In the immediate future, the total tonnage will be raised to the _post-bellum_ figure of 250,000 tons.[221] Everybody agrees that Japan must not rest there. She has to keep up with the rapid additions made by other countries to their naval forces. That is not a matter of serious difficulty so far as ships are concerned: they can always be bought with money. But the men to man them is another problem. After the Restoration any number of recruits were obtainable for the army, as was natural in a country where a military feudalism had existed for centuries. The navy, however, could not be so easily supplied, maritime enterprise having been effectually checked under the Tokugawa rule. Difficulties about seamen may now be said to have been overcome. But that is not true of officers. Our contemporary here gives the following table:— NUMBER OF OFFICERS AND TOTAL FORCE, YEAR. MEN ACTUALLY SERVING. INCLUDING RESERVES. 1895 14,463 17,140 1900 28,308 32,981 This shows an increment of only 100 per cent, whereas the increase of tonnage in the same time was 400 per cent.[222] The great difficulty is to get a supply of officers for the lower ranks—midshipmen and lieutenants. The only college for educating these officers is at Edajima, where not more than 600 cadets can be accommodated. There, then, a change must be effected. It will probably take the form of organizing another naval college at Yokosuka, and making arrangements that the preliminary education of candidates shall be effected in the middle schools. JAPAN’S MERCANTILE MARINE[223] The “Tōkyō Keizai” publishes some interesting statistics bearing on the development of our mercantile marine. It was 1870 or thereabouts that the Japanese began to turn their attention to the carrying trade in the modern sense of the term, but its growth was slow until the Chinese War of 1894-1895. The following table gives the figures for the eleven years from 1892 to 1902 inclusive: YEAR. TONS. 1892 214,000 1893 325,000 1894 320,000 1895 386,000 1896 417,000 1897 486,000 1898 648,000 1899 796,000 1900 863,000 1901 917,000 1902 934,000[224] From the comparative statistics published by our contemporary, it is noticed that, while in 1892 our mercantile fleet was the thirteenth in the world in point of tonnage, it had risen by 1901 to the eighth position. It is interesting to observe that it is rapidly coming up to the same relative status as that occupied by our naval fleet whose position is the seventh among the navies of the world.[225] [Illustration: “SHIKISHIMA” IN NAVAL REVIEW, KŌBE] TREATY OF COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Signed at Washington, 22nd day of the 11th month, 27th year of Meiji. Ratifications exchanged at that City, 21st day of the 3rd month, 28th year of Meiji.