Yet there is a danger in letting control slip away. It is always needful to be firm, and to insist on obedience to orders; and constant keeping in hand is required, not only for the rank and file but even for the best men. An Egyptian cannot withstand temptations if often repeated; and the fault of a collapse of character, which befalls even the best, is mainly due to not keeping sufficient hold and influence, and not taking sufficient trouble to ensure control. The first rule in managing the better class of men is not to let any man get a habit or prerogative of doing any kind of work for oneself: never let the same man repeatedly go for purchases, or for money, or carry things, or walk with the master, or explain phrases, or boss anybody or anything. All such services should be carefully spread over several men; and if there be two parties—as from opposite sides of the Nile—always keep them well balanced in your consideration. Each will then keep a sharp lookout on the opposition.
Beside men and boys, girls ([Fig. 15]) will work very well in the Delta and in Syria, though not in Upper Egypt. They do well at carrying; and as they never ask for pick work they are, when well grown, worth more than the boys. Not only will they come from the village day by day, but they will also camp out with their fathers and brothers in camps at a distance from home. No difficulty or unpleasantness has arisen in such mixed camps in my work.
Substitutions.
A frequent trouble is from substitution of workers. The fact of being chosen is worth something; and the worker will try to sell his place to a substitute, and then get in again soon after on the plea of being an old hand. So long as a substitute comes only for a day or so, he may be tolerated. But if there arises a frequent plea of “So-and-So is ill to-day, and wants me to work for him,” it is needful to stamp on it by refusing all substitutes, and replying, “If he is ill, I will take him back when he is better.” One common cause is that they wish to push in younger and younger boys ([Fig. 16]), so that the fellow who was 14 or 16 at first, dwindles imperceptibly until he can hardly carry a basket. An opposite cause is that only boys are taken on in some places because the men cannot be trusted; and then the supreme object of the villains of the place is to get in as substitutes for boys, so that they may learn what is found and where to plunder at night. Most usually when a substitute is refused the original boy turns up as well as ever. I have known the village guards come and call a lad out on a trumped-up charge, with a friend of the guard following close by, quite ready just to work for the accused.
Overseers.
Turning now to the organization, there are two great choices to be made, with or without Overseers, and by Day pay or Piecework. Each system may be best under particular conditions, and the suitability of each we will note first, before entering on detail.
Overseers are almost always employed. They remove much of the friction; they profess to drive the men on, and be responsible for their regular working; and they seem indispensable parts of the business. The less a master knows of the men and of their language the more essential an overseer seems to be.
Fig. 15. Girls and boys in the work.
