THE COTTON WAR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 83, 9 April 1934, Page 9

THE COTTON WAR

JAPAN AT THE SPINDLE LIFE IN A BIG FACTORY NON-STOP MACHINES. Nine million spindles in Japan; fifty million in Lancashire—these are the weapons in the greatest textile warfare ever known, in which Britain is waging a losing light, writes 11. J. Green wall iu the Daily Express. Negotiations for a true or honourable peace have been scheduled to begin, but when I was in Lancashire early in December I found cotton-spinners pessimistic about Japan’s intentions. Here in Japan I find rather frayed tempers, and am admonished to refrain from comment. But when one-third of the wealth of Britain is at stake, and one third of Lancashire’s trade has been already lost to Japan, [ think I might tell the cotton, operatives of Britain, and others whose daily bread and margarine is dependent. on Japan’s intentions, exactly what a Jaapnese cotton mill looks like. I am a reporter, and entirely unbiassed; I tell of what 1 saw and heard, and for purposes of description I have selected the Kanegafuchi Mills, on the outskirts of Tok io. They rank as one of the best iu Japan. Incidentally, I should say there is a decided attempt to wipe out the sweatshop in tho cotton industry, although in certain regions sweat shops still exist. Big mills like Kanegafuchi’s send recruiting agents up and down the country side signing up girls. They are engaged at ages from 14 to 20—mostly fanners’ daughters. The average period of service is two and a-hali years. Spartan Living. To some mills —and this applies to tho smaller ones— the girls are sold outright oy their parents, but in the bigger mills this so-called indentured labour. I am told, has been discon-; tinned. At Kanegafuchi’s there are 2400 operatives, working in three shifts in five sheds. Over 1500 women and 80 men sleep in the company’s dormitories; others live in tho town. The first shift rises at 4 a.m., and i half an hour later cats a meal in the refectory, which is a shod of wood ■ and glass about 200 ft. long. The floor 1 is stone and the room is bitterly cold, but some attempt is made to heat it with small stoves. There is also one small loud-speaker room. I have the current week’s menu in front of me. When my talc appeals' in the Daily Express the girls will bo having seaweed soup for breakfast. On other mornings there is onion, radish, or bean soup. The girls have half an hour in which to eat the meal and wash their own dishes. They begin work at 5 a.m. and continue until 10.30, when they get half an hour tor a second meal and dishwashing. Lunch on Sunday, which is a working day like any other, consists of boiled horsemeat with onion, potato, and rice: this is the only day on which any meat is served with the mid-day meal. Other lunches consist of cuttlefish and rice; or boiled dry radish with bean curd and rice; or boiled clam anu rice, or boiled vegetables. The Sunday evening meal is of boiled codfish with seawoad, mixed gluten puddina, and rice. On Thursday there will be boiled pork for supper, otherwise there is no meat at any evening meal. The girls eat quickly out of small bowls, using, of course, chopsticks. Round the Clock. The first shift finishes work at 2 p.m. The second works from 2 p.m. until 11 p.m., with half hours for food. Tho third shift of machinists conics on at 7 p.m., finishing at 4.30 a.m. Thus the factory works right round the clock every day, although operatives get four days off every mouth. 'There is a school for girls wishing to learn etiquette, reading, writing, housekeeping, cooking, dressmaking, singing, dancing, or sports. They pay 15 sen daily for (heir three meals, which is about the fifteenth part of a shilling. But listen to their wages! For eight and a-half hours’ work they are paid 7Ad until they arc con.•'idered proficient, and then their wages average Is sd. Now hear what they do. Working on lawn and triple width skirtings, 1 saw operatives tending 24 automatic looms «»f the (Stafford type and .12 non-auto-matic looms of the Platt typo. When working on double width, which is really two-and-a half width, girls can increase their tendings to 32 automatics and 16 non-automatics. Whether Japan can hold down to present prices is a matter of opinion, but now Japan is reaping tho harvest while she may. Why? Because over in China they are getting ready to undersell Japan and

-f* already there the textile mills are working 150 hours weekly. But despite hard work the Japanese workgirls aro perfectly healthy and happy-looking. Politely they bow low <o strangers, and giggle at the strangolooking “foreign devils.’’ There is a hospital with 16 beds. 1 remarked that they were all occupied. 1 inquired the reason. 1 was politely told by tho company’s doctor that tho girls were suffering from tho prevailing ’flu—which is, incidentally, causing 40 deaths daily in Tokio—or suffering from indigestion owing to the food being better than they wore used to at home. This was not funny. I quite believe *t, because the majority of Japanese farmers aro starving and glad to sell their daughters when they cannot sell their rice crops. If they do not sell their daughters, they allow recruiting agents to engage them for the factories—it is either that or the red-light districts of the big cities, in licensed, Government-con-trolled houses. The farmers arc too hard-up to keep their daughters at home, so no wonder the girls arc happy and smiling; and the doctor tells me they weigh 61b heavier than no-operative girls. And tho mills are doing well, paying 20, 3G ; 40 per cent, dividends. And Japanese piece-goods are underselling British by nearly 80 per cent.