Darkest India Part 7

WORK FOR ALL, OR THE LABOUR YARD.

But it may next be asked, what we shall do in the case of those who have no money with which to buy their food, even at the reduced rates we would propose? To this we would reply that such will be expected to perform a reasonable amount of work, in return for which they will be given tickets ent.i.tling them to obtain food from the depots just referred to.

In order to do this we shall establish labour yards, where we shall provide work of a suitable character for the dest.i.tute. This will involve very little expense, as sheds of a cheap description will answer our purpose, there being no necessity for providing against the inclement weather which adds so greatly to the expense and difficulty of carrying on such operations in England.

Whatever may be the produce of this cheap labour, we shall be careful to sell it rather above than below the ordinary market rates, so as to avoid competing with other labour. Moreover, we shall direct our attention from the first to manufacturing chiefly those articles which are likely to be of service to us in other branches of our scheme, so that the labour of the dest.i.tute will go chiefly towards supplying their own wants and those of the persons who are engaged in prosecuting the work.

For instance, supposing that a number of the dest.i.tute were employed in making coa.r.s.e cloth, baskets, mats, or cow-dung fuel, these could be retailed at a nominal figure to those who presented our labour tickets at our food depots.

The most encouraging feature in the establishment of labour yards is that nearly every Indian has been brought up from childhood to some trade. You can rarely meet the most ignorant and uneducated Native without finding that he is thoroughly expert at some kind of handicraft.

In brigading the poor we should be careful to make the best use of this knowledge by putting each as much as possible to the trade with which he was most familiar.

The following industries, the majority of them directly connected with various branches of our work, could be started at once and would need scarcely any outlay to begin with.

1. _The Potters Brigade_--Would furnish us with the earthenware, for which we should from the first have a very large demand. The Household Salvage Brigade would require some thousands of pots to start with and in connection with our food depots we should be able to dispose of thousands more.

2. _The Weavers Brigade_--This would give employment for a large number of skilled hands. Their first object would be to supply the kinds of clothes, blankets, &c., which would be most suitable for the use of the submerged tenth. In catering for their wants we should avoid, however, anything _prisony_, or _workhousey_, or charity-inst.i.tutiony in appearance. As our numbers increased we should find plenty of work for our weavers, at any rate for many years to come without entering into any sort of compet.i.tion either with the market or the mills.

3. _The Basket Brigade_--Would supply us with all sorts of cheap baskets, for which we should have a constant demand.

4. _The Mat Making Brigade_--Would find employment for many more hands in supplying us with mats for sleeping and household purposes.

5. _The Fuel Brigade_--Here we have an industry which requires no skill. There would be two branches of it--the woodchoppers and the Oopala makers. For the latter women and children could be largely employed both in the collection of the cow-dung and in the preparation of it for use as fuel.

6. _The Tinners Brigade_--Will be kept busy making receptables and badges for the Salvage Brigade, and also probably emblems for the Labor Bureau.

7. _The Ropemakers Brigade_--Will furnish employment to a number more and the results of their labour will find an ample market in our various colonies.

8. _The Tanners Brigade_--Will supply all our departments with such leather as may be required for various purposes, and among other things will be attached to.

9. _The Shoemakers Brigade_--Who will be employed in patching up the old shoes collected by our Household Salvage Brigade and in making new ones for our consumption.

10. _The Tailors Brigade_--Will supply uniform and clothing of all kinds. For these we have already a very considerable demand, which would increase year by year.

11. _The Carpenters Brigade_--Would have plenty to do in providing seats for our Barracks, office essentials, boxes, and household furniture for our colonies. They would be linked with

12. _The Building Brigade_--For whom we shall find ample employment in the erection of our Labour Sheds, Shelters and Farms.

13. _The Masons Brigade_--Would also be attached to the previous one, and would become an important feature in our Labour Department.

14. _The Brick Makers Brigade_--Would supply us with all the bricks and tiles that we might require. Here again it is easy to see that, without trenching in the least on the outside public, we should create and support an important industry which would soon absorb hundreds if not thousands of hands.

15. _The Painters Brigade_--Would undertake the painting and whitewashing of our buildings, carts, tinware, &c.

16. _The Dyers Brigade_--Would find employment in dyeing our cloth, or the various sorts of thread we might require for the use of our weavers.

17. _The Dhobees Brigade_--Although among our community we should encourage every one to be his own dhobee, yet from the first we should have plenty of washing to employ a considerable number of hands.

18. _The Umbrella Makers Brigade_--Would find considerable scope in repairing the old frames collected by our Household Salvage Brigade; while the Sewing Brigade would work the covers.

19. _The Paper-makers Brigade_--Would also be supplied with plenty of material by the Household Salvage Brigade, and would keep our printing establishment supplied with whatever paper they might require. Already we consume a considerable quant.i.ty, and this would be enormously increased by the development of our scheme.

20. _The Book-binders Brigade_--Would furnish us with our registers for the Regimentation Bureau, besides doing our other miscellaneous work of a similar description.

21. _The Bra.s.s Brigade_--Would supply Our colonies with the various kinds of brazen vessels we should be likely to require. For these in process of time there would be a large demand.

22. _The Net-making Brigade_--Would make nets for fishing purposes.

33. _The Hawkers Brigade_--There could be no possible objection to our disposing of our goods in this way at the ordinary market rates supposing that we were in a position to manufacture more than we required for our own consumption.

24. _The Barbers Brigade_--Would also be a necessary addition to our forces, and would find plenty of scope for their skill among the unwashed mult.i.tudes who would compose our labour legions.

Such are some of the occupations which might at once be set on foot. To these would no doubt be added many other sorts of handicraft, as our numbers and experience increased, and fresh opportunities opened up around us.

CHAPTER VII.

SHELTER FOR ALL, OR THE HOUSING OF THE DESt.i.tUTE.

A considerable portion of General Booth's book is devoted to the description of shelters, improved lodgings and suburban villages for the poor. As elsewhere remarked this question is not of such vital importance for India as for England, though the dealing with it is simply a question of time.

We would therefore simply refer our readers to the admirable proposals embodied in General Booth's book. It is possible that there may be some who will desire that immediate steps should be taken for the preparation of similar quarters for the poor in our terribly over-crowded Indian cities. It is in any case extremely likely that the question will be forced upon us at an early date by the people themselves.

But I have thought it best to narrow down the scheme as much as possible to those things which seem of the most absolute and immediate urgency, and I have therefore divested it as much as possible of all that could reasonably be dispensed with.

Still I see no reason why each city should not have its "Poor Man's Metropole," as well as its model dwellings and suburban villages, for the working cla.s.ses. I would have these, moreover, as purely oriental as possible with a careful avoidance of anything that might be European in their appearance and arrangements. There should be tanks for bathing, and washing purposes, gardens, recreation grounds for the children, proper conveniences for cooking, and quarters in which they would not be herded together like cattle, but given the decencies of life, so necessary and helpful to the encouragement of cleanliness and morality.

Another point would be the absolute absence of anything in the shape of mere "charity" about any of the buildings. Everybody would be made to feel happy and at home, and their self-respect would be cultivated by arranging for suitable charges to be made, payment being taken either in cash or labour.

However, these are only hints that are thrown out, to show that we are fully awake to the importance of this subject, and in order that friends who are interested in the question may feel free to communicate their wishes and give us their advice.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE BEGGARS BRIGADE.

I now come to a special element of both hope and difficulty in the solution of our Indian Social problem,--The Beggars. Here we have the lowest stratum of the submerged tenth, excluding from them the religious mendicants with whom we are not now concerned. I have cla.s.sified them as follows:--

1. The blind and infirm.

2. Those who help them and share the proceeds of their begging.