The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-04-17

every pound OF yarn shipped TO a for
eign market, This would. they said
permit them 10 sell below the marke
price. But this was taking the thing
too far and the scheme did not hol(
together long. One native newspapel
said IL was case Of cutting the fiesl
OF the thigh in order TO eat." and tha
view appealed TO the spinners wheI
they were called on TO pay their shar,
OF bounty TO be given to some othel
spinner to reward him for cutting dowr
the price OF their own product.
The spinning mills will have to close
down If conditions are not righted al
once. Silk reeling establishments are
already closing and the silk production
probably will be curtailei next year
Thus far the vast amount " public
work going on has kept the most II the
/ people in employment. but as he people
pay the bills through taxss. his Is
another case of cutting the ;lesh nf the
/ thigh to eat. II may help for a time,
but the day OF reckoning viii come.
Among the masses Of the people the
prosperity caused by the unlsral dis
tribution OF money during the war is
still manifest. This is a point 10 be
considered in reckoning Japap's fight.
ing spirit. The nation has l. million
men who would welcome l wa- that
they might flock into the aImy-not
because OF the old samurai fighting
spirit, but because as soldiers they have
better clothing, better food and better
pay than they could ever hope to have
as working men. The japanese soldier
fares not half so we'll as the American
regular. The difference in the condi-
tion of the laboring classes of the two
countries is forcibly illustrated at this
point The japanese pray to get into
the army for the good pay-the re-
cruiting officer in the United States has
to beg men TO enlist.
A people as poor as this can not
afford even one week of idleness. When
the factories stop in the United States
il causes much suffering, it is true, !
but when they stop in Japan the word
suffering does not go far enough; it !
means starvation.
Many of the wisest men in Japan /
believe ii was a good thing that the /
boom burst so soon. II it had gone on
for another twelve months il would
have involved absolutely the > entire
capital of the country and the wreck
would have been complete. That the
crash came before il was physically
possible for some of the people to get
their money UP, has helped the situa-
ion. As most of the capital that was
invested was borrowed abroad, the
1ther nations are much interested.
But, nevertheless, black as Japan's f.
1ancial outlook is at this time, there
5 still faith. In the face of the panic
md the government policy of taking
,ver transportation properties at its
'wn valuation whenever it gets good /
md ready, British company has put I
lp s5.OOO.OOO for an electric railway 10
,e eighty-three miles long. The dis
nal failure OF the first great steel
making project in Japan has not de- '
erred other venturous souls, and a
ew steel company is about to be per- !
ected with English money actually in |
light. I
No nation is more interested in ia '
ans commercial prosperity than the I
'nited States. Ours is the largest '
hare of its foreign business, and the r
nancial health of the two countries
closely connected. Japan has shared /
ur monetary troubles, although inf a
itely less able TO bear them, and il /
certainly TO be hoped that she will o
hare our returning prosperity But d
: yet there is little hope of a speedy
and the industrial situation c
Japan is extremely gloomy. Prf- d
ate finances and credit are strained. n
ublic finances are in a tangle that is $
iusing a storm of protest from every p
art OF the Empire. But that is an d
her story. To feel the tragedy of the y
ing as japanese must feel it. one
ust imagine himself making paste :
'ard boxes for wages of three cents a
T ten-hOUr day. Even the Amer ii
an imagination refuses to. work for n
ch wages. 81
"