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CHAPTER III. 
his other functions some of those frequently discharged by trade union 
officials in the West, and he is occasionally found acting in the capacity 
of a strike leader. We shall have occasion later to discuss the absence of 
direct contact between employer and employed, which is a marked feature 
in many factories, and merely note here that too often those responsible 
for management are unable to make themselves adequately understood 
by the workers, and in consequence have to rely on the jobbers as 
interpreters. 
The Jobber and Bribery. 
The temptations of the jobbers’ position are manifold, and it 
would be surprising if these men failed to take advantage of their 
opportunities. There are few factories where a worker’s security is 
not, to some extent, in the hands of a jobber ; in a number of factories 
the latter has in practice the power to engage and to dismiss a worker. 
We were satisfied that it is a fairly general practice for the jobber to 
profit financially by the exercise of this power. The evil varies in in- 
tensity from industry to industry and from céntre to centre. It is 
nsual for a fee to be exacted as the price of engagement, or of re-employ- 
ment after a period of absence. In many cases a smaller regular pay- 
ment has’ also to be made out of each month’s wages. In other cases 
workers have to supply the jobber with drink or other periodical offer- 
ings in kind. The jobber himself has at times to subsidise the head 
jobber ; and it is said that even members of the supervising staff some- 
times receive a share of the bribe. 
Origin of Bribery. 
The general prevalence of the system was admitted by a number 
of employers and managers, but few had made serious endeavours to check 
it. Some appeared to be disposed to excuse themselves by the belief 
that the system was in some way natural to the country. True, the 
distinction between a gratuity and a bribe is not always clear, but 
not even those who thought the latter term too hard in this connec- 
tion attempted to defend the system; it is actual extortion in many 
cages, and it is impossible to regard it as other than a vicious practice. 
We are disposed to ascribe the evil to the grant to uneducated and un- 
controlled persons of power to make appointments and dismissals. If 
labour becomes more plentiful, it is certain that the evil will attain 
even larger dimensions than at present unless special efforts are made 
to check it. 
Labour Officers. 
We believe that, by systematic effort, bribery can be substantially 
reduced, if not eliminated, with great benefit to all concerned. The pre- 
sent power of the jobber is given by the employer, who permits him to 
select or engage labour and to influence or procure its dismissal. We 
advocate for all factories the exclusion of the jobber from the engagement 
and dismissal of labour. This can best be achieved by the employment of 
a labour officer, and this is the course we recommend wherever the scale