Jan, 29.
the "North-China Daily News" of Tuesday last Mr. M. T. Tchou contributed a long but thoughtful letter on the subject of the proposed enforcement of the Factory Law in China as from February 1 next. With Mr. Tehou's dissertation on the subject of extraterritoriality there is no immediate need to deal. It may, however, be noted that Mr. Tchou reinforces the view that the protest which he made at the League of Nations was inspired in no small degree by political rather than industrial considerations. The practical point to examine in this matter is the reconciliation of the Factory Law with the actual facts of industry in China, If the law is to be enforced on February 1, there must_ be machinery for enforcing it. That machinery must operate through the existing administrative body holding jurisdiction in the various parts of China concerned. In China industries have grown up mainly in clos proximity to, or actually in, the treaty ports and the Ister-national Settlement of Shanghai, It is quite impossible, therefore, to. consider the enforcement of the law apart from the administrations obtaining in the areas where the industries are settled. It is equally impossible to enforce it unless there exist executive entities capable of answering the questions which arise out of enforcement. The view officially put forward on behalf of the Chinese Government is that although the law may not be applicable conditions as they exist, discretion is left in the hands of the executive to vary the applica tion according to the particular Tequirements in the industry.
Apart from the fact that this system, or lack of system, would place in the hands of officials most invidious powers leading obviously to attempts at the exercise of undesirable forms of Pressure, to use no stronger Janguage, it would leave the whole industrial fabric eompletely in the air. Already certain Chinese mill-owner® have emphatically expressed the view that enforcement of the Act on February 1 would lead to the closing down of their factories owing to the restrictions placed on the employment of women and children. Coming on the top of serious financial stress which has_ already led to the closing down of works, this is a specially inopportune pro-poral. The letter printed elsewhere deserves careful note on this and other points. And then again, the question will be asked: what would be dose if the employees of certain firms asserted, under the Act, their right to' withhold their labour on a Sunday? At present there is, so far as can be ascertained, no body which can give a raling on this point, The Japanese Government, faced with the need for introducing factory legislation some thirty years ago, dealt. with the situation in a. very practical way. They passed a Factory Act, but they postponed its enforcement for five years, with a definite idea of giving the industries time to adapt themselves to the requirements of the law, which, when it came into force, was firmly and strictly applied, with good results. A similar' reconcilement of facts with legislative aspirations has been displayed in other countries. For example, in India where the employment of women in coal-mines has been the subject of recent legislation, a definite time' was given for the gradual elimination of this form of labour. This was done as much in the interests of the miners as of the mine industries themselves, for although distinctly undesirable, the peculiar eonditions of the coal-mining industry, in which the workers were partly miners and partly agriculturists, rendered the employment of women inevitable unless important adjustments were made in the manning of the industry.
Contrast this with the precipitancy now proposed by the Chinese Government. The Factory Law was published first in December, 1929. In December 1980 ordinances for its application were promulgated with a view of its coming into force on February 1. Between the time of publication of the law and its promulgation, China has been going through a period of great distress, of acute economic stringency and of civil war, to say nothing of serious revolutionary movements in a great portion of its territory, There has been a decline in the export trade resulting in the closing down of silk factories Chekiang, Kiangsu and Kwangtung. So depressed has|¢ the silk trade become that the Chinese Government have voted large sums to subsidise the industry. Thus, on the sight hand, the Government are trying to save an industry, and on the left, they are threatening to give} it 'a knock-out blow. Mr. Tehou's knowledge of inclu trial legislation is deserving of every respect. It is difficult, however, to agree with him when he suggests airily that conditions exist for the satis factory application of this law. It is plain that before it can be brought into effect ther be some scientific exami the actual facts of the industry in factories to which the Act would apply. The volumes of information which the Government may possess on this subject cannot supply this need. Far more pertinent is the attitude of the Chinese mill-owners who are naturally concerned with the facts and figures of their own enterprises and would not contemplate so drastic a step as that of closing down their busitiesses if they felt that any kind of machinery existed: for assisting in the smooth enforcement of the Act.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.