Darkest India / A Supplement to General Booth's "In Darkest England, and the Way Out"

by Frederick St. George De Lautour Booth-Tucker

CHAPTER VI.

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 entitling them to obtain food from the depôts just referred to.

In order to do this we shall establish labour yards, where we shall provide work of a suitable character for the destitute. 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 destitute 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 destitute were employed in making coarse 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 depôts.

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 depôts 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-institutiony 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 competition 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 quantity, 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 Brass 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 multitudes 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.