3 1 8 [December, 1902.] 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
Vol. VIII. No. 9 6 
proceeded to describe reports which had been brought to his notice with 
regard to danger from disturbances of nature. It had been necessary to make 
an official announcement that Jamaica was 1,000 miles away from Martinique 
and St. Vincent, and quite free from any chance of being the scene of volcanic 
disasters. It had been stated that the eruptions would be followed by 
hurricanes; and what is 1,000 miles to a hurricane ? A recent thunderstorm 
in Jamaica, such as occurs by the dozen in England every summer, took rank 
in Continental newspapers as a cataclysm of nature, and an earthquake which 
might have been noticed in England, but which he did not himself perceive, 
was reported as a possible precursor of a second Port Royal disaster. It was 
such exaggerations as these which were so great a disadvantage to the colony, 
and made investors fight shy of Jamaica land. 
India. — From the Second General Report on the cotton crop of India, 
issued by the Statistical Department, it appears that its condition on the 
whole is satisfactory. Except in Bombay, the acreage is above the average, 
and there the decrease is only a fraction over 3 per cent., while the condition 
is fair. In Berar, on a greatly expanded area, the crop is promising ; in the 
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh its condition varies from 90 to 100 per 
. cent, of a fair crop condition ; in the Punjab about an average yield is expected ; 
in the North-West Frontier Province the crop is a good one, and in the 
Central Provinces a record production is expected. The indigo crop in 
Madras last year was sown on an area 30 per cent, below the average for 
recent years. The reports of the areas sown during the current season show 
a further decrease of two-fifths on last year’s figures, bringing the actual area 
down to about one-half the average. The falling off is, no doubt, largely due 
to low prices, but is more generally attributed to the untimely character of 
the rainfall during the early months of the monsoon. In South Arcot the 
growing of ground-nuts has again become more attractive than indigo. 
Foreign Countries.— The wheat crop of the United States is estimated 
at 760,330,000 bushels, as against 752,000,000 bushels a year ago. This 
produce was grown upon 52,225,000 acres, so that the yield will average some 
14*62 bushels to the acre. Looking back during the past ten years, we find 
that the two heaviest crops were in 1898 and 1891, when the average was 
x 5 bushels per acre; the lowest yield was in 1893, when the crop was barely 
1 bushels, while in no other year did it exceed i3f bushels. The yield of 
maize in the United States this year is estimated at 26*8 bushels per acre, and 
the number of acres under the crop at 94,870,000 acres ; this makes the crop 
2,542,516,000 bushels, which, if approximately estimated, is over a thousand 
million bushels greater than that of last year, which was only 1,522,519,000 
bushels. 
— 
LABOUR RETROSPECT. 
United Kingdom. — The closing month of the year brings little to 
lighten the industrial situation. It is satisfactory to see an effort being made 
in South Wales to arrange amicably a substitute for the sliding scale agree- 
ment which expires at the close of year. The fear of a stoppage at the end 
of the year is now at an end, as the owners have given no notice to 
terminate contracts, but have accepted a tentative agreement which will 
remain in force till the end of February. At the meeting of the Coal 
Conciliation Board for the federated mining districts in England and North 
Wales, the miners’ delegates moved an increase in wages of 10 per cent., and 
the employers’ representatives moved a reduction of 5 per cent. The matter 
was referred to Lord James of Hereford and a date chosen for a meeting. 
As regards shipbuilding, and trades dependent on it, it is evident that the 
lack of orders is affecting them badly. In London there are more members 
out of employment than for many years past, and great slackness also 
prevails in the West of Scotland, in Yorkshire, and on the Mersey. As a 
result, reductions in wages have been made of late, and further decreases are 
under discussion. 
Colonies. — Intending emigrants to South Africa have always been 
recommended in these columns to exercise caution before starting for a 
country where labour conditions are so varying. In the new colonies white 
labour is no longer at present in demand, excepting as regards skilled 
mechanics of the best class ; and the same may be said of all the principal 
towns in South Africa. Inland, skilled men in the building trades will 
probably find employment. It should be borne in mind that the cost of 
living is very great. But as a set-off to this the margin of saving is also 
great, and a hard-working man should be able to put by a nest-egg more 
quickly than in the old country. It has been suggested that the Railway 
Department should import nine or ten thousand natives to work on the 
railways which are so badly wanted, and to construct which native labour is 
wholly inadequate. Numbers would remain, and the benefit accruing to the 
country at large would more than compensate for the increased cost per 
mile of the railways. Native wage labour on the mines has been raised, 
the maximum average for all “ boys ” employed in mines now being fixed at 
50s. a month, the increase being obtained by an extension of the piece- or 
task-work system. It would seem at first glance that an improvement in the 
recruiting of native labour might result from this move, but it is to be 
recalled that this maximum of 50s. is no more than the minimum of former 
times. The employment of white labour in connection with black at the 
mines has already produced friction, and was partly the cause of a strike at 
the Village Main Reef mine some time back. The mail has brought some 
details which throw an interesting light on the relations between white and 
black labour. 
It seems that the manager of the mine, now that the machines are 
worked by the aid of white instead of Kaffir labour, suggested that the men 
should take charge of three machines instead of two, on the ground that the 
employment of white labour necessitated less supervision on the part cf 
the man in charge. To this innovation the machine overseers objected, 
and up to the present it has been impossible to arrange for the men to 
resume work. All who have had any experience in the handling of Kaffirs 
know how inferior they are to whites for any class of work in which 
intelligence or skill is required, but in unskilled work no single instance 
has yet been shown where white labour has been able to compete with 
native, although of late quite a large number of experiments have been made 
in this direction. That a chargeman over two machines, when worked by 
Kaffirs, ought easily to be able to supervise the working of a third machine 
when he is supplied with white assistance does not admit of doubt, and it 
is to be regretted that the Miners’ Association does not take a more 
intelligent view of the situation, 
Foreign Countries. — -In our last issue allusion was made, in connection 
with Mr. Moseley’s Commission now at work in the United States, to the 
American Civic Federation, founded on its present basis at the end of 1901. 
The aims and methods of this organization are worthy of further mention. 
Its leading principles are that at all times representatives of employers and 
workers, organized or unorganized, shall confer for the adjustment of 
differences and disputes before an acute stage is reached, that mutual agree- 
ments as to conditions of work shall be encouraged, and that when such 
agreements are made their terms shall be faithfully observed, both in letter 
and in spirit, by both parties. To carry out its purpose this department, 
which now has some 300 members, appoints an executive committee of 36, 
who include some of the most prominent men in the country, 12 representing 
employers, 1 2 employees, and 1 2 the general public. From this committee a 
committee of conciliation is appointed, containing three members from each 
group, whose duty it is, upon notice from the chairman of the executive 
committee of a threatened strike or lock-out of more than local magnitude, to 
use its good offices in restoring harmonious relations. The method relied upon 
primarily to secure the desired end consists of bringing representatives of the 
disputing parties together in conference, and getting them to talk over their 
differences before the temper of either side has been aroused. If, however, 
the two sides fail to reach an agreement, the Civic Federation is prepared to 
resort to arbitration, but only in case both parties desire their services. In 
such cases the disputants are invited to select two members from among the 
employers and two from among the wage-earners who sit on the executive 
committee, and these form a board of arbitration, power being reserved to the 
four, if it be necessary for a final decision, to add a fifth to their number 
from among the members of the executive committee who represent the 
general public. Men, however, who are not members of the executive 
committee may be chosen to serve as arbitrators, should circumstances render 
such a course desirable. In about two-thirds of the cases the result was 
either the prevention or ending of the strike. 
The efforts, initiated by President Roosevelt, to arrive at an agreement 
on the points of dispute in the coal trade seem to be resulting favourably. It 
is stated that rough proposals, forming the basis of the negotiations, provide for 
a ten per cent, increase in wages, a nine hours’ working day, and trade agree- 
ments between the miners and the companies employing them. These 
suggestions, however, appear to favour the men more than the employers may 
feel to be warranted. 
The French coal-miners would not accept the decision of the Court of 
Arbitration, but the stoppage of the strike was brought about by the interven- 
tion of the Government, and by promises of legislation regarding pensions 
and the hours of work. The men gradually resumed, those at St. Etienne 
holding out the longest. After further negotiation an agreement was arrived 
at on most of the points at issue, both parties consenting to refer the question 
of bonuses to arbitration. 
In Germany little has happened towards alleviating the depression under 
which the principal industries have been suffering for two and a-half years. 
The Commercial Treaties Association recently set their views on this matter 
