殖産興業政策と河川舟運 (工業化と輸送)

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The Japanese government in the early years of the Meiji era, with the attainment of wealth and military strength as state aim, took a policy of industrial development. The object of this policy was to free Japan from the pressures by foreign capital and to quickly establish Japan's economic independence and capitalism. The industrial development policy was begun with the creation of the Ministry of Industry in 1870. The ministry put under its authority construction of railroads, lighthouses and telegraphic networks, besides mines and shipyards which had been taken over from the Tokugawa Shogunate, and it made its vital efforts to further the development policy. But the full-scale promotion of the policy was attained only after the establishment of the Ministry of Interior in 1873 presided over by Tadamichi Okubo and the formation of the so-called Okubo regime with the concentration of strong political forces in the ministries of Interior, Industry and Finance. However, the Seinan Civil War broke out in 1877 and as measures to counter inflation resulting from the war, adjustment of paper money and transfer of government-operated factories to private ownership were put into practice. Thus it resulted in the conversion of the industrial development policy. The Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce was established in 1881 and it adjusted and integrated various projects under the development policy. In addition, the Ministry of Industry, which had been the promoter of the development policy and the supervisor of the government-operated projects, was abolished in 1885 and in this way the industrial development policy ended its historical role. The early Meiji government, in its pursuit of the industrial development policy, tried to establish as its basis a national transportation network by land and water. Clearly showing its efforts in this direction are a series of projects known as "projects utilizing the industrial promotion fund", created through the sale of industrial promotion bonds. Among the projects concerning transportation funded with this money, construction of ports and roads were managed by the Ministry of Interior and construction of railroads by the Ministry of Industry. Establishment of an inland transportation system by water had always been paid attention to in connection with the construction of roads and railroads, for it was then recognized that boat transportation on rivers and rail transportation were mutually supplementary and along with coastal shipping, would form a nationwide transportation network. The construction of railways, was still in its very early stage. Therefore, the then government vigorously promoted such enterprises as river conservancy, expansion of waterways, building of canals and commission of vessels in service, as part of those utilizing the industrial promotion fund. Boat transportation on rivers had, in a word, a much greater role in the total transportation network than in later years. In this paper, the writer will try to investigate these points concretely.
社会経済史学会の論文
1983-02-25

殖産興業政策と河川舟運 (工業化と輸送)

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