Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-01-16
OBSERVATIONS IN JAPAN.
what MIR. Sargent of New Haven
Heard and Sa w i'm the Far Ea st.

Heard and Sa w i'm the Far East.
Mr.. 1. B. Sargent. the great New
Haven manufacturer, is on tour
through the East. His latest letter,
printed in the New Haven Register,
is dated "Asia, September, 1887" 1t
deals with the Japanese and their
wages. Hakodate, from which Mr..
Sargent writes. is city OF 10000 peo-
Pile. Missionaries, says Mr.. Sargent,
are abundant in Hakodate. They are
Methodist, Baptist and Congregational,
Catholic and Russian Greek. All have
good schools, with from so to 500 pu-
pills each, in which sciences are taught
in the Japanese language, and Chris
tianity is also taught as much as pos
sible at the EngMsh-speaking mis-
sions. The reading ofthe Testament in
English is generally consented to, not
for the religion in it, but for the learn
ing of the English language. Ability
to read and speak the English Ian
guage is highly priced by the Japan
ese, Still, the missionaries are doing
much good in bringing before the
Japanese other ideas, other ways,
different costumes, chairs, tables,
knives and forks and spoons better
houses, creating new wants ia the
Japanese mind and spreading hnowl-
edge of the English language, SO that
the new wants can be the more easily
supplied and commercial dealings in
creased by free trade English manu-
facturers. All over Asia American
missionaries are beating the bush,
and free trade England is catching
the birds.
"I supposed" said Mr.. Sarge Mt, 81
should be free from newspaper inter
views in Asia, but l hadnot been in
Hakodate over one day before a
scholarly gentleman approached, me.
He had, ne said, the honor Of repre-
senting the Hakodate newspaper, and
wanted to ask some questions. He
wanted to, know my fall name. resi-
.dence, occupation, number of people
employed, object in coming to Japan,
and many other matters connected
with my visit and business, all OF
which, With my replies he committed
to paper IN the most advanced report
orial style. He took me to see the
manufacturing establishments OF Ha-
kodate, one of which is o small
foundry and machine shop we'll
filed with English-made tools,
nearly all idle, and the other saw
mill. The sawmill, as all Japanese
sawmills are, is a union sawmiEl.
Whether the rules OF the Sawyers'
Union are profitable for the members
Of the union and most profitable foI
the whole people is more than | know
Or care. But they do not allow saw,
ing to be done in Japan except by
man power. Mills run by steam
power and water power have beer
erected and tried, with bad results tc
the saws and machinery, and capital
lists were taught lesson. In the
Hako6ate sawmilllwere eighteen saw
hyers, working in their everyday
street, home and working clothes
!, that is, as naked as they were
born. except with very marrow
piece of liner cloth tied around theil
ioins, the ends meeting and forming
a covering in front and underneath.
Each man bad saw from eighteen
inches to four feet, according to tht
diameter Of the log he worked al
and sawed his log into boards. On'
end of the log Is, raised on horse
higher than the sawyer's head, ant
the sawysr, with his saw made to GU
only when pulled, stands under thu
log and works for forty silver cent
per day-equal to only thirty cents Il
gold ccin. There is no other kind c
sawmiM in Japan. The guild Q
union of the sawyers and that OF tn
carpenters, and That of the cabinet
makers are all very strong
and 90 together, as I ar
informed and rule out all woo(
working labor-saving machinery
because OF the presumed liability t
. throw members of these guilds out {
employment. Whether these rule
have had the effect, after trial I
| 1000 years and more of their enforc
ment, to raise or keep up the wages
, members is OF no concern to emplo,
ers. Whether the necessary big
, price of boards sawed by such a slo
t process has had anything to do vii
. the substitution of mud for lumber
houses for workingmen, with the a
sence of bedsteads, tables and chat
from the farm laborers', mechanic
Q and workingmen's houses is of !
+ concern to the rich who can afford
9 buy boards at the current prices.