CHAPTER IX THE LABOR QUESTION

Both commercial and industrial interests in the colonies demand that the capacity of the natives for work should be fostered. Life in the tropics is so easy, necessaries are procured with so little exertion, that the natives have not generally been accustomed to steady toil. Where regular agri­cultural work has been done it has often fallen on the shoulders of the women, especially among the tribes of the southern half of Africa. But if the plantation and mining districts in the tropics are to be developed, the native males will have to become accustomed to work more regularly and with greater energy than heretofore. Their nat­ural capacity and inclination to work being sub­ject to doubt, a large variety of methods have been suggested by which habits of industry among them might be artificially fostered. We shall take up first a discussion of the methods which have been employed in the colonies for this purpose, and then consider in general the ques­tion as to how far artificial means of encourage­ment are necessary and advisable for bringing out the full working capacity of native populations.

Indirect Methods : Taxation.—The most favor­ite indirect method of inducing natives to work 358