THE LABOR PROBLEM LN THE TROPICS. 485 



Government in 1834 that four years later slavery would be entirely 

 abolished throughout the British Empire, he foresaw at once that 

 unless a new source of labor was thrown open a very short time would 

 elapse before the cane fields would fall out of cultivation. He lis- 

 tened, not without some irritation, to the assurances of the agents of 

 the Antislavery Society that as soon as the slaves were freed they 

 would work with redoubled energy, and that the labor supply, in- 

 stead of deteriorating, would, in fact, improve. The planters knew 

 better, and began at once to arrange for the importation of contract 

 labor. With the year 1834 began the period of apprenticeship for 

 the slaves, prior to their complete emancipation four years later. 



During this time, and before the imported labor sufficed for the 

 needs of the plantations, several estates were ruined and fell out of 

 cultivation because the apprenticed laborers would not work. 



On October 11, 1838, the governor of the colony, Henry Light, 

 Esquire, issued a proclamation to the freed slaves. The proclamation 

 stated that the governor had learned with regret that the labor of 

 the freed slaves was irregular; that their masters could not depend on 

 them; that they worked one day and idled the next; that when they 

 had earned enough to fill their bellies they lay down to sleep or 

 idled away their time ; that they left their tasks unfinished, and then 

 expected to be paid in full for them. 



In the meanwhile the planters imported labor from the "West 

 Indian Islands, Malta, Madeira, China, and Germany; and eventu- 

 ally the system of immigration from India was organized. 



The system is under the control of the Indian Council in Cal- 

 cutta on the one hand and the British Guiana Government and the 

 Colonial Office on the other. In Georgetown, the capital of the 

 colony, is the immigration department, under the management of 

 the immigration agent general, who has under him a staff of in- 

 spectors, subagents, clerks, and interpreters, all of whom must speak 

 at least one Indian dialect. In Calcutta resides the emigration agent 

 general, also an official of the British Guiana Government, who has 

 under him a staff of medical officers, recruiting agents, and clerks. 



Each year the planters of British Guiana send in requisitions to 

 the immigration department stating the number of immigrants re- 

 quired for the following year. These requisitions are examined by 

 the agent general, and if, in his opinion, any estate demands more 

 coolies than the extent of its cultivation justifies, the number is re- 

 duced. As soon as the full number is deeided on, the agent in Cal- 

 cutta is informed, and the process of recruiting commences. The 

 laborers are secured entirely by voluntary enlistment. The recruit- 

 ing agents go about the country and explain the terms offered by the 

 British Guiana planters, and those men and women who express their 



