The Mena star. (Mena, Ark.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-26
JAPAN LABOR UNIONS
The Movement Is Spreading
Throughout the Empire.
There Have Been Thlrty-Eighf
Strikes within n Yenr-Wngcs
Have Advanced I'm the
Last Two Years.

Labor unions have been introduced
into Japan with considerable success.
The ideas they represent seem to APP
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
tenfion of parliament and is likely to
create a disturbance. The strength of ,
the movement, although it is still in its
infancy, was demonstrated recently
when the union Of ironworkers in the
city of Toxic held public meeting.
The entire membership Of the union,
1000 in number, and representatives
of other organized labor were present.
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
xersity of Toxic, and Prof. Katayama,
of the University of Wisconsin. The
Irouworkers' 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-earners. There are, how
ever, 10 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
IRON ikers.
The organizers and promoters of the
movement are endeayoring to steer
CLEAR of political influences although
they have met with great difficulty in
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, a
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 Go cents) day for sick members,
funeral benefit of ten dollars and
death benefit of $50 TO families of mem
bers. The dues are 90 cents a month.
There have been no less than 3S
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 distrust and apprehen.
sisn 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 n gen
eral 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 eases of accident, safety provisions
for the protection of operatives
against dangerous machinery and fire;
1t prohibits child labor under ten years
and limits working hours for children
under 10; prohibits the employment of
women when they are in q condition
aAitdk ljdhtS lHcIl SENSITIVE TO INJURY +,
limits the working hours for adults to
IL, requires payment for overtime, and
to prevent strikes and the coaxing OF
labor away from one factory to an
other. There is provision requiring
every person employed in the factories
TO obtain from the municipal authori-
&ies certificate or license, which is to
he deposited with his or her employer
Employers are forbidden to hire per-
sons who do not present certificates,
ind 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.
IL this law is passed, strikers can never
obtain employment so long as their
employers refuse to return their GER
fificates, 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