Labor Problems of Africa [Reprint 2016 ed.] 9781512818291

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AFRICAN H A N D B O O K S : 6

Labor Problems of Africa

AFRICAN HANDBOOKS: 6 Edited by

H.

A.

WIESCHHOFF

Committee on African Studies, University of Pennsylvania

LABOR PROBLEMS OF AFRICA By John A. Noon

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM Philadelphia 19 4 4

Copyright 1944 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS

Manufactured

in the United States of

America

LONDON HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

CONTENTS Chapter I II

Page

INTRODUCTION

1

T H E A F R I C A N AS A L A B O R E R

14

III

WEST

47

IV

EQUATORIAL

V VI VII

EAST

AFRICA AFRICA

AFRICA

SOUTH

AFRICA

74 89 116

CONCLUSIONS

135

BIBLIOGRAPHY

140

Chapter I INTRODUCTION GENERAL

When the African arrives at an age to assume the responsibilities of maintaining himself and setting up his own domestic establishment, three courses, broadly speaking, are open to him. If he is of a conservative nature he (depending upon a n u m b e r of local economic and cultural compulsions) will probably elect to remain in his native village and attempt to support himself according to the patterns which his forefathers followed u p to recent days and which, for convenience sake, have been labelled subsistence economy. T h e details of these patterns naturally vary from one section of Africa to another. T h e East African is likely to be more concerned with amassing a herd of cattle, the size of which is the index to his status in society. Cattle is the wealth which he uses to acquire a wife or wives. His women folk till small garden plots to provide the household with vegetable foods. As his sons come of age and he joins the elders in the management of village affairs, he turns over to the sons his duties of tending the cattle. T h e West African, on the other hand, who devotes his energies to subsistence economy, pays greater attention to crop cultivation. H e performs the arduous labor connected with clearing the land, planting and harvesting, and leaves the work of weeding and hoeing the growing crops to his wives or children. Disregarding the specific details of the agrarian economy in which an African secures a living, certain general characteristics of this means of obtaining the wherewithal to live can be discerned. T h e system is very simple and very direct. Every phase of this economy is familiar and understandable to the African. H e knows exactly how and why everything is done. H e comprehends the forces by which the economy is controlled and organized, and he is an active factor in this control. His labor is utilized according to the dictates of self interest as this has been defined by his village community. Wages do not exist as the end result of his labor or as an incentive to direct the expending of labor. W h e n the familial organization of labor is insufficient to the task at hand, certain wellestablished patterns of mutual exchange of services such as the dokpwe or "working bee" of Dahomey will procure the necessary 1

2

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

additions to the labor force. He is not entirely free from the demands of compulsory labor service as the Native chief of the district, according to custom, may have the right to claim his services for both public and private purposes. The use of money, while known, is limited to market transactions. He will not evaluate his labor in terms of money wages but according to the goods which he has been able to produce. Since the African of whom we are speaking lives in the twentieth century he will be unable to escape completely the impact of European influence over the African continent, although he has chosen the means of earning a livelihood which has been least affected by the development of Eur-African economy. T h e necessity of paying taxes requires that he convert a certain amount of his wealth or services into money. In order to meet this obligation he may have to dispose of some of his cattle or secure temporary employment with Europeans for a cash wage. Numerous articles of foreign manufacture have been introduced into the culture patterns of his community and if he is to maintain his status in society and appear before his wives as a good provider, he will have to raise the necessary funds to purchase these articles. Here again he may be forced to abandon temporarily his chosen means of earning a living and secure employment for wages. In brief, it has already become impossible to practise the Native modes of economy in their unacculturated form. European penetration into Africa has proceeded to a stage where the African is more and more frequently and in ever-increasing numbers being pushed into the position of at least a part-time wage earner. The African may choose to combine subsistence economy with some form of money earning. This second method of making a living represents a transitional stage between the nearly self-sufficient existence and complete dependence upon wage earning. In this system the African retains his connection with his native village and earns there at least part of the income required to support himself and his family. Several ways may be taken to divorce oneself from subsistence economy. Many Africans have made this shift by reducing their production of food crops for their own use in favor of planting those crops which will be sold for cash and be exported to foreign markets. This type of cash earning is particularly common in West Africa and is exemplified by the cocoa planter of the Gold Coast. On the other hand, the African may leave his Native district and seek employment either in the mines or on European plantations. If he chooses mining employment, his absence is continuous for generally a year or longer. If employ-

INTRODUCTION

3

ment is of an agricultural nature, his absence may be seasonal, permitting him to attend to his own land or herds in the village for a large portion of the year. Employment in the mines as a supplement to the income derived from subsistence farming is most common from Nyasaland southward and including all the territories of South Africa. In what ways does the adoption of this hybrid method of earning a living affect the life of the African worker? Once the African becomes either a cash-crop farmer or a mine laborer, he has lost the direct means for satisfying his needs which characterized the system of subsistence agriculture. A chain of economic transactions now stands between his labor and the procurement of consumption goods. The cocoa planter of the Gold Coast has to harvest and bag his product, transport the bags to the co-operative or the private dealer for grading and sale. The proceeds will not necessarily be immediately forthcoming, and the delay may necessitate negotiating an advance on the purchase price in order to meet current expenses. When he has been paid finally for the cocoa, he then must exchange this sum for the multitude of goods and services comprising his present mode of existence. All of these operations have complicated the economy of the Native and require him to measure the value of his labor first in terms of the money he receives and finally in relation to the goods and services he has to secure. As soon as the African worker has been engaged as a wage earner or is occupied with the production of export crops, his method of earning a livelihood becomes a part of the international economic order. He is about to learn that he has become an anonymous link in a highly-impersonal economic system. The control which he was able to exert over his own activities under the subsistence system is replaced by vaguely understood economic laws. The prices he will receive for his products are said to be controlled by world market conditions. The fact that the mine manager or plantation owner may or may not desire his services is explained as being dependent upon the operation of the economic cycle. One may not wonder at the inability of the African worker to comprehend these explanations of the forces regulating the economic world with which he has recently become associated since to the more experienced worker in England and America they also appear well nigh incomprehensible. This portrayal of the African who participates in both the old and the new systems of economy suggests the tensions which are created for those individuals who must assume a dual set of social identities in accordance with the double nature of their economic

4

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

activities. At home in the village the African receives his position through his identity with his family, the council of elders and perhaps one or more ceremonial societies. In each he plays a role which in the total pattern of village life makes him an individual of specific status. In the mine compound at Johannesburg the same Native is quite a different person. He is unable to rely upon the behavior patterns of the village to govern his conduct. His labor gang is perhaps the single social group with which he may be identified. The most important item defining his status is the color of his skin and the kink in his hair. Although he may be an intelligent, efficient, and sober worker, the single fact of being an African subjects him to humiliating pass-law restrictions (which will be explained later) and dooms him to live behind the barbed wire fence of the mine compound. The social ambivalence created by dual economic life becomes important when we consider that the majority of Africans who work at all for wages are only parttime workers and must therefore participate in two social worlds. The third course which may be pursued by the African is to dissociate himself entirely from subsistence enterprises and devote all his energies to enterprises which net him a cash return. The number of Africans who have taken this step are relatively few and they have reached this stage by carrying the various methods we have described for partially divorcing one's self from self-sufficient economy to their ultimate conclusion. Natives who no longer secure their livelihood under the self-sufficient system of economy are to be found in varying numbers in all phases of Eur-African society. Thus, we find some cocoa planters on the Gold Coast or coffee planters in the Moshi district of Tanganyika who no longer produce sufficient food stuffs to meet their dietary requirements, preferring to rely on purchases of imported and Native foods to round out their food supplies. Practically all plantations have a small staff of permanent Native workers and in mining centers a certain percentage (depending on whether family living quarters are provided) of the workers will have lost all ties with their Native district and now secure their entire support from wages. The largest groups of Africans relying solely upon cash earnings are located in urban centers where they are permanently engaged in industrial employment and in rendering various types of services. Regardless of the particular activity by which they secure a living all or at least one of the following characteristics are present in their mode of living: complete abandonment of village economy as a source of income, dependence on cash income and permanent urbanization. The term most frequently applied to this third type

INTRODUCTION

5

of African and one which emphasizes the importance of the first characteristic in his design for living is "detribalized Native." The forces compelling the African either partially or entirely to sever his connection with tribal life are numerous, and it would be an error to give the impression that such action was, in the majority of cases, a voluntary response to a preference for industrial employment. Natives in certain areas have been forced to take this step because of the pressure of land scarcity brought about by the alienation of land to Europeans. The necessity of paying taxes and the desire to purchase trade goods increases the amount of cash income which must be secured and prompts the African to seek employment with Europeans. Also many observers have interpreted the Native's trek to industrial centers as a substitute for the adventure which the men formerly derived from warfare and which is now denied them since colonial administrations have established peace between the tribes. Whatever the reason or reasons, it is safe to conclude that some European influence is either directly or indirectly behind the Native's decision to become a wage earner. T h e worker who adopts wage earning as a method of securing a livelihood has in so doing accepted two propositions. He has agreed to abandon the control which village economy would impose upon the manner in which his labor would be expended and to transfer that control to one whom he designates as his employer. In the second place, he now assumes that wages will be the controlling factor in selecting the type of work in which he will engage and in choosing the particular employer to whom he will sell his services. What endowment from the labor practices of African society has the Native received for becoming a wage earner? Except for a small number of slaves, the manpower of the African village was composed of free and independent workers. Within the limits prescribed by Native society each worker determined what tasks would command his services and exercised the right of choosing the ways in which his labor would be co-ordinated with that of other villagers. The political organization of most Native societies, however, imposed restrictions upon the individual's control of his labor. T h e practice whereby Native rulers exacted labor tribute from their subjects was almost universally recognized. T h e free worker was therefore required to devote a part of his time to projects which did not directly contribute to satisfying his economic needs. Part of the labor service due the tribal chief was employed in tasks which belong to the category of public works. Included in these was the work of building and maintaining trails through the bush and disposing of wild animals who endangered the lives of

6

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

tribal members. O n the other hand, the ruler could utilize tribute labor for private ends and many Africans were engaged in cultivating lands whose produce went to support the chiefs household. It is advisable to stress the fact that forced labor in Native society was well safeguarded by customary usages and that, therefore, it never attained that degree of exploitation characteristic of the early years of European domination of the continent. By the labor practices current in aboriginal Africa the worker was conditioned to working for others. He was, however, unaccustomed to connecting this service with the exchange of labor for wages. T h e central problem which faced employers at the beginning of the era of European exploitation was to evolve a means of introducing wages as an incentive to labor. With patterns of forced labor existing as an integral part of Native political machinery, European enterprises soon learned that it was unnecessary to wait for workers to decide to accept wages before a labor force could be raised. Rulers, seeing an opportunity to increase their revenue, readily agreed to recruit labor for Europeans by using their established powers of levying a labor tribute. Since the labor force raised in this manner was not reimbursed by wage payments, the early period of European penetration did not contribute to advancing the African worker toward the position of a wage earner. T h e opposition to the continuance of forced labor practices was raised on humanitarian grounds by many missionary societies and organizations of similar nature. Although the evils connected with the use of forced labor by Europeans might have been avoided if they had more wisely applied Native procedures for recruiting labor, it is also possible that the large size of the labor force which had to be raised and the nature of the work on which it was engaged made some of these evils inevitable. In any case, without the aggravation of abuses in the Native system of impressing labor and the creation of new hardships for workers, under European masters, which offended the moral sensibilities of many elements in metropolitan countries, the abolition of forced labor would have met with still greater difficulty. Whereas Native rulers had engaged the services of workers on projects adjacent to their homes and for relatively short periods, Europeans transported workers to distant locations and required their services for such a long duration that they were entirely divorced from their normal family and village associations for a period of several years. Little or no attention was paid to safeguarding the health of impressed workers. Facilities for medical care or proper sanitation were almost entirely neglected.

INTRODUCTION

7

Slight concern was given to providing rations which were neither qualitatively nor quantitatively sufficient to maintain health or labor efficiency. As a consequence, governments were gradually forced to give assent to measures which would eliminate forced labor and which culminated in the adoption of the Geneva Convention on Forced Labour of 1930. The ratification of this document by all major colonial powers holding African possessions with the exception of Portugal represents a definite advance for the African worker toward realizing the position of a wage earner in the sense in which that term is understood in Europe and America. Before considering more fully the undesirable economic features of forced labor, attention should be directed to the unfortunate continuation of this practice which is allowed by the provisions of the Convention. Although labor can no longer be impressed for purposes of private employment, governments are permitted to requisition the services of Africans when such is required to maintain those services normally connected with public welfare or, in the event of emergencies, when it becomes necessary to prevent famine or to meet conditions caused by such natural catastrophies as earthquakes or floods. As no reasonable distinction can be drawn between public and private employment of forced labor in so far as the workers are concerned, the difference in the purpose for which they are engaged provides little justification for its continuance by colonial administrations. During the present manpower shortage the powers granted to colonial administrations have been used to reintroduce forced labor in those private enterprises which are classed as essential industries in Kenya, Tanganyika, Nigeria,* Sierra Leone, Belgian Congo, and the French territories. T h e small number of workers which it was found necessary to impress in each dependency, coupled with the small percentage of the labor potential which was being utilized, suggests that this step was not dictated by the necessities of the hour and therefore represents an unwarranted encroachment upon the freedom which has been won for African labor. For example, in Kenya the largest number of workers which were recruited at any one time to man essential industries is reported to be 16,000. In March 1944 when total male employment was 253,000 there were 14,000 conscripts in civil employment. At that time the number employed plus the unstated numbers in military service probably accounted for the utilization of around 50% of male manpower. It is entirely within the limits of reason to expect that if approximately 500,000 Natives * According to a broadcast by Lord Swinton on August 17, 1944, conscript labor for the Nigerian tin mines has been dispensed with.

8

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

had responded to the appeal of wages and military recruiting drives, the additional workers required could have been obtained without difficulty once the terms of employment were made sufficiently attractive. It is to be feared that the return to forced labor measures at the slightest provocation indicates all too clearly that many employers and colonial officials are as yet unaware that the time has passed and will never return when an efficient and productive labor force can be created by means which fail to satisfy the awakened and acculturated conceptions of self-interest held by Native workers today. As a preface to a critical evaluation of the effect of forced labor practices on promoting or retarding the adoption of wage earning by African workers, it should be remembered that, in addition to controlling the labor market by the direct application of compulsive measures, colonial administrations have in the past and still continue to use their tax powers to compel Natives to seek employment with Europeans. Underlying the levy of prestations in French territories and capitation and hut taxes in British possessions has been the theory that Africans were not responsive to the law of self-interest, and in the absence of compulsion would not attempt to sell their services for wages in numbers sufficient to provide the necessary workers for public and private enterprises. Although restrictions on the use of forced labor have come about largely because such practices were offensive to humanitarian sentiments, a sober consideration of the purely economic aspects of these practices would have led to the same course of action. So long as the labor force consists of impressed labor, both workers and employers are denied the benefits of a free and competitive labor market. Progressive employers have always found that by offering more attractive terms of employment than their competitors they could enlarge their potential labor pool. From this number they could select the most efficient workers and thereby procure a labor force which more than reimbursed the concern for its added outlay in wages by increased production. This element of beneficial competition was eliminated when workers were secured by compulsory means. Without the presentation of attractive wage conditions or the offering of rewards for efficient service, the worker was denied the incentive to either to become a wage earner or, if compelled to do so, to improve his productivity. Also, since he was not a free agent, he was deprived of his right to improve his working conditions by bargaining with his employer. The final shortcoming of the compulsory labor market has already been referred to. Europeans very frequently did not pay the worker for his services but made a

INTRODUCTION

9

payment to the Native authority for their services as labor recruiters. In this situation the worker was not introduced to the relationship between labor and wages but considered employment with Europeans as a burdensome addition to labor already exacted by African rulers under customary practices. It is impossible to escape the conclusion that the system of forced labor retarded rather than promoted the adoption of wage earning on the part of African labor. If external compulsion has not prompted the worker to become a wage earner, is it impossible to attribute the increasing adoption of this practice to the operation of the law of self-interest? Studies of primitive societies provide sound evidence supporting the conclusion that the populations of dependent areas are not inately different from those inhabiting the regions comprising what have been termed civilized nations. The comparative study of culture has also shown that while all peoples are amenable to the same laws of social, economic, and political development, cultural variations have led to multiple definitions of the goals to be obtained through the law of self-interest. In dealing with Natives, Europeans have applied, with few exceptions, their own conception of the aims of economic existence which undoubtedly over-emphasizes the monetary gains to be derived from working as a wage earner. In fact the importance of wealth as a criterion of status has led many persons in Western society to confuse the amassing of wealth with the real aim of economic activity. Actually, the aim of individuals in any society is to secure prestige or rank within the various hierarchies recognized by his culture. In our own society the possession of wealth happens to be the most certain means of obtaining prestige or rank. The question which the African must answer when deciding whether or not he becomes a wage earner is this, will the rewards or satisfactions secured from this method of earning a living guarantee the attainment of rank in the community in which he lives? If the query can be answered affirmatively, then becoming a wage earner coincides with the worker's conception of self-interest and wages become an incentive to labor. When we assay the relative prestige values in earning a living in the village as over against becoming a worker in an industrial center, many arguments can be cited in favor of village life. Beside being able to provide for the minimum necessities, the village dweller derives numerous satisfactions from his kin and family ties. Strong emotional values are connected with participation in social and religious ceremonies. The veneration of age assures the village worker a security in his later years which cannot be found among industrial workers. If he becomes a mine or plantation worker,

10

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

he finds that wages are low. Accommodations permitting family life are only rarely to be found. Due to his race he will be subject to many discriminations. Although the adventure of becoming a wage earner may bring certain prestige satisfactions once the worker returns to his village, during the period of service in centers of employment or if the worker remains there permanently, he is most unlikely to secure a position in society gratifying his desire for prestige. While wage earning is not at present a certain means of attaining prestige satisfaction, cultural changes occurring from the fusion of African and Western cultures assure that an increasingly large number of Natives will be directed toward this practice. Two social processes are at work which guarantee the continuation and acceleration of this trend. Previous mention has been made of the introduction and the African's acceptance of commonly used household articles of European manufacture. Objects of material culture are, however, not accepted without being assigned cultural values. Therefore, as their use and possession have come to be identified as criteria of rank, they have assumed in Eur-African society prestige valuations which in turn mean that their acquisition becomes a part of a new definition of self-interest. In brief, to enjoy the prestige that goes with superior rank many Africans feel that they should have in their homes a radio, European furniture, serve imported foods at their tables, and wear Western dress at least on important social occasions. The second cultural process which promotes the adoption of wage earning concerns the means of procuring the goods which it is to his self-interest to obtain. Just as the criteria of rank have changed in Eur-African culture, so the means of attaining that rank are also different in the new society. Whereas it was possible to obtain the goods prerequisite to superior rank in African culture by laboring as an independent worker, the economic organization now requires that the end product of the Native's labor be cash rather than goods. This consideration compels him to direct his energies toward some form of money-producing activity which is most frequently wage earning. The answer, then, as to why the African becomes a wage earner is found in the redefinition of selfinterest which accepts the acquisition of European goods are criteria of rank and the reorganization of the economic system which makes wage earning a commonly accepted, if not necessary, means of acquiring the material bases of the new concept of social position. This explanation of the factors controlling the adoption of wage earning by Natives satisfies many questions which are raised con-

INTRODUCTION

11

cerning the effectiveness of wages in procuring workers for European enterprises. M a n y persons have pointed to the fact that some workers frequently leave industrial] employment and turning their backs on the attractions of wage earning re-establish themselves in their Native villages. While this is true, it fails to obviate the conclusions already reached. Two things must be kept in mind. First, in these cases, the worker has not accepted the material advantages received from wage earning as the single source of the satisfactions which he seeks to obtain to the same degree as Europeans. Therefore, when he has in a measure fulfilled material requirements, he returns to the village in order to secure the social, political, and religious satisfactions which cannot be met in the industrial center. Secondly, the acceptance of European goods as criteria of rank and wage earning as means of acquiring them has, of course, an unequal rate of adoption among African Natives. Hence those who have not come to value European standards continue to reject wage earning once the minimum requirements of taxes, etc. (which cannot be escaped), are met and return to a dependence upon purely African methods of securing maintenance and prestige. The same argument answers the objections raised by adherents to the theory that workers' demands for income are inelastic and therefore the offering of competitive wage scales will not increase the labor supply but merely redistribute the existing labor force {84, 199-205). This theory assumes that labor is sold for wages merely to obtain the wherewithal to purchase goods, and, since the workers material needs are limited, higher wages are said to reduce instead of increase the period during which he is willing to become a wage earner. It is very doubtful whether the worker possesses inelastic monetary requirements. Advertisers do not waste money on stimulating a closed market. The columns of the Native press show that commerical enterprises consider it profitable to create among Africans markets for their products by expending considerable amounts on advertising. Since experience must justify this procedure, it is only reasonable to assume that Natives are in need of an ever-larger income to meet expanding aspirations. It is also possible that the African's need for income appears to be inelastic because an impassable gap exists between the purchasing power of the potential consumer and the selling price of the articles he desires to acquire. Income requirements are enlarged only when the wages paid are adjusted to the consumers' ability to purchase goods. Finally the theory implies that limited income requirements are the only factors inhibiting the African from becom-

12

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

ing a wage earner. As has been previously pointed out, the Native worker places many other values on the scales beside monetary considerations when weighing the question of adopting wage earning. It is the non-economic considerations which enter into the definition of his rank in society which cannot be adequately satisfied under present working conditions in urban centers which deter him from becoming an industrial worker. Economic changes promoted by Europeans through the development of enterprises devoted to extracting minerals and exploiting forest and field products for foreign trade have greatly altered manpower requirements in Africa. Since most of these products, particularly those derived from mining operations, did not figure at all in the economic activities of pre-European times, or were produced only in quantities sufficient to meet the needs of the local market, such was the case with groundnuts and palm products, it has frequently been quite difficult to find the labor available for staffing the mines and plantations operated by non-Africans. This difficulty arose from two sources. European developments, particularly in their initial phase, were generally additional economic activities and not a replacement of already existing Native enterprise; therefore an increase in the manpower needed by the total economy (European and African) resulted. Secondly, the Native population was distributed geographically according to the manpower requirements of African economy, and, since the resources utilized by the two systems frequently failed to overlap, manpower in sufficient quantities was not always available where those raw materials which European enterprises were interested in exploiting were to be found. The problem of channeling workers from Native enterprise toward employment with Europeans can be solved either by offering a price which would purchase the necessary labor or by resort to compulsive measures to raise a force of impressed laborers. When the former procedure is followed a labor problem is created, and employers are in need of knowing the amount of labor which is available at the price they are willing or able to pay. The latter procedure places the problem on a manpower basis, using this term in the sense made familiar by current government controls over the employment of selected age and sex groups of the population. Whether it is possible to provide a full staff of workers for any particular industry and for the economy as a whole then becomes largely a matter of the size of the population in relation to the working force to be raised and the amount of the various types of

INTRODUCTION

13

work to be done in relation to the numbers of the age and sex groups fitted to do the work. Although the use of some type of compulsion has been the rule and the offering of a market price the exception when a labor force was to be raised in Africa, employers have used both procedures. This has left open the question of whether, when establishments cannot secure the needed workers, the shortage is of manpower or of labor. While realizing that an estimate of both the potential manpower and labor supply of Africa is urgently needed in order to answer the question just raised, statistics are not avialable which would permit computing the labor potential of the continent. T h r o u g h o u t the following chapters devoted to regional labor surveys attention will, therefore, be directed toward the problem of estimating the potential manpower of the dependencies, and the question of labor supply will be left to await the compilation of statistics prerequisite to making such a study. T h e appraisal of potential manpower is in and of itself meaningless and becomes significant only when related to the economic activities which utilize manpower. T h e industries of Africa which make demands on manpower resources are described in succeeding chapters under the heading "Opportunities for Employment." Under this caption the number, size, and relative importance of enterprises requiring the labor of both wage earners and independent workers have been surveyed in so far as available data permitted. This description must not be confused with an assessment of labor demand, for no attempt has been made or can now be made to determine the a m o u n t of labor which can be secured at the price industries in Africa are able or willing to pay.

Chapter II THE AFRICAN AS A LABORER In discussing the ways by which the African is able to earn a living today, it was pointed out that the majority of Africans who now participate in the labor market as wage earners do so on a part-time basis. It was also noted that the position of the wage earner in African society is rendered peculiarly difficult because he is bearing the burden of transition from the old to the new order. Each wage earner as he goes about his daily tasks is fusing the patterns of Western industrial and aboriginal economies on the level of individual behavior, and these individual adjustments will, when taken collectively, represent the structure of the new Eur-African society developing on the continent today. We cannot, however, adopt a complacent attitude toward the problems of the worker, because these problems may be merely temporary and likely to adjust themselves in the course of time. The African laborer is not a fictional entity created by academic theory. He is a real person with economic wants and desires which must be satisfied in the present and not at some future date. Furthermore, he must see that although his progress along the path of wage earning may be difficult because he is clearing a new road, his children who follow in that path will have greater opportunities for realizing "freedom from w a n t " because he has removed from the way many obstacles which now beset it. L A B O R E F F I C I E N C Y A N D ITS E F F E C T ON W A G E

EARNING

The African wage earner is frequently told that he can expect only a small wage because he is an inefficient worker. This statement brings us to grips with the relation between labor efficiency, wages, and labor costs. Persons very commonly and very erroneously equate high wages with high labor costs or, conversely, low wages with low labor costs. Actually no necessary corelation exists between these two factors. It is possible that an efficient worker, although paid at a high hourly rate, will, by maintaining a large volume of production, reduce the labor costs involved in producing an article to less than that involved in those articles produced by a worker receiving a lower wage but having a much smaller output. Therefore, we must assume a direct relationship between the pro14

T H E AFRICAN AS A L A B O R E R

15

ductive capacity of the African worker and the wage which his employer is able to pay. Whether the Native is really inefficient in comparison to European workers employed under similar debilitating climatic conditions has not been proven. Since, however, charges of inefficiency have been leveled against the Native worker it will be worthwhile to evaluate these charges in order to obtain an unbiased estimate of his value as a wage earner. I f labor costs are to be reduced to the lowest possible minimum, it is important that the workers rhythm or tempo of activity be adjusted to the pace of operations which are characteristic of the particular plant. In this connection the following has been noted for African labor: The habit of continuous labour at the same pace over a fixed period of hours is not one that is inherent in human nature as such. It has been developed in the European worker largely by the steady drilling of our modern industrial system; the African worker does not possess it in the same degree. It is not that he is "lazy." He works in spurts, when the occasion seems to him to demand it, with great energy; but the occasion which is urgent to the employer does not always seem urgent to him. African labour has peculiarities different from our own; they are a normal factor to be taken into account, not an abnormal obstacle which can be removed in a moment. "Industrialization" cannot be ruled out; but the Native must not be called upon to fit himself into our industrial mould too rapidly. (5, 27) * T h e r e is undoubtedly a measure of truth in the author's criticism of African labor. It must, however, be accepted as more accurately characterizing the Native worker of fifteen to twenty years ago. Since that time many Africans have made significant strides toward attaining an orientation to industrial employment which has largely eliminated this factor in labor inefficiency. As there is no inate incapacity involved in the worker's inability to co-ordinate his activity patterns to the tempo of industrial operations, further opportunity for conditioning in this respect will permit him to reach the level of efficiency found among industrial workers in any part of the world. T h e practice of entering employment on a part-time basis unfortunately retards the attainment of the degree of conditioning which will result in maximum efficiency. A steady stream of workers entering and leaving the employment of a concern is conducive to inefficient operation of an enterprise, not only so far as the individual worker is concerned but also adversely affects co-ordination between the activities of individual workers composing the labor force oper* Italic figures refer to numbered items in Bibliography.

16

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

ating in the establishment. T h e labor turnover in many industries in Africa is indeed startling. Around 9 0 % of the labor force in the Witwatersrand mines is newly recruited yearly. In several mines of South West Africa in order to maintain the average force required for operation it was found necessary to hire twice the number of workers represented by this number during a year's time. Where management has put forth efforts to reduce labor turnover, and, by providing suitable living quarters for married workers, to stabilize the labor force, the number of transient workers has diminished. Thus, in contrast to the Witwatersrand example just cited, Wilson (83, I, 42) has found that, of the Native labor employed in the copper mines of Broken Hill, 69.9% could be classified as temporarily urbanized or workers who have spent over two-thirds of their time in towns since leaving their villages. Migrant laborers, defined as those who have lived between one-third and two-thirds of the time since first leaving their villages in towns, constituted 20.5% of the mine workers. Natives who had spent less than one third of their lives in towns after leaving the village accounted for 8.6% of those employed in the mines. Permanently urbanized workers constituted 1% of the labor force. T h e success of the Union minière, copper mining company of the Belgian Congo, in stabilizing as high as 9 0 % of their labor force is even more striking than that realized at Broken Hill. In fact, this record is unparalleled in Africa. Although the low degree of skill required of the majority of laborers in most African industries may be quickly attained, it is still impossible to escape the conclusion that the necessity for continually training labor must result in lowered efficiency and comparatively high labor costs. In addition to having a small volume of production, inexperienced labor must cost the management a considerable amount through spoilage of materials and damage to machinery through unfamiliarity with proper methods of operation. T h e number of employees who must be engaged as supervisors in order to maintain production at the desired level is another index of the efficiency of the labor employed. Concerning this aspect of African labor, Orde-Browne states: The outstanding disadvantage of African labour is the necessity for constant supervision if an adequate output is to be secured, and this usually entails considerable expense; it is, therefore, highly desirable that the reliability of the individual worker should be increased so as to admit of the reduction of overseeing charges. (59, 31)

Contrary observations have been made by first-hand observers of the Natives working in South African gold mines. T h e r e it is

T H E AFRICAN AS A LABORER

17

not unusual for the African labor gangs to descend into the mines at around 3:30 A.M., although European supervisors do not report before 7:00 or 7:30 in the morning. In the meantime the labor gang proceeds with the work of marking out the areas to be blasted, setting the charges and detonating them as efficiently as they would if the White boss were present. If Africans can perform these operations (which, after all, are considered by the "civilized" labor laws of the Union to be beyond their capacity and therefore must be reserved for White labor) without supervision for four hours daily, their ability to continue throughout the remainder of the day in the same fashion is implied. T h e same author also suggests that the need for excessive supervision of African labor can be solved by offering the worker a natural incentive which will improve his efficiency and reliability and thereby effect an economy in salaries paid to supervisors (59,31). Assent may be readily given to the suggestion that provision for adequate rewards for improved efficiency will result in the elimination of the need for employing an abnormally large supervisory staff. Progress in this direction, however, is very likely to be retarded by Europeans in supervisory capacity who will actively oppose relinquishing well-paid positions in favor of African employees. It is also probable that they will be supported by the owners of the enterprises, who will consider that by advancing Natives to posts of responsibility the superior status of the White population may be threatened. T h e incentive alluded to may be amplified by proposing that industries in Africa adopt a more open system of promotion and the installation of "incentive wage scalcs." These practices have been a part of the labor policy of the Belgian Congo for many years and have amply justified their adoption by producing the results which have been referred to. More recently an experiment with incentive wages has been carried on by the City Council of Salisbury (Southern Rhodesia). The Council was not satisfied that its Native workers were doing a fair day's work. The average wage six months ago was only 20s. 3d. (54.00) per month, and small increases were few and far between. The Ntaives complained about their food, and their housing was admittedly unsatisfactory. . . . as a first step to rectify these three conditions a new scale of wages was brought into effect, starting at 19s. 6d. per month and going up, by increases of 2s. 2d. every six months, to 32s. 6d. The increase was only awarded if the worker proved himself to be worthy of it; if not, he was discharged. . . . a certain increase in output was aimed at in order to compensate the Council for the higher wages, better food and housing. . . . if the

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AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

Natives had been pushed to further efforts suddenly they would have resented it after having been in a rut for so long, but the method employed has ensured success so far. The Municipality now employs about 2,300 Natives or about 300 fewer than before. Its wage bill is about £2,750, the average wage per man per month being now about 24s. . . . now the same work is being done as a year ago, and til though each Native is drawing a higher wage, the total cost to the Council is no greater than before. (77, No. 1, 3) This response of the Native worker to incentive wages is an effective argument disputing frequently made assertions that the productivity of African labor cannot be improved by exactly the same methods which have been found to be effective in industrial establishments in Europe and America. Employers have too long labored under the delusion that the African worker was in some inexplainable manner different from workers elsewhere. The stubborn adherence of Europeans to the assumption that Native labor is inately inferior suggests that this view serves the interests of this group. In the Union, for example, by closing many skilled occupations to Africans on the grounds that they were incapable of filling the positions, increased opportunities for employing workers from the "poor white" class were created. Once this attitude is discarded and the lessons learned from handling labor in other places are applied in Africa, the more rapid will be the disappearance of those differences in the Native worker which have been falsely assumed to exist. Labor efficiency is affected by both the general educational level of the labor force and its specific vocational instruction for skilled occupations. A large part of African labor must be judged to be insufficiently trained in both respects but more deficient in the latter. This is no reflection on the capacity of the African to profit by such training but instead it constitutes a serious indictment of the present administration of African territories by the various colonial powers. In Kenya 121,400 children, representing 15% of the school age population, are enrolled in school. Out of this number only 330 students were receiving vocational training in the Native Industrial Training Department and the Jeanes Schools in 1937. Tanganyika, which supplies labor for surrounding British and Belgian territories, had only 252 scholars who had reached the level at which vocational training is offered out of a total school enrollment of around 225,000. The neighboring dependency of Nyasaland had a faculty of only 126 European teachers engaged in vocational instruction to meet the needs of around 360,000 Natives

THE AFRICAN AS A LABORER

19

of school age. The majority of these were employed in mission schools with only five teaching in government institutions. The problem of providing vocational training for African workers is complicated by the necessity of defining the objectives of that education in order to meet economic changes which are occurring with great rapidity. Particularly in West Africa, Native arts and crafts industries continue to compete with European enterprises in their requirements for trained workers. This raises the question as to the relative emphasis which is to be placed upon industrial education as over against preparation for Native craft industry. From the long point of view it is questionable whether the emphasis now being placed on the preservation of craft industry by such institutions as Yaba College in Nigeria and Achimota College of the Gold Coast is in accord with the economic developments occurring in Africa. At best craft industry will only have a place in EurAfrican economy for the production of utilitarian goods during the transitional period. Once the adoption of articles of European manufacture is completed, the market for craft-produced articles will be restricted to those of the art and luxury class. It is therefore essential that persons concerned with creating programs of vocational education will assess existing craft industry with a view to determining which skills now used by craft workers can be transferred to the industrial situation. By concentrating on this fund of vocational knowledge, which is already common property in the community, they will facilitate the introduction of vocational training for industrial purposes, since the content of the new education will consist of knowledge which already has recognized value. The only foreign element in the process will be the redirection of this learning from craft to industrial ends. This cause of labor inefficiency is the one which has the possibility of being most quickly eliminated. Officials of the Belgian Congo, aware of the need for a trained labor force, have been making notable strides in this direction in recent years. This question has recently claimed the attention of official circles in Great Britain, and the issuance of the recent White Paper, Mass Education in African Society (18) may be looked upon as the first step in a campaign to eradicate illiteracy in British Africa and prepare Africans for the practical tasks which they will have to face. Most encouraging was a conference held in South Africa during February 1944 between officials of the dominion and representatives of mission bodies which heretofore have borne the burden of Native education. The Minister of Education and Finance of the Union, J . H. Hofmeyer, announced during the meeting that the two proposals long urged by

20

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

missions would be accepted by the government. These provide for the transfer of Native education from the Department of Native Affairs to the Department of Education, and for the financing of such education from the general revenue of the state instead of from the proceeds of Native taxation. From this action on the part of the dominion government we can expect that the level of Native education in South Africa will be raised. Under this program additional funds will be available for extending the present system of Native schools. Added gains in equalizing educational opportunities should be derived from placing the formulation of educational policies for all ethnic groups under the direction of a single agency. The result should be an increased number of competent workers who would be available to meet the pressing labor demands of the Union. Good health and possession of a constitution adequate to meet the demands of his job have a direct bearing on the efficiency of the worker. The problem of maintaining the laborer in a healthy condition must be considered from the two related aspects of nutrition and disease, for the incidence of many diseases would be reduced were it possible to raise the resistance of the population by insuring a diet capable of producing better general health and improved physique. The task of providing adequate nutrition must be attacked both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitatively the task is complicated by Native dietary patterns which are rooted in the traditional practice of growing only certain food crops, and in the absence among Africans of a knowledge of the nutritional value of most Native foods. O n the quantitative side, Africans under Native economy were frequently unable to stretch their food to cover the period between harvests and minor food shortages occurred in the months immediately preceding the harvest. This condition has apparently been aggravated under European rule. In order to meet their taxes, Natives have been known to sell food produce or, having fallen a victim to the suggestion of a trader that a desired trade article might be secured in exchange for some of their grain or palm oil, disposed of food which would have carried them over until the new crop was ready to be gathered. Where workers are wage earners and food must be purchased instead of grown, the low wages received very often preclude the possibility of buying sufficient quantities of food to maintain health and labor efficiency. A few examples of dietary problems may be cited. Studies in East Africa have shown that Native diets are deficient in calcium and rich in phosphorous. In some West African regions poisonous

T H E AFRICAN AS A LABORER

21

elements h a v e been f o u n d in certain N a t i v e food stuffs. Of m o r e wide spread o c c u r r e n c e a r e deficiencies in protein a n d v i t a m i n A. T h e latter results in night blindness a n d pathological skin conditions. Pellagra a n d scurvy, both caused by d i e t a r y deficiencies, have freq u e n t incidence a n d c o n t r i b u t e to lowering t h e resistance of Natives to m a n y diseases. A report of the F a b i a n Society (90) has s u m m a r i z e d the causes of m a l n u t r i t i o n u n d e r t h e twin h e a d s of poverty a n d i g n o r a n c e with emphasis on t h e f o r m e r . Poverty is a p r o b l e m rooted in the present s t r u c t u r e of colonial economy, a n d its e l i m i n a t i o n will be a slow process w h i c h promises little in the w a y of i m m e d i a t e i m p r o v e m e n t in N a t i v e d i e t a r y s t a n d a r d s . W h i l e i g n o r a n c e o n t h e p a r t of Natives as to t h e nutritional value of foods c a n be excused, its elimination should challenge t h e best efforts of colonial e d u c a t o r s . I n e x c u s a b l e is the ignorance of colonial a d m i n i s t r a t i o n s of t h e dietary r e q u i r e m e n t s for m a i n t a i n i n g the h e a l t h of their people according to t h e d e m a n d s which their o c c u p a t i o n s m a k e u p o n their vitality a n d t h e absence of a k n o w l e d g e of t h e foods w h i c h must be included in N a t i v e diets to erase the incidence of deficiency diseases. T h e most scientific study of t h e significant c o n t r i b u t i o n of diet to t h e p r o m o t i o n of l a b o r efficiency has b e e n u n d e r t a k e n by t h e c o m p a n i e s of t h e Belgian C o n g o a n d m o r e recently by the R a n d mines. I n the f o r m e r territory d i e t a r y r e q u i r e m e n t s for workers were established by l a w in the early years of o u r c e n t u r y . The food supplied to workers by t h e Union minière du Haut Katanga at a cost of 4.69 f r a n c s per d a y exceeds in v a l u e t h e a v e r a g e daily w a g e of 3.72 francs (75). F r o m t h e s t a n d p o i n t of assuring m a x i m u m c o n t r i b u t i o n to l a b o r efficiency, rations should be issued a l r e a d y cooked a n d d i s t r i b u t e d at times w h e n they will s u p p l e m e n t domestic food c o n s u m p t i o n a n d preserve t h e w o r k e r s ' s t r e n g t h a t t h e desired level. S u c h service is m o r e readily a c c e p t e d by N a t i v e w o r k m e n w h e n w o m e n a r e engaged to p r e p a r e t h e food, since they believe m e n to b e p o o r cooks. W h e n t h e m i g r a n t w o r k e r has b e e n a c c o m p a n i e d by his wife, h e generally prefers t h e issuance of u n c o o k e d rations, because t h e provisions so p r o v i d e d c a n f o r m a p a r t of t h e domestic food supply a n d can be e a t e n h o m e - c o o k e d with his family. T h i s f o r m of r a t i o n distribution is not as readily controlled by t h e e m p l o y e r , a n d there is no w a y of assuring t h a t t h e worker will c o n s u m e all t h e food issued or a t t h e times most beneficial to t h e interests of t h e c o m p a n y . T h e A f r i c a n w o r k e r is beset not only by t h e n u m e r o u s diseases of tropical origin such as fevers, parasitic ailments, a n d sleeping sickness, b u t also suffers f r o m venereal diseases a n d t h e ravages of

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AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

tuberculosis, the latter probably being of European origin. After the last war colonial governments greatly improved their health services and, although a discrepancy exists between asserted and realized objectives, considerable advancement has been made over the days when medical facilities were planned only to care for the European population. It is not possible to assess the time lost by African workers due to illness, but at least in Tanganyika the importance of this factor as a contributor to the deficiency in labor supply has been discussed in the Report of the Committee Appointed to Consider and Advise on the Supply and Welfare of Native Labour in the Tanganyika Territory, 1938. Another point of attack on the problem of health is the effort to improve housing and living conditions and thereby promote not only the general health of the African but reduce the incidence of those diseases such as pneumonia and tuberculosis which are related to overcrowded living conditions and the lack of proper light and ventilation. The same efforts have, by improving sanitary facilities, contributed to the reduced occurrence of typhoid and para-typhoid. Despite the progress already made, still greater contributions to labor efficiency are possible once a balanced diet can be provided for all in sufficient quantities and common diseases are better controlled. A review of the several factors contributing to the efficiency of the African as an employee has failed to reveal any inherent physical or psychical deficiencies in the Native races which would bar their members from attaining proficiency as industrial workers. The responsibility for any failure of the Native to meet employer's requirements resides in the natural and cultural environments by which the African is conditioned. The natural environment, particularly in the tropical regions of Africa, offers numerous difficulties in maintaining conditions of health prerequisite for an efficient labor force. In this respect the Native can be expected to display an adaptability to his environment superior to that of Europeans once he receives means adequate to provide for his nutritional requirements and living quarters permitting observance of the rules of sanitation and hygiene. The cultural conditioning of Native labor has been faulty, in that instead of providing working conditions which would assure the creation of industrial efficiency, the prime consideration was to employ labor as cheaply as possible. This policy has erred in confusing low wages with low labor costs and in the end has achieved neither an efficient nor an economical labor force.

THE AFRICAN AS A LABORER OBSTACLES TO SECURING

A FAIR

23

WAGE

When the African becomes a wage earner the compensation he receives is, by all commonly accepted standards, judged to be inadequate. Why does this condition prevail, and is it possible to remove obstacles to the payment of fair wages to Native workers? It is generally assumed that there is a relationship between the amount of labor available and the wages which workers are paid. Employers as a rule do not offer a higher price than is necessary to obtain the labor required. The low wage rates paid throughout African enterprises could on this basis be interpreted as indicating the presence of not only a large manpower pool but also a large labor supply so that despite the inadequacy of the price offered, workers in sufficient numbers can still be found who are willing or must sell their labor. On the other hand, reports of both chronic and periodic labor shortages in European enterprises frequently appear and these would indicate the possible existence of either (or even both) a shortage of manpower or labor. If only the former were the case, it would mean that the opportunities for employment exceed the manpower available to fill them. If the latter condition prevails, it would indicate that industries were either unable or unwilling to offer the price necessary to recruit a full staff for their enterprises. It is not the place here to offer any generalization concerning the influence of the manpower potential upon wage rates in advance of subsequent chapters dealing with the regional survey of manpower and opportunities for employment. At this time, however, it is possible to point to a number of conditions in the African labor market which operate to prevent the payment of a fair wage. One of the most reprehensible features of forced-labor measures, as they have been applied to Natives, is that they have enabled employers to obtain labor without the necessity of offering a wage equal to the market price. Although the importance of this factor in maintaining low wages is being gradually eliminated, it still persists in certain types of government service (porterage), and its effect is still maintained by indirect pressures applied by taxation. Any requirement for raising a sum of money greater than that which an African normally achieves from his farm is likely to force him to sell his services below the level of a fair wage. Labor cannot be indefinitely withheld from the market in the hope of obtaining a fair price without the existence of alternate means of securing a living. The practice of alienating large sections of the continent to Europeans has, by limiting the land available

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AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

to farmers, forced large numbers of Natives to offer their labor for wages and to accept work regardless of the pay which can be earned. The resistance displayed by European settlers in Kenya to all attempts of the government to enlarge Native reserves is a pertinent example of the attempts made to force Africans to find employment at prevailing wages by cutting off their opportunity to earn a living as an independent farmer. Employers have also been assisted in recruiting the workers they need at less than a fair wage by the mobility of the labor supply. The term mobility is used to describe two aspects of the African labor situation. A market dealing predominately in unskilled labor is a mobile market in the sense that one worker is readily replaced by another, since the possession of skill is not required. Because this condition exists in Africa with few exceptions, employers have been able to secure workers generally on the terms they offer. The African labor market is also surprisingly mobile in the geographical sense. That is, an unusually high percentage of Natives, measured by American standards, are willing to migrate in order to sell their labor. Were it necessary for employers to rely on the local labor market alone, they would undoubtedly be required to offer a fair wage in order to secure the needed laborers. It is very difficult to make generalizations which are applicable to all sections of the continent. So, despite the fact that in many regions the geographical mobility of labor has fostered the retention of low wages, for Native agricultural workers of the Union of South Africa restrictions upon the movements of African laborers exist which function in regard to wage scales in identically the same manner as the mobility of labor does in other parts of Africa. Here, the enactment of pass laws which deny to Natives the right to leave their district without obtaining the authorization of the proper official, plus the frequent practice of encouraging the indebtedness of workers to their employers, greatly restricts the laborer's mobility and thereby increases the probability that he will accept whatever wage is offered. To summarize the situation which exists in Africa in the relationship between labor supply and wages, it may be stated that so long as the alternate means by which an African can earn a living can be restricted, so long as governments continue to require the Natives to raise relatively large sums of money to meet tax payments, and so long as a mobile labor market can be maintained, no marked increase in wage levels can be anticipated. The wages which industries are able to pay cannot be divorced from the profits which they earn, and this factor has either rightly

THE AFRICAN AS A LABORER

25

or wrongly to be cited as an obstacle to granting a fair wage to African labor. Questions pertaining to profits are highly complex and no method which is entirely satisfactory has been devised for determining whether capital, management, and labor are receiving returns which are commensurate with the earnings of the enterprise. Going back into the early period of colonial exploitation, we note that all of the chartered companies in British possessions surrendered their rights to the Crown on the plea that they were no longer able to assume the burdens which their African operations involved. O n the other hand, one must keep in mind that these companies endeavored to finance many functions normally discharged by government, and it is not possible to determine whether their failure was due to the commercial or non-commercial phases of their operations. Evidence of another type may be garnered from the dividend records of enterprises in Africa. Compared with the gold and copper industries, d i a m o n d mines appear to have enjoyed the best record of return on invested capital. Frankel reports that in the sixty-nine year period between 1867 and 1936 diamond-producing companies of South Africa paid dividends of £80,000,000 on a capital of £20,000,000 (9, 90-92). An average yearly dividend of 7.9% for two Northern Rhodesian copper mines is given by Hailey (45). More recent data issued by these companies (covering operations ending J u n e 30, 1941) show that their entire profits after deducting taxes, if distributed in dividends, would have yielded a return of only 4 . 8 % . T h e full amount, however, could not be distributed in this manner, since operations are based on "wasting assets" and therefore 2 % of the profits had to be withheld to return to shareholders the money invested when resources become exhausted (77, No. 2, 3). T h e net yearly return, then, of the copper mines after all charges are deducted compares with the 4 . 1 % average yearly yield of the R a n d gold mines and is higher than the 2 . 1 % dividend paid by the British South Africa Company. T h e r e are several objections to accepting rates of return on capital as an indication of the wage scales which a company can afford to establish. Since there is no unanimity of opinion upon methods of determining capital assets, companies have even been known to prepare several appraisals of their capital worth and to use the particular evaluation which supported the point they desired to prove. T h e per cent of yield on invested capital can be reduced by the simple expedient of splitting stock shares and thereby increasing the book value of stock without adding to capital assets. Fictional losses such as excessive estimates of depreciation, over-

26

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

investment in capital equipment and overcharges for the services of management are additional methods of reporting misleading corporate earnings and reducing the dividends which can be distributed. Therefore, while the dividends which have been received by investors in mining industries appear to be modest and even low in certain instances, it is unsafe to assume that these concerns could not increase wages without having a more detailed examination of their capital structure than is now available. Perhaps the major portion of European capital invested in Africa has been placed in mining developments. These enterprises are engaged in exploiting wasting assets, and in order to prolong their life management has at certain mines considered it necessary to mine ores of low metallic content. In order to make such operations profitable, production costs must be maintained at the absolute minimum. The gold-mining interests of South Africa are the most outspoken exponents of this argument in proving the necessity for maintaining present Native wage levels or, if possible, in securing a reduction in wages. With regard to conditions in this industry the Low-Grade Ore Commission points out that: a reduction of 2s. per ton milled in working costs and yield will probably result in the milling of an additional 112 million tons, equivalent to an increase of 33 per cent in the total tonnage to be milled and, therefore, in average life. . . . A reduction of 4s. per ton milled in working costs will probably . . . (be) . . . equivalent to an increase of 72 per cent in the total tonnage milled, and, therefore, in the average life. (702, 3)

Since the industry must depend upon extracting low-grade ores for its future operations, Native wages must remain at least at their present levels. An increase in wages would affect production costs so: that an increase of only 3d. a day . . . would straightway result in the closing down of three mines. This, however, could be boldly faced, if not with equanimity, were it not for the fact that in every other mine of the Rand, old, new, and prospective, millions of tons of marginal, low grade ore would immediately be thrown out of the sphere of profitable operations and the life of the industry as a whole gready curtailed. (85)

If this point of view is widely accepted, and in South Africa at least such appears to be the case, then one can readily understand why wages remain at their present low level. The labor situation in the mines of the Union is the same as exists in so-called "marginal industries." Such enterprises never expect that the wages they pay will cover a worker's entire income requirements, and they hire only those who will regard this employment as a means of

THE AFRICAN AS A LABORER

27

supplementing income from other sources. The mines following this policy employ only Natives from the reserves of the Union, Mozambique, and the British territories of South Africa. These workers own land in the Native district and by having their families work this land secure an income which, when added to the wages earned in the mines, is perhaps sufficient to provide for the needs of the worker and his family. Detribalized or urbanized Africans who own no land from which a part of the livelihood of the family can be secured, are unable to accept employment in the mines at the wage rates which these companies believe they can afford to pay. The South African finds this condition to be a genuine cause of concern for the economic future of the dominion. Upward of 50% of the population is estimated to depend either directly or indirecdy on the mining industry for income. As neither agriculture nor manufacturing are self-supporting industries, but require tariff protection for their products in order to meet competition from imported goods, they are unable to replace mining as the foundation of South African economy. So, despite the fact that many persons deplore the low wages paid by the gold mines, they see no way of improving this condition. The wage increase recently granted (effective April 1, 1944) to Native employees of the Rand mines by order of the dominion government should not be interpreted as altering either the opinion of mine operators that higher rates of pay endanger the future of the mines or the fact that the wages paid are essentially those of a marginal industry. The investigation of the Witwatersrand Mine Natives Wages Commission, which resulted in the order, showed conditions in the regions from which Native labor was drawn were such that it was impossible for mine workers to rely on their farms as sources of supplemental income, and therefore a larger return for labor in the mines was necessary to assure that they received an adequate income (95, 69-70). Furthermore the major part of the financial outlay involved in the increased wage rates will be borne during the first year by the dominion from a fund created by the gold realization charges, and therefore the higher pay will in reality be a government subsidization of the wage bill of the Rand mines. On the other hand, there are South Africans who are aware that their economy cannot continue to exist on its present unsound foundations. Professor W. H. Hutt of the University of Cape Town in adopting this view has attacked the low level of Native income as the prime element maintaining the present "jerry-built" economy. The inadequate purchasing power derived from Native wages bars the expansion of agricultural and manufacturing pro-

28

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

duction which must take place before these industries can supplant mining as the foundations of the Union's economic system. By instituting a system of guaranteed incomes (39; 40, 94) at a level which increases purchasing power, these industries could produce more goods and thereby lower prices, pay higher wages, enlarge their potential sources of labor by being able to engage urbanized Natives and arrive at a position where dependence upon the continued operation of marginal mining enterprises was no longer necessary. The space devoted to examining the role which the mining industry has played in depressing wage scales could not be justified if this condition existed only in the Union of South Africa. What has been discussed for this area is applicable to all regions where mining operations have developed. It happens to be largely a historic accident that the effects of this industry are more acutely felt at the present moment in the Union. As the mines in the Rhodesias, Nigeria, the Congo, and Tanganyika reach an age where the danger of exhausted resources becomes imminent, or if these territories develop a complex economic structure based on mining to the degree which is now the case in South Africa, then all the problems which now plague this territory will likewise be encountered in these dependencies. Some observers hold the opinion that the high wages paid European workers in Africa contribute to the necessity of underpaying Native labor. Senator Rheinallt Jones has stated the situation in very forceful terms in saying that the high wages paid to European artisans are only possible because of the low wages paid to unskilled Native labor. Supporting this contention, Dr. Hinden points out that the wages paid Europeans by the Northern Rhodesia copper mines amounted to £1,000,000, while Native workers employed in the ratio of ten to one received only £250,000 (35, 53-54). The colleries of theUnion paid their European staffs an average yearly wage of approximately £411 while Native, Coloured, and Asiatic workers earned on an average of £24 a year. The salaries paid to Europeans constitute only one of the many charges which have to be met from corporation earnings, so that it is hardly fair to single out this item as being responsible for low wage payments to African workers. It is also impossible to dismiss the part which this situation plays in depressing Native wage scales. Without support from policies of racial discrimination, the European staffs of all enterprises in Africa would be either greatly reduced or entirely eliminated. The belief that Africans are incapable of occupying positions requiring skilled labor or of serving in a super-

THE AFRICAN AS A LABORER

29

visory capacity is not founded on fact but attributable to assumptions of White superiority which can no longer be defended. If Africans were given the opportunity to compete with Europeans for these positions on the basis of merit, in a relatively short time companies would be relieved of paying the comparatively high wages which must be offered to Whites in Africa, and Natives would find a new door to better pay. The African finds that the color-bar attitudes held by the majority of Europeans in Africa closes the door to free and equal competition for jobs. These discriminations are expressed through numerous practices which are still commonly followed throughout Africa. The Native in search for employment is frequently denied the right of free entry into certain territories. This practice is exemplified by the Union regulation permitting only those workers to enter the dominion who have been placed under contract by a mining concern. The reverse practice has been followed in Kenya where efforts have been made to force Africans to leave their reserves and enter che employ of Europeans. Because of his race, the Native is often denied employment in many desirable occupations. When engaged for a position which is generally filled by a White worker, he is paid a lower wage than his co-worker. Since all these discriminatory practices function to preserve the dominant status of the White population, the stringency with which they are applied depends on how seriously African competition threatens the position of Europeans. This explains why the Union of South Africa has thought it necessary to enact many forms of discrimination into legislation, whereas other territories have found their implicit expression sufficient to keep the Native in his place. Both Africans and Europeans have exposed the injustice which is represented in continuing policies of racial discrimination. The arguments against the color bar from the African viewpoint have recently been presented in the West African Review. It is only fair that: When people charged with identical responsibilities perform equal work they should receive equal remuneration, . . . the principle (of differential wages) has a tendency to destroy the ambitions of the West African. . . . A third danger . . . is that it offers no encouragement for and does not respect the value of higher education, especially of the technical type. . . . The principle (of racial discrimination) lacks essential justice. It makes it difficult for those who exercise managerial powers to deal squarely with the employees. Since, in practice, no person earning a lower wage can rise above another with a higher wage, the implication of the principle is that no African can ever become the head of any branch of business or industry

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with Europeans serving under him . . . this principle . . . indirectly accentuates and nurtures . . . an "inferiority complex" among Africans, for, if, however much effort the African puts forth, he has no chance of equal competition with his European colleague . . . it requires only a little . . . imagination to see the unfortunate psychological situation in which the African is placed. (7) T h e r e are indications that increased opposition to the operation of color-bar policies m a y be forthcoming d u r i n g the postwar era. I n G r e a t Britain both the g o v e r n m e n t a n d the British L a b o u r P a r t y have verbally opposed its c o n t i n u a t i o n " a n y w h e r e a n d in any f o r m . " (45, 7). Even in East Africa, w h i c h has always been a W h i t e stronghold, a m e m o r a n d u m of the Association of C h a m b e r s of C o m m e r c e a n d I n d u s t r y has said t h a t to increase the wealth of the c o u n t r y a n d to raise the efficiency of Native labor a n i m p r o v e m e n t in the African s t a n d a r d of living is essential. Since such a result c a n be in any appreciable measure attained only by relaxing the color-bar restrictions which now d e n y equal opportunity to Natives, we have grounds for expecting t h a t to some degree at least the African will be free to a d v a n c e according to his ability. O n the minds of m a n y r e t u r n i n g African soldiers there will be the feeling that the colonial powers w h o eagerly sought their services to defend the m o t h e r c o u n t r y have incurred a moral obligation to display the same eagerness to obtain for t h e m a m a r k e t for their labor equally a d v a n t a g e o u s in all respects to t h a t enjoyed by their W h i t e c o m rades in arms. While g r a n t i n g t h a t a n y a t t e m p t to equalize opportunities will be resisted as a t h r e a t to W h i t e supremacy, it will also be d a n g e r o u s to h a v e African veterans r e t u r n to their h o m e districts a n d find there a retention of the herrenvolk ideology which they fought to overthrow. In d e t e r m i n i n g the wages which African workers should receive m u c h depends u p o n the N a t i v e s t a n d a r d of living which the income is designed to support. Heretofore, the tendency has been to reduce living r e q u i r e m e n t s to the satisfaction of essential needs. If wages were a d e q u a t e to provide food, clothing, a n d shelter, they were taken to represent a fair wage. T h i s short-sighted view prevents the Africans f r o m participating in m a n y educational a n d cultural activities which would eventually p r o m o t e economic advances in Africa. T o correct the situation, b r o a d e n e d conceptions of Native living s t a n d a r d s must be m a d e the basis for c o m p u t i n g cost-ofliving indices, a n d these in t u r n must set the wages which companies offer their l a b o r force. T h i s fact was recognized by the committee appointed to consider the adequacy or otherwise of the rates of pay of labour and of African government servants and employees in the township 'of Lagos

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(Nigeria). In drawing up an index to serve as the basis for granting a cost-of-living allowance to meet rising living costs due to the war, the committee adopted a very inclusive conception of the needs of African workers. The obligations which they considered must be met by his wages include: food (local and imported), rent, clothing, allowances to dependents, household equipment, transportation, taxes, medical fees, education (school fees, newspapers, etc.), subscriptions to religious and charitable organizations, repayment of indebtedness, stationery and stamps, amusements, marriages, and other ceremonies (57, 28-35). A more universal acceptance of this standard of living for all African labor will mark a fundamental advance toward defining a really fair wage. Experiments made by American concerns in Liberia and elsewhere in Africa during the war in offering wages above prevailing wage levels show that efforts to increase wages and thereby raise Native living standards will be actively opposed by employers already located in Africa. The wage structure of a society is intimately related to its economic structure. Ordinarily we assume that high wages will be paid in manufacturing industries, since the proportion of skilled labor required is greater than in primary-producing industries. Since dependent areas, including Africa, have an economy which is heavily unbalanced on the side of primary production, the wage structure is weighted in favor of a large proportion of low wage earners with an abnormally small number who can be employed in skilled positions receiving high wages. One avenue for improving the wage levels of Africans which is now claiming the attention of those concerned with colonial problems is the creation of secondary manufactures in dependent areas. This will better balance African economy and increase the amount of skilled labor required (36, 7 - 8 ) . The desire for such a development is held by African leaders as well as Europeans. After a visit of the West African press delegation to the manufacturing plants of the United Africa Company in England, M r . T . J . D. Thompson, speaking for the group at a reception given by the company in honor of the delegates said: " W e have been immensely interested by our visit to your factory at Purfleet. . . . How much better it would be if many organizations could exist on the coast whereby in Africa the industrial man could, after his school certificate, get an insight into the complexities and ramifications of industrial organizations such as we saw at Purfleet." (West African Pilot, J a n u a r y 5, 1944.) A program of industrial development, if it is to be soundly planned, must be formulated with two considerations in mind. First, the

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industries must be located in proximity to both available natural resources and available labor of the type required. In the mining areas, Africans have already been introduced to industrial organization, and here the labor market contains a quantity of workers who possess actual or potential skills above the level utilized by present industrial operations. The existence of this condition for example has been noted at the Broken Hill mines of Northern Rhodesia (87, II, 14), and at the Union minifre mines of the Belgian Congo where in four years (1930-34), Africans took over 1,360 positions which formerly only Europeans had been considered capable of holding. Secondly, in order to assure that Africans will not suffer discrimination in filling supervisory or skilled positions, the provisions for capitalizing industrial enterprises must be worked out in a manner to assure an effective degree of African control. T H E AFRICAN W O R K E R

AND UNIONISM

As the African becomes oriented to his situation as a wage earner, the value of labor organizations becomes more apparent, but only in recent years and in certain areas have unions made progress among African labor. Although unions have been organized in British West Africa for some time, legislation granting legal recognition to workers' organizations has been enacted only since the beginning of the present war. In Nigeria under the provision of this legislation, ninety unions had been registered by the end of 1943. Membership in registered unions totalled approximately 30,000 or around 16% of workers employed in European enterprises, although one union leader gives an estimate more than double this figure. A federation has also been organized, and the first convention of the Federated Trade Unions of Nigeria convened in Lagos in 1943. In other West African dependencies unions are being organized with the number and size of the organizations related to the industrial development of the territory. Labor in East Africa has as yet failed to recognize the advantages to be secured through unionism. Uganda has only one Native labor union and Tanganyika, despite important plantation and mining developments, remains without any organization of African workers. In the Union of South Africa the organized status of Native labor was not recognized until 1943 and then only to a limited degree. Previous to this date Africans were not permitted to join White unions and neither the original Industrial Conciliation Act of 1934 nor its amendments passed in 1937 recognized organizations of Native workers as coming within the meaning of this Act. The change has involved the inclusion of Native unions

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under the provisions of the above Act and has not opened White unions to African membership. The path of organized labor in Africa is strewn with many obstacles. At present union activities very naturally reveal the African's inexperience as a unionist. Attention has been drawn to the inept character of labor leadership, the dictatorial attitude adopted in relations with employers, and the too frequent yielding to the temptation to exploit their position for personal gain. Other criticisms apply to the rank and file of labor. The principle of collective action has not won the degree of acceptance common among workers of older industrial countries. The Natives are not well versed in democratic practices which are the foundation for successful functioning of union machinery. Class interest and the solidarity of the workers are not as yet adequately defined or recognized in the thinking of most Africans. The existence of separate organizations for Europeans and Africans is a break in labor solidarity detrimental to effective action by labor in dealing with employers. It is generally assumed that labor as a class has common interests, and a split in its ranks on the basis of race turns the labor-management equation into an unfortunate triangle. The antagonism between the groups which apparently rests on racial issues is much more deeply rooted. The White worker has enjoyed a monopoly over the well-paid positions, and he recognizes that Native unions may threaten all the advantages which he now holds. Those labor organizations in promoting the interests of Africans win not only attempt to open all positions to free competition regardless of race but may, if successful in their demands for improved wages for unskilled Native labor, make it impossible for industry to continue present European wage levels. As a choice between employers and their African coworkers, they frequently elect to side with the former as representing the lesser of two evils. Employers are able to use differences in the interests of White and Native workers to defeat the demands of both groups. It is also possible to interpret Native unionism as offering certain safeguards to the position of European labor and it is undoubtedly true that some White workers view the organization of African labor with favor instead of distrust. Assuming that Native unions will secure wage increases for their members which will remove existing wage differentials between African and White workers, the latter may reasonably feel more secure in their jobs with the element of price eliminated and competition based entirely upon general educational attainments and technical training which they have the greater opportunity to secure.

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Another side of the problem of organized labor is the relationship of governmental activity to the development of unionism. The wisdom of enacting legislation which will define the legal status of labor unions and regulate their activities cannot be denied. However, it is necessary to keep in mind that the majority, if not all, of these laws are created by legislative assemblies in which Africans have at best inadequate representation and little opportunity of effectively expressing either the opinion of the public or the view of the groups to be controlled by the act which is not in accord with the best traditions of democratic government. Furthermore, the recently created departments of labour in British dependencies may by overzealous action retard rather than promote the growth of the union movement. Without implying that the following quotation from the Report of the Labour Department of Gambia reflects conditions in territories other than that to which it pertains, it represents the acknowledgment of this difficulty by an official of those agencies under discussion. In spite, however, of efforts to encourage trade unionism, it often happens that the more energetic the Labour Officer is, the more quickly trade unions fall into decay, because the worker finds that his grievances are more speedily and sometimes more cheaply settled through the Labour Office than through trade union machinery. (11, 7)

Naturally the pressure of wartime conditions gives rise to the tendency to adopt short cuts to attain the desired goal of continuous production with the emphasis on the speedy settlement of industrial disputes. In normal times it will be best to assure that government will never interfere with but instead promote the efforts of unions to create industrial democracy. THE MIGRANT WORKER

The migrant worker is most often considered as an independent problem. Actually he is the end result of all the problems which confront African labor today. Therefore an examination of his position in African society offers an opportunity to present the interlocking aspect of the problems which have been discussed previously. The basic cause of the migration of five hundred or more thousand Africans from their Native villages to industrial centers is due to the fact that the natural resources exploited by Eur-African economy and the human resources required to effect this exploitation are not spatially orientated. The detailed study of manpower and its relation to opportunities for employment presented in the

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following chapters devoted to regional surveys will show how the emigration of workers attempts to restore the balance between h u m a n and natural resources which has been disturbed by the economic changes introduced by Europeans. T h e necessity for redistributing African manpower with reference to newly developed industries could have resulted in a permanent resettlement of Native populations instead of creating a body of migrant laborers. O n e reason why the former solution has not been followed is to be found in the policies of colonial administrations relating to contract labor. It has been the general policy in Africa dependencies to limit the term of labor service contracted for by legislative enactment. For example, a Convention between Mozambique and the Union of South Africa provides for an initial period of twelve months' service with an optional renewal of the contract for six months. In the Belgian Congo a longer length of labor service has been possible and contracts u p to three years are allowed. T h e recent decree of J a n u a r y 7, 1944 retains the provision that the services of a worker may be contracted for as long as two years in the French Cameroon. W h a t motives lie behind the desire of territories to assure the return of the emigrant laborer? It is possible that, at least to some extent, the desire of the administration to encourage the return of emigrants has been directed toward guaranteeing that a portion of the wages earned abroad will be returned to the Native district to assist in its development. For example, the Mozambique Convention contains the provision that after nine months of service and during all periods of re-engagement an amount equal to approximately half of the employee's wage will be deferred and paid upon his return to Portuguese territory. For each worker finding employment outside the colony, the government receives an annual capitation fee of £ 4 4s. 6d. or more, thus profiting by the export of labor. Another phase of the problem as seen by the administration of labor-supplying regions is the necessity for safeguarding the welfare of the family left in the Native village and to prevent the total collapse of village life which is threatened by the wholesale emigration of adult males. For example, the administration of French West Africa acting on orders from the French government restricted the n u m b e r of workers which could be recruited for public works at 5 0 % of the able-bodied men of the area. In Equatorial Africa the n u m b e r which could be engaged to work on the forest concessions of Gaboon was limited to one-third of the total male population. T h e authorities of the Belgian Congo have attempted to solve the dangers of over-recruiting in a scientific manner. T h e

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colony has been divided into zones. The percentage of workers who may be recruited is determined by the level of population and the health conditions existing in the district. When conditions are particularly poor in these two respects, the zone may be entirely closed to recruiting. It is impossible to conceive of any sound basis for Native development in the present practice of carrying on economic activities in areas geographically disassociated from the sphere of social and political interests. This practice robs the labor force of the permanence necessary for acquiring an industrial orientation essential to improved labor efficiency. Therefore, it is desirable that all measures now taken by those dependencies which are exporters of labor to bind the African to his home district be discontinued. The incentives which have impelled Natives to leave their villages to seek outside employment have in most instances not been of the type to encourage permanent expatriation. Most Africans seek engagements in European enterprises for the purpose of securing cash to liquidate tax obligation, to raise the sum required for bride price payment, to tide over a period of emergency caused by crop failure and to secure European luxury goods. Therefore, in most instances the incentive to better their economic situation, by becoming permanent wage earners has been present in the mind of only very few Africans. Not only have temporary incentives been presented to them, as we have just pointed out, but the wages which they would earn at the mines were often too low to permit them to sever entirely ties with their Native village. It is one thing to look on wages as a supplemental income to afford the means of meeting a passing obligation or of securing luxury articles while a considerable share of the family income is still produced by the labor of the wife and children who till the land. It is an entirely different situation when the worker must rely on wage earnings as the sole source of income for himself and family. Obviously the wage which the laborer can consider adequate in the first case will be insufficient to cover the added responsibilities involved in the second situation. The procurement of the labor services of the migrant worker through the efforts of a labor agent or recruiting agency is a heavy expense to employers. The expenditures included in securing labor are capitation fees, profit to the recruiting organization, transportation to and return from the scene of employment, accommodations and rations while the worker is in transit, and the wages of persons taking charge of recruits while traveling. Van der Horst (81, 192) reports on the recruiting fees charged by the Witwatersrand Native

T H E AFRICAN AS A LABORER

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Labour Association between 1903 and 1904. The charge for Natives on a twelve months' contract ranged between £ 3 5s. Od. to £5; for those on six months' contract, the rate varied between £ l 6s. 6d. and £ 2 10s. Od. Local Natives recruited for three months or less cost £ 1 to £1 5s., with an additional payment on renewal of contract of £ l 5s. Orde-Browne (72, 21) with reference to workers recruited in Northern Rhodesia in 1940, says, " T h e total sum may thus amount to several pounds, though this depends of course entirely upon the length of the journey involved; four or five pounds per head is not unusual, while it may be appreciably higher." Buell estimates the cost of each laborer recruited in the Belgian Congo (1928) to be in the neighborhood of five hundred francs. He itemizes this figure as follows: This represents the cost of passage of two hundred and seventy-six francs, twenty-five francs for each Native for food enroute, twenty-five francs for a blanket, twenty-two francs for a sweater, eighteen francs for cloth, and fourteen francs for a cooking dish which each man is given. The cost of keeping him in the concentration camp before going to work is twenty francs for ten days. Upon the completion of the contract, the office must pay his passage home. (3, II, 507n)

The proportion of recruited to non-recruited labor is constantly decreasing and with it the costs of securing labor. Some idea of the declining proportion of the labor force which must be secured by recruiting is found in the figures on recruited and non-recruited labor coming from the Union and the Protectorates in South Africa. Between 1910 and 1914, these areas annually supplied 148,000 Natives, of which 61% were recruited. The average number increased between 1935 and 1939 to 236,000 annually (252,000 in 1939), but the percentage of recruited labor fell to 41%. (81, 194) At an estimated average recruiting cost of £3, the recruited labor in the Union during 1935 and 1939 would still amount to £290,280 per year. Industry is relieved of recruiting expenses in many instances by Natives who prefer to enter employment as free agents rather than recruits. The African under this system generally travels on foot to the place of employment, saving the employer the expense of transportation and the fees paid for the services of the recruiting agency. Although the employer is relieved of many expenses under the system of voluntary migration, this system has merely shifted the expense to the colonial administration and the worker. Many workers exhaust their resources before reaching their destination. Frequent mention is made in the Colonial Reports of West African

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territories of Natives found either dead or starving along the migration routes. Such individuals represent a burden on the health facilities of the territory. To overcome this situation, the establishment of labor camps has been proposed and in some instances already realized. Tanganyika, for example, now has nineteen such camps in operation. In a year's time (1942) 118,000 migrants passed through the camps and between 12,000 and 18,000 workers were treated at dispensaries attached to the camps. Besides providing shelter, certain foods are also given, either at government expense or at a nominal cost, which will assure the laborer's arrival in a condition fit for work. Recently more Natives borrow money in order to make the journey by rail or lorry. Traders have found in this practice the opportunity for conducting a thriving smallloan business at rates which may be considered usurious. The Witwatersrand Native Labour Association has attempted to relieve the Native of the necessity for recourse to the traders by establishing the system of "voluntary assisted labor" whereby advances are made to defray the cost of the trip to the Witwatersrand mines. The waste involved in the system of migrant labor is a heavy burden on both employer and worker. In addition to recruiting costs, the migrant is a costly employee, because he is not a permanent member of the working force. Just as he is trained to a degree of industrial efficiency, his contract expires, and he is lost to the organization. On the other hand, a worker who has voluntarily migrated has spent 15 to 20% of his earnings to cover the expenses of the journey. He has also lost from three weeks' to a month's wages if not more while traveling. It is therefore desirable that attention be given to adoption of measures which would transform the migrant into a permanent industrial worker. The savings which would accrue to the employer from the elimination of recruiting costs and from the increased productivity of a stabilized working force could be passed on to the worker in the form of higher wages. This would compensate for the loss of income which is now provided by his wife and children from the homestead farm. Furthermore, guaranteed steady employment which would not be interspersed with weeks of travel without earning a wage, the laborer could accept a lower hourly rate and still receive the same annual income. The final argument must not, however, be carried too far as the income requirements of the family when all its members are living in the urban center would be greater than when the mother and children remained on the reserve. The presence of large bodies of migrant workers in the mining centers and their absence from their Native villages have created

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in both areas many problems of all types. T h e villages of Nyasaland are threatened with the collapse of their entire economic and social structure by the absence of as high as 7 0 % of the adult males. T h e Belgian Congo has checked the excessive stripping of the male population by enacting legislation fixing an upper limit to the number which can be recruited (20%). While this procedure relieves the danger to village life, it fails to strike at the causes of labor migration. In the industrial areas, the migrant, due to his artificial mode of living and his freedom from the customary restraints of village life, has contributed to the growth of prostitution, illegitimacy, and various types of criminal offenses. In addition, existing pass laws controlling the movement of African workers have created a category of regulatory offenses. O f the 100,000 cases involving Natives which were tried in Johannesburg, over 5 0 % were for violation of pass laws or tax laws. Additional details on the problems created by labor migration may be secured by consulting Read (67), Hunter (38), and Burger {4). It has already been suggested that the discontinuance of measures taken to bind the African to his Native territory is a negative approach to the elimination of migrant workers. O n the positive side it would appear that the most effective means of facilitating the permanent redistribution of the labor supply is for employers and government to guarantee that workers will find suitable living accommodations at the scene of their employment. Natives hold deeply rooted conceptions, derived from patterns of village life, as to the type of housing and general organization of the physical aspects of the community which they desire to have provided for them. In the main, therefore, housing development projects should aim to reproduce the essential features of the villages from which the workers come. Furthermore, there should be added sanitary facilities and buildings for recreational, educational, and religious activities, the former to promote the health of the inhabitants, and the latter to facilitate the adoption of Eur-African culture patterns which are now a part of urban society in Africa. Some progress has already been made at Enugu in Nigeria, Broken Hill in Northern Rhodesia, and elsewhere toward the elimination of barracks type housing and the compound system, which are definitely unsuited to family life, with the substitution of village developments constructed, as has been suggested, in imitation of the layout of Native villages. Another approach to the elimination of labor migration has been made by the International Labour Office in securing the ratifica-

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tion of the Recruiting of Indigeneous Workers Convention (1936). Article 4 and particularly Section A of this Convention seeks to remove the underlying cause of migrancy in providing that "before approving for any area any scheme of economic development which is likely to involve the recruiting of labour, the competent authority shall take such measures as may be practical to avoid the risk of pressure being brought to bear on the population concerned in order to obtain l a b o u r " (50, 494). This action represents official recognition of the necessity for considering the availability of h u m a n resources when formulating plans for economic expansion. T h e Elimination of Recruiting Recommendation accepted in the same year also contributes to the reduction of labor migration by placing m e m b e r states who ratify the Recommendation under obligation to adopt measures which will progressively eliminate recruiting. By abolishing the emigration of workers promoted by the inducements of labor agents, the withdrawal of workers from their Native districts will be limited to those w h o m employers are able to attract voluntarily by offers of fair wages and satisfactory working conditions. Article 5 of the Convention safeguards the Native societies exporting labor by providing that "before granting permission to recruit labour in any area, the competent authority shall take into consideration the possible effects of the withdrawal of males on the social life of the population concerned, . . ." (41, 494). T h e decision of the authority is to be based on the density and state of growth of the population, the effect of withdrawing males on the food supply, family life, morality, and social organization. When the welfare of the society which the worker is leaving would suffer in any of these respects, recruiting is to be prohibited. M a n y other articles of the Convention are concerned with safeguarding the rights of recruited workers and are not relative to the present discussion, since they are not concerned with reducing migrancy. T h r e e articles (6, 7, and 8) in addition to those already mentioned, will aid in diminishing the migration of labor. Article 6 prohibits or at least limits the recruiting of non-adults. Article 7 provides that recruiting of the head of a family shall not be deemed as involving other members of the family. By providing that wherever practical the recruited worker will be accompanied by his family, Article 8 facilitates the stabilizing of labor at industrial centers and eliminates the necessity for a worker traveling back and forth between his home and the scene of his employment. T h e failure of colonial powers, with the exception of Great Britain, holding territories in Africa to ratify the Recruiting of Indigenous Workers Convention and the Elimination of Recruiting Recom-

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mendation seriously limits their usefulness in reducing labor migrancy. It is also unfortunate that in ratifying the Convention, the British government accompanied their action with a declaration restricting its application. The provisions of the Convention are to be applied without modification in Gambia, Gold Coast, including Togoland, Kenya, Nigeria, and Cameroon, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Tanganyika, and Uganda. The Convention is found inapplicable to the Zanzibar protectorate, and the decision to apply its provisions to Basutoland, Bechuanaland, and Swaziland is reserved. Subsequent action taken by the British government has created legislation incorporating almost all provisions of this convention for the three last-named territories. British attitude toward the Recommendation is revealed in their limited acceptance of its articles in regard to the central African possessions (Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia) both of which are important areas for recruiting labor for South and East Africa. Also, at the Philadelphia Conference of the International Labour Office (1944) some doubts were raised by the British delegation as to the whole policy of the elimination of recruiting. COLONIAL POLICIES AND AFRICA'S FUTURE

Up to this point the problems of the African worker have been discussed in terms of his present position. A concluding thought may be given to the changes in store for dependent peoples once peace is restored. Changes which have been inaugurated in colonial policy since the outbreak of the war can, at least to a degree, be attributed to the decline in prestige suffered by these nations as a result of their defeats on the battle front. The collapse of Belgium, the fall of France, Dunkirk and the loss of Singapore followed by the liquidation of all the empire holdings of European countries in the Pacific at the hands of a colored race were serious reflections upon the competency of these powers to retain control over their African empires. The war also increased the dependence of metropolitan countries on their possessions, and at the same time fostered among dependent peoples the realization that the maintenance of their way of life did not depend on the holding country to the extent which years of "being tied to mother's apron strings" had conditioned them to take for granted. So, while Britain had to rely upon West Africa to supply her dietary requirements for fats and oils, the Native of this area found that he could readily substitute home-grown foods for the imported articles of diet which England could no longer provide. In view of this situation, steps had to be taken to strengthen the

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ties of empire. Great Britain quickly attacked this problem on several fronts. In 1940 the Colonial Development and Welfare Act was passed which provided for grants in aid to colonial governments up to £5,000,000 annually. This sum was to be used to promote programs of social and economic welfare in dependent territories. Special attention was also given to labor problems. Separate labor departments were created in many dependencies. Labor advisory committees were formed on a tripartite basis of government, employer, and worker representation to assist the labor departments in their efforts to improve working conditions. The growth of labor unions was encouraged by the practice of organizing unions under government sponsorship and appointing to the staffs of colonial labor departments English trade unionists who serve these unions in an advisory capacity. Attention was given to facilitating the movement of migrant workers by building labor camps where workers in transit could find accommodation and receive medical care. France and Belgium have also taken steps to improve their relations with their dependencies. In 1943 Belgium belatedly ratified the Geneva Convention on Forced Labor. At the Brazzaville Conference which convened in January 1944, M. Pleven, Commissioner of Colonies of the French Committee of National Liberation, acknowledged the debt of France to her African colonies which was incurred by their loyalty at the time when she fell before the onslaught of the Nazi invader. The conference in its deliberations foresaw the possibility of recreating the French empire along the lines of a federation of states. The control previously centralized in the métropole would be relaxed in favor of granting to each territory a larger measure of self-determination over their internal and foreign affairs. Also recommended was the elimination of forced labor within a maximum of 5 years. The Committee of National Liberation has also taken action to improve conditions in particular territories. The late Felix Eboué, a Negro, was appointed Governor General of French Equatorial Africa. In this most neglected and exploited French colony many economic and social improvements have been introduced by the new administration. Many improvements were guaranteed to African workers of Cameroon by the decree of January 7, 1944. One of the most significant articles contained in this enactment clarified the position of collective contracts in relation to contracts drawn between individual workers and their employers. In granting supercedence to the former type of agreement, the way was opened for unions to secure better conditions of employment for their members.

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While the Union of South Africa cannot properly be included in a discussion of colonial policies, the conditions of the Native population of this territory have been similar in every respect to that of Africans in those regions which are held as dependencies. Therefore, we must review the plans which are taking shape for remodeling the economic and social situation of Union Natives. T h e present policy of the dominion, frequently designated as the "civilized labour policy," has proceeded on the assumption that jobs must first be secured for Whites and the Natives could take whatever, if any, were left. Even after the White worker was protected by debarring Natives from membership in unions, granting them preference over Natives in many types of employment and barring Natives entirely from many skilled occupations, the possibility of competition by Africans was further restricted by limiting their freedom movement by pass-law regulations. Recent commissions inquiring into the conditions of urban Natives and on the industrial and agricultural requirements of the Union have made a break with the old policy. They question the advisability of restricting the movements of Native workers in towns in conformity with European conceptions and of providing for improvements in the conditions of only those Africans who remain on Native reserves and thereby do not compete for jobs with White workers. They found that the effects of poverty permeate the Native's entire social life and that improvement of the position of the low-income group was essential to sound economic development in the future. T o these conclusions may be added the declaration m a d e by Field Marshal Smuts that, " o u r ultimate aim, our target, is to provide as far as possible fruitful employment, housing, and the necessities of life, including food and clothing, for our whole community of all races and colours." 0Cape Times, October 22, 1941). T h e r e is to be noted in the pronouncements of influential organizations in Great Britain (British Labour Party, Fabian Society, etc.) on post-war colonial policy and in the discussions of the French at Brazzaville Conference, an emphasis on improving the economic position of dependent peoples. T h e adoption of this aspect of colonial development as the keynote for future planning coincides with the policies which have been in operation during the period of the war and suggests the course which the post-war strategy of Britain a n d other holding countries will take in relation to their African possessions. In this period political domination over dependent areas is to be maintained. This is necessary to insure control over supplies of raw materials, strategic locations vital to defense a n d to continue preferential trade agreements which assure

44

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

that the populations of these areas will provide a market for the manufactures of the holding country. It is, however, also necessary to increase the consumption power of the colonial market if production in the metropolis is to be expanded to the point where all who desire to work can find employment. T o realize this end, African workers will probably be offered somewhat better working conditions and slightly improved wages. T h e first change would increase the material requirements of Native workers, while the second would provide the purchasing power with which to satisfy these needs. Since the colonial powers consider their prosperity to be contingent upon maintaining the political framework of the empire or commonwealth, they are faced with the necessity of inducing colonial peoples to accept the improvements in their economic status which are being granted by the holding country as a substitute for political independence. Natives must be convinced that the nationalistic aspirations espoused by many African leaders are not the road to the "land of milk and honey." T h e question is put to the Native in the form of a choice, bread or the ballot. Creech Jones has pointed to the fallacy of stating the future of colonial peoples as a choice between improved economic standards and political freedom. While welcoming the emphasis now being placed on economic development for the dependencies, he adds, " B u t I see no antithesis between bread and the ballot" (36, 22). Actually political and economic independence are interacting factors, each mutually promoting the other and "people get 'bread' when they are able to exercise a political nuisance value" (36, 22). Therefore, while building up the economic structure of colonial territories, African peoples must be granted those political rights which will enable them to control this development. T h e degree of political freedom required to place in the hands of Africans the power to guide their economic destiny will be debated for many years to come. Many will assume that something short of complete independence will fulfill this condition and that, by continuing political ties with their present holding countries, the colonies will receive trade advantages and security from aggression which they could not possess as an independent nation. Whatever formula is eventually evolved to define satisfactorily the political relationship between dependencies and colonial powers is of secondary consideration. It is essential, however, to guarantee that the future of Africa will be planned by Africans for Africans.

THE AFRICAN AS A LABORER

45

GUIDE TO POPULATION AND MANPOWER TABLES Population Statistics: The sources for statistics on the ethnic groups comprising the population of the various territories are census data and estimates of the populations made by official agencies during the intercensal period. The selection of the figures to be presented in the tables was guided by three considerations: a) The recency of the data. b) The possibility of implementing the figures on total population with data necessary for making an age-sex breakdown. c) The availability of employment statistics for a period comparable to that covered by the population figures. While the importance of the first consideration was recognized, the other requirements necessarily took precedence, and for this reason it was frequently impossible to use current population statistics such as, for example, those presented in The Languages and Press of Africa (African Handbook, No. 4). Potential Manpower: Defined, unless otherwise indicated, as the gross manpower of the territory. Gross Manpower: Considered as being synonymous with adult (persons twenty years of age and over) population. The enumeration of potential manpower presented in the tables is therefore comparable to the registration of persons for a universal labor draft within the prescribed age limits. Refinement of Gross Manpower Statistics: T h e a d e q u a c y of the m a n p o w e r

supply is always relative to the manner in which it is to be utilized. In order to secure greater accuracy in estimating manpower, it is desirable to refine gross manpower statistics in two ways: a) The total manpower pool is classified and counted under various categories selected according to the manner in which the manpower is to be employed. In the present tables the manpower resources have been classified only as to the sex of the worker. b) The exclusion from the manpower potential of those classes of individuals whose fitness for employment is questionable. For certain territories, it was possible to eliminate from the manpower potential the aged and those who were mentally or physically incapacitated for employment. Wherever poten-

46

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS tial manpower is not taken as the total adult population, the refinement is indicated in a footnote to the table.

Political Control: Almost all of Africa is held in dependent status by various European powers. T h e holding country of each territory is indicated on the table in brackets beneath the name of the dependency unless title indicates ownership. For the status of a territory cf. 82, 9-15. Colored: Ethnic groups designated as "colored" comprise those of mixed White and Negro descent.

Chapter III WEST AFRICA GENERAL

West Africa at present is controlled by a number of European powers. T h e m a j o r share of the area is made u p of the dependencies of Great Britain and France. T h e remaining regions belong to Spain and Portugal, with the exception of Liberia which is one of the four independent states of Africa. Before the arrival of Europeans the Native population was organized into complex and highly developed political states some of which were ruled by monarchs. T h e kingdoms of Benin, Ashanti, and Dahomey were the best known West African states. Under the British system of indirect rule many Native political organizations continue to exercise their traditional functions, although in a much restricted form. Then as now the political and social structures were supported by an economy devoted chiefly to agriculture. T h e wide variety of food crops planted by Native farmers has been described by Githens and Wood in African Handbook, No. 3, The Food Resources oj Africa (14, 12-30). M a n y of these crops were not originally indigenous but were introduced into Africa from the Americas shortly after their discovery. T h e complexity of Native economy is illustrated by the extensive market system and the development of a large number of craft specializations. Those engaged in iron, brass, and wood working had almost entirely withdrawn from generalized economic pursuits a n d earned their living by handicraft production made on order or for sale in the Native market. Contacts between Europeans and the Natives of West Africa have taken place on a n ideological rather than on a personal plane. T h e climatic conditions of the area are responsible for labelling West Africa the " W h i t e Man's Grave." Therefore, few Europeans have ventured to colonize this region. Economic enterprises have remained either in Native control or are company-owned and operated. Cameroon is the only dependency where any considerable part of agricultural production is conducted on European plantations. In agriculture, Europeans have functioned chiefly in marketing Native produced export crops. T h e discovery of mineral deposits in West Africa and the subsequent mining developments have not assumed controlling importance. 47

48

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

In several respects West Africa can lay claim to being the section to which the title Negro Africa may be most fittingly applied. In this region the African race will never be forced to compete with a large body of European settlers. The development of its resources will, therefore, always be predominately the work of the Native population. The West African has shown marked capacity for developing the type of leadership necessary to promote the progress of Native interests. A fair number of Natives of both sexes have in the past and are now undergoing training in the colleges of England and America. This group is functioning as the nucleus of a nationalistic leadership which in several dependencies is actively advocating an independent Negro Africa. The English- or American-educated Native now fully understands the workings of the European political and economic systems whereby the White minority has been able to impose its will upon the African majority. They are determined to use this knowledge to procure for Africans the full measure of social, political, and economic self-determination which they consider to be their rightful heritage. GAMBIA * (British) POPULATION

Population(a):

AND

MANPOWER

African European

POTENTIAL

213,616 274 MANPOWER

Malt

Female

No. African European

50,000(6)

Total

50,000

99.87% .13%

23.4

Total

No.

%

46,141(6)

21.6

46,141

96,141

96.141(c)

DEPENDENTS Non-Adults

Non-employable adults

No!

%

African European

117,475 (

S

ti.

fi . O O 1 — m o> —

33 3 ' 3 a 'C - - •I :s s t s i s "ss s

a

126

AFRICAN LABOR PROBLEMS

agricultural industry of the dominion. The average ratio of this factor for the industry throughout the world is 15% laborers to 85% individual owners (88, 6). In the Orange Free State of the Union the ratios are practically reversed and 80 to 90% of those engaged in agriculture are laborers and only 10 to 20% are individual owners. This condition has a direct bearing on maintaining an adequate manpower supply. Since wages paid to farm workers in all countries are below those of other industries, other factors must be relied upon to staff agricultural establishments. Where a large proportion of farm personnel are individual owners, the satisfaction of land ownership and the opportunity to labor as an independent worker offer powerful inducements for remaining on the land. To these attractions should be added the fact that while wages in agriculture are low, the income received by owners compares favorably with wages which can be earned in other industries. Therefore, where a large number of farmers are farm owners, the manpower engaged in agriculture is adequately compensated for their labor. If the conditions pertaining to the ratio of laborers to owners found in the Orange Free States exists throughout the dominion, then it becomes readily apparent that agriculture in South Africa is at a serious disadvantage in retaining labor because the majority of workers must be attracted to and retained in the industry by the wages offered. Prevailing wage scales according to all evidence are failing to accomplish this purpose and a Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Ministry of Native Affairs in 1939 to investigate the labor shortage has reported the following recommendations for alleviating the situation: 1. The system of farm tenancy was criticized as being wasteful but it was felt that slight improvement was possible. Some increase in available labor could be secured through conserving and better distributing the tenant population. The first result would be realized by curbing the provisions of the Native Service Act (1932) which permitted the emigration of rural Natives to urban areas during the off season to work. Complaints made by farmers indicate that many laborers, taking advantage of this act, failed to return to the farms. Chapter IV of the Native Lands and Trusts Act (1936) could be used to better the distribution of farm tenants by allowing farmers, other than the landlord, to hire a tenant during his free period. 2. In reference to sugar and wattle enterprises, amendments to Native Labour Regulation Act (1911) were proposed to facilitate

SOUTH AFRICA

127

recruitment of labor. It was recommended that particular attention be paid to juvenile labor too young for mine employment. 3. Reductions in railway rates for workers traveling from their homes to employment areas. 4. The betterment of living quarters and offering of more balanced diet would be an additional attraction to draw workers to the farms. 5. While agriculture is not permitted to engage labor recruited from outside territories, workers entering clandestinely may be employed. The Commission felt that the government could develop some machinery for directing these laborers to the areas where they were most needed. Overcoming the labor deficiency in the mines is complicated by restricted wage scales which impose the necessity of drawing labor from Natives who can secure at least part of the family income from the land. This requirement reduces the sources of the labor supply to Native reserves or locations and recruited labor from territories outside the Union. 50.75% of the African working force engaged by the mines were Union Natives, and 49.25% were aliens. Any increased labor drawn from the home labor market would intensify the labor shortage in European agricultural enterprises. Further denuding of adjacent territories of adult males would seriously threaten the social and economic structure of the villages in those areas. Since 1935 tropical areas (for example Nyasaland) have been opened to recruiting for the mines due to reduction in the mortality rates among Natives transported to the cooler climates of the Union. This addition to the labor supply of mines was initiated by an experimental group of 3,000. After the experiment proved successful, the number was increased to 5,000 in 1936 and in the following July to 10,000. In November of 1937 permission was granted for unlimited recruiting from tropical districts (70, 430). Once this source of labor becomes insufficient to meet the demand, the only course open will be the payment of wages permitting the hiring of urbanized and tenant farmer Natives (both landless groups) which can be permanently located at the mines.

128

AFRICAN LABOR

PROBLEMS

BASUTOLAND, BECHUANALAND, and SWAZILAND (British) POPULATION AND MANPOWER Population(a):

African Asiatic(b) European

972,607 6,098 6,073

98.76% .62% .62%

POTENTIAL MAN POWER (c) Malt

Female

No.

Total

No.

African Asiatic European

278,519 1,981 2,073

Total

282,573

28.64 32.49 34.13

334,223 1,861 1,753

34.36 30.52 28.87

612,742 3,842 3,826

337,837

620,410

DEPENDENTS Non-Adults No. African Asiatic European

359,865 2,256 2,247

Total

364,368

(a) (») ic) (d)

Non-employable adults %"

.

No.

37.00 36.99 37.00

% (