(1.) Public Works—

While the central idea of the entire system will be that of providing permanent, as contrasted with temporary work for the destitute, there is no reason why the former should not be supplemented by the latter. The great public works which at present afford occasional relief for thousands would still be possible, only provision would be made for the redistribution of the masses of labour thus withdrawn from the ordinary channels as soon as the public work in question was completed.

For this again we possess a scriptural parallel in the "levy out of all Israel" raised by King Solomon, consisting of thirty thousand men who were sent "to Lebanon ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon and two months at home." In addition to the above we find that he employed seventy thousand "that bare burdens" and eighty thousand "hewers in the mountains, beside the officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work." It was the elaborate organisation of these laborers, and the provision for their spending a certain proportion of their time at home, which enabled Solomon to carry out his great public works without seriously deranging the labor market, or hindering the prosperity of the nation. I have selected this instance because it is from well authenticated sources, goes fully into details and refers to a nation and country very much resembling India. Indeed it is almost identical with the familiar Indian institution known as "begar" or forced labour.

The weak point of such special efforts is that they tend to leave things in a worse position than ever when they are concluded. Nobody sits down to calculate what is to become of the thousands who have been drawn together, often hundreds of miles from their homes, when the time comes for them to be paid off. They are thrown bodily upon the labor market and left to shift for themselves as best they can, without any means of informing themselves where they ought to go, or into what other channels they can most profitably direct their labor.

This evil we hope to obviate by means of our Labor Bureaux, which will be planted in every city and district, and will keep such elaborate returns as will enable to watch all the fluctuations of the labor market.

For instance let us be informed of the fact that a railway is to be opened, a canal dug, or some other public work constructed in a particular district, we should be able to calculate from our returns the amount of labor that could conveniently be withdrawn from existing channels, and the amount that would have to be imported.

We should be able to constitute a Solomon's levy (voluntary of course), and the laborers would have the assurance that when the work on which they were engaged was concluded, sufficient provision would be made for their reemployment elsewhere, or for their restoration to their ordinary occupation. Our Labor Bureau would thus do for the laborer what is at present impossible for him to do for himself, and would economise his time to the utmost.

(2.) Off to the Tea Gardens—

We should be able again to supply the Tea and Coffee Districts with gangs of laborers, and should guard the interests of both employer and employed. The former would be supplied with picked laborers at the ordinary market rate, without the worry, delay and expense of having to procure them for themselves. The latter would be kept in communication with their families, and could be worked in "courses" on Solomon's plan.

(3.) Land along the Railways—

Among other proposals General Booth suggests that the land along the Railway lines might well be utilised for the purpose of spade husbandry. There seems no reason why these extensive strips of often fertile soil should be left to go to waste, conveniently situated as they are on borders of the main arteries of commerce and in close vicinity to stations.

(4.) Improved methods of Agriculture—

This is a subject which deserves a chapter to itself in a country like India. If it be true that there are millions of acres of waste land that are only waiting to be cultivated to yield a rich return, it is equally notorious that by improved methods of agriculture the present produce of the soil may be doubled and trebled. To this subject we intend to pay the full attention that it deserves, making the best possible use of Native experience and European science. We shall be in a peculiarly favorable situation for experiments on a large scale. But this is a subject on which we cannot at present do more than touch, reserving for a future period the elaboration of schemes which will doubtless have an enormous reflexive effect upon the whole of India, and thus materially increase the wealth of the entire country and the revenue of the Government.