The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-12-01
Low WAGES IN CHINA
DISGRACE TO NATION.
Women Tea Pickers Get Less Than
z Gents a Day-0ther Wages
Are Low.
China Has Several Labor Unions,
And Wages Among These
Are Much Higher.


Are Much Higher.
Women tea pickers in China ref
something like cents day. and
those engaged in making grass cloth
beautiful goods much like silk re-
celve about cents from daylight to
dark an old missionary told me:
mat ne could get ten men to work for
MIN for dallar, and out Of that sum &
1o per cent would be given to the man
Who did the hiring. In some parts Of
emma ordinary field hands get or /
cents day with food, and skilled
"orkmen less than 10 cents. This fs.
OF course, in the interior, where wages
nave not been affected by the modern
movements.
..Fro1ess1onal men are paid similarlv
~" wages. In almost any Chinese
city you can get thirty theatre actors
to play forty-eight hours for 30 sim
o1eons, and in the backwoods of China
doctor will charge you 20 cents !:
visit and think himself well paid.
49,, IN the factories wages are very low.
!nere are about 10000 silk hands in
the mills at Shanghai, and among them
are children who work for 3 cents q
Gay and women weavers who get s
cents. went through a. large factory
employing hundreds of females. and
the highest paid woman in the whole
establishment got 26 cents for g. thir-
'een-hour day. I also went through
the cotton mills which are now spring.
ing up In various parts of China and
asked as to the wages. The factory
e1rls az Shanghai were then receiving
on the average about IA cents of our
money day and the poorer hands did
not get more than cents The hours
were from 6 until 6, with thirty min
utes at, noon for luncheon. These
girls were about the best paid in thar
part of China, and they thought them-
selves lucky to get the job.
ihe coolies will probably ORGANIZE
their own unions at Panama, and that
soon after their arrival. There is no
country OF the world more honey-
combed with trade unions than theirs.
and when they go abroad they will
carry their union rules with them.
This is the case with the Chinese In
the philippines, at Singapore. in. Ha.
wall and In almost every foreign h
settlement and: is bound to be 80
In Panama. The labor unions in Chi
nass a are almost as important as ar,
oarssunfonP here. During my stay ir.s
.,
WIS the vfceorys 'of PechiIiI sHd
s as such 10 was Interested iii britaxIne.
The Shanhainwans railroad into Teint-
Sin. He was able to get it only to the
banks of the Peiho River opposite that
city. He started to build a bridge.
When the boatmen's union objected.
and ne had to put his station on the
other side. The boatmen are among
the lowest Of the Chinese coolies, and
Ii Hung Chang was the strongest Of
hcial the celestial empire has ever
had, but Ii Hung Chang did not dare
to antagonize the boatmen. #
Another strong union is that of the
wheel-barrow men. They do the
freighttng of the empire, carting goods
and passengers on rude barrows, push
ed by hand. There are 5000 such men
In Shanghai, and when they struck
not long ago against an increase Of
license there was as much distress in
that city as there was nj Chicago at
the time of the teamster's strike.
Another strong union is that OF the
slop carriers, the men who bring the.
water and other offensive stuff out Of
the houses and carry it away to be
saved for manure. There are no sew
ers or modern convenciences in most
Chinese cities, and these men form one
OF the most important parts of the I
laboring element. Not long ago all ].
those employed in the City of Nanking
struck on account of the unjust ar
rest of one of their members. They
refused to carry out the slops, and at 1
the end of three days the city odOrs
were so strong that the people rose
and insisted that their demands be
granted. ss.sS
China has beggars' unions, BARRIERS
unions, and unions of all sorts of fact
Ory men. The BARRIERS union once
declared a strike which reached most
parts Of the empire, and for time
the 200 odd million men and boys In s
China went about with their heads
looking like shoe brushes. 1t Is not
difficult to shave ones face, but to
shave ones head is almost impossible,
and the hair Of the Chinese grew into:
bristles during the strike of the bar
bers. I believe the strike was for Il
demand that BARRIERS sons might be 8
admitted to the official examinations, d
and I understand that it succeeded.
The Chinese coolies who have gone
to Africa are getting rom 81 to So
cents day and food; and it is hard- I
ly probable that those who come to
Panama will be paid less than 81 per s
day, although they will get more and
more as the work goes on; for, as r.
shall show farther on in this letter.
they understand union methods and
will be able to raise thir wages to the
highest notch. ~ ,s.
: A dollar a day, however, is big
thing for a coolie fresh. from China.
1t is ten times as much as he could 3
make at home. If our common labor
er, who Is now receiving $3.50 or 81 a
day, had a similar Increase, he would
be getting from SIS to $40 day.