The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-05

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over 100000 gold in the last guar
ter Of 1895. Our silk imports from
Japan in the same period were valued at
about 90, 500, 900 gold, to which aggregate.
however, silk goods proper contributed only
about $45o, 1000. Mating was valued at
$780, 900 gold. There is certainly nothing
in these figures to excite apprehension, and
that they will be speedily increased Mr..
BARRETT does not believe. For the follow
ing reasons: In the first place, the advance
OF the cost of labor Is marked, the last
twelve months having witnessed a greater
rise than that of the preceding twelve
years. This means hat Japanese manu-
facturers will soon be compelled to face
the results of their own competition for
skilled labor. In the second place, labor is
organizing in Japan, and, although the ma
tive w~orkingman's conception Of organiza-
ton is as yet crude, there are signs, Mr..
BARRETT says, hat combination is coming,
and that the workman will appreciate its
power. Again, the same tendency to crowd
into cities and to abandon the former cheap
mode of rural living, which is q familiar
phenomenon in Europe and the United
States, is noticeable also In Japan. Who can
say what social problems may not arise when
d 10000 900 people are suddenly transformed
from home-staying and piece-working men
and women into restless. wandering, and
factor y-filling haunters Of great citiesr
Another fact is noted, namely, hat the Jap
anese manufacturers lave not yet learned
to maintain permanently q high standard.
The haste and effort to make large profits
have resulted often in producing a poor
quality Of goods and the consequent loss Of
markets. Mr.. BARRETT tells us that shirts,
for instance, can be bought as cheaply in
San Francisco and New York as they can be
in Japan. Perhaps a man can purchase a
dress suit in Yokohama for $50 gold,
but he will get a $50 fit, and the
first evening he wears it will also
be the last. Nor can a Japanese tailor make
an American workingman's suit for $40
gold that for wear will equal what can be
purchased for that sum in Chicago clothing
stores. The same thing may be said Of the
watches and clocks made in Japan. They
are cheap, but poor; they cannot yet COM
pete successfully in both cheapness and
quality with those imported from Switzer-
land and the United States.
In WORD, Mr.. BARRETT believes the dam
ger to American industries. If danger there
is to be, must be looked for in China far
more than in Japan. 1t is true that, thus
far, Chinese competition, as in it's cotton
mills, sugar refineries, and iron foundries,
confines itself to an attempt to withhold a
part of the home market from the foreigner.
1t is defensive, not aggressive. Should it
succeed, however, in defensive tactics at
--z I'LL - 80 s- -- 80 q
Mr.. BARRETT evidently feels some mis-
givings on this point, although there
is no immediate ground for alarm.
The facts remain, however, that to-day, for
the same work, wages are higher in Japan
than in China; that the supply of labor in
Japan is more limited and always will be
and that wage in Japan have a strong
tendency to advance, whereas in China
they have none. Again, living is cheaper in
China than in Japan. TIL Japanese. too,
are more ambitious han the Chinese, and
less satisfied with small pay. Lastly, raw
material of most kinds is cheaper in the
Middle Kingdom.
1t seems to follow that, II the doubts that
still hang over the industrial and CONNER
cial policy Of China were removed. and il a
few more concessions and rights were
granted to foreigners, we might witness an
industrial development in China which
would altogether eclipse that of Japan, and
might introduce a new and redoubtable
competitor into the markets of the world.
But for the moment, as we have said, and
for some years to come. it seems clear from
Mr.. BARRETT's observations that We have
nothing to fear from the Far East.