82.
JAPAN.
[FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.]
Tokyo, January 2nd. TOKYO BAILWAY COMPANY AND DOMESTIC POLITICS.
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The year closes with the Diet in session and only the formal part of its work done. It will resume business towards the end of this month, and in the meantime the Government may consider it advisable to settle a question that is capable of disturbing to the depths the quiet course of domestic politics and of even placing the Cabinet itself in jeopardy. I refer to the application of the Tokyo Railway Co., for permission to raise its fares. To outsiders this may seem a matter of purely local interest, having no relation at all to politics, much less to the stability of the Government in power, but in fact, it is a subject of the deepest interest to citizens of Tokyo, who seem unanimously opposed to the company, and it is by this lever that certain political parties, by fermenting the agitation against the company, hope to make their influence felt in the Diet. It is not too much to say that the Government may stand or fall according to its attitude towards the tramway fare question and its method of dealing with the application for an increase.
THE COMPANY VERSUS THE CITY.
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
matter of business and decided accordingly. What will be the conduct of the authorities in the present question? The company has put
forward a simple application for an increase of but do not appear to have attempted to
fare, submitting figures which show that if the company is to provide suitable reserves the present fare will not pay a proper dividend. The application has already been partially granted by the municipal assembly, and the latter is, of course, accused of having been bought [accusations of corruption against both the company and the city authorities are so general that little notice is taken of allegations which in any other country would have to be substantiated.]. The application is next, I believe, to come before the Governor of Tokyo-fu, and if he grants it, it will go before the Home Office. Now, presumably, this application was consi- dered by the municipal assembly, and they favoured an increase by one sen (one farthing) because they thought this was just and right, But it is claimed that the assembly did not give it sufficient consideration and passed it hurriedly, having been "influenced." In this case the duty of the higher authorities is clear. The municipal assembly ought to be out of office if not in jail. Either the application was passed on its merit, or the municipal assembly was influenced in some way that is a disgrace to them as public men. These facts ought to be perfectly clear to the police, who in Japan, it must be remem- bered, are in the service of the Government and not of the municipality. The police, represent ing the executive authority of Tokyo, 'do nothing; in fact they have even been charged with being in collusion with the company too!
A SHAREHOLDERS' MEETING, POLICE AND JOSHI.
In recent letters to the Hongkong Daily Pres, I have dealt with the position of the company, but a brief outline may be re-stated here in order that the present situation may be fully under- stood. The company runs its trams by virtue of a charter obtained from the city some few years ago. This agreement, however it was regarded at the time it was signed, seems now, in the light Sufficient has been said to show that the of subsequent events, to have been expressly Government authorities of Tokyo ought to be drawn up for the advantage of the city and on trial before the bar of public opinion, if disadvantage of the company. It is thoroughly half of what one hears is true, this is cer- unbusinesslike from an equitable point of view. tainly the case, but the national attitude is The company is now carrying out extensions it Shikataganai, "it can't be helped." The is bound to construct within a certain time into day will come, however, when this word will distant suburbs, and within fifty years the whole not be used in such a connection, but as property has to be turned over to the city gratis. yet public opinion is only in its infancy These extensions, until the population increases and even when aroused, like a child, is prone o stifficiently, will always be improfitable, but resort to violence. But with regard to the nevertheless, they are built at a cost per mile remarkable charge of the police being in collu- little less than those in the centre of the sion with the company. This was made after oity. This heavy capital outlay can only have the violent meeting of shareholders held at the one effect unless the fare is raised. But the 28th ult. when the behaviour of the police, even company cannot increase its fare without the to an onlooker innocent of the under currents of permission first of the city authorities, secondly Japanese life, "left much to be desired. The of the fu authorities, and thirdly of the Home meeting was attended by hundreds of dissatis- fied men, dissatisfied at the small dividend and thoroughly distrusting the integrity of the directors, who sat in a row on the platform of the hall the institution of the Ỷ. M. C. A. curiously enough facing a threatening crowd. No sooner had the chairman opened his mouth than rasping voices from various parts of the hall called upon the directors
office itself.
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When the three old companies were amal- gamated with a subscribed capital of 60,000,000 yen the outlook was bright, for individually the companies had been paying and suffered under no serious restrictions. From whatever cause, mismanagement or oth r, the rate of dividend has gradually declined, but this, instead of evoking sympathy from the citizens seems to have had an opposite effect.
The cry
to
and
oorrup-
with resign, charged them tion, and the storm began. An accountant and is director made statements which were challenged by a man a member of the Diet, who appeared prepared to argue reasonably on facts and figures, and looked fully determined to do so. But he was interrupted; others tried to speak and then pandemonium reigned. Fighting began at the rear of the hall, one party being bonnetted
all attacked from sides. Gradually the centre of disturbance moved towards the platform, when one or two individuals who had spoken out against the company were bruttally treated, it appears by "soshi," ruffians who can be hired to do anything. Gradually the disputes lost all semblance to such as might easily take place at a political or company meeting. Individuals were attacked and severely handled, bruttally handled, kicked in the stomach and struck with fiendish vindictiveness as they were lying help. less on the floor. The writer did not know at that time that these men, the assailants, were soshi, hired to do their contemptible work, who were admitted to the meeting on the strength of holding shares presented by the company. Such is the allegation, which, however, is denied by the company. He was ignorant of the under currents that moved the storm, but reflected that in many lively experiences of political and other meetings where feeling ran high he had never, seen anything to approach this in Tokyo for its display of malicious brutality.
has always been that the company corrupt and mismanaged, and this, is a country, where corruption and mismanage ment are not uncommon, will at once rouse the popular indignation, for it is the people who are always the victims of corruption. The com- pany did not improve its position when, last year, it.attempted to dispose of its property to the city at a price about 50 per cent above par. The municipalisation question was just as obnoxious to the citizens as the fare proposal now is, and when the Home Office refused its consent after months of delay great satisfaction was felt, while the company remained as un- popular as ever and has now raised a second storm in an effort to obtain what some believe to be its rights. IRRÉSOLUTE ATTITUDE OF THE AUTHORITIES. But to anybody acquainted with the facts there can be no doubt where the blame lies. The ompany may be corrupt, but the authorities themselves, are even more blame- worthy. The delay in coming to a deci- sion in the municipalisation proposal was in- excusable. Months were spent in negotiations when, weeks should have been sufficient for a thorough investigation of the facts and a judicial decision. The regular course of business was checked, the share market was demoralised, by an affair which in any other country in the world would have been treated promptly as a
[February 1, 1909. After several individuals had been "dealt with" and put out, the police sailed in. All this . time they had been waiting outside in force, interfere when it was most necessary they should do so. When the fighting was over they stood together in a group, talking to various civilians and arguing with some. Curious procedure, this! The police did not attempt to arrest anybody, although there were those present in the hall, if justice were meted out to them, who richly deserved terms in prison for assault of the character described briefly above. The business of the meeting ended in only one way, for the great majority of the holders of shares were in favour of the directors, report and the discontented left to renew their agitation at a later date. Some curious matters have been made public since this meeting the most remarkable being that the Police were suborned, that they were in favour of the company and therefore did not do their duty at the meeting, and also that the. soshi were employed by the directors. Were such a charge made against the police of London, for example it would be a most serious affair, to be followed promptly by the most serious investigation and the most severe punishment of the guilty. In Tokyo the charge has led the chief of the Metropoli tan police to question the police inspector responsible and impress upon this officer the necessity of being impartial! The question of the guilt or innocence of the inspector and his subordinates does not appear to have been con- sidered the charge stands, that the police of Tokyo are capable of being suborned and are therefore, morally, no better than the soshi gurotsuki, types of men who can be hired to commit anything from murder downwards.
Currents and undercurrents about the ques- tion of the Tokyo Railway Company and its fare proposals are strong and deep; the subject is uppermost in the minds of the masses: what might appear to an impartias observer a question of business to be settled al between the company and the authorites is one that is discussed most violently by a press that does not hesitate to incite the masses by means of cartoon and the written word to the use of physical force. This is permitted by the Tokyo police. In short, the company is charged with being corrupt to the ore, and does not take action; to establish its integrity, the mob is inci- ted to violence by the press, but the police take no action against the newspapers; and, most serious of all, the police themselves are accused, while the highest authorities of the Government look on, apparently unconcerned.
EX
TOKYO, Jan. 15. PURGING THE BUSINESS LIFE.
While the Japanese people is agreed in the desire of making Bushido, the long-tried code of honour of military life, the standard of conduct for all conditions of people, the business world, which should make credit its life, honesty its best policy, and steadiness its basic virtue, is run on principles contrary to the national resolution. The business atmosphere should be purged of its bacilli and filled with the spirit of faithfulness and sense of responsibility which characterised the soldiers of old."-Thus the Kokumin, expressing in a brief, pungent sen- tence what every Tokyo journal has been saying in the past few days in their desire to voice the indignation that is felt at the revelations of mismanagement and corruption among the directors of the Dai Nippon Sugar Manu- facturing Co.
BIG DIVIDEND ON BAD BUSINESS.
The Dai Nippon Seito Kaisha is the leading concern of its kind, and up to recently believed to be one of the best investments in the country. Some months ago two of the directors, both large shareholders, placed their holdings on the market, realising large profits. This treacherous act towards their own company gradually came to be known, with the result that a state of affairs is now revealed, which the whole press of the country is hoping will result in a thorough investigation by the authorities, the punish- ment of the guilty, and most important of all, the awakening of the common shareholder to his privileges and duties under the law. Quite recently this sugar company paid the usual dividend of 15 per cent., whereas it was
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