The sun., 1896-02-02

turing industry by the. products Of cheap ORR
entail labor. and to determine what is the
cause, of this menace, and what means should
be adopted TO avert the threatened injury to
Warner Miller suggested that the memorial
instead OF to the Senate. as the House Of Rep
rcscntativcs was the only body that could in
in with s
and u committee of two was appointed tn pre-
sent the memorial to Congress. The reading
OF the report came as n great surprise to vcrv
many of the manufacturers. and there was
much earnest talk on the 81 1T Of Japanese
competition during the rem, SA.er or the Con-
Last week there was also n meeting In San
vtsigC the he !.H apamese HSason and to to de-
sisc means 10 stir W Congress and the manu-
in the East This romn'eS nS RE-
nation about japan's Industrial activity. 1t
was shown that until recently Japan had i'm.
ported larscc quantities of leather from this
country. There are TODAY four extensive tan
rerir,s in Kobe. two in Osaka. and number of
smaller tanncr;cs in various parts OF lapnn.
All these ;aruerics are doing n big business,
hnd are supplying grent part of the lrathcr
from saH San Ffoneis"" S' have diminished greatly.
and tn, Is hIShlv probable @ if n not i lIeT,t"nlr;
leather at all from mis- country.
Within IL month representative OF Yoko;
hama corr"rn has, visited san Francisco and
elites md design, N fancy leather purses and
travelling bags. which he said hc was going to
lhht W W bt uuVlNNlcu. nv Sl'tcu
that the concern hc represented was in n post
ton to Duplicate exactly any leather goods
tia, wonid enable III" il /" paSc the them " in our our
market far below the prevailing price;
nnc of the commttccinrn reported that the
,,,rLgy have, also large machine shops" he
said. where they now manufacture their own
looms ard spindlcs. Their cotton looms sur
pass ours. for they are all of later design"
Attention was attracted In san Francisco
raw cotton from Texas points and from New
Orleans pnssinG through that port for loko-
mama. lhis fact was commented on by the
railroad and steamship people. and had not
comc to the attention of the committee re-
corroborativ" OF the remarkable activity OF
Jaraa IN the manufacture of textile fabrics.
Southern Pacific Railroad had hauled to San
Francisco $4,000 bales of his seasons cotton.
en- route to iokohalna ard some 1000 balcs
were known to be on the way at that date. Tho
railroad officials said they expected to turn
oyer oyer to The steamship c3mpanies o6 before the
cotton destined for japan.
Mr. NJ. Mntzumi. representative OF the Jap.
nncsc manufacturing syndicate importing this
raw cotton. told the railroad pc pie that he
fully eNnectcd TO put out orders during tn,
to be shipped by W way W of San Fra Francisco.
This. OF course. is pleasant for the cotton
growers and the railroads. but it is eau sing the
GUM. II indicates that Japan will diminish
her imports of cotton goods by Just SO much.
IL
:uinons competition in American markets later,
The story of the awaken nu of Japan from
her astonishing progress, in the adoption Of
Western ways is now old as II story, though
comparatively new. as an event. Just how
the change is stil going on. II is the tcstimo-
ny of the most recent travellers and of our own
Consuls that the japanese are by no means the
merely initiative people they have long been
considered. IL has been proved many times of
late that in industrial departments where orig
IA IL
ancsc Is quite the equal of the Wcstcrner.
for many years Il satisfaction and a consolation
to Western manufacturers.
Another point on witch there has long heen
of Japan. 1t has been popuiarly underesti.
mated by millions. To-day Japan has n popu-
laton of thr. United States, 900, 900 more than
the population of Great Britain and Ireland.
some 6.O0o.Or0 more than France, and not
far from as many people as there are in united
Germany. the territory in which this caor-
nous numbcr of pGople live is only about as
power in the world. These figures are from
the latest consular reports to the State De
But it is in the chen; ness of labor that ia,
pans great strength as n competitor With
Japan native workers in the iron mills perform
the same skilled labor for 80 cents a day that
commands 81 TO S4.jO II day In American iron
mills. All other labor is in proportio In the
factories from five to fifteen cents day is paid
LOT lUbor. ana 1huCu ol IL COStS less tnan Ten
cents n duy.
The on>ul.Gcncral at Shanghai is Of the
opinion that the greatest danger 10 American
manufacturers will be in the establishment of
manufactures in China by Japanese capital
lists; Wages in China are much below thos"
paid in japan. while he is of opinion that he
quality of work done by the Chincse is in every
way equal To- hat of the Ja Japanesc. He think
the industrial character o: the Chinese has
been vastly misunderstood and uhdcrrated.
There has been really little opportunity of
Judging what the Chinese can do in Western
industrial pursuits.
Here some of the wages current in Shang-
hal to-day: they present ono of the strongest
object lessons in the possibilities of Oriental
competition. Backsmiths Let thirteen cents
dal. brasSworkcrS. sixteen: barriers. three;
shocmakers. ten: hrcklayrrs. ten: carpenters.
eleven: tilnrs. ten. l.ithographcIs get SlO.j6
n month. CompositOrs 81 to SlJ.S4, and press
mcn about 81 a month.
These :, me of the facts that have been
presented lately in vario,i, places bearing
the apparent danger to american industries
in the awakening of the Orient. 1t appears to
be the ntentio.. of American manufacturers to
haIc the matter brought prominently 10 thc at
teton OF Congress through direct memorials
and through individual congressman. in order
that some steps may ne taken for the protcC-
tiOn of home industries and the American
working people.