Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-27

XrAA from oriental tradition to
W occidental progress the
M greatest change In Its indus
trial life was wrought by the
introduction of machinery.
That the transition Is not
yet complete is shown by the fact that
the larger portion of Japanese manu-
featured products even now are hanu
made and come from factories where
the only motive power is "elpow
grease" In the first instance the new
method of manufacturing came like all
other Japanese progress-from the
government The imperial government
built cotton and silk spinning mills,
shipbuilding yards, glass factories,
weaving mills and the like. In 1880
these concerns were in their infancy,
but the government began the work
of turning them over to private COM
panies. BY 1898 the government was
we'll out, of the manufacturing busi-
ness except for making its own neces-
sary supplies. The imperial household
became successor, in large part, by
becoming shareholder in the new COM
panies.
The manufacturing business was
modelled along English and American
lines and grew steadily but slowly.
Immediately after the ftusso-Japanese
war the opening of the Korean and
Manchurian markets to Japanese
products with distinct advantages over
other countries gave a great impetus
to the Japanese industries. But the
Japanese stockholder is a money spec
ulator and not manufacturer. When
the cotton mills sold large quantities
of goods in China at good prices the
stockholders saw there was a profit
and they demanded instant and COM
plete division. That is the reason why
the Osaka cotton mills, which have
been paying from 12 to 30 per cent div
idends each year for four years. are
now unable to accept 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 new machinery for
that which is worn out; there is no
object or purpose in view but imme-
diate dividends. Very few concerns
give the proper care to running the
machinery, so that it is soon worn
and new machinery bought, or the mill
closed. The majority of the larger
mills are so new that the machinery
is still in fairly good condition. but
as this is due to no care bestowed upon
1t it is impossible to tell what will
happen in a few years.
Labor the Japanese manufacturers
certainly havo in abundance. and at
the very cheapest prices. A cotton
spinning mill does not pay fabulous
wages even in America, but In Japan
the wages run from to Is cents a day
for operatives and from is to 40 cents
day for machinists. The cheapness
does not mean as great saving as might
be indicated, for the labor is unskilled
and self-willed, so that almost twice
as many operatives are required to
turn out a given production.
An Americal cotton mill superinten-
dent would go crazy IL he were forced
to stay an hour in one of the Japanese
mills. The "hands" are laughing and
talking, visiting and gossiping, while
broken threads remain broken and fully
10 per cent OF the machinery Is nom
producing because of lack of care. OF
course, there , are exceptions. Some
mills, under the charge of European
superintendents and foremen, are well
conducted and the operatives are kept
within reasonable bounds of industry
This sliding scale is the Japanese
method of taking care of the child labor
problem. That feature of humanitarian
reform in factories, which is called
"welfare work. in America, has made
great headway among the Japanese
manufacturers. At one cotton spinning
mill near Toxic a plant of $4,000 spin
dies, English-equipped, the sociological
work seems almost to overtop the cot
ton 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, except that
the scale is much lower, as every
thing In Japan must be. The other
1000 operatives are from distant points
In the country and most of them are
young and without any members OF
their families with them. These 1000
boys and girls, for none of them Is
more than 21. live in a great boarding