which has become
somewhat of a vexed economic problem in this country, the Japanese
authorities do not appear to experience much difficulty. The object of
the prison system of labour is to give the prisoners a careful
training, and to encourage diligence, so that on their return to the
world they may not experience difficulty in obtaining employment. The
labour is of two kinds--Government, and for private individuals. In
the latter case the necessary labour is obtained from the prisons
direct, the employers supplying the material. I think this part of the
system is perhaps open to question, as it has been found in other
countries productive of grave abuses.

The discharged prisoner in Japan, as in other countries, finds a
difficulty in obtaining employment, and several societies similar to
those in existence here have been established with a view of assisting
discharged prisoners. I have not sufficient information to enable me
to say what measure of success these societies have achieved. In a
country like Japan, which is endeavouring to perfect all her
institutions, I hope that the discharged prisoner problem will be
solved otherwise than by philanthropic societies. The criminal who has
completed his sentence ought to be deemed to have purged his offence,
and has a right to return to the community and obtain work until, if
ever, he again misconducts himself.

I hope my few remarks on the subject of the means taken in Japan to
maintain law and order will tend to convince my readers that in every
detail of her administration Japan has shown a capacity for adapting
what is good in foreign nations and moulding it for her own purposes.
The foreign community in Japan has long since got over its state of
panic in regard to the danger of suing and being sued in Japanese
courts, and the possibility of being an inmate of a Japanese gaol. The
years that have elapsed since the treaties were revised have
demonstrated clearly that, if anything, extra consideration is shown
to the foreigner in all the details of the administration of the law
in Japan. I remarked at the beginning of this chapter that the
supremacy of the law and the maintenance of order are matters of
supreme importance in every civilised country. Japan has recognised
this fact, and she has acted upon the recognition thereof with most
admirable results.

CHAPTER XVI

LITERATURE AND THE DRAMA

The literature of Japan is a somewhat recondite subject, while