The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-03-23
WHAT WILL THE NAR
MEAN. 10 .l.ARA.l!!.2'I.
That Isga stiorl Which
Econ olnists Are Study
ing Caref fully.

-. Lii .
TOXIC; Feb. at Correspondence
% The Associated PressJ Japanese
economists are Interested in the econ
otnics enect OF the war upon labor con,
ditionsi IN Japan. The investigation
made In the representative parts OF
tho Empire shows that during the
16onthBf tmmed stately following the be
ginning Sot the war the business de.
precision was marked that many man
tfactufers were obliged to discharge
labofers whereas later on the condi-
tiongl made q sudden turn for the bet
TT and a boom in business largely
resulting from the heavy forces for
War3munit tons made a big increase In
theS demand for laborers.
Genera1ty speaking. the national in
dnHtfies felt "a shock at the outbreak
of the war In 1914 and during four
mo1ths, from August to November. OF
that year, business was in condition
az depression of kind that had not
been for many years.
Statistics taken IN the important man
ufacturing center OF Osaka show that
decrease OF workmen in the four
months following the beginning OF
hostilities was little over IL per
cent. The decrease was especially
marked In those industries making
goods for purposes. Of expectation. The
most 7marked percentage Of decrease
was Observable in brush-making, but
tons towels; soaps, pipes and cast
asNagoya, which is the great watch
and clock manufacturing center OF ia
pan; the production of time.pLeces In
October. 1914. showed decrease OF 40
$perScent over the month OF July, just
before the beginning Of the war. A
similar influence was shown In other
industries, especially cloisonne ware.
sbFafds, straw hats, embrofderies and
raw silk. The decrease in clotsonne
was 6S per cent and the decrease in
straw hats which are very. heavily ex-
ported sby Japan reached IS per cent.
TheEJapanege make straw hat OF
Yery4fine texture which resembles the
Panama hat and which is sent to all
parts sof the world.
Aftersthe first four months the stu
ation 8sIddenIy and sharply improved
as foreign nations began to feel the
need fof those necessities which were
manufactured in Japan and began to
make a call fol. war supplies. espec-
hollywood leather, boots, bandages,
soap and other incidentalB: The boom
which set in was SO marked that man.
ufdcturersi began to feel the scarcity OF
skilled labor.
The;Jepan Foreign Trade Association
which lie composed of leading mer.
chants of the empire has collected
=. Ia condition.
In Osaka at tho end of November.
prior tIle Var YEhF Industries show
ling the greatest increase1of workmen
were those connected with export
trad Q for the manufacture of goods
used as wnr8supplies by. Japan's allies
In ship.building at Osaka the number
OF Worlkmen Increased from 2,4oo ITO
I'M view Of a recent report from
Washington that Japanese manutactur-
sers have captured the American cot
5ton:goods trade In China, it is inter.
esting that Osaka alone the number OF
men employed IN the spinning indus
try showed an increase OF over 1000.
TheEgeneral prosperity in Japan con-
tinues: The boom Is especially no.
ttceable in the shipping industry. Dur
inf week In Japan seventeen yes
sells changed hands. three of them be-
zig chartered by foreign firms. The
priees asked were so high as to find
no parallel in the history Of the trade
n the far East
Atsthe semi.annual meeting Of the
shareholdersl OF the Bank OF Japan
which declared dividend OF twelve
percent for the last halftye viscount
Miahima, the governor Of the institu-
lion, remarked the same favorable
eeonofnicg effect OF the war. Pointing
out that the exports last year showed
SnFexcess over imports OF 175,000,0 600
yens he said that this was a result UNI
tprenedeIted in the history OF the coun-
tfy,S foreign trade. This excess was
caused not only by heavy orders of
warasuppl iess for the Entente Allies but
also bysan increase Of expectations to
the United States and South America,
China, the South Sea. islands, and 9TH
or acknowledgement countries whose i'm
poItatiopB from Europe had either
sheen reduced or cut off entirely. be:
cause of the war.