still in the medieval guilds together with their employers, instead of being in the modern trade unions. Yet in spite of the very backward social and economic structure, this was the most advanced spot politically we found in Kiangsi Province. The trade unions, in alliance with the peasants of the district, were under the leadership of the "Left" Kuomintang, which controlled the city at a time when Chiang Kai Shek still had his fingers tight around the throat of the rest of the province. One explanation of this is the fact that here trade unions and Kuomintang had been established illegally in 1924, and the leadership had been steeled in two years of civil struggle under the rule of Sun Chuang-fang.
Wages in Kianfu, under the militarist rule, had been especially miserable, running from 400 to 2,000 coppers per month (equivalent to $1.40 to $6) and always paid in coppers, which are constantly depreciating. The first gain made by the trade unions was to establish wage-payments in silver, and raise the minimum to $8. The average wage, when we arrived, had been raised to $7 per month, plus food and lodging, with three meals per day instead of two. Corporal punishment by employers had just been abolished by the trade unions. In the six months the unions had existed openly, they had conducted strikes in 80% of all establishments in the city, to obtain these gains.
Here we made special inquiries as to the exact numbers of the various trades among the artisans. All Chinese figures seem to be more or less approximations, but we were assured that the following were based upon trade union admittance fees (40 cents), and the monthly fees (20 cents per month) paid by the members. The figures given were: Rice workers, 1,400; Boatmen, 1,200; Tailors, 1,100; Dyers, 1,000; Dockers, 1,000; Masons, 800; Hosiery workers, 500; Shoemakers, 260; Barbers, 120; Printers, 40.
Farther down the river, 150 miles, is the city of Changshu. A smaller city, but with about the same social and economic conditions, only here the right wing Kuomintang hold power and oppress the trade unions. Wages were about the same, having been raised by strikes to an average of $7 per month (daily rates from 10 cents to 60
51
