Page:Earl Browder - Civil War in Nationalist China (1927).pdf/49

 this day. Chauffeurs are another special category; on account of shortage of skilled men they were receiving $60 (Chinese) per month. Almost all of these 10,000 workers have the 8-hour day, nominally, but "military emergencies" constantly cancel this "rule."

The artisans (handicraft workers) constitute the main body of the Canton working class. The principal groups are, the workers in the matting, bamboo work, ivory and bone, silk, tea, metal, herbs, earthenware, fire-crackers, paper, furniture, wood-carving, marble, and precious stones. They generally work, 2 to 6 artisans, in the shop with their employer, who also works alongside of them. These little shops are scattered along the business streets, the entire front being open, the men working next to the street where the prospective customers are passing along. Thy eat and live with their employer, working 12 to 16 hours per day, seven days per week; their only holidays are at New Years, when they have 7 to 10 days. Apprentices work 3 to 5 years for nothing but food and bed; at the end of their apprenticeshop they begin to draw wages, $5 to $7 per month, which gradually increases, up to $20 per month, with a very few highly skilled workers, of course, getting more. The wage for artisans of average skill is about $20 per month when he has been in the trade for 10 years. In addition to his wage, the artisan gets fed a bowl of rice, twice or three times a day, with a piece of pork twice a month; and has a hole to sleep in, or a bench in the shop.

The coolies form a large and important part of the working class in Canton, as everywhere in China. There are several groups, such as rickshaw coolies, warehouse coolies, etc. They perform the labor that in other countries is done by animals or machinery; it is absolutely "inhuman," if that word can have any meaning, as it is almost impossible to believe that human beings can continue to live, bearing such burdens every day in the year, for 10 to 14 hours a day. The rickshaw coolies take the place of horses and automobiles for city transport, and spend hours on end, running at a smart pace, to carry their more fortunate fellow citizens several miles for from