Sessional_Paper_1921 — Page 127

123

In view of the Chinese family system, whereby children generally hand over their earnings to their parents or guardians, the actual rates paid are not in themselves of great importance. It is when they are considered in comparison with the wages paid to adults, and as a means of depressing the general standard of remuneration, that the rates become important. As the terms of reference do not include a con- sideration of adult wages, we do not propose to enter into detail on this question, except to note that the low wages paid to children must depress the rates of wages paid to adults for similar work.

In some factories deductions are made from wages on account of bad conduct. Information on this question was not easy to obtain, and the general impression gained was that factory discipline was left largely in the hands of foremen and subordinates.

In the M. Y. San Biscuit Factory, where personal cleanliness in workers is most desirable, special regulations have been introduced to deal with hairdressing and manicuring.

Offences against these regulations are punishable according to a fixed schedule of fines. In view of the special circumstances of this factory the practice seems to be necessary and unobjectionable, but it should be subject to oversight by Inspectors,

(5) Apprenticeship.-In the course of the interviews few indications of any general system of apprenticeship were noticed. When children reach the age of sixteen (16) or thereabouts and the deftness which justified their original employment has begun to disappear, their places must be taken by those younger in years. Satisfactory evidence as to the fate of those displaced was difficult to obtain, and the general conclusion drawn was that conditions in this respect varied in different factories. In some cases the older children may be discharged and in others they may be given different work in the same factory. Girls are not in the same position as boys, in view both of the possibility of marriage, and of the definite demand in some factories for female workers between the ages of sixteen (16) and twenty. (20). Many girls are doubtless able to change from one factory to another with little or no inconvenience; but the same opportunities are not open to all, and no evidence was forthcoming of any general organisation for assisting the flow of labour from one industry to another. The difficulties in this connection are aggravated by the keen competition for places in factories. Many of them have waiting lists and it is not reasonable to suppose that workers of sixteen (16) or seventeen (17), whose health may have suffered from long hours of work in confined spaces, would be preferred for work which can only be satisfactorily done by able- bodied adults.

In the docks and ship-building yards boys are extensively employed, especially on the work of boiler chipping. One of the witnesses stated that boys were absolutely necessary for this work as men were unable to enter the man-holes of the boilers. It was admitted that the work was hard and that many of the boys were not physically fitted for it, but at the same time those who were able to stand it were sometimes able to qualify for more skilled employment.

(6) Factory Amenities.-No provision seems to have been made in factories for rest rooms, eating rooms, and wash houses, and the arrangements for medical attention in case of accidents are of the scantiest. In few cases were work people allowed to eat their midday meal in any part of the factory building, and much inconvenience appears to be caused them in this respect. An exception to this state of things is Mr. Li Ping's factory at Shanshuipo, where a school is provided for small children during the working hours of their mothers.