INDIAN FAMINES - Institute for Social and Economic Change

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT. 185
doubt a considerable step, above charity; it can
never be an economical means of affording
relief. This latter remark, however, is more
or less applicable to all the methods, and therefore
it cannot be pressed. Task-work has to
steer between a Scylla and Charybdis. We have,
on the one hand, a multitudinous throng, chiefly
composed of the" useless gear" and other inefficients,
on navvy work; while, on the other
hand, we have a body of stalwart men, skilled
in the very labour on which they are employed.
The problem is how to get a fair day's work
out of this heterogeneous mass. The useless
gear, in such instances, is primarily composed of
that which is the normal state of affairs-viz.,
the excess of women and children over adult
males: the inefficients are adult males, such
as weavers, tailors, masons, &c. &c., unaccustomed
to the work. What would be a severe
task in one instance would be a light one in
another: if piece-work is introduced, a fabulous
wage may be earned by the skilled labourer;
while the excess of women and children, who
act as carriers to the diggers, will in all cases
still further increase the cost.