for it, shall be settled by the British Diplomatic Agent and the Government of Japan. From the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, British subjects shall be allowed to reside in the city of Yedo, and from the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the city of Osaca, for the purposes of trade only. In each of these two cities a suitable place, within which they may hire houses, and the distance they may go, shall be arranged by the British Diplomatic Agent and the Government of Japan. Article IV.-All questions in regard to rights, whether of property or person, arising between British subjects in the dominions of His Majesty the Tycoon of Japan, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the British authorities. Article V.-Japanese subjects, who may be guilty of any criminal act towards British subjects, shall be arrested and punished by the Japanese authorities according to the laws of Japan. British subjects who may commit any crime against Japanese subjects, or the subjects or citizens of any other country, shall be tried and punished by the Consul, or other public functionary authorised thereto, according to the laws of Great Britain. Justice shall be equitably and impartially administered on both sides. Article VI.-A British subject having reason to complain of a Japanese must proceed to the Consulate and state his grievance. If The Consul will inquire into the merits of the case, and do his utmost to arrange it amicably. In like manner, if a Japanese have reason to complain of a British subject, the Consul shall no less listen to his complaint, and endeavour to settle it in a friendly manner. disputes take place of such a nature that the Consul cannot arrange them amicably, then he shall request the assistance of the Japanese authorities, that they may together examine into the merits of the case, and decide it equitably. Article VII.-Should any Japanese subject fail to discharge debts incurred to a British subject, or should he fraudulently abscond, the Japanese authorities will do their utmost to bring him to justice, and to enforce recovery of the debts; and should any British subject fraudulently abscond or fail to discharge debts incurred by him to a Japanese subject, the British authorities will, in like manner, do their utmost to bring him to justice, and to enforce recovery of the debts. Neither the British or Japanese Governments are to be held responsible for the payment of any debts contracted by British or Japanese subjects." Article VIII.-The Japanese Government will place no restrictions whatever upon the employment, by British subjects, of Japanese in any lawful capacity. Article IX.-British subjects in Japan shall be allowed the free exercise of their religion, and for this purpose shall have the right to erect suitable places of worship. Article X.-All foreign coin shall be current in Japan, and shall pass for its corresponding weight in Japanese coin of the same description. British and Japanese subjects may freely use foreign or Japanese coin in making payments to each other. As some time will elapse before the Japanese will become se quainted with the value of foreign coin, the Japanese Government will, for the period of one year after the opening of each port, furnish British subjects with Japanese coin in exchange for theirs, equal weights being given, and no discount taken for re-coinage. Coins of all description (with the exception of Japanese copper coin) as well as foreign gold and silver uncoined, may be exported from Japan. Article XI-Supplies for the use of the British navy may be landed at Kanagawa, Hakodadi, and Nagasaki, and stored in warehouses, in the custody of an officer of the British Government, without the payment of any duty; but if any such supplies are sold in Japan, the purchaser shall pay the proper duty to the Japanese authorities. Article XII.-If any British vessel be at any time wrecked or stranded on the coasts of Japan, or be compelled to take refuge in any port within the dominions of the Tycoon of Japan, the Japanese authorities, on being apprized of the fact, shall immediately render all the assistance in their power; the persons on board shall receive friendly treatment, and be furnished, if necessary, with the means of conveyance to the nearest Consular station. Article XIII.-Any British merchant vessel arriving off one of the open ports of Japan, shall be at liberty to hire a pilot to take her into port. In like manner, after she has discharged all legal dues and duties, and is ready to take her departure, she shall be allowed to hire a pilot to conduct her out of port. Article XIV. At each of the ports open to trade, British subjects shall be at full liberty to import from their own or any other ports, and sell there, and purchase therein, and export to their own or any other ports, all manner of merchandise, not contraband, paying the duties thereon, as laid down in the tariff annexed to the present Treaty, and no other charges whatsoever. With the exception of munitions of war, which shall only be sold to the Japanese Government and foreigners, they may freely buy from Japanese, and sell to them, any articles that either may have for sale, without the intervention of any Japanese officers in such purchase or sale, or in making or receiving payment for the same; and all classes of Japanese may purchase, sell, keep, or use any articles sold to them by British subjects. Article XV.-If the Japanese Custom-house officers are dissatisfied with the value placed on any goods by the owner, they may place a value thereon, and offer to take the goods at that valuation. If the owner refuses to accept the offer he shall pay duty on such valuation. If the offer be accepted by the owner, the purchase-money shall be paid to him without delay, and without any abatement or discount. Article XVI.-All goods imported into Japan by British subjects, and which have paid the duty fixed by this Treaty, may be transported by the Japanese into any part of the Empire without the payment of any tax, excise, or transit duty whatever. Article XVII.-British merchants who may have imported merchandise into any open port in Japan, and paid duty thereon, shall be entitled, on obtaining from the Japanese Custom-house authorities a certificate stating that such payment has been made, to re-export the same, and land it in any other of the open ports without the payment of any additional duty whatever. Article XVIII.-The Japanese authorities at each port will adopt the means that they may judge most proper for the prevention of fraud or smuggling. Article XIX.-All penalties enforced, or confiscations made under this Treaty, shall belong to, and be appropriated by, the Government of His Majesty the Tycoon of Japan. Article XX.-The Articles for the regulation of trade which are appended to this Treaty shall be considered as forming a part of the same, and shall be equally binding on both the contracting parties to this Treaty, and on their subjects. The Diplomatic Agent of Great Britain in Japan, in conjunction with such person or persons as may be appointed for that purpose by the Japanese Government, shall have power to make such rules as may be required to carry into full and complete effect the provisions of this Treaty, and the provisions of the articles regulating trade appended thereto. Article XXI.-This Treaty being written in the English, Japanese, and Dutch languages, and all the versions having the same meaning and intention, the Dutch version shall be considered the original; but it is understood that all official communications addressed by the Diplomatic and Consular Agents of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain to the Japanese authorities, shall henceforward be written in English. In order, however, to facilitate the transaction of business, they will, for a period of five years from the signature of this Treaty, be accompanied by a Dutch or Japanese version. Article XXII.-It is agreed that either of the high contracting parties to this Treaty, on giving one year's previous notice to the other, may demand a revision thereof, on or after the first of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, with a view to the insertion therein of such amendments as experience shall prove to be desirable. Article XXIII.-It is hereby expressly stipulated that the British Government and its subjects will be allowed free and equal participation in all privileges, immunities, and advantages that may have been, or may be hereafter, granted by His Majesty the Tycoon of Japan to the Government or subjects of any other nation. Article XXIV.-The ratification of this Treaty, under the hand of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the name and seal of His Majesty the Tycoon of Japan, respectively, shall be exchanged at Yedo, within a year from this day of signature. In token whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed and sealed this treaty. Done at Yedo, this twenty-sixth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, corresponding to the Japanese date the eighteenth day of the seventh month of the fifth year of Ansei Tsut sinonye mma. (Signed) ELGIN AND KINCARDINE. HORI ORIBENO KAMI. IWASE HIGONO KAMI. ISUDA HAUZABRO. CHAPTER XVIII. THE COMMERCIAL CRISIS OF 1857. Effect of Gold Discoveries.-Crisis in the United States.-Alarm and Crisis in England. State of the Bank of England.-Failures in Scotland.-The Treasury Letter.-Excess of Circulation.-Fall of Prices.-The Crisis in the North of Europe.-Parliamentary Inquiry.-John Stuart Mill on the Bank Acts. FOR a few years after the discovery of gold in California and Australia, the trade of the country continued in a most prosperous condition. An extensive demand for the United States, for France, and for Australia had imparted a wonderful buoyancy to business. The agricultural interest had benefited by several excellent harvests; the prices of bread, meat, and provisions were highly remunerative. Money was at a low rate, and so abundant was it that Mr. Gladstone was induced to bring forward his plan for the reduction of the national debt by the issue of Exchequer bonds at 2 per cent., whilst the Bank of England saw in its coffers, in July 1852, the largest sum ever on hand, 22,000,000!. in amount. But little by little a great and perceptible change took place in the economic condition of the country. If the import of bullion increased enormously of late years, so did the export, principally of silver to India and China,' increase in a high ratio. The European stock of bullion was estimated to have increased by 79,000,000l. between 1851 and 1856, and yet the Bank of England saw its own stock decreasing sensibly; the causes of the export to the East being a large expenditure in railways, and heavy payments to be made for silk and other articles imported. The war in the Crimea also necessitated large remittances of money for the payment of the troops, and there was a considerable amount of uncertainty and anxiety as to the future, always unfavourable to confidence in trade and finance. And consequently it was not long before the rate of interest reflected this altered state of matters. After remaining for some time at 24 and 2 per cent. per annum, the minimum rate charged by the Bank of England was raised on the third week of 1853 to The exports of gold and silver bullion and specie were as follows:-1852, 10,295,000l.; 1853, 18,906,000l.; 1854, 22,586,000l.: 1855, 18,828,000l.; 1856, 24,852,000l.; and 1857, 33,567,0007, 3 per cent., and by the end of the year to 5 per cent. In 1854 the rate rose to 5 per cent. In 1855 the rate fluctuated between 4 and 5 per cent.; and in 1856 it touched 7 per cent. About this time, however, a new source of disturbance was manifested in a crisis in the United States, which commenced with a great depreciation of railway securities, and was followed by the failure of a very important corporation called the Ohio Life and Trust Company. Before October 8, 1857, the tidings from America had become very serious. News came that the banks in Philadelphia and Baltimore had suspended cash payments; that cotton bills were reduced to par, and bankers' drafts to 105; that railway securities were depreciated from 10 to 20 per cent.; that artisans were thrown out of employment; that discounts ranged from 10 to 20 per cent.; that in New York 62 out of its 63 banks suspended cash payments; and that in Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, the banks generally did the same. At a time when the transactions between America and England were so numerous and large, when the declared value of British and Irish produce exported to the United States was nearly 22,000,000l., and the amount of securities held by English capitalists in America was estimated at 80,000,000l.-the state of commercial disorder in the United States could not fail to produce great alarm in England. The effect of the American calamity fell with the greatest weight upon those engaged in trade with that country, and Liverpool, Glasgow, and London naturally exhibited the first evidences of pressure. On October 27 the Borough Bank of Liverpool closed its doors; and on November 7 the great commercial house of Dennistoun and Company suspended payments. The Western Bank of Scotland failed on November 9, and on the 11th the City of Glasgow Bank did the same. And these were followed by the Northumberland and Durham District Bank and the Wolverhampton Bank. Great alarm naturally prevailed in London, the centre of the monetary transactions of the world, in consequence of such occurrences, and there was reason to apprehend that serious evils would result from them. It should be remembered that the vast sums deposited with the joint-stock banks, at interest, are chiefly held at call; and that the bill brokers, who carry on their enormous transactions without any cash reserve, rely on the payment of their bills falling due, or, in case of extremity, on the power of obtaining advances from the Bank of England on the security of bills under discount. What if the deposits were withdrawn, and the banks. should be unable to accommodate the bill brokers? Yet it is indispensable that at a time of commercial pressure and alarm bankers who are liable to return all the money so held should limit ? The liabilities of the Bank amounted to 8,911,9321., but the creditors were paid in full with interest to December 28, 1858, the date of the last dividend. D D |