War and Armament Loans of Japan. By Ushisaburo Kobayashi, D.C.L.
(Oxford University Press.)—This is one of a series of Japanese monographs edited by Baron Y. Sakatani under the auspices of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Dr. Kobayashi gives an account of all the loans issued by Japan for military purposes from the beginning of the Meiji era in 1868 to the end of 1912. It is interesting to note that the wars connected with the Restoration cost about a million and a-half sterling, the suppression of the Satsuma rebellion in 1877 about four millions, the Chino- Japanese War about twenty millions, and the Russo-Japanese War about 200 millions. We should have liked to know what Japan has spent on armaments during and since the World War, but on this subject Dr. Kobayashi throws no light. In a con- cluding summary of the economic effects of Japan's military expenditure he maintains that "war expenditure and war loans exerted most unsalutary influences."
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