THE JAPANESE COMMISSIONER IN MASTERTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2296, 15 May 1886, Page 2

THE JAPANESE COMMISSIONER IN MASTERTON.

!shis{ct% Shiga, 8.A., a member of tho BcientiSc expedition attached to the , Japanese Man-of-war, now lying in Wei- ft lington harbor, paid a visit to Mn?tertoh "7

yesterday, In the absence of His" Worship the Mayor, tho Town Clerk did tho. honors, and showed the distinguished visitor the principal objects of -iApst, and supplied him >vith informatiofWipon, the produce and requirements of the v djjk', trict. The visitor explained that !■?• Government had sent the man-of-war, under command of Captain Pukishima, to. cruise in the southern tm, and ariumboi of scientific gentleman, who had graduated in the University at Japan, and gained honorable distinction, were sent on tho expedition to report upon the form of Government, products, imports, and exports of the numerous islands in.the South Pacific Ocean. Five years ago, he statrd that the Japanese Government had issued a minifeato stating that in a decade from then, a more directforinsofGovern-

ment would be granted the people, and ihiructions were then given to the professors, members of the University and tho colleges to study the mods of Govern- ' ments of the American and European powers, with a view to the introduction into the country of a Government br Parliament, instead of absolute monarch;, It waß presumed by the Mikado and hie advisers that ten years would- ba ample time tu fully prepare the pebplMir tho change, and in the ye:.r'lß9CTnqne» form of Government will be established, The distinguished visitor furthers&id that woollen fabrics were gradually being introduced, and the upper classes were-leading the fashion of wearing European costume, He had visited Australia and thought Now Zealand had a much better climate and va» far wperior in scanory. He thought trijft*, might be established between Australa|ft' and Japan with advantage, He had pufi.' lished in the Sydney "Echo" reports upon Japan, its products, manufactures, *ud requirements, and his duty was to prepare a report upon (ho different count rim th» commission visited. He found that tha • English-speaking people of the Southern Seas, although almost their nuyhbors, knew comparatively little of the Japa» nese. The people of America and England had a much greater knowledge of them. He thought this stats of things should bo remedied by teaching.in th« State schools of tho Colonics. TJio time might arrive when they would nu«d each other as allies. The Japanese wor» banishing all prejudices and adopting anything they saw worthy of limtjjjjpii in other nations.- Already Christianity wa» more than tolerated, and there were many schoolsinJapan where thoNow TM&nent, translated into their languid, Wlnaughr, In Japan they had an unlimited supply of coal and iron, with an enormous population, and consequently cheap late, and if tho report of the Scientific Ckjb mission was favorable, it was intendea to start Japanese woollon manufacture*. This would open up an important industry with New Zealand and Australia, for the raw material, and from Japan, goods now obtained from England could bo procured, and thus a flourishing trad* established. He was of opinion that with the important advantages mentioned at their command and the staple comniodities obtainable so close at hand thai they would be able to open up a larga trade in the manufactured "article with India and China. The distineuished visitor was shown the principal places of interest in the distriot. He was very much interested at the fish! hatch-

eties of the Acclimitisatio'n'; Society, where tho officor in charge showed him round. Salmon three months ijld, and trout twelve months and upwards were shown to him, and he made numerous enquiries as to their distribution',' and how tho cost was defrayed. He visited also tho public library and reading room, and examined the literature supplied. On being shown the collection" of, ties in the Museum ho j& uurip sicS" axes and chisels, Ta« ToWh. C^flj

handed him with much pride a sheet ■ covered with hieroglyphics,, which was labelled "Japanese Newspaper." He smiled broadly and said, "that is a translation in Chinese cf the loth chapter of St. Matthew," and taking a sheet of embossed paper, he said : " This is Japanese screen paper," It was labelled "Japanese pocket handkerchief." The Curator of the Museum subsided. After visiting two or three buildings, and inspecting the Waikakapa Dah,v PrintMi Office, ho returned to the Club notol, where he is staying. In the overling, accompanied by Mr It. K. Smith, the Borough Gas Engineer, ami .other gentlemen, ho visited the Maori yah at To Ore Ore, by invitation, where & war dance was' impiovised for his especial behoof. He was much struck with ' the performance, which he characterised ft« most extraordinary. Ho expressed his opinion that the Maoris were of Hawaiian .extract, altogether dissimilar to aboiv jjin'os of Australia. HosangaJapanescwar long to the natives who were evidently ' delighted with the affability of their visitor. He leaves to-day for Wellington with a very favorable impression of this part of New Zealand. Ho remarked that the two extremes of poverty and riches were not so observable here as in England and America. TheNewZealundors wore mora like the Japanese in this respect. '.'■' ~ : V;;'