t54 



however good be the season's fishery. Particularly harsh is the 

 deduction of 25 per cent for boat hire and " bonus ". The absence 

 of written agreements and of receip'is for moneys paid, etc., play into 

 the hands of unscrupulous Sammattis and there is no doubt whatever 

 that the divers were (and still are in large degree) the debt-bound 

 slaves of the boatowners. 



34. This system seemed so pernicious that, as soon as I under- 

 stood it, I resolved to break it up so far as India is concerned in the 

 interest of the divers themselves. Hence my negotiations, so far as 

 possible, were with the individual divers, and when their confidence 

 was at last gained, they have been eager to co-operate. At the last 

 Rameswaram fishery, the Sammatti system has been almost entirely 

 eliminated ; the Sammatti has had to content himself with reasonable 

 hire for his boat and now he gets no perquisites of any sort. As the 

 divers require money-advances for the support of their families when 

 leaving home, these have to be given, but a small pass-book is handed 

 to each man in which the original advance is entered and in which 

 all subsequent repayments have to be noted. No further advance is 

 given except a small weekly sum of As. 14, per head, till the total 

 sum is recouped. When this is done, the diver at once receives 

 daily payment in full for all his catch. He is left to settle independ- 

 ently with the boatowner whose boat he uses for its daily hire. As 

 a consequence, local boats are largely employed as these can usually 

 be had at a cheaper rate than those belonging to the Kilakarai 

 Sammattis. 



35. So beneficial has this reform been that the divers would like 

 to see it extended to their Ceylon work, and many have been their 

 requests that Government would take up chank-fishing in Ceylon 

 waters, in order that the pernicious Sammatti system may be extin- 

 guished in its entirety. Unfortunately a considerable number of 

 divers are so deeply indebted to the Sammattis, that they were 

 prevented by the latter from working for Government this year, and 

 it will be difficult to devise methods to liberate those men from their 

 bondage. 



36. Even more hard is the position of many net fishermen on the 

 Ramnad coast. These men are almost entirely in the hands of fish- 

 dealers who by this pernicious system of cash advances hold the men 

 in practical slavery and impose such exceedingly hard terms upon 

 them that their life is mere existence and a continual struggle to keep 

 from starvation. For the advances given, the fish-dealers take 25 per 

 cent of the men's total catches zvitkouf afiy payment or credit wliatever, 

 and purchase the remaining 75 per cent at low prices fixed by them- 

 selves (the dealers). Even for this balance only a little cash passes, 

 as the bulk of the value is booked against the debt and interest thereon. 

 Frequently too, the dealer requires the fisherman to buy his rice and 

 salt from him at prices considerably above those ruling in the bazar. 

 To the problem of how to ameliorate the hard lot of these fishermen 

 I am now paying attention and I have hopes that it may be possible 

 to render them assistance by means of local co-operative credit 

 societies. I have already selected a fishing village on the Rames- 

 waram coast where the conditions are somewhat favourable and 



