Expenditures of the Russo-Japanese war / by Gotaro Ogawa.

MEANS ADOPTED TO FILL DEFICITS

I05

bonds, and the issue of war tickets. The first mentioned of
these measures was carried on from the outset of the war
until December, g906, the largest amount at any transferred
month end being 63,000,000 yen. The exchequer bonds
issued from February, 1904, to the end of the war amounted
to from Io,000,ooo yen to 115,200,000 yen monthly, the
amount ranging between 30,000,000 yen and 40,000,000 yen a
month in most cases. The temporary loans raised from
December, 1903, to May, I906, amounted to from 4,000,000
yen to 92,000,000 yen monthly, generally amounting to about
40,000,000 yen. The war tickets were first put into circulation in February, 1904, the largest amount of their monthly
circulation being 96,000,000 yen. The monthly circulation
of these tickets generally amounted to from 50,000,000 yen
to 90,000,000 yen, rarely below Io,ooo,ooo yen.
The war tickets were not different from the exchequer bonds
or from temporary loans, in that they were all intended to fill
up the temporary deficits in the Treasury revenue; but in real
object these tickets were materially different from those circulating notes. The objects of the issue of war tickets were,
on the one hand, to put off specie payment at home, so that
the government could pay a large amount in specie to foreign
countries, and, on the other hand, to facilitate the payment
of war expenses at the Korean and Manchurian fronts. The
government was thus able to maintain the specie reserve at
home and to make use of that amount of funds which was paid
in war tickets, free of interest. The war tickets were of the
nature of promissory notes payable at sight, to be exchanged
for Japanese I yen silver coins circulating in the regions
where the tickets were used. These tickets had six denominations of 10, 5, and I yen; 50, 20, and io sen. The following
measures were taken by the government to augment the
credit and to increase the circulation of the war tickets: (I)
The exchange of war tickets for Japanese silver coins was
made at the military cash office and Treasury branch offices
in Manchuria and Chosen; and the Yokohama Specie Bank
branch at Tiehling and Newchwang bought from time to time