OROANISATION OP LABODR. 71 



men cannot but be strangers. Moreover, they are available at 

 any moment during the slack season for agriculture, and are hence 

 also not so costly as imported labour. If such men can always 

 look forward to having remunerative v?ork to do during the time 

 they are not engaged in their fields, they associate themselves cor- 

 dially with the forest establishment and become a very effective 

 addition thereto for the general conservancy and protection of the 

 forest. Asa rule, the aboriginal tribes, such as the Gonds, Bhils, 

 Kols, &c., are the best adapted for the purpose ; they are not 

 only most amenable to discipline and control, but, depending to 

 a very geat extent for their livelihood on the produce of the forests 

 and on the work therein, they are also more willing and expert 

 workmen. The effectiveness and cheapness of local labour is sin- 

 gularly increased by according to the people who come to work 

 small privileges which cost the owner of the forest little or nothing, 

 such as grazing for a limited number of cattle, removal of a few 

 head-loads of firewood, and minor produce, &c., either free or at 

 nominal rates. 



An indispensable condition for a suflB.ciently numerous body of 

 well-trained woodmen is regularity and continuity of annually re- 

 curring work ; but with local labour available, sudden unforeseen 

 demands for mere axe-men can nearly always be met without diffi- 

 culty. It is, however, otherwise when sawing work has to be 

 done, knowledge of the use of the saw being, from caste and other 

 prejudices, practically confined to the carpenter class. Hence a 

 body of local sawyers cannot be trained and maintained without 

 regular annual work. 



In case local workpeople are wanting or are insufficient, the 

 whole or part of the labour must be imported. If it is possible to 

 gefrthe new men to settle down with their families permanently 

 in the locality, this should be done, otherwise inefficient men will 

 have to be employed or a heavy compensation, in the shape of high 

 wages, must be paid to good men for the journey to and fro, and 

 for long absence from their homes, especially if they are towns- 

 people. Another great drawback inseparably connected with 

 imported labour, unless work is steady and continuous and on a 

 sufficiently large scale, is the difficulty and sometimes impossibility 

 of obtaining it in adequate quantity. 



Whether the labour is local or imported, the men may be paid 

 either by the day (daily labour) or by piece-work. The latter sys- 

 tem has always this advantage, that it is cheaper — often Yery much 

 cheaper ; on the other hand, as it holds out a temptation to work 

 hurriedly, its results are not always satisfactory. Moreover, it can 



