Part 5

Here is a fine resting place for men and women, physically or mentally weary. The rush of modern business life is wholly unknown; there are no street cars nor elevated trains to catch; there is no congestion of traffic in the streets; no roar of vehicles nor hum of business to disturb the absolute rest that the place suggests or to chide one who is disposed to take life easy. One lies down at night with the murmur of distant waters echoing through his dreams and wakens in the morning to the song of the surf.

The islands are said to be a “haven of refuge for sufferers from chronic bronchitis, phthisis and consumption in all its terrible forms, insomnia, and the strain of overwork; and for children one vast playground with free and open beaches and sands difficult to surpass.”

Certainly it would be hard to find a more ideal place for overworked humanity seeking rest and recuperation. The climate is all that could be desired, living is cheap, the whole atmosphere breathes rest, and there are ever present the constant sunshine and the eternal sea.

On St. Mary’s Sir Walter Besant lived while engaged on his celebrated romance, “Armorel of Lyonesse,” the home of whose beautiful Armorel Sir Walter located on the now uninhabited island of Samson. Half a century ago Samson had a population of fifty souls, with ten houses, among which “Armorel’s cottage” may still be seen. In 1885, only one family was left, and now nothing remains save the wreck of the houses and the traces of former cultivation, rapidly disappearing. The inhabitants were moved to other islands to insure the better education of their children, and, incidentally, to curtail a little private and untaxed trade which they carried on with their French neighbors.

To trace the history of these fragments of a lost continent through former generations would be most interesting, but it must be here foregone. They have, however, bulked considerably in English history and figured frequently in her relations with her continental neighbors. They remained true to the royal cause after Charles I had been put to death, having been held by Sir John Grenville for Charles II. The garrison was reduced to submission by Ascue and Blake in 1651. Prince Charles was sheltered in Star Castle for a short while after his flight from Cornwall.

The islands were notorious as the scenes of smuggling operations during the eighteenth century, but this was so vigorously dealt with that it proved as unprofitable as the various honest efforts to earn a livelihood that have been successively experimented with in this little world.

It is said that Hamilco of Carthage, a colony of Phœnicia, discovered the islands in 3000 B.C.; at any rate, they have been identified with the Cassiterides or Hesperides of the Greeks, and the Sillinæ Insulæ of the Romans. The Phœnicians traded with them for tin, which was most probably brought from Cornwall, as there is no evidence that tin was ever found on the islands. An allusion in Diodorus Siculus throws light on this custom. He says: The tin “was first refined and then carried to an adjacent island for shipment to Gaul.” The Romans reduced the islands during their occupation of Great Britain and made them a place of banishment, a use to which they were put by Great Britain also during the seventeenth century.

The Danish sea-kings found them a convenient rallying point for raids upon places in the Bristol Channel, but Athelstan drove the Danes out in 927. Subsequently an order of monks settled there, retaining an independent government till Henry I subordinated them to the Abbot of Tavistock. Scilly remained under the jurisdiction of the monks till the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII. The ruins of an old abbey are still visible on the island of Tresco.

During the reign of Elizabeth, Sir Francis Godolphin built a number of forts and Star Castle near Hugh Town. The latter remains to the present, on the left of the harbor, at Star Fort.

We have noted that the islands were used by both Romans and Britons as a place of punishment, and we learn that in 1637 John Bastwick, M.D., after having been banished there for writing libelous books against church and government, was sentenced to pay a fine of £1,000, to stand in the pillory, to have his ears cut off, and finally to be confined in St. Mary’s castle. After such a generous assignment the story of the “ducking chair” sounds like comedy. The offender guilty of some trifling misdemeanor was tied in the chair at the head of the dock and thrown into the water. One cannot help feeling that this would be fine treatment for the American “hobo,” especially if the salt water was available and it was not necessary to haul him out too soon.

The inhabitants have had a hard fight for existence and have been on the verge of starvation more than once. Farming proved a failure. So likewise did smuggling, shipbuilding, fishing, and other experiments, that for a time seemed to promise success.

Now, however, they are more prosperous than they have ever been. Early potatoes, asparagus, and other vegetables are raised in large quantities for the English market. In this respect Scilly is to London what Bermuda is to New York. Besides the vegetables, flowers are cultivated for the London market, and grow in such luxuriant profusion as to guarantee a handsome return to the gardener. Anyone who has seen an acre or two of lilies abloom in Bermuda knows what a glorious sight a field of flowers is. We cannot judge from a florist’s window how splendid is a flower farm.

During Christmas week wallflowers, marguerites, daisies, narcissi, roses, pinks, marigolds, fuchsias, geraniums and chrysanthemums are found in bloom.

The fields are divided off into little squares of about a quarter of an acre, by high hedges. Here the flowers are protected from the winds and cuddled up to the gracious sun. Under this nurture aloes attain a height of five or six feet, and in blossoming throw up a bloom-spike as high as eighteen or twenty feet.

As London is distant from the islands only about eleven hours it follows that if the inhabitants are prepared to supply the metropolis with its flowers and vegetables they may rest easy about “the wolf at the door.”

The islands number about forty, and are situated some twenty-seven miles west of Land’s End. Five of them are inhabited, and the total population, which increased during the decade by one hundred and four, is some two thousand.

As we steamed out of the harbor a fleet of British war ships, twenty-two in number, was lying at anchor in the bay. When one reflects that these fighting machines are similarly in evidence in almost every harbor round the world, he is convinced that Great Britain’s arm upon the sea is a significant factor to be reckoned with in questions relating to the world’s peace.

I met the captain of our ship as I stepped aboard and besought him, though unbelief was regnant, to assure us of a smooth passage home. I explained to him that I had contributed everything I possessed on the way hither and that since then I had been too busy sleeping and seeing the island to replenish my larder. He replied with cordial good humor that the return voyage would be pleasant. Of course I was sceptical, but to my great surprise, when we rounded the point where Star Fort is situated, I saw at once that the ocean’s wrath was greatly appeased.

Time heals most wounds, and, while she banishes to a merciful oblivion what is sad and unpleasant, she graciously leaves with us the undimmed vision of our happy days. Thus it is that I have forgotten the raging of the sea and the tossing of the ship, and treasure the picture which that August morning brought me, “a small sweet world of wave-encompassed wonder.”

THE LABOR QUESTION. WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SOUTHERN CONDITIONS.

By Herman Justi.

The writer of the following pages is one of the recognized authorities of the country on labor questions. Born in Kentucky about fifty-three years ago, he has been in his time merchant, manufacturer, banker, editor, traveler and sociologist. He lived in Tennessee for fifteen years and since 1898 has been in Chicago. As commissioner of the Illinois Coal Operators’ Association he has dealt with the perplexing problems of labor face to face, and thus has been obliged to test theory in the crucible of practice. Although a representative, in a sense, of capital, he is the friend of organized labor and is so recognized by its leaders.

Mr. Justi has contributed to the current discussions of economic topics many valuable papers which have been printed in the leading periodicals of the country and it is therefore felt that the following paper, treating a question new to the South, but none the less, of prime and growing importance, will be read with deep interest.—ED.

In almost every discussion of the labor problem practically the only class of labor taken into consideration is that known as common labor—by which term is meant the labor that is grouped into large bodies. That labor which is known in the North, East and West as common labor is similarly known in the South. Mill, mine and factory hands, workers on streets and highways, employes in railway depots and on wharves are everywhere, for want of a better term, designated as common labor. In this discussion no notice need be taken of highly skilled laborers who can be safely classified among the crafts, and who are seldom found in considerable groups. The craftsmen can take care of themselves and need no union to protect them. They are treated, not like a commodity that can be easily replaced by substitutes from an emigrant ship, but like intelligent human agents, who must be handled with care and respect.

In considering the general subject of labor with special reference to the South, the question of labor in itself, while important, is not complicated with so many difficulties as confront us in the North; and yet the difficulties are many, and some of them, unless intelligently dealt with, may become serious.

For instance, the loss of the black man as a laborer at the South might prove a serious embarrassment, or the loss by the black man of confidence in and respect for the white man’s authority, might necessitate an admixture, by immigration, of races and nationalities which would push the black laborer to the wall, and should be avoided if it is possible to avoid it. To no one is this a matter of so much importance as to the black man.

The labor problem at the North would be infinitely simpler if there were fewer nationalities, all of them speaking and understanding the English tongue. This statement does not imply that those speaking foreign tongues are necessarily inferior in character or intellect to the English speaking laborer, but the troubles arise rather because the non-English speaking laborers are the victims of deception by unscrupulous interpreters who purposely misrepresent what is said to them for their benefit, or what is said by them to their employers.

The fact that the black man speaks a language understood by the white man is a point in his favor, and that is also a reason why he should continue to be the most desirable common laborer obtainable. The negro at the North is discriminated against in all labor organizations as well as in every relation of life, but in the South he still has a fair chance to market his labor, if he will avail himself of it and will realize his opportunity. So far the very abundance of cheap common labor in the South has hindered the growth of the labor union there and has in many instances defeated its purposes when established. The want of ambition, which makes the negro content with low wages and inferior conditions of living, is sometimes found in common labor at the North, but it is by no means so general as among the black race in the South. Particularly is this the case in the cities, to which the negroes have flocked in great numbers, denuding the plantations of needed help while, in the cities, holding down the wages of common labor,—the only labor in which the negro competition has yet been apparent. The employers of labor in the South should do everything in their power to make of the black man all that it is possible to make of him as a laborer; but, as he has his limitations and as the black man will at times leave the South and so leave an opening for new white labor, the South must use her energies to educate this newly acquired immigrant labor up to American standards—and no work that it can do will bring greater returns than teaching the non-English laborer the language of his newly adopted home.

The very fact that union or organized labor is not strong in the South, when compared with the average sections of the North, gives the employer class in the South an opportunity which they may and should utilize in preparing for that time when the contests incident to organization are sure to come. And in this preparation they want to bear in mind the undeniable truth that the quality of the laborer is generally determined by the quality of the employer. In considering the capacity of any body of laborers we are unfailingly considering the capacity and intelligence of the employers in directing their employes. Employer and employe alike have splendid opportunities opening to them in the South, opportunities in many respects unrivalled; and it is of the highest importance that they make a right beginning and understand each other at the start. The union will indubitably grow, and the employer should welcome it if it presents itself as a business body seeking the highest wages compatible with commercial or competitive conditions in return for the best services of which the labor offered is capable.

But in the South labor must come with reason in its request. It need not be servile, but it must be respectful, for it is still, as it has always been, characteristic of the people of the South that they will brook no interference with their individual liberty. The North does not, and never did, understand the strength of this underlying principle of Southern manhood. It is a principle so strong that it does not disappear in a single generation.

A notable instance of this was seen in a recent dispute over the mining scale in Franklin County, Illinois. The southern part of Illinois was settled by Southerners, mainly by Tennesseans and Kentuckians, who poured into that rich country for a few years before the war and for a few years afterwards. There are whole communities now dominated by Southern thought and principles. When the miners’ union was seeking to establish itself in Franklin County, these farmers, either of Southern birth or of Southern ancestry, having heard that the representatives of the miners, whom they described as agitators, were undertaking to interfere with the individual rights of their sons to work without dictation from any one, offered their services to the newly established companies. The newly established companies, however, politely declined the proffered assistance, preferring peaceable adjustment. But the tendered services would have been given just as willingly as they were tendered.

What is needed in the North is also needed in the South; namely, wise and well informed teachers who are able to illumine the great problem of labor to the masses, in order that they may distinguish between anarchy or socialism on the one hand and the accepted political principles of our country on the other. But there is one thing to be truly said about the South that will always commend itself to employers contemplating a change of base or the establishment of themselves for the first time—and it will commend itself to labor whether organized or unorganized—and that is the doctrines of the socialist have found no encouragement there. Such doctrines cannot thrive in the South any more than tropical plants can survive in the polar regions. Labor leaders should rejoice—in fact wise, educated, far-seeing labor leaders do rejoice—that this spirit prevails in the South, for only so can they hold their own against the radical, trouble-making element in their own ranks.

Thinking too much of established institutions and guarding them too zealously may at times be a disadvantage, but as a general thing that community is most law-abiding and most conservative in maintaining the rights and privileges of all where due reverence is cherished for old established institutions; and yet the wisest conservatism is that which steadily, no matter how slowly, prepares itself for changes that are inevitable. Labor conditions in the South cannot endure as they now exist, unless the South is to lose all that she has gained since the overthrow of slavery, and is to stand and view the triumphal march of the country without participating in it.

The South should not seek to rest under present conditions for they cannot continue. If the present labor of the South becomes educated and then improves, it will organize. And if it does not improve, new labor will come in either already organized or to organize immediately on its arrival. I know this view will be contested by many able employers, but, believing it to be true, I deem it best to say it. It is a great deal better to make yourself strong so that you may trust in your strength when the certain change comes than to rely upon the fairness of the other side—and this is equally true of the employer and the employe.

Experience has taught the South much on the question of labor, but so far as a thorough understanding of the matter goes, the South is barely at the threshold. The first and greatest thing that the South has to realize, which as yet is not realized there at all, is this: In the South as elsewhere, it will be found that cheap labor is the most expensive. To secure good results is the desired end of all industry and the experience of older industrial communities has taught that the best results are, have been, and will ever be obtained by the employment of the best labor. The best labor is and will always be that labor which receives the highest wages and which is most nearly satisfied with surrounding conditions. We can therefore set ourselves no more important task, no more sacred duty, than that of finding the most nearly perfect system under which the highest wages can be paid in return for the most efficient service. And, aside from the justice of this course, aside from the material benefit to the employer, there is no investment that brings its returns so quickly to the community at large, as money paid for good labor. Money so paid is at once spent for the necessities of life, for all the comforts that can be afforded by the family receiving it, and so is circulated almost automatically.

Labor organizations have made small headway in the South for other reasons than the preponderance of negro cheap labor; the first to be stated being the advantages of climate and of cheap living possessed by the Southern worker. The winters are short, the summers long. Outdoor vocations can be pursued in comparative comfort almost the entire year. Fuel bills are smaller, the cost of clothing less, and the cheapness of land opens the way for the workman of even moderate means to possess his own home, if frugal and industrious. He can be his own landlord on easier terms than in the North. But on the other hand, while the climatic and other conditions favor the workman of the South, it must also be remembered that the housing of workmen in the sparsely settled communities or in mining camps is not as good as in the North where legislation and the agitation of the labor leaders have brought about greatly improved conditions.

In the cities of the North the conditions and surroundings of the workmen are even more noticeably superior to those of the workmen in Southern cities. The comforts of such flats as workingmen occupy in the large cities of the North, notably in Chicago, are practically, if not altogether, unknown in the South, where conveniences are fewer. This very custom of living without comforts and conveniences has operated to keep wages down and consequently to offer a check to the spread of unionism. The homes of many skilled Northern workmen belonging to the union would be a revelation to the workman in the South equally skilled but not a member of any labor organization, and receiving less pay for his services.

The organization of labor in the South has also proceeded more slowly as compared with the North because of the more rapid growth and development of the North. It is a fact at once apparent that cities where the unions are strong are the cities that are growing most rapidly. Another cause is the scarcity of manufacturing interests in the South and the consequent small demand for skilled workmen, who are therefore not in the South in sufficient number to organize effectively against the mass of unskilled and partly skilled labor. The lack of numerous large manufacturing enterprises, and of enormous mercantile interests, also causes a lack of sharpness in competition and has made employes less ready or able to exact the utmost that could be paid them in wages.

The difficulties of organizing labor in the South are such as always mark the initial efforts at organization. The union men are out of the Alabama mines, just at this time, for instance, and new men have their places. The new men are being trained to their work, and are receiving practically, if not exactly, the wages asked for by the union. As the number of these skilled workmen increases, the necessity of organization will become more apparent to them all, and the larger the number of men trained for the work, the more effective the union will become. The union wins victories for others oftentimes where it is itself nominally defeated.

The question is asked, and with propriety, of the leaders of organized labor, why it is, if organized labor offers or promises the best workmen, that employers constantly resist its encroachment and turn it out and replace it with unorganized labor if they can. There are several reasons why this is so. It is not, as the labor leader frequently answers, because the employer is short-sighted and imagines that when he can get cheap labor he is making money, although it is at times due to the want of discernment and enlightenment on the part of the employer. The objection made to organized labor by its very best friends among the employers is the short-sighted policy of the organization in winking at or permitting the well-known tyranny of the unions, and also that air of proprietorship which petty labor leaders so often assume.

I have never denied the right of labor to organize, nor can I deny the necessity for labor to organize; and, in the very nature of things, it seems to me that it is best that capital deal with labor as a unit. But at the same time I have, in pursuing my duties in adjusting labor disputes, been brought in contact with labor leaders here and there whose insolence and arrogance, whose absurd claim of being labor’s unselfish and only friend,—made me wish the whole world of organized laborers and their leaders at the bottom of the sea. More than one true friend of organized labor has been lost to a worthy and noble cause for no other reason than that they have been grossly offended and outraged by unworthy representatives of labor organizations.