The Bahamas^ Old and New 111 



bed to sleep in. No one thought of money in terms 

 of food other than rice and grits. No one thought of 

 children's schooling as a large percentage of the pop- 

 ulation was illiterate. 



If you paid a man the miserable daily wage of 50 

 cents, he would probably work six days out of the 

 seven. If you were sufficiently insane to pay him $ i .00 

 a day, he most certainly would not work more than 

 three days per week. In other words, there was no 

 means by which one could stimulate a desire for edu- 

 cation, for better food, for better housing or for bet- 

 ter anything. Everyone was at zero level, and having 

 always been there were perfectly content to remain 

 there. I could only think of the story which one of my 

 professors at Tech used to tell about the manager of a 

 sawmill in Arkansas who was faced with the same 

 problem when executives of his company, having of- 

 fices in Chicago, decided that wages in the Arkansas 

 mill should be doubled. The result was a halving of 

 production as it is simple arithmetic that if you get 

 twice as much you need only work half as much to 

 get the same net result. As the story goes, the manager 

 solved his difficulties by a present of a brilliant red 

 silk dress to the boss Negro's wife, at the same time 

 supplying a stock of similar dresses priced at fabulous 

 figures to the commissariat. Within the week feminine 

 desire not to be outdone drove reluctant husbands and 

 aspiring swains to a full sLx-day-per-week schedule of 

 operation. 



It was an example that was difficult for us to put 

 into effect in Inagua as the light tinsely trappings that 



