Vol.
63, No. 6
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Shigeru ITO
The decline in infant mortality in pre-war Japan
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The decline in infant
mortality in pre-war Japan is significant for two reasons. First is
the gap of over 20 years between the time when infant mortality in Europe
started to decline and the time when this trend began in Japan. Second
is the fact that this decline occurred at a time when the income gap
between rural and urban communities was growing.
On the eve of the decline
in infant mortality, the neonatal mortality rate had already gone down,
but the infant-neonatal mortality ratio, which indicates the relative
proportion of post neonatal mortality, had been increasing remarkably
in the cities. This rise was due to a decrease in breast feeding caused
by the participation of urban mothers in the labor force, the lack of
necessary support, and insufficient knowledge of infant care. Possibly
the most significant factor was the decline in breast feeding among
the lower classes in the cities.
Starting in 1920, the government
carried out substantial measures to reduce infant mortality. First was
a campaign to disseminate appropriate infant care information; second
was the creation of child-health guidance centers and facilities for
midwife services. Financial support was provided by local governments
and by private social-work organizations. In cities, the guidance centers
played an important role in spreading knowledge of infant care. As a
result, the infant-neonatal mortality ratio went steadily down. The
effects were less evident in rural areas because there were fewer centers.
Midwife service facilities were established in both urban and rural
areas, and the number of midwives increased remarkably after 1922. Owing
to these improvements, the neonatal mortality rate decreased at a higher
pace than in previous periods, in both rural and urban areas. Consequently,
the infant mortality rate in Japan began a consistent decline from 1923.
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Toshiaki TAMAKI
English trade with the Baltic, 1731-1780
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Modern British history is now considered to be the history of an empire,
an empire which developed in close association with shipping and the
shipbuilding industry. In order to expand or maintain this empire, Britain
had to import naval stores from the Baltic.
In the 1730s, English Baltic
trade centered on Riga, St Petersburg and Sweden (Stockholm). From the
1760s, however, St Petersburg overwhelmed the other Baltic ports. English
exports to the Baltic of cloth - Britain's principal export commodity
- stagnated, and imports from Russia through St Petersburg increased
dramatically. Further, such commodities as iron, flax, and hemp from
St Petersburg were essential raw materials for the early stages of the
British industrial revolution. Russia became an area of vital importance
for Britain in providing the empire with naval stores and raw materials
for the Industrial Revolution.
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Kumiko KOYAMA
A reinterpretation of the passage of the Smoot-Hawley Act, with special
reference to the provision of flexible tariffs
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The Smoot-Hawley Act became part of U.S. law in June 1930. It is notorious
for the high tariff rates on many items, which are said to have caused
tariff retaliation and expanded the division of the world into economic
blocs. Why was such an act passed, even though the President, Herbert
Hoover, had recommended only limited tariff revision? Several possible
factors, such as log rolling, interest groups and partisan politics,
have been analyzed.
The object of this article
is to shed light on another important factor. Hoover emphasized the
idea of flexible tariffs in order to establish a tariff system which
would both encourage exports and protect industry effectively, but not
excessively. Flexible tariff provision had been legalized in 1922, when
the authority to adjust tariffs was delegated by Congress to the Tariff
Commission and the President. However, Hoover thought that strengthening
direct contact between interested parties and the Commission under the
presidential authority was important in order to allow the swift and
effective adjustment of tariffs in line with changing economic conditions.
Interest groups such as the National Association of Manufactures backed
the provision. In Congress, however, there was disagreement over the
final tariff-adjusting authority. Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Act
because it contained a flexible tariff provision close to what he desired,
not because of his support for a wide range of high rates, or because
he was unable to control Congress.
Although the deepening of
the Depression eclipsed the provision, it represented the administration's
dream of setting up an effective tariff system. The provision was not
only retained after Smoot-Hawley, but the core principle of moving from
interested parties, through the Tariff Commission, to the President
often appeared in post-war commercial legislation. If seen from the
point of view of flexible tariff provision, it is clear that the Act
does not deserve its bad reputation.
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Masashi CHIBA
The nationalization of the Chinese telegraph industry in the late Qing
period
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The Chinese telegraph industry, which was established in the late nineteenth
century, underwent a period of reorganization in the first decade of
the twentieth century. Originally, the industry consisted of the Imperial
Chinese Telegraph Administration (I.C.T.A.) and official telegraph administrations
in the provinces, with the central government supervising the commercial
activities of the I.C.T.A. However, by 1911, the entire Chinese telegraph
industry had been unified under the management of the central government.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the process by which this occurred.
The early telegraph policy
of the Qing government was for the I.C.T.A. to take charge of construction
and management in central areas, while the various provincial official
telegraph administrations took charge in the periphery. But the formation
of a nation-wide telegraph network at the end of the nineteenth century
brought about a change in this policy. In 1902 the Qing government began
to nationalize the I.C.T.A. in order to gain control of its profits.
The reorganization of the whole Chinese telegraph industry was not yet
being contemplated, but on the other hand, drastic reforms were needed.
For the industry to develop throughout China, it was necessary for the
profits made by the central areas to be invested in the periphery.
The Youchuanbu (Ministry
of Posts and Communication), which was established in 1906, reorganized
the telegraph industry for this reason. Its first step was the complete
nationalization of the I.C.T.A. in 1908. Just before the 1911 revolution,
it took over responsibility for the telegraph industry in the periphery
from the official provincial telegraph administrations. The Chinese
telegraph industry was unified at last, under the management of central
government.
The nationalization process
which occurred in the last days of the Qing dynasty is the foundation
of the Chinese telegraph industry system that exists to this day.