HEALTH AND WELFARE.

245

quantities of green vegetables but these supplies are seldom adequate. The
result is a lack of stamina and a lowered resisting power to disease which
are apparent not only amongst the rice-eating races but even in those
whose staple food is wheat. The effect is severely to handicap the
agricultural emigrant in making the many adjustments required of him
when he migrates to the industrial field.

Adjustments Necessary.

The new conditions of life are very different from those to which
he has been accustomed. On arrival, he usually finds accommodation
with some relative or friend living in an already overcrowded room in a
congested area. On obtaining work he is compelled to change his usual
meal hours, although he adheres to his custom of taking two meals a day.
His first repast is usually taken before he goes to work, but as the early
start gives little time for cooking, this generally consists of- cold food pre-
pared the previous night. The interval between the morning and afternoon
spells of work is much shorter than in the village and is used pri-
marily for rest, although on occasion he postpones his first meal to this
period. At other times some light refreshment like parched gram is
taken. The evening meal is usually the main one of the day.» Moreover,
the worker’s diet is unsatisfactory from many standpoints ; milk is more
difficult to procure than in his village, pure ghi is unobtainable, whilst
vegetables or fruit, even if available, are often beyond his means. Usually
the work is indoors ; this, coupled in many cases with unaccustomed con-
centration for long hours on new work, involves a strain not always appre-
ciated. Finally there is the matter of housing, with which we deal in a
separate chapter. The generous contributions made by a number of
employers towards the provision of houses represent a substantial attempt
to improve conditions. Apart from these, housing is of the meanest des-
cription, and the indifference of the worker to the dangers of overcrowding,
and lack of light, ventilation and sanitation enhance its detrimental
effect. Moreover, shortage of houses, absence of adequate transport and
the natural reluctance of the worker to live anywhere but in close proximi-
ty to his work add to the overcrowding and compel him to submit to exor-
bitant rent charges. The industrial recruit is thus handicapped from the
start,
Lack of Family Life.
} Another factor which must be takeninto account when dealing
with the health of the worker and the difficulties of adjustment which
confront him when he leaves agriculture for industry is the disturbance
to family life. In his own village, the balance of the sexes is for the most
Part normal. When he comes into industry, it is usual for him to leave
hig family at home. If he has a plot of land, his wife and family must be
left behind to till and reap. Inaddition the housing facilities are ordinari-
ly such that he has little prospect of obtaining suitable family quarters.
Too often all that is available is a share of a room, where he keeps his small
box. The number of such boxes is generally a sure indication of the
number of tenants in the room, shewing only too clearly that the