172 A COLONY IN THE MAKING chap. 



attention to the fact that there are some employers 

 who can always obtain and keep labour, while others 

 can never do so. What is the secret of this ? I must 

 always confess that it is an absolute mystery to me, 

 and that I know of no golden rule. One man will tell 

 you that the great secret is to keep one's temper. It 

 is not so. We all know cases of men of ungovernable 

 temper who are yet most popular with the natives ; of 

 others, again, possessing most equable tempers, who 

 are equally disliked. One employer, a successful one, 

 will tell you that the great thing is to talk and joke 

 with his men, get interested in their wives and children, 

 and learn their personal feelings. His equally success- 

 ful neighbour swears by the policy of holding religi- 

 ously aloof from all personal intercourse. This man 

 says it is a fatal thing ever to strike or beat a native. 

 That man, that a wholesome use of the "Kiboko" 

 is essential, and, in fact, adds his black brother to the 

 category of the spaniel, the wife and the walnut-tree. 

 There is, I believe, only one point on which all are 

 agreed, and that is that what the native really appre- 

 ciates is a sense of justice, and that if he once 

 thoroughly grasps the fact that you are really trying to 

 deal with him fairly and impartially, he will stand a 

 good deal. On this point, I think, all successful 

 masters are agreed, and I think that a majority 

 would agree on the following points : That it is 

 essential to pay up wages on the very day they become 

 due. You may be sure that the native knows the 

 exact day on which they are due, and appreciates 

 being paid on that day. That where possible piece 

 work is desirable, failing that, task work. That labour 

 living on a farm is preferable to that imported. That 

 where possible it pays to see that your labour is 



