LITERATURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6873, 7 June 1890, Page 1

LITERATURE.

j LOOKING BACKWARD. 2000-1887. [By Edward Bellamy.] Chapter XII. The questions which I needed to asl before I could acquire even an outlini acquaintance with the institutions of thi twentieth century being endless, and Di Leete's good nature appearing equally bo we sat up talking for several hours af tei Ohe ladies left us. Reminding my host o: the point at which our talk had broken of that morning, I expressed my curiosity t< learn how the organization of the industria army was made to afford a sufficient stimulus to diligence in the lack of an] anxiety on the worker's part as to his livelihood. "You must understand in the firsi place," replied the doctor, "that th< supply of incentives to effort is but one oi the objects sought in the organisation w( have adopted for the army. The other and equally important, is to secure for th( file-leaders and captains of the force anc the great officers of the nation, men oi proven abilities, who are pledged by theii own careers to hold their followers up tc their highest standard of performance ano permit no lagging, With a view to tbest two ends, the whole body of members oi the industrial army is divided into foui general classes. First, the unclassified grade of common labourers, assigned tc any sort of work, usually the coarser kinds, To this all recruits during their first three years belong. Second, the apprentices, &i the men are called in the first year aftei passing from the unclassified grade, while they are mastering the first elements of iheir chosen avocations. Third, the main body of the full workers, being men between twenty-five and forty-five. Fourth, the officers, from the lowest who have charge of men to the highest. Theße foui . classes are all under a different form ol discipline. The unclassified workorß, doing miscellaneous work, cannot of course be sc rigidly graded as later. They are supposed to be in a sort of school, learning industria] habits. Nevertheless they make tbeii individual records, and excellence receives distinction and helps in the after career, something aB academic standing added tc the prestige of men in your day. The year of apprenticeship follows. The apprentice is given the first quarter of it tc learn the rudiments of his avocation, but he is marked on the last three quarter; with a view to determine which grad< among the workers he shall be enrolled ii on becoming a full workman. It may seen Btrange that the term -of apprenticeship should be the same in all trades, but thii is done for the 'sake of uniformity in th< -system, and practically works precisely ai if the term of apprenticeship varie( according to the difficulty of acquiring th< trade. For, in the trades in which on< cannot become proficient in a year the result is that the apprentic< falls into the lower grades of the ful workmen, and works upward at lie grows in skill. This is, indeed, whai ordinarily happens in most trades. Tin full workmen are divided into three grades according to efficiency, and each grade into a first and second class, so that then are in all bix classes, into which the met fall according to their ability. " To facilitate the testing of efficiency all industrial work, whenever by any means -and even at some inconvenience, it is pos Bible, is conducted by piece-work, and i this is absolutely out of the question, th< beat possible substitute for determining ability is adopted. The men are regradec yearly, so that merit never need war long to rise, nor can any rest on pas achievements, unless they would drop inti a lower rank. The results of each annua legrading, giving the standing of ever; man in the army, are gaze'tted in the publii prints. "Apart from the grand incentive t endeavour, afforded by the fact that th high places in the nation are open only fr the highest class men, various incitement of a minor, but perhaps equally effective sort are provided in the form of specia privileges and immunities in the way o discipline, which the superior class mei enjoy. These, while not in the aggregat important, have the effect of keeping cod atantly before every man's mind the desii ability of attaining the grade next abov his own. "It is obviously important that no only the good, but also the indiffereo and poor workmen, should be able t cherish the ambition of rising. Indeec the number of the latter being so muc greater, it is even more essential that th tanking system should not operate t discourage them than that it should Btimi late the others. It is to this end that th grades are divided into classes. Th classes being numerically equal, thera j not any time, counting out the officers an the unclassified and the apprentice grade over one-eighth of the industrial arm in the lowest class, and most of th: number are recent apprentices, all < whom expect to rise. Still further t encourage those of no great talent to d their best, a man who, after attaining higher grade falls into a lower, does nc lose the fruit of his effort, but retains, s a sort of brevet, his former rank. Th Nora.— Although in his talk on the previous evei ing Dr Leete had emphasized the pains taken ( enable every man to ascertain and follow hia natnn lent in choosing an occupation, it was not till learned that the worker's income is the same in a occupations, that I realized how absolutely be may I -counted on to do so, and thus, by selecting the ha: ness which sets most lightly on himself, find that i ■which he can pull best. The failure of my age in an systematic or effective way to develop and utilize tl natural aptitudes of men for the industries and into lectnal avocations, was one of the great wastes, i well as one of the most common causes of untaapp ness, in that time. The vast majority of my conten poraries. though nominally free to do so, never reall chose their occupations at all, but were forced b circumstances into work for which ther were reh tively inefficient, because not naturally fitted fori The rich, in this respect, had little advantage over tfc poor. The latter, indeed, being generally deprive of education, had no opportunity even to ascertai the natural aptitudes they might have and, on accoui of their poverty, were unable to develop them b -cultivation, even when ascertained. The liberal an technical professions, except by favourable ooeiden were shut to them, to their own great loss and that , < the nation. On the other hand, the we.l-to-di although they conld command education and oppp tunity, were scarcely less hampered by social preji dice, which forbade them to pursue manual avocation even when adapted to them, and deßtined the: whether fit or unfit, to the professions, thus wastir ranny an excellent handicraftsman. Morcenary coi fliderations, tempting men to pursue money-makii occupations for which they were unfit, instead less remunerative employments for wbich they wero fl ■were responsible for another vast perversion i talent. All these things now are changed. Equ education and opportunity mnst.needs brine to JigJ -whatever aptitudes a man has, and neither booi prejudices nor mercenary considerations hamper hi 3a the choice of his life work.

result is that those under our ranking system who fail to win any prize, by way of solace to their pride, remaining during the entire term of service in the lowest class, are but a trifling fraction of the industrial army, and deficient in sensibility to their position as inability to better it. "It is not even necessary that a worker k should win promotion to a higher grade to e have at least a taste of glory. While proe motion requires a general excellence of r record as a worker, honourable mention, '» and various sorts of distinction are r awarded for excellence less than sufficient * for promotion, and also for special feats and single performances in the various 0 industries. It is intended that no form of * merit shall wholly fail of recognition. * "As for actual neglect of work, positively Y bad work, or other remissness on the part 8 of men incapable of generous motives, the discipline of the industrial army is far too * strict to allow much of that. A man able 9 to do duty, and persistently: refusing, iB £ cut off from all human society. B " The lowest grade of the officers of the > industrial army, that of assistant foreman B or lieutenants, is appointed out of men who 1 have held their place for two years in the ? first class of the first grade. Where this r leaves too large a range of choice, only the 5 first group of this class are eligible. No 1 one thus comes to the point of commanding 3 men until he is about thirty years old. f After a man becomes an officer, his rating, ? of course, no longer depends on the 1 efficiency of his own work, but on that of > his men. The foremen are appointed from . among the assistant foremen, by the same 3 exercise of discretion, limited to a small 3 eligible class. In the appointments to the f still higher grades another principle is * introduced, which it would take too much f time to explain now. l "Of course such a system of grading aB l I have described would have been im- , practicable applied to the small industrial i concerns of your day, in some of which r there were hardly enough employees to f have left one apiece for the classes. You r must remember that, under the national > organisation of labour, all industries are 1 carried on by great bodies of men, a 1 hundred of your farms •or Bhops being r combined as one. The superintendent, 3 with üb, is like a colonel, or even a general, , in one of your armies. ) " And now, Mr West, I will leave it to i you, on the bare outline of its features 3 which I have given, if those who need ) special incentive to do their best are likely b to lack them under our system." ' s I replied that it seemed to me the incenb tives offered were, if any objections were to 1 be made, too strong ; that the pace set for the young men was too hot, and such, indeed, I would add with deference, still P remains my opinion, now that by longer s residence among you I have become better e acquainted with the whole subject. B Dr Leete, however, deßired me to reflect, 3 and lam ready to say that ib is perhaps a e sufficient reply to my objection that the worker's livelihood is in no way dependent 8 on his ranking, and anxiety for that never '• embitters his disappointments; that the e working hour3 are short, the vacations 1 regular, and that all emulation ceases at a forty-five, with the attainment of middle . life. . " There are two or three points I ought e to refer to," he added, "to prevent your i, getting mistaken impressions. In the first e place you must understand that this Byßtem e of preferment, given the more efficient workers over the less so, in no way contravenes the fundamental idea of our social system, that all who do their best are •, equally deserving, whether that best' be , great or small. I have shown that the ' system is arranged to encourage the weaker " as well as the stronger with the hope of f rising, while the fact that the stronger are e selected for the leaders is in no way a rear dection upon the weaker, but in the interest £ of the common weal, t "Do not imagine, either, beeause emula* tion is given free play as an incentive under our By stem, that we deem it a motive 0 likely to appeal to the nobler sort of men, tl or worthy of them. Such as these find y their motives within, not without, and c measure their duty by their own endowmerits, not by those of others. So long as their achievement is proportioned to their 0 powers, they would consider it preposterous e to expect praise or blame because it chanced 0 to be great or small. To such natures ;s emulation appears philosophically absurd, 1 and despicable in a moral aspect by its '.' substitution of envy for admiration, and exultation for regret, in one's attitude '* towards the successes and the failures of n others." e " But all men, even in the last year of j. the twentieth century, are not of this higher order, and the incentives to endear" vour requisite for those who are not, must e be of a sort adapted to their inferior natures. For these, then, emulation of the >t keenest edge is provided as a constant t £ spur. Those who need this motive will , feel it. Thoße who are above its influence ' do not need it." *» "I should not fail to mention," resumed h the Doctor, "that for those too deficient ie in mental or bodily strength to be fairly l; 0 graded with the main body of workers, » we have a separate grade, unconnected with the others— a sort of invalid corps, ie the members of which are provided with a ie light class of tasks fitted to their strength. is All our sick in mind or body, all one deaf L( j and dnmb, and lame and blind and crippled, and even our insane, belong to ' this invalid corps, and bear its insignia. '7 The strongest often do nearly a man's is work, the feeblest, of course, nothing; Df but none who can do anything are willing t 0 quite to give up. In their lucid intervals , even our insane are eager to do what they can." a " That is a pretty idea of the invalid it corps," I said, " even a barbarian from the is nineteenth century can appreciate that. ie Ib is a very graceful way of disguising _ charity, and must be very grateful to the n- feelings of its recipients." % " Charity !" repeated Dr Leete. " Did I you suppose that we consider the incap* >u able class we are talking of objects of £ charity?" in "Why, naturally," I said, "inasmuch >y as they are incapable of Belf-support." „° But here the Doctor took me up m quickly. u " Who is incapable of self-snpport ?" he °- demanded. "There is no such thing in J civilised society as self-support. In a a. state of society bo barbarous as not even '• to know family co-operation, each indi- ?| vidual may possibly support himßelf, in though even then for a part of his life nt only; but from the moment that men |J begin to live together, and constitute even ,t, the rudest sorb of society, self- support of becomes impossible. As men grow more "■ civilised, and the subdivision of occupa- !,." tiona and services is carried out, a complex ia, mutual dependence becomes the universal m rule. Everyman, however solitary may J£ seem his occupation, is a member of a vast ir industrial partnership, as large as the ° f nation, as large aa humanity. The necenof sityof mutual dependence should imply al the duty and guarantee of mutual support; h* and that it did not in your day, constitutes ™" the essential cruelty and unreason of youi system."

"That may all be so," I replied, "but it does not touch the case of thoßewho are unable to contribute anything to the product of industry." "Surely, I told you this morning, at least I thought I did," replied Doctor Leete, " that the right of a man to maintenance at the nation's table depends on the fact that he is a man, and not on the amount of health and strength he may have, so long as he does his best." "You said so," I answered, "but I supposed the rule applied only to the workers of different ability. Does it also hold of those who can do nothing at all?" *• Are they not also men ?" "I am to understand, then, that the blind, the lame, the sick, and the impotent are as well off aB the mo3t efficient, and have the same income ?" •' Certainly," was the reply. "The idea of charity on such a scale," I answered, "would have made our most enthusiastic philanthropists gasp." "If you had a sick brother- at home," replied Dr Leete, " unable to work, would you feed him on less dainty food, and lodge him and clothe him more poorly than yourself ? More likely far, you would give him the preference j nor would you , think of calling it charity. Would not the word, in that connection, fill you with indignation ?" "Of course," I replied ; "but the cases are not parallel. There is a sense, no doubt, in which all men are brothers; but this general sort of brotherhood is not to be compared, except for rhetorical purposes, to the brotherhood of blood, either as to its sentiment or its obligations." " There speaks the nineteenth century !" exclaimed Dr Leete. "Ah, Mr West, there is no doubt as to the length of time !• that you slept. If I were to give you, in \ one sentence, a key to what may seem the mysteries of our civilisation as compared with that of your age, I should say that it is the fact that the solidarity of the race and the brotherhood of man, which to you were but fine phrases, are to our thinking and feeling, ties aB real and as vital as physical fraternity. "But even setting that consideration aside, I do not see why it so surprises you that those who cannot work are conceded the full right to live on the produce of those who can. Even in your day, the duty of military service for the protection of the nation, to which our industrial service corresponds, while obligatory on those able to discharge it, did not operate to deprive of the privileges of citizenship those who were unable. They stayed at home and were protected by those who fought, and nobody questioned their right to be, or thought less of them. So, now, the requirement of industrial service from those able to render it does not operate to depriveof the privilegesof citizenship, which now implies the citizen's maintenance, him who cannot work. The worker is not a citizen because he works, but works , because he is a citizen. As you recognised the duty of the strong to fight for the weak, we, now that fighting is gone by, recognise his duty to work for him. "A solution which leaves an unaccounted for residuum is no solution at all ; and our solution of the problem of human society would have been none at all had it left the lame and the sick and the blind outside with the beasts,' to fare as they might. Better far have left the strong and well unprovided for than these burdened ones, towards whom every heart must yearn, and for whom ease of mind and body should be provided, if for no others. Therefore it is, as I told you this morning, that the title of every man, woman, and child to the means of existence rests on no basis Ices plain, broad, and simple than the fact that they are fellows of one race — members of one human family. The only coin current is the image of God, and that is good for all we have. "I think there is no feature of the civilization of your epoch bo repugnant to modern ideas as the neglect with .which you treated your dependent classes. Even if you had no pity, no feeling of brotherhood, how was it that you did not see that you were robbing the incapable class of their plain right in leaving them unprovided for ?" " I don't quite follow you there," I said. " I admit the claim of this class to our pity, but how could they who produced nothing claim a share of the product as a . right?" "How happened it," waa Dr Lcete'a reply, " that your workers were able to produce more than so many savages would have done? Waß it not wholly on account of the heritage of the past knowledge and achievements of the race, the machinery of society thousands of years in contriving, found by you ready-made to your hand ? How did you cOme to be possessors -of this knowledge and this machinery, which represent nine parts to one contributed by yourself, in the value of your product ? You inherited it, did you not? And were not these other, these unfortunate and crippled brothers whom you cast out, joint inheritors, co-heirs with you ? What did you do with their shares? Did you not rob them, when you put them' off with crusts, who were entitled to sit with the heirs; and did you not add insult to robbery when you called the crusts charity ?" "Ah, Mr West," Dr Leete continued, as I did not respond "what I do not understand is, setting aside all considerations either of justice or brotherly feeling towards the crippled and defective, how the workers of your day could have had any heart for their work, knowing that their children or grandchildren, if unfortunate, would be deprived of the comforts and even necessities of life. Ib is a mystery how men with children could favour a Byßtem under which they were rewarded beyond those less endowed with bodily strength or mental power. For by the same discrimination by which the 1 father profited, the son, for whom he would give his life, being perchance weaker than others, might be reduced to want and beggary. How men dared leave children behind them, I have never been 1 able to understand."