metal, and the consequent'chaagesinthe coin,: jky-the scarcity which ensued.L et us
but xeflect on':the.enbrmous exportation of the precious'metals,-, which took place,from
Japan atithe,period when the trade was unlimited,?and we shall find* abundant cause
for theserchanges in the ccdn,’-without-accusing the'Japanese of reporting to the mea-
' sure as an imposition on the foreign - merchant. “ rThe exports athhe^p^riod says
Mr. Imhoff, “ amounted;to Jen- millions; of f lo r in s .i.These, were principally "made
in the |pr.cici!oiis. aaetalg+and in.the),coiiybf. the country;. and when ;the' ."trade 'felli exclusively;
into. the hands‘-of the Dutch, it had been ;usuaI*to export at.first.frdm Otte
hundred to one hundred ..and. fifty chests of silver, \and^subsequently the trade admitted
of no jless 'than two hundred,! chestsof. gold, coin being exported instead;ofiithe silver.'
On . a moderate .calculation,, therefore,?the exports of .thelrformeri periodrwefe about
one million sterling,^and; those .continued by the' D,utdi] could not be less than from
half a million, to. a million sterling in ; each year ;.’so' that, during ai period^ofi sixty
years, .the total export would have antpunted to from thirty, tor.sixtyrindiiipns^tif'
pounds sterling, r.and this dons pot include what found its* way to;<3faina and other
neighbouring countries. • ..-
The discovery of the mines of America-reduced, in the sixteenthfcentury/the value
of gold and silver in Europe to about one-third- of what it had, before been and
might not the extensivti drain on Japan have produced in that^)|'iMt&tdn:;eppomte
effect of the same magnitude ? If the gold and silver annually importeddiito-Spain
and Portugal, which did not commonly exceed six millions, pounds sterling,' produced
this effect on. the circulating medium, and the price of the a precious' metals throughout
all Europe, in one. country of which alone,i thee circulating! gdld and silver
amounted by some accounts to eighteen, and to- others. to * thirty millions; t is it ■
not easy to conclude, that a directly contrary and equally^e^ensiveieffebtiinust have!
been felt in Japan ?• and that this effect must have been'felt in a s,till>higher degree^
while operating on the confined circulating medium of one -nation, than while operating ■
oB. thsit .of the numerous nations of Europe, Who again ■found meaiiN:b;dispqse of " li&rge
quantities by remittances to the Eastern world Ji
The extensive circulation of- money throughout the populous and rich empire of
Japan, and the facility with which the drains upon it could be supplied'from thimines/
was perhaps the: cause that, in the first • instance,- the exportation of the preci.au« •
metals was, no% sensibly felt; but afterwards, when probably the mint couldf-not keep
pace with the;.demand,; and what is not unlikely, the demand was even ’too ■ heavy for
the mines, the intrinsic .value of the coins increased in proportion to the scarcity; and
i |^ - not surprising that the Japanese should have entertained an apprehension lest'
the minps : would become exhausted*;-; Whether there were any imihediate grounds for
such an apprehension is uncertain; • but it is'generally believed,* that art edict was
issued to discontinue working, first the silver, and afterwards the gold mines, but
not until the nominal, and perhaps the real value of both' metals, and. particularly of
the latter, hadbeen nearly doubled, as in the instance of the kobang of the original
value being offered to the Dutch for two Icobcmgs.
That
• Wealth of Nations. ' f Ibid.
Thatjthe,Dutch, p§r^ap^ow,e thedossidf/this valuable trade, ; in a great measure, to APPENDIX
thqM^E^cityrandjj^tóhlessne^.pfj-.their own servants, cannot but be admitted; for
hadjthey,,,0,0 th^se.:c,öntinned r.e.düc.tijojns in . thejvalue Jof the current coins, adverted to Japan Trade,
the political, cause,, and calculated their commercial ^transactions according to the
intrinsic instead of the nominal values* -they 'would not. have. subjected themselves,
junkuewingly, to a- loss of sixty per cent, upon the proceeds o f all their exports s. nor
would t-Jiëy havei.shewn th^ir Weakness andjignotance,|o the; Japanese, but they would
immediately have devised the advantage* o fjöther returfte, from Japan, in articles, the
exportation o f which, might at the. same, time;, havevimp'roved the t industry and
,prosperity ofs that .empire.; and thev'Japanese, i;fin,dingi.the’m equally intelligent and
pnterprisjngpander all cifcunjstances, while :they rfeiUan interest in the continuance,'of
the .trade, wopld;have, respected t the matron by whotp.-it'iWa^. carried on. If,' however^
Lyj,these means, th^J^roppan character and'the, value of'-foyeign trade thus declined
in the* lestimatio.n of the Japanese, ,howi much lower must that. ofiithe< .Dutch nation
.hayeafellen,'.when after ton ce dictatihg,thelpriéesi oft.alljarticles^fboth* bought *and sold,
we fiflej them obtaining at'last an advance; ontheir,proceeds of fhe-outward cargo, by
way of cAarit^fp.and the Japanese themselves-appealing against* the peculations and
corruptions that w,ere,.carried on ! When w.e sepythe,Dutch, without power and without
J^pect, dictating in,- the. mighty tempire- of Japan an arbitrary and extravagant price
for their commodities,- in the same manner (as, Jhey^did at home, Is it, surprising that
we shtjuld'find the Japanese having recollfse-to a'fixed valuation ?. When we obsèrve
the illicit trade to Japan carried^, QUqhyti private,individuals,ntbbfuohjan'ex'tent, that
Sjalqntyny a Dutch author of,,the highest authority,,*-says,it was'so interwoven with thé
;Cpnstitut^óni-of ,the Company,-and sp .extensive,, that* i t formed,'the principal part of
•the trade and could never, be prevented, and that the Dutch 'ships were frequently lost
hy being'overladen, with cargoes of this kind, we, cannofc(be2astariished at the decline*of
Jthejp^QspgjiJy of the; Company, or.'the, degradations which were imposed-upon its
agents*.* The Dutch factory-Wasyand is,,in fact,.a sink of thé most disgraceful corruption,
flml peculation, which evfer existed. The fhetor, to obtain his' own' effds,* euBmits tij
every possible degradation',; Und the government of Bataviai*knows.'hnlyfjus’t as much
<?ij ^hatisigding^dn at Japan,' as it'is his interest to’ tell. them.'.In'this work it has
become a painful, dutyqJo^ adyert occasionally tó <,theshameful- scenes of*frajid and
corruption carried on under the very eyes of the government- of Batavia, and in tfie
dependencies in the more immediate vicinity of that metropolis, where their residents
enjoyed such extensive powers, and were so removed from controul and responsibility,
that their interests constantly interfered with their duties, and the struggle between
principle and opportunity generally ended in a resolution to make fortunes, to connive
at each others peculations,, and keep their own secret. If this was the case on the
island of Java, the seat of government, what must- it not have been in a country so
remote as Japan, where the connection) and intercourse were so peculiar? It-is-not
surprising, that in the accounts of such a factory, the government at home should
find.,nothing but intricacy and obscurity. It was the interest of the factor to keep
, :< ' . d J * - , , - ‘i;* '' ' ‘ every