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

RESOURCES FOR DEFRAYING WAR EXPENSES

79

Soy for sale was formerly taxed 2 yen per koku, while soy
for household use was taxed I yen for the same quantity.
But soy being a commodity of daily use by all classes, the
rate on the former was raised only 50 sen and on the latter
25 sen in the first increase. Formerly, soy manufactured for
household use by private individuals except the keepers of
hotels and restaurants was untaxed, provided it did not exceed
one koku in quantity. It was found, however, that private
manufacturers were greater in number among the richer
classes than among the poorer, with the result that while the
richer people used untaxed soy the poorer people paid duty.
Consequently, soy less than a koku manufactured for private
use also came to be taxed, and the rate was 50 yen a koku.
Woolen fabrics and silk stuffs being luxuries of life for the
Japanese and excellent articles for taxation, a new consumption tax was imposed on woven fabrics. In the first increase,
therefore, a.15 ad valorem duty was imposed on woolen fabrics, and in the second increase Io per cent was levied on all
woven textiles other than woolen articles.
The import duty on petroleum was raised also on account
of the war. As in the case of the sugar excise, a consumption
tax was levied on domestic petroleum for the six months up to
the enforcement of the new customs tariff, in order to prevent
any sudden fluctuation of the market through anticipatory
importation or the falling off of the customs income through
the same reason afterward. The rate of the excise was 3.20
sen per gallon.
Additional import duties were raised upon such articles as
were capable of adding to the revenue of the Treasury or
necessary for counterbalancing the increased or newly created
burdens of the taxpayers. In the first increase the following
measures were taken: (I) with the object of increasing the
national revenue, 10 per cent ad valorem was added to the
former tax on silks (specified in Class 13, Import tariff rates
appended to the Customs Schedule), 20 per cent ad valorem
on clothing and accessories made of silk, partly or entirely
(Class 3), 5 per cent ad valorem on tea, coffee, and the like