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

82 EXPENDITURES OF THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR

funds. In April, I904, the Tobacco Monopoly Law was promulgated, and a temporary bureau was established for preparing for the manufacture of tobacco. The work of this
bureau was to buy up the business of the tobacco manufacturers, as well as to make ready for the manufacture by the
government. The initial expenses required by the monopoly
work have already been mentioned among the war-time
administrative expenses, so we shall now state the net incomes
(handled as special account) from the government tobacco
monopoly from I904 to 1907.
I904-I905 I905-90o6 I906-I9o7
Yen Yen Yen
Total receipts8............. 45,437,688 68,416,212 77,947,521
Total expenditures.......... 17,975,681 34,814, 54 45,374,337
Net proceeds.......... 27,462,007 33,602,057 32,573,I83
a Only a part of the above proceeds was appropriated to meet war expenses.
Salt was entirely free of duty after the abolition of the
miscellaneous taxes in 1875, but when the taxes were first
raised in the Russo-Japanese War the government tried to
increase its revenue by creating a salt consumption duty, and
then to replace it with salt monopoly after due preparations
were completed. It introduced a bill for the same purpose in
the Imperial Diet, but the proposal was rejected. When,
however, the taxes were raised the second time under more
pressing needs for increasing the Treasury revenue, the government introduced a bill for the monopolization of salt.
The bill was passed and was carried into effect on June I, 1905.
The salt monopoly was intended for buying salt from the
manufacturers or importing it from abroad, to sell to general
customers at a profit. Its selling price was fixed at the compensation paid to the manufacturer plus 2.50 yen per koku
or less, or 1.48 yen or less per 10O kin. Foreign salt and salt
produced in Formosa being cheap, larger additions were made
in order to bring up the standard selling price. These additions or balances between the buying and selling prices formed