present certain gifts to the Chinese Emperor insisted upon obtaining an audience, and thus succeeded in discovering that the unfortunate Kwangsu was still living. It remains to note that the Tokio Foreign Office has at last succeeded in inducing the principal Western powers to abolish the exterritoriality clauses in their respective treaties, whereby their subjects were exempted from the jurisdiction of the Japanese tribunals. With the disappearance of these clauses, which are still exacted not only in the case of China, Siam, Persia and Morocco, but also in the case of Turkey and Egypt, the Mikado’s empire may be said to have taken a recognized place among highly civilized nations. CHAPTER XIV TWENTIETH CENTURY JAPAN AND THE WAR WITH RUSSIA The Period of Enlightened Rule--The Japanese Imperial Family--Semi-Democratic Government--Social and Educational Conditions--Religion and Law--Industries and Commerce--European Influence--The Agricultural Class--The Greater Japan--Japan and Asia--The Leader of Asiatic Countries--Japan’s Development of Formosa--Her Influence in Siam--Her Interests in China--Japan and the Boxer Movement--Japanese Trade in Manchuria--Japan’s Interests in Corea--The Anglo-Japanese Alliance--Japan and the United States--Japan and Russia--Russian Interference with Japan in Manchuria and Corea--The Diplomatic Game with Russia--Outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War--Japan’s Naval and Military Strength--The Naval and Military Operations at the Opening of War Having taken her place as a power on an equality with the great world-powers, Japan entered upon the Twentieth Century as the leader of Asiatic nations in introducing modern civilization. The year 1901, in the Japanese calendar, was called the Meiji Era, or Period of Enlightened Rule--a fitting name for the first year of the New Empire in the new century. The electoral franchise had been extended, in 1900, to include all excepting certain uneducated persons in the lowest classes. The country was now divided politically into fifty Prefectures, Imperial Cities and Territories, in each of which the people had a voice in the administration. Consistent with her alliance with the great nations of Christendom, and with a constitutional government, the Japanese people now enjoyed, not only representative institutions, but also local self-government, freedom of the press and of public meetings, and religious liberty. Behold Twentieth Century Japan, then, open to any and every religious faith; her people taking part in the government, and through the Imperial Diet, a representative body, wielding a direct influence; the right of petition, assembly, discussion, and publication, free and open; advocating free and untrammeled education of her masses; and to the ambitious student lending a helping hand to the attainment of the highest education.