The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-04-28
CHINESE SLAVES
ENDURE AWFUL
FACTORY LIFE
Infants Sleep Under
Noisy Machines


Some idea of the cause of wide
spread unrest in China and of the
hatred against foreign exploiters may
be gained from reports of actual con-
ditions in the foreign-owned factories
that have been built upon the CHASTITY
exploitation Of women and children.
Donald Ross, writing from Hankow
for the Nationalist News Agency de-
scribes factory life in that city, de-
picting tired and worn women sitting
over steaming tables in silk factories
while their infant children sleep in
piles of filthy rags on the factory
Legislation abolishing such conditions
exist in other parts Of the world, but
in China the foreign-control of the
former governments have prevented
the abolition Of such horrible con-
ditions. The New York representa-
tive Of the National News Agency re-
leases the Day article, which, in part,
is as follows:
Children Work Long Hours.
'The lives Of the worldngmen of
China are the best explanation of the
labor unrest 1t is true industries
must not be strangled, but it is true
also that without strangulation most
Of the industries of China could be
reorganized in such a way that chill
dren Of Z and years would not work
for twelve hours a day in dark fac
tories for few paltry cents, and that
tired, worn women would not sit all
day over steaming tables in silk fac
tories, while their babies cry from dis
comfort and hunger, or mercifully
sleep, in baskets Of rags under the
machines.
This afternoon the writer was
guided rapidly through four mills. My
impression at the end of it is that the
industry of China is built up of the
energy Of pale-faced women and visit
ful-faced children.
No Labor Legislation.
at is children and women, as well
as men, who labor in China. Laws
long since considered necessary for
humanity's sake in the West have not
yet been passed in China. In other
countries labor has fought for special
laws for women. Other countries have
fought against child labor. In China
the time has not yet come when it is
legally conceded that these things are
crimes, and factories, belonging to
both foreigners and Chinese, work
their laborers twelve long hours and
often more.
Miserable Wages.
What in wages does this long day
mean to the laborers? In British
owned press packing plant visit to-
day, where hundreds of women and
children work sitting on stone floors,
loosening cotton from cotton bales,
breathing air so thick with cotton dust
that the room seems in perpetual
fog, the average wage per day is 20
coppegs.
There is one room where there are
more skilled laborers who work around
the packing machine. One man in this
room crouches down at intervals be-
fore one of the metal arms of huge
wheel, and straining every muscle,
jars the wheel from a dead stop, and
pushes it into place under the ma
chine. Other men take care of other
phases of the binding of the packages.
Men in this room are the plutocrats of
the factory. They get 1870 coppers
day.
No Holidays.
There is no provision for care of
the laborers on the premises. There
are no holidays with pay. If they
take Sunday off, they lose a days
pay. IF they take two hours off, they
lose a fraction Of the day.
"There were children in this fac
tory, swarms Of them, sitting on the
floor. sorting out the cotton. These
children spend the day in rooms filled
with cotton dust. They do not have
time out for their meals. And they
get 20 coppers day, or less.
Babies Sleep Under Machines.
81 saw three other mills. The worst
was a Chinese silk mill. 1t was
horror. Babies huddled in baskets UNI
der the machines. Women and girls
were in long lines in badly lighted,
badly ventilated room, with their
han0s in steaming water in which the
cacoons are soaking. The air was
thick with moisture and the smells
bad. Everywhere were babies, and
tiny children, too young to work.
Twelve Hours in Best.
"The other factories we visited were
weaving factories, one Japanese and
the other Chinese. The japanese fac
tory was a model factory for Hankow.
The rooms were light and the ceilings
high. Wages are little better here
40 cents day, or S12 a month. But
here, too, most Of the workers were
women and children and the day was
twelve hours.
"The Chinese mil was poorly fl
nanced. Rooms here were dark, poor
ly ventilated. Hours are long. Work is