(1) Machinery is used as little as possible. The lathes in the workshops are driven by hand-power. The weaving is done by hand looms. Even the grinding is done by a large capstan wheel worked by two relays of sixty men each.
(2) The raw material is, as far as possible, produced in the Colony. Tobacco, flax, and chicory are grown on the farm; the leather comes from the farm cattle, and is tanned on the spot by bark obtained from the woods; and the hair of the same cattle is spun by the inmates for carpet making.
(3) Every effort is directed towards making the Colony self-contained. As far as possible, the buildings, with their fittings and furniture, are done by the colonists. The lathes and tools are made from raw metal. The boots and shoes, cloth, tobacco, and a multitude of other articles are from first to last produced on the spot.
The earnings of the inmates depend upon the character of the work done. The existing scale for able-bodied men, as sanctioned by the Minister of Justice in 1903, is as follows (10½ centimes = 1d.):—
| Centimes Per Day. | |
| Industrial work | 15 to 25 |
| Farm work | 12 to 21 |
| Domestic, garden, and other work | 12 to 18 |
| Offices of trust (writers, porters, hospital and store assistants, shepherds, dairy and stablemen, butchers, etc.) | 20 to 30 |
| Punishment and disciplinary sections | 10 to 15 |
The rule is to pay the inmates, at first, the minimum rates which apply to their class of work. Small bonuses and gratuities are given in special cases. Extra duties, such as reading aloud fiction in the dormitories (to prevent conversation), singing in church, and service in the bugle squad, are paid for. Non-able-bodied men receive "canteen money" of 3 centimes per day.
The men are paid monthly one half of their earnings to spend as they wish, and the balance goes to their leaving fund, and is paid only on discharge. As a rule, the instalments paid go in the purchase of supplementary food and luxuries, but many frugal workers deposit the whole of their earnings in the leaving fund. The result is that some men, who have been detained a long time, have been known to take away as much as £8 in cash, clothes, and tools.
The Colony's chief sources of revenue are; (1) The maintenance charges of 66 centimes (6½d.) per head per day for able-bodied colonists, and 1 franc 50 centimes (1s. 3d.) for non-able-bodied colonists needing special food, paid in equal shares by the State, the Provinces, and the Communes; (2) the proceeds of the colonists' labour, both on the farm and in the workshops; and (3) the profits of the canteen.
An estimate of revenue and expenditure for the year 1905, prepared by the Director of Merxplas for the Departmental Vagrancy Committee, contained the following principal items:—
| Revenue. | £ |
| Maintenance grants (3,500 able-bodied inmates at 66 centimes per day, and 1,000 not able-bodied inmates at 1 franc 50 centimes per day) sheep, pigs, etc.) to private persons | 55,626 |
| Sale of farm produce (milk, vegetables, butter, | 800 |
| Produce of workshops (sold to private persons,
prisons, charitable institutions, and discharged inmates) | 15,000 |
| Canteen | 3,800 |
| Miscellaneous | 399 |
| Total | £75,625 |