The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1904-01-28
WoMEN's WORK In JAPAN.
Girls Employed Now as Conductors
of Railroad Trains an InnOya-
tiOn of the Far East.

The social condition of woman is
fairly trustworthy measure of the civ
ilization of state, and judged by this
standard Japan has not yet reached the
summit of western culture. This fact,
however, is not reproach, says the
London Daily Telegraph, seeing that it
is not long since even European ma
tions have bridged the abyss which sun
ders former barbaric customs from the
humane legislation of to-day. And the
Japanese are even now working hard
to initiate us. Hitherto, and, indeed, at
the present moment, the ranks of fe-
male hand" in japan are recruited from
among the rural population by agents.
who induce the country lasses to sign
contracts for quite a number of years
the best portion of their lives. And the
wages averaged Sd. a day! For that
miserable mess of pottage the girls not
only labor during working hours, but
permit themselves to be wholly isolated
from the outer world, just as if they were
in prison, a hospital or nunnery. Thus
they are entirely in the power of their
employers, the least scrupulous of whom
take an unfair advantage of their help
lessness. Thanks to the initiative Of the
press and to the high spirits Of few
wealthy firms, strong lurid light has
been thrown upon these dark places of
Japan, and redress is already in sight
The Manchester of the mikado's realm
ic 10 n he stat
of things in vogue in the mills and
works of that city which first attracted
attention The slaves of the southern
states of North America had better
time than some of the wretched girls of
Osaka, the products of whose labor
were thrown upon European markets at
nominal prices. Happily, the Guild of
Weavers has now set to work tc better
the lot of these helots, and its efforts are
being reinforced by government en-
plOyes.
Curiously enough, in the higher call
ings and professions which require skill
or scientific training instead of mere
manual labor, there was hardly any field
for woman's activity. Thus in none of
the ministries or government offices was
a woman to be found as civil servant.
The respectable firms of merchants like
wise rigidly excluded members of the
fair SEX refusing to employ them as
saleswomen; only in few cheap ba-
Ears, where the work was very fatiguing
and the pay utterly inadequate, were
women to be seen behind the counter.
But here, too, benefcent change is now
| being made. The firm of Mitsui, the
weavers, for example-one of the wealth.
lest in -Japan-have just decided to take
on girls.
For a considerable time past women
have been engaged at railway stations,
especially in dealing with passenger
| traffic, and now the Sanui line, which
had hitherto eliminated the female ele-
| ment. has completely broken with its
| traditions, and in future the passengers
| by that company's line will be looked
| after by lady conductors, and, perhaps,
| lady controllers as we'll. The crown
| prince of Japan takes a keen interest
| in this movement, which aims at max
| ing life less miserable to his future fe-
male subjects, and he has begun by set
ting an excellent example. He has mar
ried but one wife, and has allowed it to
| be generally understood that he is, and
| Intends to remain, monogamist to the
end of his days.