荻山 正浩

戦前の日本では,農業部門からの潤沢な労働供給が存在したため各部門の賃金の上昇が抑制されたと考えられてきた。だが,そこで見逃されてきたのは,日本では,工業化とともに農業生産が目覚しく発展した点てある。こうした農業生産の発展は,農業部門の賃金を引き上げ,さらに農業部門から工業部門への労働供給を制約し,工業部門の賃金を上昇させる役割を果たした。そこで本稿では,この点が最も顕在化した地域として,全国有数の綿織物の産地であった大阪府泉南地方を対象とし,農業生産の発展が農業部門から工業部門への労働供給に与えた影響を明らかにした。泉南では,1900年代中頃まで綿織物業は問屋制家内工業の下で農家の副業として発展したが,1900年代末から力織機を備えた織物工場が設立されると,問屋制家内工業が衰退し,農家は副業の綿布生産による収入を失った。しかし,この地域では,農業生産が発展した結果,農家は農業収入の増加によって副業収入の減少を補うことができた。そのため,農家は働き手を織物工場に送り出そうとせず,織物工場の経営者は高賃金を支給して人手を確保する必要に迫られた。

戦前の日本では,労働市場の動向には著しい地域差が存在し,なかでも後進地域の労働供給の動向は未解明の問題として残されている。そこで本稿では,工業化が進展せず農業生産力も相対的に低位にあった秋田県北部に焦点を当て,第一次大戦期前後の家事使用人の雇用動向を分析し,労働供給の動向がどう変化したかを明らかにした。第一次大戦期以前の秋田県北部では,家事使用人の雇主は下層の娘たちを働き手として容易に雇用でき,その給金は一向に上昇しなかったから,労働供給は無制限的であった可能性がある。だが,この地域では,第一次大戦期以降,稲の反収が急速に上昇した結果,下層の農家は,娘たちを世帯内にとどめ,耕作規模を拡大すれば,彼女たちを奉公に出すよりも多くの収入を得られるようになった。そのため,家事使用人の雇主は,人手不足に見舞われ,給金を大幅に引き上げて働き手を雇入れる必要に迫られた。このことは,後進地域では,農業生産力の上昇に支えられた地域内の経済発展によって,農業部門から非農業部門への労働供給が制約され,制限的労働供給が顕在化したことを示している。

In the late nineteenth century, Japanese agricultural laborers had normally borrowed so much from their employers that they were entirely dependent on them. Despite this, the employers were unable to use the services of such laborers whenever they wanted. Evidence of why this was so can be found through examining the case of the Tsukamoto family, a rich farming family of Hatta village in Sennan, Osaka. Many Hatta inhabitants were debtors of the Tsukamoto, and such people were hired by them as daily agricultural laborers. But villagers indebted to the family, including agricultural laborers, would often band together to demand debt reduction. This makes it clear that if the family had tried to hire day laborers whenever it suited them by using threats about debt payment, they would have been considered hostile by the inhabitants. However, since the head of the family was also the headman of the village, the Tsukamoto also had the responsibility of preserving order. They were therefore unable to use the services of day labourers whenever it suited them for fear that village inhabitants would disrupt the peace.

Domestic service has been frequently looked upon as an outlet for surplus labor. If this were true, domestic service would have been deprived of workers as the labor demand of industries increased. Domestic service, however, remained a large occupational group after the beginning of the industrialization of Japan. The purpose of this article is to investigate why domestic servants did not disappear although the labor demand of industries expanded during the economic boom of the First World War. This study is based on the manuscripts of the Hiroumi family, a manure and rice merchant family living in the Sennan District of the Osaka Prefecture. The Hiroumi family always employed three to four resident servants. Most were girls under the control of their parents who ultimately received their daughters' wages. Using personal connections, the employer hired workers from the lower classes living in the neighboring areas. Although the terms of work varied, most retired after a little more than a few years. Parents of the girls had another long-standing alternative of sending their daughters to work as domestic servants. There were many weaving factories throughout the Sennan District which required a large number of female workers. On the eve of the First World War, it was more profitable for parents to send their daughters to the weaving factories than to engage them in domestic service. In fact, the Hiroumi family was faced with a severe labor shortage when the labor demand of the weaving factories rapidly increased in the economic boom of the First World War. The problem, however, was soon resolved as the Hiroumi family immediately took such measures as drastically raising wages. As a result, it was profitable for parents to send their daughters to work as domestic servants. Compared to other regional wage levels, similar changes in domestic service were likely to have occurred elsewhere in Japan. During the economic boom of the First World War, many women remained working as domestic servants because their employers had made great efforts to retain them.

In the early stages of Japan's industrialization, the increased demand for labor in industry caused a labor shortage in domestic service. Nevertheless, domestic servants remained a large occupational group. The aim of this paper is to show how families were able to continue to employ domestic servants through a case study of the Hiroumi family, merchants specializing in fertilizers and rice in the Sennan district of Osaka Prefecture. The Hiroumi family normally employed three to four live-in servants. Most were girls not yet independent from their parents, who were the ultimate recipients of their wages. They were recruited from the poorer families of the neighboring areas. On the eve of industrialization in the 1880s, the cotton-weaving industry had already developed as a cottage industry throughout the Sennan district. Parents were able to put their daughters to work as weavers at home instead of sending them away to domestic service. However, the latter was more profitable for them, and therefore it was easy for employers to hire domestic help. But the situation changed after industrialization began in the 1890s. A cotton-spinning mill built in the Sennan district was willing to employ large numbers of local girls at high wages. In addition, the weaving industry began to flourish owing to a sharp rise in the demand for cotton cloth. It was clearly more advantageous for parents to send daughters to the spinning mill to work, or keep them at home weaving, rather than put them into domestic service. The Hiroumi family was faced with a labor shortage. Employers of domestic servants immediately took countermeasures, such as raising wages, or offering improved payment systems. Although it was not as easy to hire and retain workers as in the past, the Hiroumi family was still able to employ as many domestic servants as it needed.