ed, to view post-offices
established in the treaty ports, herself planted Japanese post-offices
in both China and Korea. The Postal Union was joined in 1877, and from
that time the Japanese post-office has developed, _pari passu_ with
the post-offices of European countries until at the present time it is
in some respects ahead of them in the matter of enterprise and the
facilities it affords. The Inland Parcel Post was established in 1892,
and it has had a marked effect in the opening up of the country and
the familiarising of the people with many commodities, principally
European, of which they had previously no knowledge. At the present
time there are considerably over 6,000 post-offices. About a thousand
millions of letters and postcards--a favourite means of
communication--are handled yearly. The number of parcels at present
sent through the post amounts to about eleven millions annually.

Every description of post-office business as known in Europe is not
only transacted in Japan, but, so far as results go to show, each new
phase seems to fill a distinct want on the part of the people. Take
the matter of postal orders for example, the introduction of which in
this country was so vigorously opposed by the banking community, but a
facility which has proved of incalculable utility and convenience to
the mass of the public. Postal orders, when introduced into Japan,
quickly came into favour. In the first year only a certain number of
offices were authorised to issue and to pay these orders. This number
has now been largely increased, and many millions of postal orders are
at present annually sold in Japan. The International Postal Order
Service has also assumed considerable dimensions, and has largely
aided, I think, in the industrial and commercial development of the
country.

Post Office Savings Banks were established in Japan as far back as
1875. The object, as in this country, was to encourage thrift among
the mass of the people. The maximum deposit in one year of any
depositor is limited to 500 yen (about L50). The Post Office Savings
Bank has been largely utilised, and both the number of depositors and
the sums deposited continue to grow on a scale which shows that the
utility and benefit of this institution are greatly appreciated by the
Japanese people. At first the Savings Bank was worked at a loss; it
took time to develop, while in its infancy banking methods were
probably not as well understood by the Japa