Evening star., 1902-03-01
PEOPLE OF SOOCHOW
Well Supplied in the Matter
of Trades Unions.
STRIKES ARE COMMON
OFFICIALS STAND IN AWE OF
THE WoRKINGMEN.
Organized Labor and It's Laws-Ser-
wants Who Rule Their
STRIKES ARE COMMON

Copyright, 1902. by Frank G.. Carpenter.)
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
SOOCHOW, China.
Soochow has more trades unions than any
city of the United States, and it's working
men are better organized than those of Eu-
rope. / have spent some time studying the
labor situation. and find that these people
can give us pointers on many subjects.
Soochow is one of the labor centers of
the Chinese empire. 1t is bigger than Bos-
ton proper, and it has ten suburban towns
of large size where Boston has one. There
are 5OOOOOO people living within radius,
of thirty miles of it; and these are huddled
together in a hundred cities which range in
size from few thousand to a hundred
thousand and in hundreds of villages and
hamlets.
The whole country is a beehive of work
1t makes all kinds of silks. satins and cot
tons. well as manufactures of iron,
wood, horn and glass Within the last five
years great cotton and silk mills have
grown up about it. These are worked by
modern machinery but the most of the la
Dor is still engaged in house industry and
in little factories employing about dozen
hands. There are more than 100000 people
making embroidery alone, and the Soochow
weavers' guild has altogether 1900 looms.
There is q large fur business, fan bus
mess, and an enormous establishment in
which the SoochOw bath tubs are made. In
all it is said that every one of the $50
trades known in China is carried on here,
and nearly every trade has its union.
They Strike on Short Notice.
The Soochow workingmen are noted
among the Chinese for their independence.
They will strike on short notice and on
slight provocation. They have already had
some of the most remarkable strikes of the
empire. 1t was here that the Gold Beaters'
a tl,
ago, and it was here that one of the mag
istrates who opposed the working men had
his ears bitten Off
The gold beaters' case is the more re-
markabIe in that it arose out of an order
for gold leaf issued by the Emperor of
China. His majesty anxious to have
the gold leaf on short notice. and gold
leaf capitalist who had a factory at 500
chow got leave from the authorities there
to take on more apprentices than the rules
of the union permitted. These rules pro-
vided that an employer could engage only
one new apprentice at a time, but this man
employed a large number. Whereupon the
men struck. They gathered at the factory
to the number of 123. and there waited for
their employer. Before this they had held
a consultation during which they had as
sured themselves that there was no law in
China making biting to death a capital Of
Tense. AS soon as the employer came in
the fell upon him, and Zach took a bite
out of his person. Every one was required
to join in the execution. and those who first
DIl were SldllOHeu at the door TO see that
every man leaving had lips and gums COW
cred with blood. The employer died in
very short time. The union men who COM
mitted the crime were arrested and tried.
but only the one who took the first bite was
beheaded.
Killed for Breaking a Union Rule.
The above was a case in which an en-
ployer was punished. The members who
break the rules of their unions are also
severely dealt with. Fines are common.
but manning and killing are not unknown
Only few weeks ago a man was found
under a bundle of straw at the new docks
opposite Shanghai. His eyes had been
gouged out and laid in a basin beside him.
He had been thus treated because he had
broken the order of his union. Which had
bOycotted the docks and forbidden all work
upon them.
An instance IS known of a cooper who
was ordered to work al lower wages than
those required by his guild. The order
came from the magistrate and it could not