me of me for a
day or two. On the following Sunday night I came to my senses, and
found myself in the hospital. I asked the nurse what was to do with
my legs, and she told me both legs were off.

There was a stationary crank in the yard, let into the ground; the
hole was 18 inches long, 15 inches deep, and 15 inches wide. The
crank revolved in the hole three revolutions a minute. There was no
fence or covering over the hole. Since my accident they have stopped
it altogether, and have covered the hole up with a piece of sheet
iron. . . . They gave me 25 pounds. They didn't reckon that as
compensation; they said it was only for charity's sake. Out of that I
paid 9 pounds for a machine by which to wheel myself about.

I was labouring at the time I got my legs off. I got twenty-four
shillings a week, rather better pay than the other men, because I used
to take shifts. When there was heavy work to be done I used to be
picked out to do it. Mr. Manton, the manager, visited me at the
hospital several times. When I was getting better, I asked him if he
would be able to find me a job. He told me not to trouble myself, as
the firm was not cold-hearted. I would be right enough in any case .
. . Mr. Manton stopped coming to see me; and the last time, he said he
thought of asking the directors to give me a fifty-pound note, so I
could go home to my friends in Ireland.

Poor M'Garry! He received rather better pay than the other men because
he was ambitious and took shifts, and when heavy work was to be done he
was the man picked out to do it. And then the thing happened, and he
went into the workhouse. The alternative to the workhouse is to go home
to Ireland and burden his friends for the rest of his life. Comment is
superfluous.

It must be understood that efficiency is not determined by the workers
themselves, but is determined by the demand for labour. If three men
seek one position, the most efficient man will get it. The other two, no
matter how capable they may be, will none the less be inefficients. If
Germany, Japan, and the United States should capture the entire world
market for iron, coal, and textiles, at once the English workers would be
thrown idle by hundreds of thousands. Some would emigrate, but the rest
would rush their labour into the remaining industries. A general shaking
up of the workers from top to bottom would result; and