The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-17
MANAGED WITH DISCRETION
THEY DO NOT MIX IN POLITICS y
GOVERNMENT LETS THEM ALONE.
Each Union Has Its Own Clubhouse,
Center-The servants Guild.

| a native who earns his living I'm trade OF
by skilled work not 10 belong 10 a guild
| Indeed, the guild regulates the affairs or
every properly constituted Chinese TO
whose labor dignity attaches. 1t is an In
stitution that has fastened itself upon this
people with the growth Of centuries, and
its cohesive quality and influence are such
that trades unions and labor organizations
or all kinds in other lands are mere ex-
periments by comparison. Guild edicts
elsewhere may be tentative; here they are
final. The people bow TO them and the
government assents. Not only has every
trade its guild. but every locality. so that
not a detail of Industrial life in China es-
capes guild notice.
There is no such thing as getting be-
hind them, for they are ingrained in the
national composition Fortunately they
seemed TO be managed with discretion.
They attend to the business for which they
were organized. No suspicion OF meddling
win outside affairs ever attaches TO them.
If their power could be used in politics, il
would be overwhelming. but tradition and
precedent govern them. as almost every
thing else in China, and they dictate that
a guild house is a place TO talk shop and
little else.
While this holds true and states the eS-
sence of the organization, the guild is also
a club. When one sees a fine structure.
there is not much danger of going amiss
in concluding that it is an official resi-
dence. a temple. or a guild. and as these
varieties of buildings are distinctively
adorned. the eye needs little practice to
tell them apart. The guild is usually the
most attractive. 1t consists architectural-
ly of a group of buildings. with quadrangle
lar arrangement and small. narrow en-
frances which enable gatekeepers 10 know
who passes within and to keep out those
who do not belong there.
The interior buildings furnish general
and special meeting rooms, quarters for
committees and council. a hall with stage
for entertainment and joss compartment,
in which stands the image OF the divinity
on whose protection the guild relies. Usu-
ally the central quadrangle contains the
stage at one end and the altar and image
at the other. Between the two is a space
capable of holding several hundred people.
who face one way when they gather there
for fun and the other way when their pur-
pose is serious.
Among the buildings are many small
rooms which. If no official use be required
Of them, serve the purT ose OF sociabiity
These rooms seem never empty. Much of
The leisure time of members is spent in
them. That is where they meet their kind
and where tea always tastes best. OF
course tea is on tap. and as every man
takes his capacity along with him. the Ere
is never permitted 10 go out.
GUILD FOR EVERY BIRTHPLACE.
The establishment Of guilds by localities
multiplies number OF organizations. but
it serves TO diversity custom and TO make
simple affairs that might otherwise be
obscure. In Shanghai there is a Ningpo
guild and a Foo-Chow guild and a Swallow
guild, and so on. A native OF one Of these
places is always credited TO that place.
There is a shoemaker here who. on COM
plotting his work and receiving a COM
plant on the way he had done it. said:
"Oh, yes; 1 belong Cantonese" How
long since you came TO Shanghai" TWEEN
ty-eight years" That man is Of the Can
ton guild. He does not look more than
thirty years old, and he certainly could
never have learned anything OF his trade
at Canton; but his birthplace fixed his
guild. He will take all the foreign or
ders he can get, perhaps cutting prices
with a rival for them. but If a Ningpo
man went into his shOp-one brought here
strapped to his mothers back as a baby
and now bent with age-he would not dare
fll an order for him. He relies on Canton
men for his trade. and wishes no other
Chinese customers. Customers go TO their
own, as a matter Of course. for trade or
for work Of any kind. Two men born in
different places may be neighbors all their
lives and the closest friends. but neither
would think of soliciting the others trade
or Of accepting it.
If a Foo-Chow native were 10 send for
a Shanghai carpenter, the latter would
wish 10 know why he did not get a Foo
Chow man to do the work required. Were
there no Foo-Chow carpenter here. the
work would be undertaken; not otherwise.
Consequently there are guild houses for
every place in which the settlers born
in that place can afford one. They may
have a guild without a house, but that is
too much like an Office in a hat 70 suit
native notions OF dignity and ceremony.
In order to get a guild house no privations
are too great. A man viii go without for
himself or his family IN order TO pay
for a house. This is not often required.
for the best evidence a rich man can give
OF his public spirit is by buying land and
putting a guild house on IL for the use
Of his fell-ow-townsmen. That is a sure
way OF enCuring popularity. and many
avail themselves OF it. When a house il
built, the members are supposed 10 sup
port IL. but that tax usually fails lightly.
and is most cheerfully borne.
WHEN TROUBLE OCCURS.
All trouble between employers and those
whom they hire is reported to the guild. or
to that section OF it specially concerned
in that work. There may be in Shanghai
guilds for different Shanghai trades. but
the birthplace guilds comprise al trades
from that place. A guild committee hears
what the member or members affected
may say. and IL the cause seems worthy IL
goes TO the council charged with the gen.
eral supervision OF guild affairs. a COM
mittee may decide against a member and
decline 20 sustain him. I'm which case he
has redress to the council himself. al
though he viii rarely try TO vault over =
committee. Should the council decide .