When Jock returned to British Guiana after the war he found a senior management of crusty old men. Entrenched in their ways, confined in their thinking, these men were rooted in a framework of self-interest intrinsically opposed to change. He dismissed them all as hopeless. He was a new broom sweeping clean. He ran rings around them and knew it.
He whirled through the company like a hurricane, leaving the survivals exhausted, but exhilarated, removing the old and replacing it with new.
The company was in complete disarray, so splintered nobody knew what was making a profit and what was making a loss. The machinery was old and derelict after the war years, and a serious fire had destroyed several Booker buildings.
Worst of all, the company was universally hated, both inside and outside the colony, and even by the colonial authorities. It was the textbook example of an arrogant, imperialist juggernaut grown obese and unwieldy off the fat of the land; except that it was now making a loss. All that would have to change.
Most important of all, the new people were Guianese; qualified, home-bred individuals who had caught the infectious spirit of their leader. If they lacked the skills for the job, they were sent abroad for training. The glass ceiling of skin colour cracked and crumbled; and it fell apart not through protest by the workers, not through rebellion or revolution, but through a decree from above.
He whirled through the company like a hurricane, leaving the survivals exhausted, but exhilarated, removing the old and replacing it with new.
The company was in complete disarray, so splintered nobody knew what was making a profit and what was making a loss. The machinery was old and derelict after the war years, and a serious fire had destroyed several Booker buildings.
Worst of all, the company was universally hated, both inside and outside the colony, and even by the colonial authorities. It was the textbook example of an arrogant, imperialist juggernaut grown obese and unwieldy off the fat of the land; except that it was now making a loss. All that would have to change.
I believe that there should be values other than money in a civilised society. I believe that truth, beauty and goodness have a place. Moreover, I believe that if businessmen put profit, greed and acquisition among the highest virtues, they cannot be surprised if, for instance, nurses, teachers and ambulance men are inclined to do the same. Jock CampbellBookers, once a synonym for greed, would become a model of benevolence. And the process began with people. The company began to recruit new managers, efficient managers, ethical, hand-picked managers; a difficult task, which Jock solved by breaking it down into small and manageable units.
Most important of all, the new people were Guianese; qualified, home-bred individuals who had caught the infectious spirit of their leader. If they lacked the skills for the job, they were sent abroad for training. The glass ceiling of skin colour cracked and crumbled; and it fell apart not through protest by the workers, not through rebellion or revolution, but through a decree from above.
Housing
One of Jock’s main goals from the very beginning was the rehousing of the Indian workers, and ironically he was aided in his vision by the Marxist vision of a young Indian firebrand.
The logies
Cheddi Jagan had himself grown up on a sugar-estate and knew the squalor first-hand. With his equally radical American-born wife Janet he determined to change things, but from the bottom up. Jagan’s fiery speeches to workers up and down the coast had one aim: the ousting of King Sugar; and housing was for him, as for Jock, a primary issue.
In April 1953, just before the General Election in which he would triumph, Jagan wrote in a pamphlet:
One of Jock’s main goals from the very beginning was the rehousing of the Indian workers, and ironically he was aided in his vision by the Marxist vision of a young Indian firebrand.
The logies
Cheddi Jagan had himself grown up on a sugar-estate and knew the squalor first-hand. With his equally radical American-born wife Janet he determined to change things, but from the bottom up. Jagan’s fiery speeches to workers up and down the coast had one aim: the ousting of King Sugar; and housing was for him, as for Jock, a primary issue.
In April 1953, just before the General Election in which he would triumph, Jagan wrote in a pamphlet:
Imagine the state of sanitation and the condition of the sugar estate workers during the heavy rainfall and flood periods which are frequent. The whole housing area becomes covered with polluted water from the overflowing latrine trenches. This polluted water remains in the land for days and sometimes weeks. Cheddi Jagan
Now homes under construction
Even the “crusty old men” on the Booker Board knew that change had to come. It had to come from above if they were not to be dethroned from below; and so, in November 1953, Campbell was able to announce that the sugar producers had agreed to finance the rehousing programme.
Workers were now able to erect their own homes on estate land leased to them for a peppercorn rent; they were lent money on easy, interest-free terms and so were able to build their own homes. Thousands of families were rehoused in this way. In the following years, more progress was made: the home-owners were able to buy the lots they leased at a nominal price of $1 per lot.
New home, painted and finished!
The eradication of malaria and the housing reform, these were the shapers of the post-War generation of sugar workers and their children, primarily Indian-Guyanese people. The reformist vision of Jock Campbell and the unwavering challenge from Cheddi Jagan’s incorruptible, Marxist-inspired mission, were inseparable. The social reforms fed an insatiable appetite for even more reforms; it is a tragedy for all Guyanese that Marxism, in one form or another, won out; that capital was seen as a necessary evil. The English-speaking Caribbean has had no such such parallel, not even Bishop’s Grenada. Clem Seecharan, Sweetening Bitter Sugar
Now homes under construction
Even the “crusty old men” on the Booker Board knew that change had to come. It had to come from above if they were not to be dethroned from below; and so, in November 1953, Campbell was able to announce that the sugar producers had agreed to finance the rehousing programme.
Workers were now able to erect their own homes on estate land leased to them for a peppercorn rent; they were lent money on easy, interest-free terms and so were able to build their own homes. Thousands of families were rehoused in this way. In the following years, more progress was made: the home-owners were able to buy the lots they leased at a nominal price of $1 per lot.
New home, painted and finished!
The eradication of malaria and the housing reform, these were the shapers of the post-War generation of sugar workers and their children, primarily Indian-Guyanese people. The reformist vision of Jock Campbell and the unwavering challenge from Cheddi Jagan’s incorruptible, Marxist-inspired mission, were inseparable. The social reforms fed an insatiable appetite for even more reforms; it is a tragedy for all Guyanese that Marxism, in one form or another, won out; that capital was seen as a necessary evil. The English-speaking Caribbean has had no such such parallel, not even Bishop’s Grenada. Clem Seecharan, Sweetening Bitter Sugar
Bookers was eventually nationalized in 1976 and Campbell returned to England, disappointed and disillusioned.
The Booker Prize
As for the Booker Prize: it was Jock alone who created the conditions wihtin the Booker Empire that made it possible. He had always been passionate about the arts, and under his direction Booker supported and even sponsored artists of all kinds.
In her memoir Journey to Guyana the English writer Margaret Bacon describes with obvious awe how such support might work; she recounts the story of a gifted Guianese artist whom Booker decided to send to England on a scholarship. Booker paid his passage, met him at the dock in England, found him and paid for his accommodation, and financed his entire Art studies. It was, she says, typical of Booker benevolence towards artists of all stripes; and Jock was the ultimate force behind the benevolence.
A few years after his return to England he was playing golf with his good friend Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels, who was terminally ill with cancer.
Fleming asked Jock for advice on securing his estate for his family from heavy taxation. Jock initially advised Fleming to turn to accountants and merchant bankers, but then had a new idea: Bookers could act as bankers for Fleming, beneficially for both parties.
As a result, Bookers acquired a 51% share in the profits of Glidmore Productions, the company handling the profits for worldwide royalties on Fleming's books, and the associated merchandising rights.
Out of this acquisition was born the Bookers Author Division, with the injunction:
It should make money, not to mention being entertaining, and there could be advertising interest in it for some of our companies.
Bookers Author Division later acquired the copyrights of other well-known authors, including novelists Agatha Christie, Dennis Wheatley, Georgette Heyer and the playwrights Robert Bolt and Harold Pinter. It was the copyrights of Agatha Christie which, over time, contributed most to the profit of the Author Division.
In the late 1960s the publishers Jonathan Cape suggested that Bookers might sponsor a major fiction prize, and the Booker Prize was launched in 1969. A new sponsor for the prize was announced in April 2002, the Man Group, after which it became known as the Man Booker Prize.
As for the Booker Prize: it was Jock alone who created the conditions wihtin the Booker Empire that made it possible. He had always been passionate about the arts, and under his direction Booker supported and even sponsored artists of all kinds.
In her memoir Journey to Guyana the English writer Margaret Bacon describes with obvious awe how such support might work; she recounts the story of a gifted Guianese artist whom Booker decided to send to England on a scholarship. Booker paid his passage, met him at the dock in England, found him and paid for his accommodation, and financed his entire Art studies. It was, she says, typical of Booker benevolence towards artists of all stripes; and Jock was the ultimate force behind the benevolence.
A few years after his return to England he was playing golf with his good friend Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels, who was terminally ill with cancer.
Fleming asked Jock for advice on securing his estate for his family from heavy taxation. Jock initially advised Fleming to turn to accountants and merchant bankers, but then had a new idea: Bookers could act as bankers for Fleming, beneficially for both parties.
As a result, Bookers acquired a 51% share in the profits of Glidmore Productions, the company handling the profits for worldwide royalties on Fleming's books, and the associated merchandising rights.
Out of this acquisition was born the Bookers Author Division, with the injunction:
It should make money, not to mention being entertaining, and there could be advertising interest in it for some of our companies.
Bookers Author Division later acquired the copyrights of other well-known authors, including novelists Agatha Christie, Dennis Wheatley, Georgette Heyer and the playwrights Robert Bolt and Harold Pinter. It was the copyrights of Agatha Christie which, over time, contributed most to the profit of the Author Division.
In the late 1960s the publishers Jonathan Cape suggested that Bookers might sponsor a major fiction prize, and the Booker Prize was launched in 1969. A new sponsor for the prize was announced in April 2002, the Man Group, after which it became known as the Man Booker Prize.
It would never have happened had it not been for Jock; and so, along with the shortlisted authors and winners, it would not be amiss to remember and honour the giant of a man who made it happen. His philosophy is one that can never go out of date, and is perhaps more relevant than ever in today’s unscrupulous world.
To be Continued... Part 4: The Charisma of Jock Campbell
Part 1: Slavery, James Bond, and an Aristocratic Scottish hero
Part 2: Jock Campbell moves into the Booker Stronghold
Source: Sweetening Bitter Sugar Jock Campbell The Booker Reformer in British Guiana 1934-1966 Ian Randle Publishers 2005
To be Continued... Part 4: The Charisma of Jock Campbell
Part 1: Slavery, James Bond, and an Aristocratic Scottish hero
Part 2: Jock Campbell moves into the Booker Stronghold
Source: Sweetening Bitter Sugar Jock Campbell The Booker Reformer in British Guiana 1934-1966 Ian Randle Publishers 2005
Acknowledgments: all photos reproduced here with kind permission of Clem Seecharan, author, Sweetening Bitter Sugar
See also:
The Making of Demerara Gold
See also:
The Making of Demerara Gold
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