NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY LANCASHIRE AND JAPAN

Northern Advocate, 22 March 1934, Page 4

NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY

LANCASHIRE AND JAPAN

Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper. THURSDAY. MARCH 22, 10.°,4.

The competition between Japan • and Lancashire is a serious matter. What, the end of it will be it is difficult to foresee.- So far, ; attempts by means of confer- i cnees to reconcile the points of view of the two nations have i proved futile. It is being urged; that Britain and the component j parts of the Empire should raise i tariff walls which will keep Jap- 1 aiiQ.se ■manufactures out, but j there are so many obvious oh- j stael.es in the way' of this that j the erection of the walls is re-1 cognised to be fraught with j grave possibilities, especially to i those dominions who grow wool j which they would like Japan to j buy. This aspect was dealt with I in a cable message published-yes-j terday, wherein it was stated j that the “Manchester Guardian ” j had given prominence to an ex- j tract from an Osaka paper j which, discussing the breakdown | of cotton negotiations, said; “Japan is well prepared for the consequences. Wo must expect more barriers. A strong point in our favour is that we can always boycott Australian wool if the : Empire boycotts Japanese manufactures. If Britain tights harder we have only to step on the gas.” This is comment which will not be received with good grace by people throughout the Empire. who will also bo perturbed by the news that Lancashire industrialists . declare that no amount of reorganisation would enable Britain to compete with Eastern wages and the depressed yen. What is to be done? That'is the question which awaits an answer. In this connection 'it is especially interesting to read wh at “Th e * Tim es ” ha d t o say' at the cud of last year-on the subject of Japan’s challenge. In the course of an illuminating article comparing British and Japanese .technique,.- the paper declared that British people “must disregard tales of Government subsidisation, selling under cost, and sweated .*labour in Japan. The prosperity of Japan’s export trade is due to the efficiency and organisation of her industry.” With .fewer than 9,000.000 spindles, Japan has a larger export trade than Lancashire with. 00,000,000 spindles. Japan today is equipped with the ! most up-to-date plant in the world. The depreciation of the yen has been Japan’s great, exporting advantage, but that does not explain her superiority in sheer mechanical production and organisation. The control of the Japanese Cotton Spinners’ Association is homogeneous and spontaneous. No Government compulsion has ever been necessary. Enthusiasm and the spirit of meeting a racial challenge have been the driving force, “ft is a. healthy i combination of all the interests hying between the cotton field and the export market, in which every branch of the industry, every process, serves the next — not as in Lancashire, where every “interest pits itself against the next.” “The Times” article affirms that British cotton manufacturers will have to copy this example of “rationalisation.” Its merits arc such in Japan that four years ago, without the advantage of any currency deprecia-tion.-—the present-day excuse — Japan ousted Lancashire in production of grey shirtings and striped jeans. Again, “there is nol a single mill in Lancashire today which from the mechanical standpoint eonld produce economically against Japan, however accommodating trade-union regulations might be.” The weakness must be faced. Already, it has been stated, some Lancashire mills are preparing to move to Egypt. Bui that also will not cure the disease at home. Lancashire must do everything within its power to put its house in order. But. what can it do if it lie true, as the industrialists declare. that no amount of reorganisation would enable Britain to compete with Eastern wages and tin 1 depressed yen? Japanese rates of wages for Lancashire op-j eratives must bo definitely ruled out of any discussion of the nrnblem. The call for the highest statesmanship as well as the best industrial tactics is indeed loud j and insistent.