The Mikado had now been governing Japan for ten years by means of an irresponsible Ministry. The oath which he had taken at Kioto in 1868 to form a deliberative assembly had never been fully carried out. We have seen that the Kogisho, or advisory body, called into existence in 1868, had been dissolved in the same year. Subsequently, in 1875, a Senate had been established and an assembly of the ken governors, or prefects, held one session. The meetings of the latter body, however, were soon indefinitely postponed. Nevertheless, the era of personal government was drawing to a close. On July 22, 1878, a long step was taken toward representative institutions by an edict convoking provincial parliaments or local assemblies which were to sit once a year in each ken or province. Under the supervision of the Minister of the Interior, these bodies were empowered to discuss questions of local taxation, and to petition the central government on other matters of local interest. There were both educational and property qualifications of the franchise. Each voter had to prove his ability to read and write, and he must have paid an annual land tax of at least five dollars. In October, 1881, the Mikado announced by a proclamation that, in 1890, a Parliament would be established. In June, 1884, an edict was issued readjusting the system of nobility. In the newly created orders of princes, marquises, counts, viscounts and barons, were observed the names of many men who had once belonged to the class of Samurai, or gentry, but who had earned promotion by distinguished services on behalf of their country. Three hundred persons, that may be described as pertaining to the aristocracy of intellect, were thus ennobled on the score of merit. It was expected that out of these newly created nobles would be constituted the upper house, or Chamber of Notables, in the Parliament which was to come into being in 1890. In December, 1885, the triple premiership, the Privy Council and the Ministries, as they had been hitherto established, came to an end. In their place was created a Cabinet, at the head of which was a Minister-President. The old government boards, together with a new board, which was to supervise the post-office, telegraph and railway, were organized in such a way as to discharge many thousand office-holders. All the members of the new Cabinet were men of modern ideas, and such Asiatic features as the government had hitherto retained were now extinguished. By 1886, notable progress had been made in the applications of steam and electricity. Of railroads there were already 265 miles open, 271 miles in course of construction, and 543 miles contemplated. Although these lines were built and equipped on British models, most of the surveying, engineering and constructive work and all of the mechanical labor were performed by natives. The trains and engines were worked by Japanese; such light materials as were made of wood and metal