In connection with this table, we wish to call attention to the fact that the average duration of eleven Ministries is less than two years; and that the average was considerably raised by the unusual length of the two Ministries which covered the periods of the wars with China and Russia, when political rivalries were buried. It is quite probable that, if foreign wars had not occurred to unify the nation, those Ministries would not have had a duration so greatly in excess of the average, especially as, at the outbreak of the wars, party feeling was running very high. In that case the general average would have been reduced by an increase in the number of cabinets. It should also be noticed that three of these Ministries (both Matsukata and the second Itō) came to an end on account of collision with the Diet, and that four Ministries (the Kuroda, the first and third Itō, and the first party Cabinet of Ōkuma and Itagaki) were broken up by internal dissensions; and the last Katsura (February, 1913) was forced out by popular revolt. JAPAN’S HOUSE OF PEERS Among its 373 members only 57 sit by hereditary right; namely, 14 Princes of the Blood, 13 Princes, and 30 Marquises. Among the remaining members, 150 are elected by the Counts, Viscounts, and Barons, 121 are Imperial nominees,—that is to say, men who have earned distinction by eminent services or attainments,—and 45 represent the highest tax-payers in the prefectures. THE POLITICAL PARTIES OF JAPAN[216] The idea of popular representation in the government of Japan may be said to have had its birth with the Restoration, although some thoughtful men had been turning their minds in that direction at an earlier date. His Imperial Majesty the present Emperor, in his oath on the occasion of his succession to the throne, made known his enlightened desire that men should meet in council from all parts of the country and all affairs of state be determined in accordance with public opinion. This pronouncement may be regarded as the starting-point of the movement for parliamentary representation. The germ of the present House of Peers and House of Representatives is found in the _Gi-sei_, a department of the government which was organized as early as June, 1868. The _Kō-gi-jō_, which was opened in the following year, was representative, not of the people, but of the governing authorities in the various localities. The members of the _Sa-In_, which replaced the _Kō-gi-jō_ (or _Shūgi-in_) in September, 1871, were nominated by the Emperor and the council of state. The history of political parties in Japan may conveniently be divided into four periods: (1) From the Restoration up to 1882, while as yet they were in embryo; (2) from the year 1882, when they for the first time took actual shape, until 1888; (3) from the organization of the _Daidō-Danketsu_ in 1887 until 1898; (4) the period since the amalgamation of the two strongest parties to form the constitutional party in 1898.