There was, however, one difficulty in the way of Japanese patronage of American shipyards in the construction of naval vessels. This difficulty soon came to the surface, but was averted by the urgency of diplomatic considerations. It grew out of the fact that the money which Japan was using to augment her navy was that which she realized from the Chinese Indemnity paid under the provisions of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. This indemnity had been furnished by Russia and financed in England or by English capitalists; and it appeared that there was a sort of tacit, if not express, understanding that most of it was to be spent in naval construction, and that the ships which it was to pay for should be built in English shipyards. However, the Japanese naval authorities were extremely desirous of adding one or more American-built ships to their fleet; their idea, from the professional point of view, being that, as they were then about prepared, or had been for some time engaged in preparing, to build ships at home in their own dock-yards, the possession of one or more American-built ships would be of value as samples, models, or object lessons. Finally, after considerable negotiation carried on partly with or through the Japanese Minister at Washington, and partly at head-quarters in Tokio, the Japanese government awarded a contract to Cramp for the construction of a first-class protected cruiser of the highest attainable speed. This contract was signed by Mr. Cramp on behalf of the Company and by Toru Hoshi, the Minister, on behalf of his Majesty, the Emperor of Japan. The vessel, the “Kasagi,” was originally designed to be of about 5000 tons displacement, but was modified to a displacement of about 5500 tons. The guaranty was 17,000 indicated horse-power and twenty-two and one-half (22½) knots speed, to be determined by four runs, two each way over a measured course ten knots long. Upon her completion the ship was taken in charge by the Japanese captain and crew, and upon her arrival home immediately took a conspicuous place in the Japanese navy. Although this vessel gave the most profound satisfaction in every respect, and although she had been built in the United States at a cost that compared quite favorably with relative contract prices elsewhere, the Japanese did not repeat the experiment for reasons already intimated. In fact, all the influence of British diplomacy upon the policy of Japan was successfully employed in securing the maintenance of the British alliance in opposition to the advance of the Russians in the direction of the Pacific and to retain the monopoly that English ship-builders, principally Armstrong, had previously enjoyed, and to prevent or prohibit the construction of any more vessels of war in the United States or in American shipyards.