Chapter: THE CENTRAL LABOUR BUREAU



This Bureau is established in the Social Headquarters at Whitechapel,
a large building acquired as long ago as 1878. Here is to be seen the
room in which General Booth used to hold some of his first prayer
meetings, and a little chamber where he took counsel with those
Officers who were the fathers of the Army. Also there is a place where
he could sit unseen and listen to the preaching of his subordinates,
so that he might judge of their ability.

The large hall is now part of yet another Shelter, which contains 232
beds and bunks. I inspected this place, but as it differs in no
important detail from others, I will not describe it.

The Officer who is in charge of the Labour Bureau informed me that
hundreds of men apply there for work every week, of whom a great many
are sent into the various Elevators and Shelters. The Army finds it
extremely difficult to procure outside employment for these men, for
the simple reason that there is very little available. Moreover, now
that the Government Labour Bureaux are open, this trouble is not
lessened. Of these Bureaux, the Manager said that they are most
useful, but fail to find employment for many who apply to them.
Indeed, numbers of men come on from them to the Salvation Army.

The hard fact is that there are more idle hands than there is work for
them to do, even where honest and capable folk are concerned. Thus, in
the majority of instances, the Army is obliged to rely upon its own
Institutions and the Hadleigh Land Colony to provide some sort of job
for out-of-works. Of course, of such jobs there are not enough to go
round, so many poor folk must be sent empty away or supported by
charity.

I suggested that it might be worth while to establish a school of
chauffeurs, and the Officers present said that they would consider the
matter. Unfortunately, however, such an experiment must be costly at
the present price of motor-vehicles.

I annex the Labour Bureau Statistics for May, 1910:--

     LONDON

          Applicants for temporary employment  479
          Sent to temporary employment         183
          Applicants for Elevators             864
          Sent to Elevators                    260
          Sent to Shelters                      32

     PROVINCES

          Applicants for temporary employment  461
          Sent to temporary employment         160
          Applicants for Elevators             417
          Sent to Elevators                    202
          Sent to Shelters                      20
          Sent to permanent situations          35

 During his meeting with Dr. Rivers, Prior expresses his anger at being confined to the hospital for two weeks after missing curfew. Prior explains that he was out looking for a woman and teases the doctor, asking whether or not he will be interrogated about it. When Dr. Rivers fails to respond, Billy changes the conversation and starts asking about officers and mutism. Dr. Rivers explains that mutism is common among enlisted men and rare among officers, presumably because mutism comes from a desire to say something that could trigger grave consequences. Therefore, lowly soldiers are much more afraid of expressing themselves than officers. Dr. Rivers adds that officers often stammer, instead. He also asserts that officers have more complex dreams than soldiers do. Prior brings attention to Dr. Rivers' own stammer, catching him off-guard. The psychologist tries to explain that his stammer is life-long and not the result of trauma, but Billy insinuates that Rivers has been trying not to say something for fifty years. When Prior finally leaves, Dr. Rivers feels deeply irritated. Seeing that he has a few moments before his next patient, Dr. Rivers decides to go walking. Out on the hospital lawn, he watches two officers cutting grass with scythes. The figures remind him of death. Later that night, Dr. Rivers is compiling a list of patients who are ready to go back to the battlefield when Prior interrupts him to apologize. He admits that his nightmares mix visions of bloody combat with sexual elements, and that worries him. Dr. Rivers finally suggests that they try hypnosis. Billy, who turns out to be highly suggestible, falls into a trance and describes the events leading up to his breakdown. He was walking through the trenches and stopped to chat with two men frying bacon and making tea over a weak fire. He continued on and a few seconds later, an explosion destroyed the area, killing the two men. Afterwards, Billy shoveled the remains of the men into a bag that one of his soldiers was holding. When he was done, he looked down and saw an eyeball staring at him from below the duckboards. Prior delicately picked it up and then held it out towards the soldier saying, "'What am I supposed to do with this gob-stopper. Billy continued working, covering the area with lime, and then realized that his lower jaw had gone numb. His soldiers later took him to the medics. When he awakens from the hypnosis, Prior is angry that something so mundane triggered his breakdown; he had shoveled gruesome remains many times before. Prior had assumed that he was traumatized because he had somehow caused the death of his men. Prior begins crying and butting his head against Rivers's stomach, reminding the psychologist of a kid butting a nanny goat. Dr. Rivers explains that trauma is often the result of stress eroding someone's defenses over time, rather than the fallout from one single event. Nevertheless, Billy doesn't want to be the kind of man who breaks down. Dr. Rivers assures him all kinds of men break down under the stress of war. Dr. Rivers, exhausted, begins to prepare for bed. He reflects that fathers are opaque to their children, like psychologists are to their patients. He is disturbed once again by Prior's ability to read him and remembers a similar patient named Layard. Layard once told Rivers that he was like a "male mother". He resents that nurturing is considered a female trait, even when practiced by men. Dr. Rivers thinks about the officers who care so much for their soldiers and compares them to impoverished mothers. They are both "totally responsible for lives they have no power to save". The psychologist thinks to himself that this war, which promised mobilization and adventure, has only left men helpless in the trenches, waiting to die.

