Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-23
los ANGELES HERALD: THURS DAY MORNINGS APRIL 49,

nv HEI mixture of guilds, tgade
IW NJ unions and cooperative
ia W% stores. There are combina-
2.2s.zGl tions of all sorts of
skilled laborers, such as
plasterers, sawyers, stone ma
sons. BARRIERS, ironworkers, shipbuild-
ers and so forth. Organizations also
exist among actors, gamblers, wres-
tiers, pickpockets, and even the beg
gars have had their union. The guilds
are most bewildering to the foreigner
because of the secrecy and deception
which surround their operations. They
are relics of ancient feudal Japan and
were borrowed many centuries ago,
with the most of Japanese learning and
customs, from China.
The guilds are entirely different
from the trades unions as known in
Europe and America, although they
use the same weapons of strike and
boycott to enforce respect for their
demands. They have no federation or
alliances with each other, yet each
individual guild is secure from attack
from the outside because no other guild
will encroach upon Its preserves. The
adoption of Occidental civilization In
Japan has had but little effect on
these organizations, although few of
them have been revamped along the
the most part the guild workers are
In the lower ranks of society, and to
these the western ideas adopted by
the governing class have not yet pene-
trated.
If one decides to build a house, a
contract is made with the boss of the
carpenters guild. Work is begun, and
in a short time the men are likely to
decide to take holiday. Although
they may remain away from work for
days, even when the need for rushing
the Job to completion is most urgent,
there is no use trying to secure other
workmen to take their places. They
will return in time, and until they
do the builder may as well possess
his soul in patience. If, in the course
of six months or a year, 1t becomes
necessary to have repairs made on the
house, the men of the same guild must
be called to do the work No others
will touch it.
The cooks guild has it's own peculiar
way of doing business. 1t not only
determines what particular cook shall
go to a certain household, but fixes
the wages that he shall receive. The
cooks guild maintains a close working
agreement with the organizations that
furnish the food supplies. For instance,
the cook brings forward price list
from the butcher but it is UNDERSTOOD
that the man who provides the meat
must give the cook a certain commits
sion. Unless the housekeeper is vigi-
! liant, second class meat will be charged
| for at first class prices, thereby ar
fording still further profit for the COOK.
In order to escape the exorbltant
charges of the butchers guild, 200 for
eign families in Kobe organized what
is known as the Kobe Meat club, and
started a market of their own. The
| foreign residents of Yokohama took
similar action in providing steam
| laundry when the washers guild be-
came unreasonable in it's charges.
Another large source of profit to the
cooks of Yokohama is the control of
the supply of green groceries. 1t was
| found that nearly all the cooks insisted
upon patronizing a certain market The
reason for this preference was not be-
cause the manager offered special in
ducements in the way of liberal COM
missions, but because the cooks them
| selves owned most of the stock In the
business Owing to the many forms
of graft radiating from the oriental
| kitchen the east Is a cooks paradise.
Five of the richest foreigners in Korea
| are men who went there in the humble
| capacity of chefs, yet who profited so
we'll by the practice of high finance
| in the cuisine that they are now rated
among the bloated plutocrats of the
| land.
The Grand hotel in Yokohama is the
| best stand in Japan for jinrickisha men,
and the guild that controls the work at
| this place is the closest of corporations.
While the rates are higher from here
than from other portions of the city,
| the men realize additional profit from
| generous tips. Rich Americans Will
| frequently give five or ten dollars when
the tariff is not more than 75 cents or
81. The guild puts up a deposit of 200
yen with the hotel management to
guarantee good service, and elects one
of it's members as doorman. If at any
time a member leaves, he Is permitted
to take down his share of the deposit,
and to realize what he can from, the
sale of his membership in the guild,
provided there is no objection to the
successor and that he can produce his
share of the deposit money. 1t is said
that coolies pay high for the privilege
of Joining the little band that gets such
fat pickings from the tourists who ire
ouent the Grand, but the exact
amounts that have changed hands in
the sale of these memberships are not
known.
There are upwards of 400 different
kinds of guilds in Japan, and the long
list includes, among other novel occu-.
pations, a thieves union. The robbers
organization does a flourishing busl-
ness, but it is supposed to confine its
operations exclusively to the lower
classes. When one of its members
preys upon a person of official position