Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-20
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coolie Will be thoroughly SCRUBBED WITH soap
and warm water, and after the examina-
ton he will be vaccinated, photographed
and tagged with a card corresponding to
his letter of Identification. Before he signs
a contract he will be made to understand
just what that contract Is, and that he signs
1t only of his own volition. In this he Will
be protected by the Chinese government Of
f1cials, who will ask him all sorts OF ques-
lions to see that he knows just what he Is
doing Here are some OF the questions
which will be put to him:
Where are you going? How long will 1t
take you to reach Panama? What Will you
do when you arrive there? What KIND OF
work can you do? What wages will you
get? Can you leave money in China for
your family? How much will you leave?
How many hours day will you work at
Panama? How many days per week? Do
you go of your own free will?" etc, etc.
If the Chinese cooie answers these ques-
tions so that the government official knows
that he understands his contract, he will
be passed on into the gang and registered
for embarkation. but before he will be al
lowed to go the official will say:
Now if there is any coolie here who regrets
having come, let him step to the front. Any
man who does not wish to go to Panama is
still at perfect liberty to go home, if he
so chooses and there will be no punishment
for him and money to pay for having
changed his mind The only requirement
is that he leave this port within twenty
four hours"
Tagged With Lead Disks.
At the final inspection each Chinese will
receive lead disk stamped with the num-
Der of his identification card and contract.
This he will carry with him to Panama, and
it will be probably used by him from day to
day In collecting his wages. Before he goes
on board ship. however, he will have to pass
a final medical examination. For this sew
eral hundred coolies will be brought into
large hall at a time. and each must then be
clad only in piece of string and his paper
tag. The men will be taken one by one into
an adjoining room to be examined by the
doctors and by Chinese clerks, who will see
whether their physical appearance CORE
spends with their Identification tags. If
they are found correct the men will pass on
into a third room, where there is a tank of
warm water in which he must wash off the
last dust of China from his body. He will
then go on into a dressing room to put on
new, clean clothes and perhaps uniform
furnished by the contractors Of the Panama
canal. 1t is here that the coolie changes
his paper tag for lead disk, and here he
gets his first payment of a months wages,
perhaps in advance so that he may settle
his last bills in China before saying good
bye to his family and going on board.
The Wages Of the Chinese.
The Chinese coolies who have gone to AZ
rica are getting from 81 to GO cents a day
and food: and 1t is hardly probable that
those who come to Panama will be paid
less than 81 per day, although they will
probably feed themselves. They will get
more and more the work goes on; for. as
l shall show farther on in this letter, they
understand union methods and will be able
to raise their wages to the highest notch
A dollar a day, however, Is a big thing for
a coolie fresh from China. 1t Is ten times
as much as he could make at home. II our
common laborer. who is now receiving S1.J0
or So a day. had similar increase he
would be getting from S15 to $50 day.
While was at the city OF Fuchow in Chi
ma some time ago, I was told that the
daily wages of masons were Is cents, and
that the best carpenters received % cents.
Skilled Chinese masons and carpenters on
the Panama canal will eventually get from
ten to fifteen times these sums, and then
be not half as we'll paid for their ten hours
work as our eight-hour men who do SINH
lar business here.
Women tea pickers IN China get some
thing like cents day, and those engaged
in making grass cloth. a beautiful goods
much like silk. receive about 3 cents from
daylight to dark. An old missionary told me
that he could get ten men to work whole
day for him for dollar, and out of that
sum 10 per cent would be given to the man
who did the hiring. In some parts Of China
ordinary field hands get 3 or cents day
with food and skilled workmen less than 10
cents. This is of course. in the interior,
where wages have not been affected by the
modern progress movements
Professional men are paid similarly low
wages. In almost any Chinese city you can
get thirty theater actors to play forty-eight
hours for 80 simoleons. and in the back