Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-18

r=rs====lo oKoHAMA-while nearly all
III KHI countries have had labor
Ia VMI troubles and strikes at one
A Gll time or another, Japan Is the
lNYAfSiI only place where the judges
IkaEdzzkaI of the courts have refused to
try cases until the govern
ment agreed to meet their demand TOT
higher pay. While such arbitrary pro-
ceeding4 may appear undignified to
legal gentlemen of other lands, the
necessity for recourse to drastic meas
ures is explained by the statement that
prior to their strike the judges received
only 81 a day. The postmen were get
ting only $5 a month, and when their
petition for an increase was ignored
they quickly brought the government
to terms by refusing to deliver the
mail. The policemen were the next to
make peremptory demands for more
salary, and they were equally success
full in their strike.
A noticeable feature of strikes in
Japan Is that they nearly always sue
ceed. This Is due, in a large measure,
to the destructiveness of the lower
classes when they are aroused. No
matter what the grievance may be or
how fair the prospects of a settlement,
the strikers have a tendency to first
destroy property and then begin their
peace talk. They seem to feel that
their case will receive more considera-
ton If they make an exhibition OF
yiciousness. On this account, when a
misunderstanding comes up prompt
settlement or immediate protection
from the police is necessary.
An enraged mob of Japanese work
men will smash what belongs to the
g )Vernment as readily as IL 1t were
nriYate property, and sometimes with
out any justification whatsoever. About
5000 men were employed at one
place near Yokohama to do particu-
lar piece of work. AS the job nearei
completion 1t naturally became neces-
serv TO cut down the force. The first
lot of men to go were given three days
extra wages. When 1t became neces-
sary to let out another lot of 400 pro-
test was made on the ground that the
notice was not sufficient. Although the
objection was not at all reasonable, an
allowance of five days extra pay was
made merely for the purpose OF Keep
ing the peace However, 1t developed
that the insufficiency of notice was not
the real cause of complaint. The men
simply did not want to give up their
Jobs. Having been put on the payrolls
they objected to being taken OH, no
matter whether they were still needed
or not. Before the police could be
summoned from Yokohama n nasty row
was in progress. The mob not only
fired valuable buildings, but raided
government boat and smashed the en-
gines.
The outbreak at the Besshi copper
mines was still more disastrous. Inc
strikers burned all the buildings in
the vicinity except the hospital, tne
school and the laborers' quarters. They
tore up five miles of railway track
and set the mine on. fire. The man
ager of the company was beaten ana
left for dead The rioters armed them
selves with guns and ammunition from
the magazine of the mine, then started
out to overrun the country. They or
ganized themselves in regular military
fashion, blowing trumpets and giving
orders by means of cipher codes ana
signal flags. 1t required three COM
panies of soldiers to round them up
and before they were brought to bay
their depredations caused property
loss of more than 100000.
Trouble with Japanese laborine
classes, however, begins long before
the strike stage, as there Is never any
peace from the time the relation OF
employer and employe is entered into
The Japanese laborer or servant takes
a holiday whenever he is so disposed
and he will quit the service of an en-
ployer without notice Responsibility
to his work Is a quality which he does
not possess. One street railway line
in Toxic employs 700 motormen and
conductors. On a rainy day these jobs
are not at all pleasant, and the Japan
ese trait of independence is shown In
the fact that stormy day means a
short supply of labor. On one bad day
recently 800 of the 700 men failed to
show up notwithstanding the inevita-
BILE fact that the worse the day the
greater the traffic
One of the highest authorities on
Japanese economic questions is +,
Schroeder, editor of the Eastern World
of Yokohama. Mr. Schroeder has lived
in Japan for more than a quarter OF
a century, and is happily married to
a Japanese woman. He has been a
close student of labor conditions In
this country. He says:
Suppose one is the head of house
hold. and has to refurnish his home
He goes to a furniture makers shop
agrees upon the terms and makes q
contract. He asks when the job will
be finished. In ten days. That is toe
long, as he is In a hurry. 1t will have