Darkest India Part 6

The following are the various branches of the City Colony--

(1) The Regimentation of Labor.

(2) Food for all--Food Depots.

(3) Work for all--Labor yards.

(4) Shelter for all.

(5) The household Salvage Corps.

(6) The Prison Gate Brigade.

(7) The Drunkard's Home.

(8) The Rescue Home for fallen women.

(9) The poor man's Metropole.

(10) The Emigration Bureau.

To these no doubt will in course of time be added many other branches.

In the meantime this is in itself a sufficiently extensive programme for some years to come. How we propose to elaborate each of the above, will be found in the following pages.

CHAPTER IV.

THE LABOR BUREAU.

One of the most painful sights with which modern civilisation presents us is the enormous and increasing wastage of valuable human labor. The first step towards remedying this gigantic and alarming evil will be to ascertain its extent. This we propose to do by means of our Labor Bureau. Here all cla.s.ses of out-of-works will be welcomed, from the respectable well educated intelligent youths, who are being poured out of our colleges by thousands, to the most squalid specimen of a Lazarus that lies at our gates desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fall from our tables. All will be sorted out, sifted and regimented, or organised, into distinct corps, which will in time no doubt develope into legions.

The Bureau will not, however, stop short with simply ascertaining the extent of the evil which exists. It will at the same time turn its attention to the examination and regimentation of the channels which already exist for the absorption of that labor. For while it is true that there are vast quant.i.ties of unutilised labor, and that the present supply of labor greatly exceeds the demand, it is also true that for want of suitable arrangements for bringing together capital and labor, the capitalist also frequently loses time and money, either in searching for labor which he cannot get, or in resorting to labor of an inferior quality, where labor of a superior quality would bring in much larger returns.

Into the pre-existing channels it would be the first aim of our Labor Bureau to pour the labor supply of the country. And experience would probably enable us to widen, deepen and lengthen these channels in such a manner as would prove profitable to both employers and employed, as well as to the nation at large.

When, however, this had been done, it is alas! only too certain that we should still have left upon our hands a vast amount of surplus labor, for which we should next proceed to dig out new and profitable channels.

The problem no doubt bristles with difficulties, but that is no reason why we should sit down before it and fold our hands in despair.

Once upon a time, aye for hundreds of years, the waters of the Cauvery were poured in one useless torrent into the sea, sweeping past great tracts of thirsty land, which craved its waters, but could not reach them. At the present moment scarcely a drop of that river reaches the ocean. Its course has been diverted into a thousand channels, and so fertilising are its waters that the rich alluvial deposits which they bear render the use of manure unnecessary. And yet for centuries these possibilities were unrecognised and suffered to go to waste.

Is not this a fitting picture of the huge river of labor that winds its course through arid plains of want and poverty and starvation, which it is capable of fertilising and converting into a modern Paradise? True that on its banks and in its immediate neighbourhood are strips of luxuriant vegetation. But those only show up in painful relief the utter barrenness of the "region beyond." Why should the dwellers upon the banks be allowed to monopolise and appropriate that which they cannot even utilise, and that which is often a source of positive danger, annoyance and loss to them? Why should not channels be devised for these human waters, by means of which they should be distributed, so as to be put to the utmost possible use?

This social problem is no doubt the "white elephant" of society. Cannot we devise a "kheddah" for capturing the entire herd wholesale? Perhaps after all we shall find it easier and quicker to catch and tame the herd, than to set snares and pitfalls for individual ones and twos. Ah, you say, many have tried and failed. That is because they have not studied the habits of the animal. Besides it is by means of failure that the grandest successes have ultimately been achieved. See how skilfully that "mahaut" manages his huge yet obedient servant. And cannot we point already in our own ranks to elephants more wonderful that have been tamed and mastered by the goad of love?

It is the successes of the past that encourage General Booth to face the problem in the spirit of hopefulness that breathes through every page of "Darkest England." And if the genius of man has been able to tame the strongest of animals, such as elephants,--the fiercest, such as lions,--the swiftest, such as horses, and the dullest, such as the a.s.s,--why should we despair of reducing to order this chaotic ma.s.s of labor, and of turning that which at present const.i.tutes a danger that threatens the very existence of society into a source of safety, of wealth and power? At any rate this is the object that will be kept steadily in view by our Labor Bureau.

All persons will be able to register names at our Bureau. If they are dest.i.tute and willing to go to our yards, they will be sent there and given work suitable to their caste, or profession. If on the other hand they are not in need of such a.s.sistance, being supported by their friends, we shall simply register their names and do our best to find suitable work for them, though it would of course be distinctly understood by them that we undertook no responsibility in regard to this. A small fee will be charged, in proportion to the nature of the case. This would serve to cover the expenses of the Bureau, which would I am sure meet a long felt want.

Employers of labour would benefit almost more even than the men employed, as we should always be able to supply them at a short notice with any description and number of "hands" that they might require, and they would be saved the expense, delay, and uncertainty of having to advertise.

For instance I know of millowners who complain that they cannot get labourers who will stay, and that their work suffers from the flotsam, jetsam character of those whom they employ working for a few weeks and then leaving. This we should be able to remedy.

Indeed after a short time we might reasonably expect that in recognising the great convenience thus afforded them, millowners and other great employers of labour, including very possibly the Government and the Railway Companies would refuse to employ any who had not registered themselves at our Bureau.

Again it would doubtless be a great satisfaction to employers in cases where a reduction of establishment became necessary, to feel that they could hand over to us those with whose services they were dispensing, knowing that every effort would be made to make suitable provision for them.

The labour register would contain columns in which would be entered the various kinds of employment for which the applicant was willing or suited, and the minimum pay which he was prepared to accept, so that we should be able to ascertain exactly how many out-of-works there were of each particular cla.s.s. We should also enter in a separate register those who had accepted an inferior position, in the hopes of being able to better themselves subsequently.

In connection with our registers we should keep a character roll. Copies of certificates would be filed, and notes made in regard to unsatisfactory characters, so that in course of time we should be able to give some sort of a guarantee in regard to those whom we sent out. In the case of any one being reported to us as unsatisfactory, we should still, however, give him another chance by redrafting him into our Labour Yards, or by giving him some sort of inferior employment, more immediately under our own surveillance, till he had regained his character.

Among other things we might undertake to supply servants to European families. A register of such would be very useful both to masters and servants. For instance in the case of lost "chits" we could supply certified copies of the original.

There is another cla.s.s to whom I should think the establishment of such an agency will be particularly welcome. Our cities swarm with educated young men unable to find employment. Although we cannot include them among our dest.i.tute cla.s.ses, we believe that without turning aside from our main object, we could do a great deal to help them.

If our scheme grows to the proportions and with the rapidity which we antic.i.p.ate, this would in itself absorb large numbers of them. And where we could do no more we could obtain a moral influence over them and they would come within the scope of the Advice and Intelligence Bureaux which are described elsewhere. Const.i.tuting as they do the cream of the youth of India, full of ardent, though often misdirected, enthusiasm, we should be able to help mould them into happy, independent, prosperous and loyal citizens, who would be a bulwark to the State, instead of leaving them to simmer in their present unfortunate circ.u.mstances. "To dig" they don't know, and "to beg" they are ashamed.

They would in their turn I believe give an important impetus to our scheme and might const.i.tute themselves its fervent apostles helping it to sweep from end to end of India in less time than it is possible for us to conceive.

CHAPTER V.

FOOD FOR ALL--THE FOOD DEPoTS.

In England, owing to the severity and uncertainty of the weather, the food and shelter questions go hand in hand. This is not the case in India, where the shelter is not so important as the food, and there is no such urgency in dealing with the former as with the latter. For instance during nine months out of twelve it is not such a very great hardship to sleep in the open air in most parts of India. I have myself done it frequently and so have many of our Officers. It is true that we should not like it as a regular thing, and still less perhaps, if driven to it by absolute want. Still I am perfectly prepared to admit that the circ.u.mstances are totally different to that of England, and that the question of shelter is of secondary importance as compared with food.

The time will come when we shall be obliged to face and deal with it. If our scheme meets with the success that we antic.i.p.ate, having first satisfied the gnawings of these hunger-bitten stomachs, we shall certainly turn round and think next what we can do to provide them with decent homes for themselves and their families.

But we can safely afford to defer the consideration of this question for the present, in order to throw all our time and energy into the solution of the infinitely more urgent and important problem of a regular and sufficient food supply for these dest.i.tutes.

At present as I have already pointed out, they are dependent solely on the help of relations and friends and on the doles of the charitable; or on the proceeds of vice and crime. The insufficiency of these to meet the needs of the case I have also, I believe, proved to demonstration.

Therefore one of the first parts of our City programme will be the establishment of cheap food depots, at which food of various kinds will be supplied at the lowest possible cost price. These depots will be dovetailed in with other parts of our scheme, which have yet to be described, and the one will help to support the other.

It may be objected that if we undertake to sell food at lower than the ordinary market rates, we shall interfere with the legitimate operations of trade. But to this we would answer that the same objection would be still more true in regard to charitable doles, which are given for nothing. And further, we shall fix our prices with a view to covering the actual cost of the food, so that there will not be any probability of our interfering with ordinary market rates. Besides, should there be any very serious difficulty of the kind, we could always make a rule limiting the food sold at these depots to those who came under the operation of the other branches of our social reform.

At the outset it would probably be wisest to avoid all caste complications by confining ourselves entirely to uncooked food, leaving the people to do their own cooking, but it is very probable that before long we should be forced to undertake the preparation of cooked food. We should of course pay due regard in this respect to the customs of the various castes, religions and nationalities concerned. To a Hindoo for instance it would be extremely disagreeable to eat out Of the same dish as others, while Mahommedans, as one said to me the other day, only enjoy the meal the more, when others are sitting round the platter.

These, however, are subordinate details which would largely settle themselves as we went along. Food in some shape or form, the dest.i.tute must have, good in quality and sufficient in quant.i.ty, and if they prefer it uncooked this will save us trouble, whereas if cooking becomes necessary we shall have another industry for the employment of many hands. Meanwhile the fact that nearly every native of the poorer castes, be it man, woman, or even child, knows how to cook their own food, is likely to be of no little help in settling the question of the food supply.

CHAPTER VI.