The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1906-11-16
FACTORY SYSTEM.
Laborers in That Country Are Work
ing for a Bare Sub
sistonce.

The problematical discussions Of
yellow peril" seem to Percy Alden,
writing iu the Westminster Gazette.
to fade into insignidcanoe by the side
of the still more important question
OF the effect Of Japans industrial revo-
luton upon the Japanese themselves.
The truth of the matter is that in her
desire to adopt European ways and
methods Japan has lost sight of the
fact that il is only through great
tribulation that England and Europe
have overcome the worst evils OF the
industrial revolution She herself has
bli1Gly followed in the footsteps Of the
west, and, regardless of the conse-
Quences, has handed over her working
classes to the tender mercies Of an
employer who, whatever good quali-
ties he may possess, does not attach
any great value to human life In
stead of taking warning by tine mis-
takes of Europe during the latter half
of the last century, she has created ia
her factories and her industrial system
those same evil conditions which we
have been striving to eliminate for
over a generation.
Not only is the change I'm indus
try great, but the change in the char
acter of the people is equally great
The growth of the factory system in
Japan often means indentured labor
especially as regards the employment
of women and children. This, in IT.
self. is an evil. is perhaps a greater
source of mischief, because It results
in the destruction of the health and
happiness Of large sections of the
working classes. The girls and wom-
en- are induced by all sorts of fair
promises to leave the country for the
tow
'Ai.ured by the thought OF high
wages, with the possibilities afforded
by the holidays and flower festivals
of the town attracted, also. as many
peasants are in England, by the false
glamour of city life, they leave the
paddy fields and the farm and flock
to the large centers of population The
result is that the field fun of folk
is rapidly becoming to be a thing of
the past. and physical deterioration is
setting in This deterioration is ac-
companied by q change in the charac-
ter of the people. Owing to the stress
of competition, 20 the long hours of
labor, lack of opportunities for rocre-
alton and amusement the Japanese
worker is losing his light-heartedness.
his klndliness of nature, his artistic
sense and polite manners.
The employer and the capitalist are
piling up wealth; the laborer, and es-
pecially the female laborer, is work
ing for a bare subsistence, and is los
ing health and strength and all the
old bright and happy characteristics
While wages have increased on the
average 40 per cent, the cost of food
has increased GA per cent. and rent
is increasingly high, especially in the
large towns like Toxic, Osaka and
Kobe. This will account Cor the fact
that the number OF those on or below
the poverty line is increasing and the
number OF electors decreasing Those
who are entitled to the franchise pas
at least Is yen (about $3.50 in taxes
| On several occasions factory bills have
! been brought before the Japanese par.
! lament, but these bills, of the mild.
! est description, have failed to pas.
I into law.