COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES
397
Wages.
Accompanying the industrial development and also the advanced standard of living, wages have been raised gradually. Since the war of 1895 they have risen considerably. Taking the wages in Tokyo during the last fourteen years, although there has been more or less variation in the rate of increase according to the time and kind of occupation, all without exception have risen, especially those of the carpenter, of the stonemason, and of the blacksmith.
Wages of Employés in Tokyo.
| Occupation. |
1887. |
1892. |
1894. |
|
1895. |
1896. |
1897. |
1898. |
1899.
|
|
Sen. |
Sen. |
Sen. |
Sen. |
Sen. |
Sen. |
Sen. |
Sen.
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
50.0 |
50.0 |
55.0 |
57.5 |
62.5 |
57.5 |
73.5 |
182.5
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
55.0 |
51.0 |
65.0 |
65.0 |
62.5 |
60.0 |
75.0 |
—
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
60.0 |
69.0 |
75.0 |
99.0 |
76.0 |
55.0 |
88.0 |
155.0
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
45.0 |
44.0 |
47.5 |
65.0 |
57.5 |
62.5 |
73.5 |
190.0
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
— |
— |
30.0 |
37.5 |
45.0 |
47.5 |
53.5 |
150.0
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
— |
— |
80.0 |
60.0 |
60.0 |
50.0 |
68.8 |
120.0
|
Tailor for foreign clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
50.0 |
55.0 |
82.5 |
76.0 |
62.5 |
70.0 |
71.0 |
185.0
|
Tailor for Japanese clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
30.0 |
38.0 |
30.0 |
40.0 |
46.0 |
31.5 |
42.9 |
138.3
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
35.0 |
33.0 |
3.00 |
40.0 |
46.0 |
31.5 |
42.9 |
138.3
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
20.0 |
38.0 |
50.0 |
50.0 |
50.0 |
50.0 |
62.0 |
165.0
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
65.0 |
41.0 |
75.0 |
80.0 |
75.0 |
50.0 |
69.4 |
181.7
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
30.0 |
45.0 |
50.0 |
50.0 |
50.0 |
42.5 |
49.2 |
157.5
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
— |
— |
35.0 |
35.0 |
40.0 |
37.5 |
46.9 |
—
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
|
35.0 |
30.0 |
37.5 |
35.0 |
38.0 |
37.5 |
46.9 |
150.0
|
Note.—The wages for 1887 were prepared in December. The average in June and December was taken in 1892; the average in March and September has been adopted since 1894.
The Corporation System.
Since the Restoration in 1868, and since the introduction of Western ideas in science and art, industry and commerce have made considerable progress. Especially is this true of the corporation system. The system, after 1888, made wonderful progress, and in 1894 the number of corporations was 2,967, and the paid-up capital 249,760,000 yen. But after the war with China it advanced, and in 1899 the number of corporations reached 7,829, with the paid-up capital of nearly 700,000,000 yen. Comparing the number of companies in 1894—just before the war—with those in 1899, we find that there were two and a half times as many as before the war, and that the amount of paid-up capital was two and seven-tenths times as great as it was before the war.