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the neighboring countries. In Hokkaidō we have rich coal and silver mines and oil wells, while in Formosa we have rich gold mines. The iron we use in our iron works in Kiūshiu comes partly from several mines of Japan and partly from China.
"My hope for the future is that foreign capital may be brought into the country and that the economic position of the country may be made so secure as to leave no doubt possible in the mind of the world as to the stability of the Japanese Empire."
We also take pleasure in quoting the same high authority upon the subject of the present financial situation in Japan, as follows:[1]—
"The present financial difficulty in Japan is only the natural sequence of the over-expansion of business of some years ago. In every country there are waves of prosperity followed by periods of depression. I have known, in the economic history of Japan since the Restoration, five or six such waves. They do not necessarily injure the real financial standing of the country. The peculiarities of the Japanese business character have much to answer for in the way of increasing the appearance of financial insecurity during the times of depression. After the prosperous times of 1893 came the war with China and the subsequent indemnity. Much of the money paid by China was spent in Japan, and the Japanese people came to the conclusion that this increased circulation of money would be permanent. They acted impulsively in many enterprises, and rushed into all kinds of business because the government had over-expanded its enterprises after the war. The depression reached its height in 1900 and 1901, and busi-
- ↑ See "Japan and America" for June and July, 1903.