Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1905-08-29
BUILDING IN CHINA.
NATIVE LABOR NOT so EFFI-
GENT AS FOREIGN WoRkMEN.
Ordinary coolie Labor is to be Had
for from $3.50 to 81 per Month and
the Chinaman Boards Himself
Cost of Living and Prices of Mate

Tic OuiEtdTidH oOGi 10 T1iH1SGtI-
Cost of Living and Prices of Mate
rails.
Consuls in China constantly receive
inquiries as to opportunities for the
establishment of various industries in
Chinese open ports, with requests for
information as to the cost of build
ings, the matter of securing sites and
the kind of labor to be had. The
matter of sites has come to be a rath.
er serious one in Annoy and several
other open ports, but, as a rule, loca-
ticns can he obtained for almost any
industry under fair conditions and at
prices which would be considered
very fair in the United States.
Building materials vary greatly in
quality and price. Imported mate
rails are high in price, and the time
required to secure them often is
serious drawback to their use. Ma
tive materials, price and everything
considered, are likely to be most gen.
orally used In Annoy, probably an
average port in this respect, lumber
is practically as costly as it is in the
United States, and for the better
grades costs more. Brick and tiles
are comparatively cheap, especially
the more common grades, the average
value of the brick and tiles of all
kinds passing through the imperial
customs last year in Annoy being
s7.13 gold per 1000, the better grades
bringing this average price up higher
than the common grades justify. At
present very fair grade of brick can
be bought in Annoy, laid down at the
building site, for about s12 thou
sand Qocal currency, or. about $3.50
gold. Lime, however, is unusually ex-
pensive. 1t is made by the natives
from oyster and other shells, is indif-
ferently burned and is used as spar
lngly as the owner of the building will
permit. Brick and thing are larger
and heavier than similar goods in the
United States, and if carefully burned
are very good materials, both in
Annoy and in other ports which have
OOiAC NY ODOCA NclCAOA' lASll
chief faults are the result of careless
work and a lack of facilities to care
properly for them during manufac-
ture
It is in the matter of labor, how
ever, that the most uncertain element
lies, and what is true of building is
true in larger and more vital sense
of labor in an industry after it has
been established. Chinese labor can
be had at very low price. Ordinary
coolie labor is to be had from $3.50
to 81 gold per month, and the coolie
theoretically boards himself. An or
binary Chinese literary graduate can
be had for from SIS to $25 a month.
But this really means little unless
there can be an adequate understand
ing of the sort of labor that is to be
had and other labor conditions, which
are to be met. Chinese labor varies
greatly, not only among men in the
same port, which is to be expected IN
any country, but among the different
trfbes-races they may be called-in
different provinces and ports. 1t is
the general statement of men who are
familiar with all of China that the
further south one goes in the empire
the less satisfactory the labor be-
comes. The Chinese of the north are
large and strong physically as com
pared with the men of the southern
and there may also be not
ed a difference in disposition, energy
and temperament, with the advantage
in favor of the northern man. think
it is safe to say that a northern
coolie at So Mexican per month is
worth more than southern collie al
compare with foreign labor in eff
on the whole, although a for
given food and care on a foreign
basis, will very often do better than
most foreign laborers, and probably
this indicates what may be done in
China with better industrial condi-
tiOns. Chinese labor is tractable, on
the whole, generally reliable and will
average up well with that of other
nations in fidelity to the interest to
an employer.
There is probably nothing upon
which opinion is so divided among
foreigners ind others in China than
upon the matter of labor That Chi
nese labor is cheaper than other Ia
Dor, all things considered, however, is
amply demonstrated in the fact that
wherever it is allowed to come into
full competition with other labor it |
soon has possession of the field. In
industries in China it is
well to remember that foreign super
vision for Chinese labor costs consid- !
erably more than supervision for the |
same industry in the United States. |
While there is probably no really |
sound reason why living should cost
more for foreigners in China than !
their living would cost in the United |
States, it is a fact that most foreign |
ers in China insist upon living on a
scare from what they would |
In the United States and Enurope,
and foreign labor costs more. Grad |
ualiy this state Of things will prob
ably be changed, but at least for sew
eral years to come the item Tor for |
eign lbor will be a very considerable |
one in all expense accounts.
There are promising fields for many
industrial enterprises in China and |
the Far East generally. but before |
American or other foreign interests /
enter them there should be a careful |
of the special conditions |
10 be met and the difficulties to be |
overcome. A closed sugar establish |
ment at Swallow and a spinning con
Germ at Shanghai losing money indi- /
cate that all is not as satisfactory as
It might be, although other concerns |
declaring dividends of as high as 20 /
per cent per annum on their capital |
stock indicate what may be the re-
suit of investments carefully made
and energetically pushed-United
States Consular Report.