Again there was a murmur, but this time less defiant.
“Finally, gentlemen, as I hear some whispers of constitutionalism, I have here a Proclamation by the King. He has dissolved Parliament. You are no longer clothed with even the semblance of authority.”
The assembly was thunderstruck; for there seemed to be no reply to this.
“I may say,” continued Nordenholt, “that some of you are of no personal value in this enterprise. These gentlemen also will be returned to their proper residences immediately. The remainder, whom I can trust, will be so good as to apply at my offices tomorrow, when their work will be explained to them. There is only one ultimate authority here now—myself.”
It was a sadly diminished assembly that appeared on the morrow. Neither the Prime Minister nor the Colonial Secretary was found among its numbers.
With the working men who formed the majority of the Nitrogen Volunteers, Nordenholt’s methods were entirely different. Here he had in the first stages to conciliate those with whom he dealt and to educate them gradually into an understanding of the task before them. In the beginning, no man worked more than eight hours per day or five days a week; and the general run of the workmen had a thirty-five hour week. Nordenholt’s object in this was twofold. In the first place, he instilled into the men that he was an easy taskmaster; and secondly, he was able, by keeping check of the output, to place his finger upon those men who even under those easy conditions were not doing their full share. These workers he proposed to eliminate at a later period; but he wished to allow them to condemn themselves.
Next he set going various newspapers. The contents of these, of course, dealt entirely with doings within the Nitrogen Area; but their readers soon grew accustomed to this: and as the main object of the journals was propaganda, the less actual news there was in them, the more likely it became that the propaganda would be read for want of something better.
Through these papers, he began to explain very clearly the necessity for the work upon which they were engaged, handling the subject in all manner of ways and making it seem almost new each time by the fresh treatment which it received from day to day. During this period no hint of the underlying purpose of the Nitrogen Area was given, beyond the suggestion that it was a convenient spot, in view of its natural resources.
In order to alleviate any grievances which they might feel, he devised a system of workmen’s committees, one for each trade; and the members of these bodies were elected separately by the married and unmarried men in proportion to their numbers. In this way he secured a majority of the more responsible men upon each committee, although no fault could be found with the method of election. Whatever grievances were ventilated by these committees were met immediately or the reasons against compliance with the demands were clearly and courteously explained.
In fact, throughout this stage of the Nitrogen Area history, Nordenholt’s main object was to show himself in the light of a comrade rather than a taskmaster. He was building up a fund of popularity, even at considerable cost, in order that he might draw upon it later. It was a difficult game to play; for he could not afford to drive with an altogether loose rein in view of the necessity for haste; but, as he himself said, he understood men; and he was perhaps able to gain their confidence at a cheaper rate than most people in his position could have done. Like myself, he believed that fundamentally the working man is a sound man, provided that he is dealt with openly and is not made suspicious.
Within a fortnight, in one way and another, practically every man in the Area understood the importance of his work. I question whether this was not the greatest of Nordenholt’s triumphs, though perhaps in perspective it may seem a small affair in comparison with other events. But the generation of enthusiasm is a difficult matter, much more difficult than feats which produce immediate effects.
In one respect Nordenholt gauged the psychology of the masses accurately. He did not make himself cheap. Except at a few mass meetings which he addressed, none of the rank and file ever saw him at all. He knew the value of aloofness and a touch of mystery.
But he did not confine himself to moves made openly upon the board. Behind the scenes he had collected an Intelligence Division, the existence of which was known only to a few; and by means of it he was able to put his finger on a weak spot or a centre of disaffection with extraordinary promptitude. Grievances were often remedied long before the appropriate committee had been able to cast their statement of them into a definite form. Nor, as I shall have to tell later, did this Intelligence Division confine its operations to the Nitrogen Area itself; for its network spread over the whole Kingdom.
As soon as the machinery of the Area was working satisfactorily, Nordenholt took a step in advance. The Workmen’s Committees were supplied with the actual statistics of production and it was explained to them that speeding-up must begin. The ultimate object was still concealed; but sufficient information was laid before them to show that at their present rate of output the nitrogenous materials prepared by the end of the twelve months would be totally insufficient to yield food enough for even the population of the Area
