OCR Text |
Show BACKWARD CHINA. Unskilled labor is so cheap in China that the coolies with their hoes and baskets are frequently able to compete with steam shovels in excavation work. It is said, however, that labor conditions condi-tions are gradually changing in the orient and that modern methods are be- j ginning to make headway. The coolies j already are demanding higher pay, and ! the introduction of modern machinery has increased the number of skilled men. But many thousands of the latter class I have been drawn to Europe to work in i the munitions factories while the young ; men of the belligerent countries go forth ' to die in the trenches. The. result has ' been a setback to China from an indus-trial indus-trial point of view. But if these men ; return to their native land after the ; war, as many of them will, the progress : of tho country will be more rapid. The j Chinese are natural born agricultur-, ists and portions of their country are very fertile, but the hoe and the wooden ' plow is practically all the equipment i of each individual farmer except the buffalo. . We ought to sell steel plows to the Chinese if nothing else. |