Evening star., 1937-04-06
TEXTILE BARRIER
HIT BY JAPANESE
Delegate to Textile Confer.
ence Declares Tariff
Keeps Pay Down.
BY BLAIR BOLLES.

Japan's products and she will raise
the pay of her textile workers, J..
Kitaoka, japanese government dele
gate, today told 200 representatives
OF the worlds leading textile-pro-
duclng lands, most of whom regard
Japan's low wage level as power
full competitive factor in the race for
foreign markets
In a report defending the practices
of his country, which in 10 years
has risen to a place among the first
five textile nations, Kitaoka declared
that Japan saved the market for the
raw materials of the industry at the
depth of the depression, at the very
.lnle producers of raw materials were
cursing her for intrudlng into their
markets for finished products.
TT is to be noted" the japanese
told the World Textile Conference in
the departmental auditorium. that
the low working conditions of the
japanese workers are occasionally
used by other countries as the reason
or pretext for establishing high tariffs.
g But it would be much truer to say
that the high tariffs are the stumbling
block in the way of raising the stand
ard of living"
Forty-Hour Week Gets Jolt.
The cry for abolition of tariffs
directed against Japan was kltaoka s
answer to the swelling demand at the
parley for a worldwide 40-hour week
end a minimum wage standard This
was given a rude Jolt by Gottfried
van der Meurens, employers delegate
from the Netherlands.
The 4O-hour week, warned Van der
Meurens, instead of increasing en-
ployment, will only lead management
to develop decentralization" to the
point where the number of jobless
textile workers will be many more
than at present.
Naturalization is a polite term for
the stretchout, the policy of increas-
ing the burden and duties of each
worker, who, it was brought out yes
terday, now handles two times as
many looms as he did 10 years ago.
The 40-hour week would be well
come in the Canadian industrial
provinces of Quebec and Ontario
Gerald H. Brown. Canadian govern
n1ent delegate, said.
Child labor, the 40-hour week and
a minimum wage standard promise to
remain the chief controversial topics
Of the conference.
Bell Injects Spirit.
po11 oF
ham Weavers' Association, who is an
adviser to the British workers dele
gate, injected spirit into the meeting
late yesterday by tWitting Anthony j..
Muirhead, British government repre-
sentative, who told the delegates they
should gather more information before
advocating any particular steps
How disappointed the workers Of
my country were when they listened
to the speech of the representative
of the British government" Bell said,
and added:
Il want to point out to the confer
ence the necessity of not being led
away from its main point by mass
of statistics and information. The
facts which workers are interested in
are the facts on the number Of work.
ers who work too long hours for too
low wages.
The British debate was intensified
by Thomas Ashurst. management
delegate, who supported the sugges-
ton that more information be de-
veloped. He opposed recommendation
by Henry I. Hartman. former presl-
dent of the United States Chamber of
Commerce, for international reg
ulation of hours. wages and child
labor.
II view with great concern any in
ternational action which would in
volve the abandonment OF our sys-
tenn of settling ge-and-hour con-
ditions in the various countries other
than by collective bargaining"
Ashurst said.
Ever since the beginning of our
industry it has been our custom to
fix Our wages by collective bargain
ing. 1t has worked eduitably, and
any attempt to take from us our
system of such bargaining will be re-
sisted not only by the employers but
! am quite sure by the workers
sections"