13 MARCH 1920, Page 3

Belated telegrams from Toldo announce that the Japanese Diet was

suddenly dissolved on February 26th, in the midst of a heated debate on the Opposition's demand for the extension of the franchise. The Government on the following day issued a statement describing the suffrage agitation as " a menace to the present social structure." Serious strikes began about the same time in the ironworks at Osaka. It is understood that the Government are certain to obtain a large majority when the General Election takes place, but it is clear that even Japan, which has on the whole profited by the war, has not escaped the economic and social unrest with which the war has infected the whole world.