JAPAN’S COMPETITION

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 301, 15 September 1933, Page 13

JAPAN’S COMPETITION

Raising Oriental Standards of Living DR. SCHOLEFIELD’S PLAN The raising of the standard of living in China and Japan was ths solution suggested by Dr. Guy Scholefield, speaking at the annual meeting of the Lower Hutt League of Mothers last evening, for the competition between Japan and the British Empire. “This would increase their cost of production and create new needs,” said Dr. Scholefield, “some of which would probably be met from overseas sources while others would provide further markets for Japanese manufacturers. The drawback is the very slow operation of this tendency. Western countries would continue to suffer by the competition, while Eastern standards were being raised. “The competition of the East and West to-day is not merely temporary. It is a competition between vastly different living standards, and cannot be cured out of hand by tariffs. Like other manufacturing nations, Japan has to find markets to maintain her population within Japan. This is one of the economic causes that very often leads to war. For instance, any attempt by Japan to close the markets of China and Manchuria against her competitors might? cause friction. On the other hand, that might well be discussed as part of the proposals for allocating different spheres in the world to different manufacturing nations.” East and West Face to Face, Dr. Scholefield said that though they had heard a great deal of the yellow peril for forty years past, the fact was that East and West bad now for the first time come face to face. That is, they were competing in the economic sphere. He traced the rise of the Japanese from the time, in 1868, when they decided to adopt Western methods and organisation. They had proved to be apt copyists in all branches of industry. Using the same machines and the same patterns as Western manufacturers, they were for a long time kept cut of active competition by lack of skill and by the fact that there was room in world markets for all. During the war thej’ had been unable, mainly from lack of skill, to take full advantage of their opportunities in these markets, but they had steadily improved in efficiency since then. The depression destroyed the rich world markets, and greatly intensified competition in face of reduced purchasing power. Japan pressed hard to absorb this purchasing power with her cheap products in order to keep her machines going. In these circumstances her very cheap labour and improved skill had given her an advantage. The competition with British manufacturers had been keen all over the world, notably in British Crown Colonies and in India. British Imports Fall. The imports of British cotton piece goods into India fell from 90 per cent, in 1913-14 to less than 60 per cent, in 1929-30, while Japanese imports jumped from 1 per cent, to 25 per cent. Japan felt severely the shrinkage of her Chinese market, due to the boycott following the events in Manchuria, and to some extent Great Britain profited by securing a greater share of the Chinese market. The Nationalist movement in India strongly resented the competition of Japanese manufacturers with Indian industry, especially as Japan in 1928 had entirely stopped buying Indian rice. As a result the Indian tariff on cotton piece goods of foreign manufacture was raised to 75 per cent., thus giving British manufacturers a preference of 50 per cent, as compared with Japanese. Nevertheless, the cotton industry In India had suffered very severely. This was due in great measure to lack of efficiency. In Japan a girl weaver attended to eight looms, whereas in India a man could mind only two. In the automatic shed a Japanese girl could mind 40 looms. In the spinning shed a Japanese could watch 1200 spindles; an Indian only 360 to 400; while the Japanese workers were skilful and adaptable, the Indians were unwilling to adopt new methods. By way of retaliation Japan has ceased to purchase Indian raw cotton, of which she had hitherto taken 1} million bales a year, or half the export. She was now turning to Inferior American and Chinese cotton.