Abstract
The relationship between the Local Government Act and the Poor Relief Bill began with a German individual, Mosse. Yamagata Aritomo, the Interior Minister at that time, decided to introduce a German-style local government system into Japan. He let Mosse come to Japan and requested him to draft a local government act The Local Government Act was established in 1888. After that, Mosse called for a system modeled after the Poor Relief Law of Germany, which would oblige relief work to be the responsibility of local government. This German-style local government act was introduced at that particular time because the establishment of western-style law was demanded in the context of treaty revision. It is strongly believed that the following individuals were involved in the creation of the Local Government Act: Carl Rudolf, Albert Mosse, Yamagata Aritomo, Arakawa Kunizo as well as other officials. The Poor Relief Bill was directly affected by the German Relief Law that stipulated relief effort for victims, relief work as the obligation of local government, qualification for relief and a means of mediation for cases of conflict over relief benefits. It also contained the original clauses related to the Japanese conventional relief system.
