—Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar.
Captain Wawn is crystal-clear on one point: He does not approve of missionaries1. They obstruct2 his business. They make “Recruiting,” as he calls it (“Slave-Catching,” as they call it in their frank way) a trouble when it ought to be just a picnic and a pleasure excursion. The missionaries have their opinion about the manner in which the Labor3 Traffic is conducted, and about the recruiter’s evasions4 of the law of the Traffic, and about the traffic itself—and it is distinctly uncomplimentary to the Traffic and to everything connected with it, including the law for its regulation. Captain Wawn’s book is of very recent date; I have by me a pamphlet of still later date—hot from the press, in fact—by Rev5. Wm. Gray, a missionary6; and the book and the pamphlet taken together make exceedingly interesting reading, to my mind.
Interesting, and easy to understand—except in one detail, which I will mention presently. It is easy to understand why the Queensland sugar planter should want the Kanaka recruit: he is cheap. Very cheap, in fact. These are the figures paid by the planter: L20 to the recruiter for getting the Kanaka or “catching” him, as the missionary phrase goes; L3 to the Queensland government for “superintending” the importation; L5 deposited with the Government for the Kanaka’s passage home when his three years are up, in case he shall live that long; about L25 to the Kanaka himself for three years’ wages and clothing; total payment for the use of a man three years, L53; or, including diet, L60. Altogether, a hundred dollars a year. One can understand why the recruiter is fond of the business; the recruit costs him a few cheap presents (given to the recruit’s relatives, not to the recruit himself), and the recruit is worth L20 to the recruiter when delivered in Queensland. All this is clear enough; but the thing that is not clear is, what there is about it all to persuade the recruit. He is young and brisk; life at home in his beautiful island is one lazy, long holiday to him; or if he wants to work he can turn out a couple of bags of copra per week and sell it for four or five shillings a bag. In Queensland he must get up at dawn and work from eight to twelve hours a day in the canefields—in a much hotter climate than he is used to—and get less than four shillings a week for it.
I cannot understand his willingness to go to Queensland. It is a deep puzzle to me. Here is the explanation, from the planter’s point of view; at least I gather from the missionary’s pamphlet that it is the planter’s:
“When he comes from his home he is a savage7, pure and simple. He feels no shame at his nakedness and want of adornment8. When he returns home he does so well dressed, sporting a Waterbury watch, collars, cuffs9, boots, and jewelry10. He takes with him one or more boxes—[“Box” is English for trunk.]—well filled with clothing, a musical instrument or two, and perfumery and other articles of luxury he has learned to appreciate.”
For just one moment we have a seeming flash of comprehension of, the Kanaka’s reason for exiling himself: he goes away to acquire civilization. Yes, he was naked and not ashamed, now he is clothed and knows how to be ashamed; he was unenlightened; now he has a Waterbury watch; he was unrefined, now he has jewelry, and something to make him smell good; he was a nobody, a provincial12, now he has been to far countries and can show off.
It all looks plausible13—for a moment. Then the missionary takes hold of this explanation and pulls it to pieces, and dances on it, and damages it beyond recognition.
“Admitting that the foregoing description is the average one, the average sequel is this: The cuffs and collars, if used at all, are carried off by youngsters, who fasten them round the leg, just below the knee, as ornaments14. The Waterbury, broken and dirty, finds its way to the trader, who gives a trifle for it; or the inside is taken out, the wheels strung on a thread and hung round the neck. Knives, axes, calico, and handkerchiefs are divided among friends, and there is hardly one of these apiece. The boxes, the keys often lost on the road home, can be bought for 2s. 6d. They are to be seen rotting outside in almost any shore village on Tanna. (I speak of what I have seen.) A returned Kanaka has been furiously angry with me because I would not buy his trousers, which he declared were just my fit. He sold them afterwards to one of my Aniwan teachers for 9d. worth of tobacco—a pair of trousers that probably cost him 8s. or 10s. in Queensland. A coat or shirt is handy for cold weather. The white handkerchiefs, the ‘senet’ (perfumery), the umbrella, and perhaps the hat, are kept. The boots have to take their chance, if they do not happen to fit the copra trader. ‘Senet’ on the hair, streaks15 of paint on the face, a dirty white handkerchief round the neck, strips of turtle shell in the ears, a belt, a sheath and knife, and an umbrella constitute the rig of returned Kanaka at home the day after landing.”
A hat, an umbrella, a belt, a neckerchief. Otherwise stark16 naked. All in a day the hard-earned “civilization” has melted away to this. And even these perishable17 things must presently go. Indeed, there is but a single detail of his civilization that can be depended on to stay by him: according to the missionary, he has learned to swear. This is art, and art is long, as the poet says.
In all countries the laws throw light upon the past. The Queensland law for the regulation of the Labor Traffic is a confession18. It is a confession that the evils charged by the missionaries upon the traffic had existed in the past, and that they still existed when the law was made. The missionaries make a further charge: that the law is evaded19 by the recruiters, and that the Government Agent sometimes helps them to do it. Regulation 31 reveals two things: that sometimes a young fool of a recruit gets his senses back, after being persuaded to sign away his liberty for three years, and dearly wants to get out of the engagement and stay at home with his own people; and that threats, intimidation20, and force are used to keep him on board the recruiting-ship, and to hold him to his contract. Regulation 31 forbids these coercions. The law requires that he shall be allowed to go free; and another clause of it requires the recruiter to set him ashore21—per boat, because of the prevalence of sharks. Testimony22 from Rev. Mr. Gray:
“There are ‘wrinkles’ for taking the penitent23 Kanaka. My first experience of the Traffic was a case of this kind in 1884. A vessel24 anchored just out of sight of our station, word was brought to me that some boys were stolen, and the relatives wished me to go and get them back. The facts were, as I found, that six boys had recruited, had rushed into the boat, the Government Agent informed me. They had all ‘signed’; and, said the Government Agent, ‘on board they shall remain.’ I was assured that the six boys were of age and willing to go. Yet on getting ready to leave the ship I found four of the lads ready to come ashore in the boat! This I forbade. One of them jumped into the water and persisted in coming ashore in my boat. When appealed to, the Government Agent suggested that we go and leave him to be picked up by the ship’s boat, a quarter mile distant at the time!”
The law and the missionaries feel for the repentant25 recruit—and properly, one may be permitted to think, for he is only a youth and ignorant and persuadable to his hurt—but sympathy for him is not kept in stock by the recruiter. Rev. Mr. Gray says:
“A captain many years in the traffic explained to me how a penitent could be taken. ‘When a boy jumps overboard we just take a boat and pull ahead of him, then lie between him and the shore. If he has not tired himself swimming, and passes the boat, keep on heading him in this way. The dodge26 rarely fails. The boy generally tires of swimming, gets into the boat of his own accord, and goes quietly on board.”
Yes, exhaustion27 is likely to make a boy quiet. If the distressed28 boy had been the speaker’s son, and the captors savages29, the speaker would have been surprised to see how differently the thing looked from the new point of view; however, it is not our custom to put ourselves in the other person’s place. Somehow there is something pathetic about that disappointed young savage’s resignation. I must explain, here, that in the traffic dialect, “boy” does not always mean boy; it means a youth above sixteen years of age. That is by Queensland law the age of consent, though it is held that recruiters allow themselves some latitude30 in guessing at ages.
Captain Wawn of the free spirit chafes31 under the annoyance32 of “cast-iron regulations.” They and the missionaries have poisoned his life. He grieves for the good old days, vanished to come no more. See him weep; hear him cuss between the lines!
“For a long time we were allowed to apprehend33 and detain all deserters who had signed the agreement on board ship, but the ‘cast-iron’ regulations of the Act of 1884 put a stop to that, allowing the Kanaka to sign the agreement for three years’ service, travel about in the ship in receipt of the regular rations34, cadge35 all he could, and leave when he thought fit, so long as he did not extend his pleasure trip to Queensland.”
Rev. Mr. Gray calls this same restrictive cast-iron law a “farce.” “There is as much cruelty and injustice36 done to natives by acts that are legal as by deeds unlawful. The regulations that exist are unjust and inadequate37—unjust and inadequate they must ever be.” He furnishes his reasons for his position, but they are too long for reproduction here.
However, if the most a Kanaka advantages himself by a three-years course in civilization in Queensland, is a necklace and an umbrella and a showy imperfection in the art of swearing, it must be that all the profit of the traffic goes to the white man. This could be twisted into a plausible argument that the traffic ought to be squarely abolished.
However, there is reason for hope that that can be left alone to achieve itself. It is claimed that the traffic will depopulate its sources of supply within the next twenty or thirty years. Queensland is a very healthy place for white people—death-rate 12 in 1,000 of the population—but the Kanaka death-rate is away above that. The vital statistics for 1893 place it at 52; for 1894 (Mackay district), 68. The first six months of the Kanaka’s exile are peculiarly perilous38 for him because of the rigors39 of the new climate. The death-rate among the new men has reached as high as 180 in the 1,000. In the Kanaka’s native home his death-rate is 12 in time of peace, and 15 in time of war. Thus exile to Queensland—with the opportunity to acquire civilization, an umbrella, and a pretty poor quality of profanity—is twelve times as deadly for him as war. Common Christian40 charity, common humanity, does seem to require, not only that these people be returned to their homes, but that war, pestilence41, and famine be introduced among them for their preservation42.
Concerning these Pacific isles43 and their peoples an eloquent44 prophet spoke45 long years ago—five and fifty years ago. In fact, he spoke a little too early. Prophecy is a good line of business, but it is full of risks. This prophet was the Right Rev. M. Russell, LL.D., D.C.L., of Edinburgh:
“Is the tide of civilization to roll only to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and is the sun of knowledge to set at last in the waves of the Pacific? No; the mighty46 day of four thousand years is drawing to its close; the sun of humanity has performed its destined47 course; but long ere its setting rays are extinguished in the west, its ascending48 beams have glittered on the isles of the eastern seas . . . . And now we see the race of Japhet setting forth49 to people the isles, and the seeds of another Europe and a second England sown in the regions of the sun. But mark the words of the prophecy: ‘He shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.’ It is not said Canaan shall be his slave. To the Anglo-Saxon race is given the scepter of the globe, but there is not given either the lash11 of the slave-driver or the rack of the executioner. The East will not be stained with the same atrocities51 as the West; the frightful52 gangrene of an enthralled53 race is not to mar50 the destinies of the family of Japhet in the Oriental world; humanizing, not destroying, as they advance; uniting with, not enslaving, the inhabitants with whom they dwell, the British race may,” etc., etc.
And he closes his vision with an invocation from Thomson:
Very well, Bright Improvement has arrived, you see, with her civilization, and her Waterbury, and her umbrella, and her third-quality profanity, and her humanizing-not-destroying machinery55, and her hundred-and-eighty death-rate, and everything is going along just as handsome!
But the prophet that speaks last has an advantage over the pioneer in the business. Rev. Mr. Gray says:
“What I am concerned about is that we as a Christian nation should wipe out these races to enrich ourselves.”
And he closes his pamphlet with a grim Indictment56 which is as eloquent in its flowerless straightforward57 English as is the hand-painted rhapsody of the early prophet:
“My indictment of the Queensland-Kanaka Labor Traffic is this
“1. It generally demoralizes and always impoverishes58 the Kanaka, deprives him of his citizenship59, and depopulates the islands fitted to his home.
“2. It is felt to lower the dignity of the white agricultural laborer60 in Queensland, and beyond a doubt it lowers his wages there.
“4. On social and political grounds the continuance of the Queensland Kanaka Labor Traffic must be a barrier to the true federation62 of the Australian colonies.
“5. The Regulations under which the Traffic exists in Queensland are inadequate to prevent abuses, and in the nature of things they must remain so.
“6. The whole system is contrary to the spirit and doctrine63 of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel requires us to help the weak, but the Kanaka is fleeced and trodden down.
“7. The bed-rock of this Traffic is that the life and liberty of a black man are of less value than those of a white man. And a Traffic that has grown out of ‘slave-hunting’ will certainly remain to the end not unlike its origin.”
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1
missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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obstruct
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| v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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evasions
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| 逃避( evasion的名词复数 )； 回避； 遁辞； 借口 | |
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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adornment
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| n.装饰；装饰品 | |
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cuffs
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| n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
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jewelry
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| n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝 | |
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lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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perishable
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| adj.（尤指食物）易腐的，易坏的 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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evaded
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| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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intimidation
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| n.恐吓，威胁 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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penitent
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| adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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repentant
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| adj.对…感到悔恨的 | |
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dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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chafes
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| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的第三人称单数 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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cadge
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| v.乞讨 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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rigors
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| 严格( rigor的名词复数 )； 严酷； 严密； （由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体）僵直 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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pestilence
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| n.瘟疫 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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45
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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46
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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47
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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50
mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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51
atrocities
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| n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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53
enthralled
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| 迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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55
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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56
indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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57
straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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58
impoverishes
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| v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的第三人称单数 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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59
citizenship
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| n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份) | |
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laborer
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| n.劳动者，劳工 | |
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61
fraught
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| adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的 | |
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federation
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| n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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