No. 196.
Mr. Bingham to Mr. Fish.
Tokei, Japan, April 21, 1877. (Received May 23.)
Sir: I have the honor to further report concerning the civil war in this empire that on the 16th instant the siege of the castle of Kumamoto, in the island of Kiu-Siu, was raised, the insurgents fleeing before the imperial forces. That strong fort has been amply supplied, and is now held securely by the forces of His Imperial Majesty.
It is to be hoped that the revolt against His Majesty’s Government will soon end in the complete triumph of the laws of the empire over anarchy. Surely the government of His Majesty the Emperor is better than no government. There is evidence in this revolt of the utter incapacity of its aiders and abettors to do what the offices of good administration require in the affairs of state. That the insurgents had ground for complaint, without justification for their revolt, in the oppressive taxes imposed upon the people, I do not doubt; but, as I have shown in these dispatches, that was a necessity imposed, not of choice, but by force, upon this government by the fetters imposed upon this people by the western powers in the treaty provisions which have cut off the government of Japan from any considerable revenue from imports, and compelled the collection of nearly all the revenue to its treasury by direct taxation upon the toiling millions of the empire; of all which I have fully acquainted the Department heretofore, and have in the interests of the United States, of Japan, and of our common humanity, protested against it.
I have, &c.,