THE COTTON WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 73, 27 March 1934, Page 9

THE COTTON WAR

JAPAN AT THE SPINDLE

LIFE IN A BIG FACTORY

NON-STOP IHACHINES

Nine million spindles in Japan; fifty i million in Lancashire—these are the weapons in the greatest textile warfare ever known, in which Britain is waging a losing fight, writes H. J. Greenwall in the "Daily Express." Nego-i tiations.ior a truce 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 I 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, I think I might tell tho cottoii operatives of Britain, ana others whose- daily bread and margarine is dependent on Japan's intentions, exactly what a Japanese cotton mill looks like. I am a. reporter, and entirely unbiased; I.tell of what I saw and heard, and for purposes of description I have selected the Kaiiegafuchi Mills, on the outskirts of Tokio. They rank as one of the best in Japan. Incidentally, I should say there is a decided attempt to wipe out tho sweatshop in the- cotton industry, although iv certain regions sweat-shops still exist. Big mills like Kanegafuehi's send recruiting agents up and down the countryside signing up girJs. They are engaged at ages from ' fourteen to 'twenty—mostly farmers \ daughters. The average period of service is two and a half years. ■ • .- ; SPAKTAN LIVING. : To some mills—and this applies to the smaller ones—-the girls are sold outright by their parents, but in the bigger mills this so-called indentured labour, I am told, has been discontinued. ... . At Kanegafuehi's there are 2400 operatives, working in three shifts in five sheds. .Over 1500 women and eighty men sleep in the company's dormitories; others live in. the town. The first shift rises at 4 a.m., and half an hour later eats a meal in tho refectory,, which is a shed of wood and glass about 200 ft long. The floor is stone and the room is bitterly cold, but soino attempt, is made to "heat it with small stoves.. There is also one small loud-speaker room. . . ,

. I have tho current week's menu in front of me. ■ When my tale appears in tho^ "Daily Express" the girls will behaving seaweed soup foi« 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 for 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 midday meal. • , \ Other lunches consist of cuttlefish and rice; or boiled dry- radish with bean curd and rice; or boiled clam and rice, or boiled vegetables. The Sunday evening meal is of boiled codfish with seaweed; mixed glntcn pudding, and: rice. . ■;/■, ■ On Thursday there will be boiled pork for supper; otherwise there is.nomeat at any evening meal. The girls eat quickly out of small bowls, using, of course, chopsticks. • BOUND THE CLOCK. The first shift finishes work at 2 p.ni The second works from 2 p.m. until 11 p.m., with half hours for food. The third shift of machinists conies 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 month. 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 their 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 7}d. until they are "considered proficient, and then their wages average Is sd. Now hear what they do.. Working on lawn and triple width shirtings,. I saw operatives tending twenty-four automatic looms of the Stafford type and twelve non-automatic lcfoms of the Platt'type. ; , ~ _ When, working on- double width, which is really two-and-a-half width, girls caii increase .their tendings to thirty-two automatics and sixteen nonautomatics. ~'•.■""•■ "Whether Japan can hold down to. present prices is a matter of opinion, but now' Japan, is reaping the harvest while she may. "Why? - ... ■ Because over in China they are getting ready to undersell Japan and already there the textile mills are working 150 hours weekly. ' , HEALTHY AND HAPPY. But despite hard'work the Japanese Workgirls' are perfectly healthy and happy-looking. Politely they bow low to strangers, and giggle'at the strangelooking "foreign devils." There is a hospital with sixteenbeds. I remarked that they were all occupied. I inquired the reason. I was politely told by the company's doctor that- the girls were suffering from tho prevailing 'flu—which is, incidentally, causing forty 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 it, because the majority of Japanese farmers are 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 aro too hard-up to keep their daughters at home, so no wonder the girls are happy and smiling; and the doctor tells me they weigh 61b heavier, thar non-operative girls. , And the mills are doing well, paying 20 30 40 per cent dividends. And Japanese piece-goods are underselling British by nearly 80 per cent. . . : y