cases against the citizens of the United States in Japan under the treaty of 1858, and the laws of the United States, is vested in the United States consuls; and that, by the twenty-seventh section of the act of June 22, 1860, I can have appellate jurisdiction only of cases like that presented in your letter. As no appeal has been taken from your judgment to me in the case of Mr. Wood, it does not seem proper that I should express any opinion on the subject. I am, &c., JNO. A. BINGHAM. No. 44.] No. 420. Mr. Bingham to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION, JAPAN, Yokohama, January 17, 1874. (Received February 21.) SIR: It is with extreme regret that I communicate the fact that on Wednesday evening, the 14th instant, persons, as yet unknown, laid in wait for and attempted the assassination of Iwakura Tomomi, second prime minister of Japan. The minister had been invited by the Emperor to the palace on the afternoon of that day, and left the palace for his home at about halfpast seven in the evening. He was accompanied only by his coachman and betto, (runner.) Outside of the palace court-yard, when crossing the bridge over the moat near its gateway, his attendants were assailed by six or more men armed with swords. The betto was disabled, the coachman fatally injured, and Iwakura himself, after receiving two severe wounds, one on the shoulder and the other on the thigh, in attempting to escape his assailants, fell over the bank of the moat and rolled down many feet into the edge of the water, and thereby escaped, happily, further pursuit or injury, his would-be assassins being unable to find him on account of the darkness. The betto, recovering, reported the occurrence at the palace, when the Emperor's guards came to the relief of the minister and carried him into the palace, where he still remains. I am glad to say that I am informed that his surgeons are of opinion that Mr. Iwakura will speedily recover. I took occasion immediately upon receipt of the intelligence to communicate by special messenger to Mr. Iwakura my expressions of sympa thy for himself and his family, and my sincere hope that he might speedily recover. As yet I can learn of no motive for this assault save a desire to overturn the present ministry, manifested by many dissatisfied per sons. I am, &c., JNO. A. BINGHAM. |