The Winslow mail., 1898-12-24
JAPAN LABOR UNIONS
The Movement Is Spreading
Throughout the Empire.
There Have Been Thirty-Eight
Strikes Within Ycar-Wages
Have Advanced in the
Last Two Years,

Last Two Years,
Labor unions have been introduced
into Japan with considerable success.
The ideas they represent seem to ap-
peal to the japanese working people,
and the movement is spreading
throughout the empire with such rapid
ity that it has already attracted the at
tention of parliament and is likely to
I create a disturbance, The strength of
! the movement, although it is still in its
! infancy, was demonstrated recently
J when the union of ironworkers in the
city of Toxic held d public meeting.
+ The entire membership of the union,
! 1900 in number, and representatives
! of other organized labor were present.
I Speeches were made by Messrs. Shin
| ada Saburo, vice president of the lower
house Of parliament; Miyoshi Taizo,
chief justice of the supreme court;
! Profs. Takano and Suzuki. of the Uni
versity of Toxic, and Prof. Katayama,
! of the University of Wisconsin. The
| Ironworkers' union is the largest and
the most prosperous in the empire,
which is probably due to the fact that
the representatives IF this trade are
more intelligent and better paid than
| other wage learners. There are, how
ever, 13 other organizations in Japan,
| of which ten are located in the city of
| Toxic. The union of the railway men,
all of whom are employed by the gov
ernment, is second in strength to the
| Ironworkers.
The organizers and promoters of the
movement are endeavoring to steer
clear Of political influences, although
they have met with great difficulty i'll
| doing so, chiefly because the working
| people of Japan demand the extension
| of the right Of suffrage, which is now
| limited to people who pay taxes to the
| amount of Is yen, or silver dollars,
| year. The ostensible objects of the or
| ganiZatiOn are to maintain wages, to
| promote education, to elevate the con-
dition Of the wage-earners and furnish
| a system of insurance which gives 20
sen (10 cents) day for sick members,
funeral benefit of ten dollars and u
death benefit of $50 to families of mem
bers. The dues are 20"ents month.
There have been no less than SO
strikes in Japan within the last year,
in which several classes of laborers
were represented = silk and cotton
operatives, carpenters, cargo coolies,
dock laborers, miners, railway en-
| ployes and others. These disturbances
| have created a distrust and apprehen-
sion among capitalists that has been
communicated to parliament, and
several bills have been introduced for
| the regulation and protection OF labor
on one hand and the protection of cap
ital on the other.
They are largely based upon British
statutes. The department of agricul-
ture and commerce has taken the mat
ter in hand and has prepared gen
cral bill covering the whole subject
which is intended for the benefit of
both the employers and the employed.
1t provides for the sanitary inspection
of factories, the liability of employers
in cases of accident, safety provisions
for the protection of operatives
against dangerous machinery and fire;
it prohibits child labor under ten years
and limits working hours for children
under IS; prohibits the employment of
women when they are in condition
that makes them sensitive to injury,
limits the working hours for adults to
12, requires payment for overtime, and
to prevent strikes and the cCaXing of
labor away from one factory to an
other. There is a provision requiring
every person employed in the factories
to obtain from the municipal authori-
ties certificate or license, which is to
be deposited with his or her employer.
Employers are forbidden to hire per-
sons who do not present certificates,
and no person can leave a factory
against the will OF his or her employ
er without surrendering this certifi-
cate. All disputes are referred to the
police authorities for decision. Thus,
if this law is passed, strikers can never
obtain employment so long as their
employers refuse to return their GER
tifcates, and at the same time one en-
ployer will not be able to entice away
the operatives of another, which is a
frequent practice in Japan.
The employer class, particularly the
Cotton Manufacturing association, OPP
pose the bill because it limits the hours
of labor, requires the introduction of
sanitary improvements and payment
for overtime, while the working class
object because it disarms organized
labor of its strongest weapon by in
Producing the certificate system.
With the exception of farm laborers
wages have advanced from 20 to 40 per
cent. through all lines of industry in
Japan during the last two years. The
result has been unhealthy competition
for employment and the demoraliza-
tion of the agricultural interests. Peo-
pie are leaving the farms and crowd
ing into the cities to seek work for
which they have no experience or
qualifications. And, on the other
hand, it is represented that the manu-
facturers are making a serious mis-
take by neglecting their machinery,
by employing inexperienced opera
tives to tend their looms and spindles,
and by using cheap lubricants, which
not only has resulted in the ra pid de-
probation of the value of their plants, |
but is injuring the reputation of their
products.-W. L. Curtis, in Chicago
Record.
A FEW BOOK ITEMS.