It is beyond dispute that production system in ring

It is beyond dispute that production system in ring frame mills differed

in various ways from the system that had been used in mule mills at that

time. See Shimono (1969). From 1897 the normal situation held: mule

yarn was clearly finer than ring yarn.

For example, see Saxonhouse (1985).

Foreign engineers (names and other details are not known) thought that

lOs yarn was the finest yarn that could be produced using Japanese raw

cotton: see Nomukyoku-Komukyoku (1885), pp.l40-1. It seems, however, that 17s yarn was the limit.

The interpretations of the discriminant function can be found in general

textbooks on multivariate statistical analysis. In this case (using the

package programme BMDP), because each variable has been standardized, the absolute value of the discriminant coefficient is almost equal

to the selection ordering of the stepwise method and is a criterion for

discriminating power. The Jack-knife method, which results in very little

bias, is used for the calculation of misclassification rates.

In the cases where there were mills (like Kanegafuchi and Naniwa Boseki)

with both types of spinning machine, they are categorized according to

the main spinning machine that was used. Note that in 1893, Osaka Boseki

became a ring frame mill and Naniwa Boseki became a mill using both

mules and ring frames. Also, Kinugawa's data records (Kinugawa, 1937,

Vol. 2, pp.421-2) show different figures for the female worker ratio at

Osaka Boseki, but it is the Boren data that is used in the chapter at this

point.

31. Refer to Nomukyoku-Komukyoku (1885), pp.l80-9, Kinugawa (1939),

Vol. 4, p.81 and Kanegafuchi (1934).

It was standard practice at that time for one person to attend a 100-200

ring frame spindles in contrast to 3 or 4 people attending a 500 spindle

mule. The figure for the capital-labour ratio calculated here and given

in terms of 'spindles' per worker is really an index indicating the ratio of

total machine capital to the total number of the workers involved in the

complete process of manufacture.

In this figure there is an implicit assumption of homogeneity of degree

one, but this assumption is not particularly unrealistic in the case of

spinning technology because spinning machines were easily divisible and

it was possible to replicate mills of optimal scale.

When actually making a decision to use a particular technology, the 

engineers would first make a comparison between the capital productivity of each type of equipment and, if there were no great difference in

the capital-labour ratios or in labour productivity, they would choose

the technology with the greatest capital productivity. The reason for

making such a decision is that it is relatively easy to improve capitallabour ratio or labour productivity. Naturally, if there were no great

differences in capital productivity, the technology with the higher labour

productivity would be chosen. It should be remembered, however, that

the overwhelming majority of choices of technology are a matter of

choosing new technologies that are embodiments of technological innovation, rather than a matter of facing trade-offs between the pros and

cons of one technology and another. Also it should be noted that while,

historically, there have been many labour-saving technological innovations, the number of labour-using innovations, like the ring frame, has

been extremely limited. . .

It is well known that there was actually some friction between the capitalists and engineers, even in the case of Kikuchi and Yamanobe, but the

high status accorded engineers has no comparison in India and China.

Taking salary as one indicator of status, it was the common practice at

that time for the monthly pay of a chief engineer to be greater than the

monthly pay of the company chairman and company directors (refer to

the business reports of each company).

It is extremely illuminating when these facts are in direct contrast to

India's experience: see Kiyokawa (1983).

Every half year, representative engineers of each company would stay

overnight in a dormitory and exchange information. Of course these

meetings had a certain symbolic importance, but they also acted as a

social lubricant and fostered a positive attitude towards cooperation and

exchange of knowledge about a particular problem in the normal run of

work; it was for these reasons that the meetings were of no little importance. It is also true, however, that company secrets and a competitive

spirit were strongly maintained. These friendly meetings started in June

1891 and the names of the participants and place of meeting can be

found in the Boshoku Geppo.

For more details of the cooperation in the training of workers and technological advice in the early days, see Okamoto (1973).

These attitudes are encapsulated by the following example: W.H.Cook's

(an engineer at Brooks & Doxey) strongly favourable opinion in support

of the ring frame was presented in the Indian Textile Journal only as late

as December 1896, whereas it appeared in the Japanese Boshoku Geppo

as early as 1892. Japanese engineers were notable for their patriotism

and entrepreneurial spirit, as well as their interest in new technology.