Oriental Despotism 173‘big’ enterprises which employ them. The hydraulic demand is satisfied by adult
peasant males, who continue to reside in their respective villages; whereas the
industrial demand is satisfied by a geographically concentrated labour force.
The bulk of the hydraulic workers are expected to remain peasants, and in
most cases they are mobilized for a relatively short period only – at best for a few
days, at worst for any time that will not destroy their agricultural usefulness. Thus
division of agrohydraulic labour is not accompanied by a corresponding division
of labourers.
The contrast to the labour policy of heavy industry is manifest. Different from
heavy water works, which may be created and maintained during a fraction of the
year, heavy industry operates most effectively when it operates continuously. The
industrial employers prefer to occupy their personnel throughout the year; and with
the growth of the industrial system full-time labour became the rule. Thus division
of industrial labour moves toward a more or less complete division of labourers.
The two sectors are also differently administered. In the main, modern heavy
industry is directed by private owners or managers. The heavy water works of
hydraulic agriculture are directed essentially by the government. The government
also engages in certain other large enterprises, which, in varying combinations,
supplement the agrohydraulic economy proper.
C. Calendar Making and Astronomy – Important
Functions of the Hydraulic Regime
Among the intellectual functions fulfilled by the leaders of agrohydraulic activities,
some are only indirectly connected with the organization of men and material; but
the relation is highly significant nevertheless. Time keeping and calendar making
are essential for the success of all hydraulic economies; and under special condi-
tions special operations of measuring and calculating may be urgently needed.^29
The way in which these tasks are executed affect both the political and the cultural
development of hydraulic society.
To be sure, man is deeply concerned about the swing of the seasons under all
forms of extractive economy and throughout the agrarian world. But in most cases
he is content to determine in a general way when spring or summer begin, when
cold will set in, when rain or snow will fall. In hydraulic civilizations such general
knowledge is insufficient. In areas of full aridity it is crucial to be prepared for the
rise of the rivers whose overflow, properly handled, brings fertility and life and
whose unchecked waters leave death and devastation in their wake. The dykes have
to be repaired in the proper season so that they will hold in times of inundation;
and the canals have to be cleaned so that the moisture will be satisfactorily distrib-
uted. In semi-arid areas receiving a limited or uneven rainfall an accurate calendar
is similarly important. Only when the embankments, canals and reservoirs are
ready and in good condition can the scanty precipitation be fully utilized.