Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 September 1894 — Cheap Wages Competition. [ARTICLE]

Cheap Wages Competition.

The Japan Mail, published at Yokohama, is authority for the following, in regard to the wages of mill operatives in Japan; also as to the value of Japanese money and the cost of coal, all of which may throw some light upon the problem of successful industrial competition with the “Yankees of the east:” The daily wage of a factory girl in Hiogo is 9 sen, whereas in Tokio it is 13 sen, and 16,000 pounds of coal, costing from 22 to 23 yen in the latter city, can be had in the former for from 18 to 19 yen. One yen equals a Mexican dollar. One Mexican dollar equals 50 cents United States gold. One sen l-l(>o of a yen or % cent gold, Nine sen for a girl per day is equivalent to 4% cents gold per day. Wages of a girl for one year, or 300 days, $13.50 gold, or $27 silver, per year. Coal at 19 yen for five tons equals about $1.90 per ton.