Previous to the announcement that this Iwan had been concluded, there was a rumour to the effect that vercine & was. fin compile a sati fises] year 1903 1904; Inv the " Kokumis very well-informed p-per learns "that the Government is in a position balance the twa sides of the ven by including in the budget some new undertakes ying out wi tions of the *e ntinumce' works me viously pporti-ned fr next yew. The only ques in that th G vernment is consi!-rat present ix the qu—tion of how t+ the revenue surplus, and not he question of how to balance the two sites (so the "Kokumin" learns). On the other hand one question which is receiving ment's attention is thit of Keepi x in force the present increased of land texition. This question cautioning the present rate is vot up, however, with the object of riy prospective deficit in the but it is done so rath-r to find new undertskive character. In other kep in view in this put in. prentice third programme of naval expansion. Wihe! al pr amine shelved for the present he Government finds it ut only reressary to conti sue in force the sent increased rate of the tax in question, hat it may without any diffi-u ty restore that rate to its original schedule in 1904, as provided by the law as it stands, More: over, the Goi ut will from that. he able to annually "ppropr six and a half million ven ts the war-fund.' Further, after 1905 the budget will come how a early surplus of six rullion yen wi dition to the above."
The Lio" of the Hour. the President of the Japmese Credit Mobilier, which has been chetly instrumental in effecting the! arr ent, is naturally the lion of the hour. He has been wed by a representative of the "Nichi Nichi," to he said that fter he establishment link, foreigners desir us of in:
their mo ey in Japanese bons tly came t+ him with compiratively small orders. It say in May last that x syndicate formed by the Hon-kong and Shanghai Bankins Corporvvion in conjuneti" with Mes-rs. Baring B 0s. applied for a large ¢-signment of bonds but prapased t+ become sellers instead of min" Is ekers. The negotiations fell through a! first, but were resumed in 'Augas' and have ow been concluded. The "Nichi Nichi's" rep-ter takes care 98 pounds st to assure us that in spit of his success, Mr. Soyeda "remains calm," as he devs not of course regard the matter in the light of any new departure in the busines of his bank. He simply thinks it a cubr stroke of business. transsetion a ile bigger then anything his bank ey-rhesd ne before. However the fact that the 5 per cent, bends for which warker could not be found at heme could be sel ina for-ign market may be cor sid-red ax the o ly conspicuous feature in the preset transection. What he feels specially satisfied with is the inte'lizence received from London, that the market is [favourably disposed to the sale of the The price of the bonds is to be remitted to Joan as soon as the hands shall have ached London, and probably a greater part may come in by the end of the yest and the rest by February nest at the The Opinion of the Press:
'The Press welcomes. on the whole the sale of the bonds. The "Kokumin" approves of the transaction but says that the rate of interest is.55 per cent higher than the rate of the 4 per cent bonds issued in London' a fei yeats ago. and.2 per cent higher than the previous sale effected thrugh another intermediary. It contents itself, however, with the reflection that something is better than nothing, and urges the people to be thrifty and diligent s" that they may be the better enabled to lay the foundation of Japan's future commercial witness, 'The "Jiji" warns the' Government not to gain for any extravagant expenditure, nor on the other hand. to unnecessarily curtail the revenue by the restoration'for example of the land tax to its former rate, The " Nichi Nichi" is unreservedly glad, being of opinion tht the conclusion of the loan has raised Japan's credit in the eves of the world. It hopes that the Goverament will henceforth discontinue havi resource to extraordin and: even unreasonable expedients for meeting the demands of State undertakings. By this it probally means the utilization on "ne oct casion +f the China indemnity for the ewrying on of t e railway, telephone, snd other servic s originally included ix the lis-of works to be curried' out by means of "Chuo" compares the success of ernment on t is occasion to its failure ast year, when it sent_ an unknown individual t" Ame ica to raise a big loan of Mr. Pierpont Morgan.
The Hochi" says that this fifty millions must be devoted to fill ug up the gaps pro duced in the Japanese financial system, and mast not bs appropriated for any other purpose, The "Niroku" is dissatisfied with the of interest being higher than on the two previous occasions despite the fact hat rates of interest J.ave a tendency to fall, in all the world's markets.
The ' Yomiuri" considers the news as the most reassuring tat has come to hand for years.
The Opposition' Papers.
'Ths "Asahi" says the terms were not satisfactory, and' proceeds to. remark that the net price of the bonis is' in reality much lower than £98 per 1,000 yen face value. In fact the rate is 96.767 yen per 100, and that because the fineness of Jupane e gi is wearer than that of English gold. The Japanese 10 yen gold weighs 8.33333 grams and is of 9/10 fineness, while the English pound teriing weighs 7.9881 grams with a fineness of 11/12. In other words 98 English pounds sterling contain 725.76338 grams and therefore correspond, in point of enoss, to 967 yen approximately in japanese gold. Therefore it follows that the sale of Japanese bonds at the rate of ing per 1000 yen really amounts to selling the bonds at 96.767 100 yen face value. It is true even this rate is higher than the current quotation at home, where the bonds a1 quoted at less than 96 per 100; but com: pared with the rate on the two previous occasions the present one is decidedly unfavourable. The " Asahi" concludes by predicting that the inflow of specie, at least its temporary inflow, into Japan, and the swelling of the specie reserves of the Bank of Japan will have the effect of rotsing the prices of commodi ies and will therefore enliven more or less th markets of the country. The bank in question ought, it says, to be guarded at tuis jeneture and ought not to repeat tre erroneous measure of thoughtlessly lowering the rate of interest, as it did to its own cost and to that of the market at large, on the conclusion of the Japan-China War.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.