The Washington times., 1924-10-31
LACk Of WORK
SERIOUS IN
JAPAN
Educated Glass, Out Of Jobs
and Despondent, Turns TO
communistlc Views
BY HUGH J. gCHUCK.
InternationaI News service.

communicate Views
BY HUGH J. ECHUCK.
International News servica.
TOKYO, Oct. 3i.-The problem Of
the unemployment Of the intelligent
class In Japan II one Of the most
serious confronting the, country at
| the present time.
1.-THE situation which viii % ere.
ated II the educated people cannot
find work to support themselves
will be dangerous" says Mr.. YoshIo
UelSi, chief Of the secretariat at the
Tokyo Central Employment Bureau.
In the month of June the number
OF college and university graduates
who applied for work in the munic-
lpal agencies totaled 2,696, and after
considerable difficulty the officers
were able to place only 6S7 appIis
cants.
Day after day these educated PEG.
pie rub shoulders with day laborers
as they sit In the employment
agencies waiting for work that gel
dom comes. The coOlie demands
from 1850 yen to 3 yen day. for
carrying mud, while the college
graduate would Jump at The chance
to do the work for which he is
fitted for 40 yen a month or less.
Realize the Irony.
Because they are intelligent and
have been trained to think" says
Mr.. Uelxi, they realize the irony of
their position and are driven to q
dangerous trend of thought have
been studying them and their sen.
timents toward life. and / have
found q great number who are on
the verge Of dependency and many
who are detected.
while they wait day In and day
out, they become bitter and write
curses, statements Of discourage
ment and communistic doctrines on
the walls and benches. Such mani
Sestations are increasing, and 1t 10
getting harder all the time for this
class to find positions.
MANY university graduates think
It. is humiIiating to be unable to
find work after their years Of hard
study and are willing even to work
without pay"
Professional men such as physi-
clans and lawyers are so numerouR
In Tokyo that q great many Of
them have closed their offices and
have become assistants, without
compensation, to prominent mem.
bers of their professions. Twenty.
six physicians here have recently
taken that step.
Cleared by Inscription.
The attitude Of these unemployed
Is expressed in the following in.
eNr I'D
on the door of one Of the agencies:
ST came to Tokyo to get an edu.
cation and worked my way through
q university until ] was graduated.
With all the ambition / have cher
tshed since boyhood, / have tried to
get work, but have found none.
have parents at home to support.
What can / do?''
The lot Of the skilled laborer Is
little better. According to a recent
estimate, the number Of skilled
workmen in Tokyo is now but 40
per cent of the pre-earthquake total.
Most Of the men of this class have
left the city, because they were not
able to get work in their trades
here.
According to the central employ
ment bureau, 26,406 skilled Iaborers
have applied for work here this
summer. Records show that 24,506
jobs have been filled; but an inves-
tigation revealed that most Of these
places had not been taken by
skilled workmen who had families
to support, but by young men who
we're willing to learn the trade at
low wage or none at ALL
Skilled Men Discharged.
Many large factories have dis.
charged skilled workers on the
ground that 1t was not profitable to
keep them at high wages.
The more goods they produced,
said the managers, the greater their
los as long as they retained their
high-priced employees. And thus
young and. unskilled ones have
taken their places,
"The suffering of skilled laborers
who are in the prime Of Life has
been very acute on account Of this
condition in the factories" said
Mr.. Ueki. Factory wages are too
high at present, and this Is one of
the measures they have taken to
cut them down, tendency which
has been evident since 1902
Before the close of the last res.
sion of the Diet several members
visited some Of the employment
agencies in Tokyo. They expressed
surprise at the number of well.
dressed persons who were sitting
on the benches beside the coolies
and common workmen.
While nothing definite has been
done by the government in regard
to the matter, the situation is
growing increasingly acute and mu-
nicipal authorities realize chat soon
something will have to be done, or
the discomfort will get beyond thier
control.