INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
773
Of the total foreign ships entered, 1,020 of 1,971,895 tons were British ; 361 of 471,855 tons Oernian ; 70 of 12(J,824 tons American ; 26 of 56,119 tons French. Of the total shipping in 1895, 590 vessels of 827,937 tons entered Nagasaki ; 358 of 422,150 !;ons Yokohama ; 350 of 457,223 tons Kobe.
In 1897 the merchant navy of Japan consisted of 570 steamers of European type, of 227,841 tons ; 165 sailing vessels of European type, of 25,485 tons ; and 668 native craft above 50 tons, of 51,152 tons.
Internal Communications.
There are 4,481 miles of State roads and 15,362 miles of provincial roads.
Railways are of two classes — (1) State railways ; (2) railways owned by private companies, twenty-eight in number, three of them guaranteed a certain rate of interest by Government. The following table gives the railway statistics for 1896-97 : —
Stafe Railwiv^ : Railways owned by 1 cor a- ^ ' Private Companies, ibyo-y. 1896-97
Length in miles . Gross income, yen Expenditure, yen Goods carried, tons PassengervS, number .
631-62 1,873-50
8,273,652 12,873,432
3,815,663 5,565,452
1,276,658 , 5,421,013
22,681,161 j 4-2,4-26,737
The following are postal statistics for four fiscal years. The income, ex penditure, and officers include those of the telegraph service : —
1 —
1893-94
1894-95 1895-96
1896-97 !
Letters and postcards Newspapers and periodicals .
. Books
1 Samples, &c
1 Registered packets .... Parcels
Total
' Income (yen)
'. Expenditure (yen) .... Officers
254,573,715
56,968,379
5,391,852
421,243
3,540,704
734,615
.302,311,129
80,415,390
5,257,376
484,634
4,049,933
1,206,849
356,141,242
78,962,299
5,917,775
683,923
4,679,471
1,686,977
403,818,612
86,801,875
6,617,114
898,190
5,223,891
2,737,138
321,630,508
393,725,311
448,071,087
506,096,820
6,487,088
5,087,047
14,209
8,-381,049
6,811,060
14,733
8,341,042
5,433,825
15,299
16,925
All open ports and other important cities and towns are connected with each other and with Europe by lines ot telegraph. In March, 1897, there were 11,720 miles of telegraph with 37,661 miles of wire, besides 387 miles of .submarine cable, with 1,481 miles of wire. The number of telegrams carried was 10,978,153 in the fiscal year 1896-97. There were 1,114 olfices in Japan,
In March, 1897, there were 528 miles of telephone (6,347 miles of wire), with 6 exchange offices, 25 calling offices, and 3, 232 subscribers.
Money and Credit.
The following table shows the amount of coinage i.ssned in the fi.scal years stated (ending 31.st March) : —
