Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-18
OF WORLDWIDE INTEREST
JAPANESE LABOR TROUBLES
BY FREDERIC }. HAsklN

to be done in three or four days or
not at ALL. The little shopkeeper can
not understand why he should be in
O rush simply because his customer Is
in hurry. There are no near pros
poets of the collapse of the universe,
and there is an endless succession of
tomorrows to draw upon. Therefore,
why should anyone be in hurry? He
decides that it probably is some for
eign whim that must be humored and
replies that the work can be finished
in four days at 10 o'clock in the morn
ing.
"The four days pass and the work
is not yet delivered. A messenger
brings back word that it will be sent
that afternoon at o'clock An hour
later hoy comes to say that it will
be delivered the next morning without
fail. AnG thus two or three more days
go by. Finally the householder finds
that his contractor knows nothing
about the work he processes to carry
on. and that he is not only unable to
deliver the goods, but has not even
started the work. In explanation, a
catalogue of distressing family afflic-
tions is given, one or the other of
which has befallen him or his work.
men, so that nothing whatever can be
done at the moment. But in two or
three days more the job will be fin
ished. There Is no use to hunt up
some other philosopher in the same
trade, as 1t would be but to go through
the same experience again. The trade
has it's laws to which those who want
to get things done must bow.
ut is fallacy that Japan has an
abundance of skilled and cheap labor
The employer here is always more or
less at the mercy of his employees and
must consult their convenience, not
his. References of character from for
mer employers are unknown. If a man
says he is a carpenter, a blacksmith, a
painter or printer, that he under
stands everything in his trade, and
that he wants so much per month, the
employer must take him at his own
valuation and later find out what he
can or cannot do.
1.-THE virtues of the japanese work.
man are that he Is sober, polite and
cleanly. A way to carry on work with
him in more or less satisfactory man
ner can be found. He cannot under
stand why his employer should work
himself into passion merely because
a workman spoils material or ruins a
whole job. Neither can he account for
impatience when a task is not finished
on time. To him tomorrow has little
or no significance, tomorrow or any
succession of tomorrows is just as good
as today. If he does a job wrong. or
spoils 1t, he is with the utmost good
temper ready and willing to do 1t all
over again. three or four times If nee
essary, provided his pay goes on. To
him, foreigners are strange beings who
have rare ideas and unaccountable
whimS which are very difficult to un-
derstand. Neither does he understand
how any loss or annoyance his en-
ployer may suffer can concern him. He
regards any show of temper or impa-
tience on the part of his master as
piece of vulgarity and III breeding of
which no gentleman should be guilty.
I'm word, the Japanese laborer can
be neither driven nor led. Considerate
treatment and an active interest in his
welfare never evoke show OF graft
tude or cause more pleasant relations.
There is a permanent state of passive
resistance and resentment of the fact
that the master earns more than his
man. Therefore, the Japanese artisan,
whether he works on the premises for
fixed wages or is employed outside.
always looks upon his employer as a
hostile force to which an unkind
providence has delivered him. He looks
upon 1t as duty to do as little as pos
sible, and to do that little in a way
most convenient to himself.
There is no competition In the sup
ply of skilled labor in any branch of
traue OF INDUSTRY, ana consequently HO
incentive to improve. Work is fire.
quently delayed or stopped for want
Of hands able and willing to do 1t. All
through Japan there is an annual
waste of many millions of dollars in
time, spoiled material and neglected
tools and machinery. All arguments
to prevent this waste are useless, and
there Is serious doubt whether they
are even understood. The value of all
that Is ruined. wasted and thrown
away every year is probably more than
the total amount of national and mu-
nicipal taxation. Those who might
remedy this sad state of affairs seem
unable or unwilling to inaugurate an
apprentice system which would afford
course of systematic training and
produce genuine skilled labor.
mo matter how the figures of ex-
ports and imports may increase, and
no matter how many such desperate
and fallacious financial expedients as
monopoly mongering are undertaken,
Japan will always be out at the elbows
and down at the heels" Copyright,
| 1908, by Frederic ]. Haskin).
TomOrrOw-The Last of the ShOguns