The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-09-09

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"They will not work unless they are
forced"
81 quite agree with you. said Mr..
Fels, "and what's more. if were a
pauper 1 wouldn't work, either"
"Yet you expect these paupers tc
work cheerfully and voluntarily on
the Farm Labor Colony" 7"
mo, / don't, nor does anyone in
his senses. We must change all that.
They must be no longer paupers, in
name at any rate. The name would
degrade any man let them be treated
as human beings whose hopes and
aspirations have not quite been crush
ed out by your demoralizing poor
house system. Let the man in the
man have chance, and / am conf
dent of the result"
In the fourteen months just COM
pleted, Mr.. Fels' optimistic belief, in
which he stood sadly alone, has been
more than justified, for only two cases
of refusal to work have been chron-
icled up to the present, although men
are leaving from time to time to fill
situations and regain their lost status
in society, and fresh "derelicts" are
taking their places in the colony.
Excellent meals, absence of osten-
tatious oficialdom, and plenty of hard
work are the principal features of the
new regime, and they have worked
well. At FIVE o'clock in the after
noon work ceases for the day, and
the men partake of a dinner that
would put to shame many a two
dollar house in the United States.
Later they are free to follow their
own inclinations some engage in
games of football or cricket, others
join in a home-like 6ree-and easy,
others stroll through the quiet lanes
1T may be to the nearest inn, which
is ~ miles away.
They retire at ten-thirty and arise
at six-thirty in the morning. Break
fast over, they turn out at eight
O'Clock to the Oldest industry in the
world with willingness that silences
all criticism. The Saturday after
noon holiday is held by the colonists
as an Englishman's right, and not
even the strenuousness of American
ideas could induce the superintendent
to ask the men to work after one P.
M. on Saturdays. They are free from
duties between Saturday noon and
Monday morning, in accordance with
the English custom.
Signs of returning manhood, of re-
vival of human feeling almost killed
by the poor-house. are not wanting.
A few Gagged singing birds hang on
the wall little fox terrier that
strayed into the colony has been be-
friended by the men, and now has,
like them, regained its self-esteem to
such degree that he works out his
board as faithful sentinel.
Skilled work. too, hayesthese men
done. With only the direction of
the superintendent, man with a
great heart and a kindly word for
everyone, they have digged bitches,
built barns, made roads, and culti-
vated the fields. For three months,
fifty of them were engaged laying out
a waterworks, and the grading of the
reservoir banks and the construction
of great dam have been highly
praised by military engineers who
have visited the colony. And all
this with unskilled labor, simply be-
cause these men were led, not driven,
to something better than the useless
occupations of stone breaking or win
dow cleaning or floor scrubbing.
Almost the first question PROFOUND
ed by civic wiseacres who visit the
colony is, "Does it pay?" In the
sense of showing clear balance on
the right side of the ledger, no farm
labor colony can ever be expected to
pay, but in the true economical sense
it certainly does. The average work
house inmate costs the Poplar Board
of Guardians us. per week. On the
colony, however, not calculating any
return from farm produce, because
there has been hardly time yet for
this, the cost is los. 6Hd.
Therefore the saving is at least
SID. per head per week, and that
means so much saved to the rate
payers. There is a movement on
foot to turn all such gain into money
payment to the colonists, and Mr..
Fels suggests the guardians saving
it for them until they quit the colony,
which they can do at moments no.
tice. Mr.. Fels' ideas have proved so
eminently practical that this is likely
to be done in the near future.
There is yet another and weightier
consideration to be taken into ac-
count. When a pauper leaves the
house" tempted by the possibili-
ties of summer, it is but too often to
return in the winter. When he leaves
the colony, he has no desire to go
back to the workhouse, for he has
been lifted up, his feet have been
firmly placed again on the social lad
der, and the man remade. 1t is not
so much a question of money making
as making.
But this is not all. As soon as the
success of Laindon colony was proba-
bic, Mr.. Fels, who is possessed of
great wealth Che himself says fairly
ample means }, extended his offer
to every board of guardians in Britain
that cared to accept it, and already
the lethargic indifference of English
civic bodies has received rude shock,
and many towns are adopting the
system. For the lord mayor of Lon
don's central committee on unem-
ployment, committee as unwieldy
as its name, Mr.. Fels purchased the
Hollesley Bay estate, a magnificent
tract of fine land on the east coast OF
some I $50 acres, at cost of $I65,
600, and this was taken over in
l.