JAPANESE METHODS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6450, 22 February 1908, Page 11

JAPANESE METHODS.

■A WK'.f.l NOTON I AN'S TESTIMONY. WAVS THAT AIM! D.MfK. riiiruM: with tkadk marks. THE NII’TON DRILL SERGEANT. mi : ethics of ’ntor.” A letter in a prominent townsman from his son lets 11 little fiirl.hor light into the subject of Japanese iine-.-e. In Urn light of our recent cable despatches it makes very intered I reading. Hu

says : - , , ■ t lull Will Mint trade ansi genera! msiuo-.< in Shanghai is not in a vary Ilourhiking cuurliMon j'nsl now. I understand several firni.s Ini’.-, on t.he.ir hands good.-. - several linns iiavc on their bands goods, Hour, siiifH', <■(<■,, origin,-illy imported to nmol. Mm demand in .MaiieJiuria and Korea, .specially Mm fornmr country; Imt, owing to Mm obstacles Mm Japanese nro palling in Mm wny, kiicli ms railway ehargos. Customs, etc., of foreign (irnis, ;i,nd Mm ihonl oxl riiordi.nnry facil ; tiles given to f Imi r own coirntrynmn, it is ton ml impossible Ui compete against simh grossly unfair competition. Thin may sound sonmwiiiil incndiblo, but when I lei; you Mint everything, or very i) 101 r 1 v everything, Hurt goes into .Manchuria fif it passes through .lapajioso hands at Italny) is distributed all over Dint country to bo sohl to the consumers, who. nl the bint, havo little oduoatiou, anil are for tho most paid fa.rrnors or the like, ami what those men buy Is all purchased on Mm strength of what i.s loeally known a.s Mm "chop," i.e., trade mark, the foregoing nmv be bettor undersiood, for (Hose reasons. A company or firm which, prior to the Japanese orr.upation of Mm distributing port, hail worked up a good (wiuecliou with (Ire Manchurian market, and the "chop” of its goods had heroine known to the consumer, he (the purchaser) would always want, sueh and such of- “(■hop.” lie. buys tho‘'chop"! Vow it appears in Japan there is no such thing 11. S a law prelecting trade marks, or, if there is. it is mi “loose’' that mi Japanese worries aliout it. The.ro is a good amount of notion goods, of a very inferior qualify, manufactured in Japan, and tho m.uiuYacturer, talcing advantage qf the aforeimuiMoireil facilities ottered him. offered wifh a view otstousibly to dele 11 foreign competition and make tho Manelm rian a, market (solely for Japanese goods, simply allixes to his “stuffs” the trade mark of a foreign linn, importing n, vastly superior article —the “chop” of vbiieh is known to the consumer—undersells Ills rival and so makes the foreignAms' goods unnalcablc, and ther© it is. "Oh 1 but tlio purchaser can toll by tho quality,” say yon. ■ Yes, so ho could, but the imitation is go good, he knows not tho ilaffercnco, and oven if 110 did know hy tho quality luy knows tho “chop” far better, and that is what Im goes for. If ho can purchase goods beaming a foreign "chop”* with which he i.s familiar, cheaply, ho imagines tho bargain is his! OUSTING TILE FOREIGN DEVIL.

On ovary possible occasion tho Japanese, by unfair moans, strive to squash foreign trade. Bid you road Sir T. Sutherland's aim I*, and O. chairman) sjxioah at tho last mooting of his company? Ho d.row attention to the Japanese competition ■I jo tween Bombay and Japan. I suppose you saw tho speech, which in tho opinion at many is the match which is to start • tho fire. Huntley [tod Palmer's biscuits, Lea and Perrin's sauce. Pear's soap, Scotch whisky and other well-known British manufacturers' goods can be bought throughout 'Manchuria and Korea at an absurdly low price. Truly, these arc wonderful Imitations, and the "got up" of tho labels is so good that until one read the “linglish u\s she is writ" thereon one could not 801 l the difference; but when read one Pids—as is the case with most people unfamiliar with written English —tho fifth letter of tho alphabet is so "overworked" that tho whole tiling becomes ludicrous.

T remember when I was at college our principal discovered that some fellows wore rending "Deadwood Dick'* yams. Tic \v-fLR fearfully annoyed about it, and to the best of my recollection, said; "I w-ondor yon can rend such literature, if it can l>o called literature. Why, it stinks like n Chinaman's garden/* Had that happened now and I been there, I feel I should have said, "Make it like Japanese trade methods, sir," and risked tho "interview" after. SIDE-LIGHTS ON KOREA.

Then again, take Korea. Why the Powers stood by and watched tho Japanese annex that country—for annexed it they have, though they call it by another and prettier name—is a wonder to most people in this part of the globe. . 1 Previous to Japanese interference with things Korean—same time previous, in fact—'America made a commercial treaty with Korea whereby many commodities from the former country were passed into the latter under a special tariff. This treaty was, and should be now, advantageous to both countries. If one had any greater advantage I_ believe it was not tho United States. Now, Mister Jap found that tho Korean peninsula would, be an excellent outlet for his trade and overcrowded population. The Japanese encouraged, among other things, their own manufacturers by giving them a preference over others, and by passing in goods practically duty free, as against a heavy import fee imposed upon foreigners. Furthermore, tho Jape have taken it upon themselves to annul _tho hitherto existing treaty with the United States, Now American exporters wish to know why it is that an extra import duty of from 40 to 50 per cent, is placed upon their goods, notwithstanding the fact that, Jn their minds, the treaty still exists. Wo shell probably hear more of that later, maybe when the American fleet reaches the Pacific. Apart from external affairs Korea internally is in a very unsettled state. The natives d/isliko and distrust the Jap just as much as, and more than do the Chinese. Rioting, burning, and other revolutionary disturbances are daily occurrences.

CHILLING JOHN CHINAMAN. In CMna proper, Japanese influence is making -itself felt everywhere. Some years ago Tuan Shi Kaa, tho most gouhead and progressive poreonago in Celestial ofllcinhlom, ,was Viceroy of Chi-li. Yuan engaged a considerable number of German military officers to train the then soralled Chinese soldiers, and so form the

nucleus of a well-disciplined. equipped, ;ut<{ army for China. By nnncriil Drcnv” Yuan was transferred to ;iiioliher post. and another took over tho position of Viceroy of CJu-li. However. 1... . 1, ,. uiiat it may, and in spite of flic I i-lo'l ials' avowed dislike for the Jap, Mm fam Mauds Hint at lim present (Mile Mi ere i.s not a Merman officer in tho -c-vica of I hlna. All the troops are '(dheered by .1 a pallet, and it U an open secret: that, flieir aim is to hold similar no - 'lions in all the Mhmeso provincial •mi, lie- In two of the southern provuia limy have already practically snceed‘(l, A DA HK OUTLOOK. 'Pi, js is eertainlv not a very bright outlook : still, though the object of the -'>pnouili s' ambition is undoubtedly to h.ue Ihe Si.premacv of Mm Uar Eastern their hands, t hat object will never be attamc-d. A di cede, at, most, will see Hie Japanese in the .sphere to winch it "■ Neither will they ever become .meal eornntercial country, for the simple reason (hat they can’t or will not '7am‘afraid vou will think I am pessb midic on the' subject of “our allies, l,nl, you will find that what I have writj(j,r; "I'nicnil opinion hf-rnabonr.