The Washington herald., 1908-04-25

choked with bales Of silk that long ago
should have been on their way to Amer
lea. Capital to the extent Of s35. 100000 is
tied up in this way.
notwithstanding this temporary dull
ness. the future OF the silk business in
Japan is bright. If politics or war DO
not interrupt, the United States will re.
new its old demand and Japan will pros
per. Domestic conditions in Japan are
peculiarly adapted to the successful pro-
duction of silk. In most silk countries
only one crop Of mulberry leaves can be
obtained IN season, but in Japan there
are three crops. Large tracts of rough
volcanic land, entirely worthless for other
purposes, are adapted to raising mulberry
shrubs and eventually will be put to
this use. Much of this land is located
around the base Of Fujiyama. Japan's
sacred mountain. Cheap labor IS another
advantage japan enjoys over other silk
producing countries. Here the farmer
raises silk worms as a side line the Wom-
en- and children gathering the leaves and
feeding the ravenous little worms that
make the silk
Tea is the second item Of Importance
in tie exports from Japan to America,
but the future Of this business is not SO
promising. For several years past there
has been a marked falling of in the vol
ume of the shipments. and there is stiH a
general feeling Of depression in the trade.
/ The causes Of this stagnation seem to be
/ the strong competition Of Ceylon and
/ FOrmOsa, and the unfair business meth
I DDS Of the japanese Arms.
( Although japanese porcelain has a mar
/ Set IN all parts of the world, the United
+ States is q much larger consumer than
any other country: IN fact, almost half of
f the porcelain shipped from the port OF
Yokohama goes 20 America. This IS an
/ other industry that probably viii have a
+ large development because of its adapta-
/ ton 10 local conditions The artistic
/ temperament Of the japanese workmen
makes them very EkHfgI decorators. and
wages are extremely low, because the
/ business IS conducted as q household in
dustry. While most q the work Is done
+ By hand, one large machinery plant has
+ been Installed This modern factory en-
ploys 400 operatives. and its entire out
Z put goes 70 the American market in COM
I petition with the cheap products OF Ger
+ Uaay
! Most of the tooth brushes used In the
/ United states are made b. women and
/ girls n country homes IN the vicinity Of
I Osaka The bone used il the manufac-
+ ture II these brushes is brought from
( Chicago. the wood from China, and the
I bristles from Russia The reason that
/ this hzs become the center OF such an
( industry. in the absence Of all the raw
/ materials needed. is the abundance Of
cheap labor. Workers may be had for
/ % cents a day.
Another branch of home industry that
Is steadily increasing is the manufacture
Of certain kinds of linen goods The ma
teTial for these articles is imported from
Great Britain, sent TO the country dis
tricts Of Japan, where men. women, and
/ children do the embroidery and drawn
work on it, after which il frequently
finds its way back 10 the country Of its
origin. This work is very highly priced
for ladies waists, and the country peo-
pie who tedioUsly work out the exquisite
patterns earn from TO IS cents a day.
While this may strike an American as
starvation wages, il is quite the contrary
in rural Japan. The natives are very deft
in this kind of needle-work, and their
habits Of living are extremely frugal
When all the members Of a large family
are given employment their total income
when judged by Oriental standards
About 100000 worth Of this work finds
its way into the United States every year.
When it comes TO direct competition
/ there is one point in favor Of the Amer
lean milers which it is claimed the Jap
anese cannot overcome. Sometimes
American -four sells by the barrel for
wheat costs. On its face this would
seem to mean that the millers are work
ing for nothing, but they realize a profit
from utilizing the by-products Of shorts
and BRAN The japanese have no way Of
doing this, because they have no stock
TO feed il to. The japanese have en-
deavored to equalize this condition by
imposing a tariff duty on -four. At re-
cent exposition in japan the Canadian
millers were on hand baking bread and
giving il away 10 the crowds as an edu-
cation in the use of -four Some one ask
ed where were the hustling Yankees. The
reply was that the demand for American
-four was so great that there was no
need of giving any of it away in exploita-
ton The enormous consumption OF flour
In Japan is all the more remarkable when
IL is remembered that thirty years ago
nobody in Japan ate bread, and few
had ever heard of it. There is no word
In the language for bread, and one has
been borrowed from France The con-
version of many Of the people from rice
eating TO bread eating is one Of the most
striking sociological features of the new
era in this country.
J Other important items among the Amer
lean imports to Japan are oil, wax, paper,
leather. machinery. chemicals. rubber
goods, cars. wheels, leaf tobacco, drugs,
electrical apparatus. engines and boilers.
MACHINE tocls, and watches Thus It will
be seen that the bulk Of American trade
in japan is of such a character that there
is no immediate possibility OF a decrease
in demand. In fact, the varied character
Of Japan's manufacturing enterprises.
and the extensive scale on which they
are planned will stimulate rather than
depTess many lines of American goods.
One important exception must be made
to the foregoing statement. however. and
that is in regard TO cotton goods. The
japanese undoubtedly intend to supplant
the American cotton goods trade in Man
churia, Korea, and North China II they
can, and the American manufacturers
will have to exercise the utmost vigilance
to protect the great trade they have de-
= velOped in this field In their efforts 70
: attract the Chinese trade for japanese
made cotton yarns. the japanese spin
ners have taken advantage OF the great
national fault Of the gambling.
The cotton mills at Osaka send bales OF
cotton yarn into the Chinese markets
, With the statement that in some Of thesa
: bales will be found prize tickets which
: will entitle the finder to a handsome sum
OF money A Chinaman takes to a lot
: tery as a duck to water, and the effect
was to boom japanese trade. But as the
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