The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-05-22
THE JAPANESE
MANUF FACTOR|ES
advertiser Correspondence. Copyright
by Frederic J. Haskin.)

TOXIC, April 25.-When Japan turn
ed from Oriental tradition to Occidental
progress, the greatest change in its In
dustrial life was wrought by the intro
duetion OF machinery. That the transi-
tion is not vet complete is shown by
the fact that the larger portion OF Jap
anese mlnufactured products even now
are handmade and come from factories
where the only motive power is "elbow
grease In the first instance the new
method of manufacturing came like all
other japanese progress, from the gov
ernment. The Imperial government
built cotton and silk spinning mills,
ship-building yards, glass factories,
weaving mills and the like. In 1850
these concerns were in their infancy,
but the government began the work of
turning them over to private companies.
BY 1898 the government was well out
OF the manufacturing business except
for making its own necessary supplies.
The Imperial Household became a sue
eessor, in large part, by becoming
shareholder in the new companies.
The manufacturing business was mod
eled along English and American lines
and grew steadily but slowly. 1mmedl-
ately after the RussO-japanese war the
opening of the Korean and Manchurian
markets to japanese products, with dis
tinet advantages over other countries,
gave a great impetus to the japanese
Industries. But the japanese stock
holder is a money speeulator and not a
manufacturer When the cotton mills
sold large quantities of goods in China
at good prices, the stockholders saw
there was a large profit, and they de-
manded instant and complete division.
That is the reason why the Osaka cot
ton mills. which have been paying from
u to 80 per cent. dividends each year
for four years, are now unable to ac-
eept delivery of the raw cotton shipped
TO them from America.
There is no thought of laying by a
surplus to guard against the very con-
ditions which now obtain; there is no
fund to provide now machinery for that
which is worn out; there is no object
OF purpose in view but immediate dlvl-
dends. Very few concerns give the
proper care to runnin~ the machinery,
so that it is soon worn out. Then the
whole thing is junked and new machln-
erv bought, or the mill closed. The
majority of the larger mills are so new
that the machinery is still in a fairly
good condition, but as this is due to no
care bestowed upon it, it is impossible
to tell what will happen in a few years.
Labor the japanese manufacturers
certainly have in abundance, and at the
very cheapest prices. A cotton spin
ming mill does not pay fabulous wages
even in America, but in Japan the
wages run from two to fifteen cents a
dav for operatives, and from fifteen to
forty cents a day for machinists. The
cheapness does not mean as great saw
ing as might be indicated, for the labor
Is unskilled and self-willed, so that al
most twice as many operatives are re
quired to turn out given production.
An American cotton mill superin-
tendent would go crazy if he were
forced to stay an hour in one of the
Japanese mills. The "hands' are
laughing and talking, visiting and gos-
siping, while broken threads remain
broken, and fully 10 per cent. of the
machinery is nonproducing because of
lack of care. OF course, there are ex-
ceptioRs. Some mills, under the charge
of European superintendents and fore
men, are well conducted, and the oper-
atives are kept within reasonable
bounds of industry.
Long hours are the rule, for the jap
anese generally is industrious and does
not object to working eighteen hours
a day. But he does object to being
rushed through that eighteen hours. He
takes his time at his work and distrib-
utes his laziness through a whole day
Of industry In the cotton mills the
days work is twelve hours for adults,
while the hours of those under eighteen
years old are graduated from five hours
up.
This sliding scale is the japanese
method of taking care of the child
labor problem. That feature of hu-
mantarian reform in factories which is
called welfare work. in America has
made great headway among the Japa-
nese manufacturers. At one cotton
spinning mill near Toxic, a plant of
5000 spindles, English equipped, the
sociological work seems almost to over
top the cotton yarn business.
In this mill there are 5000 operatives.
OF these 1000 live in the village nearby,
which is owned by the mill company.
These are in families and live in much
the same fashion as the mill hands in
an American mill village, excepts that
the scale is much lower, as everything
in Japan must be. The other 1000 oper-
atives are from distant points in the
country and most of them are young
and without any members of their fam
lilies with them. These 1000 boys and
girls, for none of them is more than
twenty-one, live in a great boarding
house which is conducted by the mill
Mr.. Fugi, the general manager of the
company, is called papa san" by all
the boarders and if cheerfulness of de-
meanor counts for anything they are
all happy.
This immense boarding house is a
great wooden building. The hands are
divided into families" of thirty, and
each family is presided over by ma
tron who exercises discipline, cares for
those who are slightly i'll and mends
clothes. The seriously i'll all go to the
hospital. Forty cooks prepare the rice
and fish which make up the bill-of-fare
at the big boarding house. The water
is all distilled, the plumbing is modern,
and on the whole these 20O0 young Jap
anese may be said to live under con-
ditions a thousand times better than