第114章 CAN IT BE DONE,AND HOW?(13)

We may not be priests and Levites,but we can at least play the part of the Good Samaritan.The man who went down to Jericho and fell among thieves was probably a very improvident,reckless individual,who ought to have known better than to go roaming alone through defiles haunted by banditti,whom he even led into temptation by the careless way in which he exposed himself and his goods to their avaricious gaze.

It was,no doubt,largely his own fault that he lay there bruised and senseless,and ready to perish,just as it is largely the fault of those whom we seek to help that they lie in the helpless plight in which we find them.But for all that,let us bind up their wounds with such balm as we can procure,and,setting them on our ass,let us take them to our Colony,where they may have time to recover,and once more set forth on the journey of life.

And now,having said this much by way of reply to some of my critics,I will recapitulate the salient features of the Scheme.I laid down at the beginning certain points to be kept in view as embodying those invariable laws or principles of political economy,without due regard to which no Scheme can hope for even a chance of success.

Subject to these conditions,I think my Scheme will pass muster.

It is large enough to cope with the evils that will confront us;it is practicable,for it is already in course of application,and it is capable of indefinite expansion.But it would be better to pass the whole Scheme in its more salient features in review once more.

The Scheme will seek to convey benefit to the destitute classes in various ways altogether apart from their entering the Colonies.

Men and women maybe very poor and in very great sorrow,nay,on the verge of actual starvation,and yet be so circumstanced as to be unable to enrol themselves in the Colonial ranks.To these our cheap Food Depots,our Advice Bureau,Labour Shops,and other agencies will prove an unspeakable boon,and will be likely by such temporary assistance to help them out of the deep gulf in which they are struggling.

Those who need permanent assistance will be passed on to the City Colony,and taken directly under our control.Here they will be employed as before described.Many will be sent off to friends;work will be found for others in the City or elsewhere,while the great bulk,after reasonable testing as to their sincerity and willingness to assist in their own salvation,will be sent on to the Farm Colonies,where the same process of reformation and training will be continued,and unless employment is otherwise obtained they will then be passed on to the Over-Sea Colony.

All in circumstances of destitution,vice,or criminality will receive casual assistance or be taken into the Colony,on the sole conditions of their being anxious for deliverance,and willing to work for it,and to conform to discipline,altogether irrespective of character,ability,religious opinions,or anything else.

No benefit will be conferred upon any individual except under extraordinary circumstances,without some return being made in labour.

Even where relatives and friends supply money to the Colonists,the latter must take their share of work with their comrades.

We shall not have room for a single idler throughout all our borders.

The labour allotted to each individual will be chosen in view of his past employment or ability.Those who have any knowledge of agriculture will naturally be put to work on the land;the shoemaker will make shoes,the weaver cloth,and so on.And when there is no knowledge of any handicraft,the aptitude of the individual and the necessities of the hour will suggest the sort of work it would be most profitable for such an one to learn.

Work of all descriptions will be executed as far as possible by hand labour.The present rage for machinery has tended to produce much destitution by supplanting hand labour so exclusively that the rush has been from the human to the machine.We want,as far as is practicable,to travel back from the machine to the human.

Each member of the Colony would receive food,clothing,lodging,medicine,and all necessary care in case of sickness.

No wages would be paid,except a trifle by way of encouragement for good behaviour and industry,or to those occupying positions of trust,part of which will be saved in view of exigencies in our Colonial Bank,and the remainder used for pocket money.

The whole Scheme of the three Colonies will for all practical purposes be regarded as one;hence the training will have in view the qualification of the Colonists for ultimately earning their livelihood in the world altogether independently of our assistance,or,failing this,fit them for taking some permanent work within our borders either at home or abroad.

Another result of this unity of the Town and Country Colonies will be the removal of one of the difficulties ever connected with the disposal of the products of unemployed labour.The food from the Farm would be consumed by the City,while many of the things manufactured in the City would be consumed on the Farm.

The continued effort of all concerned in the reformation of these people will be to inspire and cultivate those habits,the want of which has been so largely the cause of the destitution and vice of the past.

Strict discipline,involving careful and continuous oversight,would be necessary to the maintenance of order amongst so large a number of people,many of whom had hitherto lived a wild and licentious life.

Our chief reliance in this respect would be upon the spirit of mutual interest that would prevail.

The entire Colony would probably be divided into sections,each under the supervision of a sergeant--one of themselves--working side by side with them,yet responsible for the behaviour of all.