July 2, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



75 



JIAUEITIUS: THE SUGAR COLO^^Y : 



ITS LABOUR DIFFICULTIES. 



Oiu- means of intercourse with the sugar island of 

 the east ai-e so defective that reports of Mr. Napier 

 Broome's farewell speech to the Legislature of that 

 colony and of his assumption of the Government of 

 Western Australia have reached us almost simultaneously. 

 As far as public revenues go and theii- proportion to 

 expenditm-e, a greater contrast to the present condition 

 of Ceylon there could not be than that which Jlauiitius, 

 acconliug to Lieut-Governor Broome, presents. .\nd 

 yet, only half-a-dozen years ago, the contrast was en- 

 tirely in favour of Ceylon. Such are the vicissitudes 

 of tropical colonies, and, as the pendulum swings to 

 and fro, it may be our turn soon to have an iuuiugs 

 of renewed prosperity. Not that all is couleur de rose 

 with our neighbours. The labom- difficulty had reached 

 such a crisis that one of the highest officers of Govern- 

 ment had been deputed to go to India to obtain a 

 force of at least 3,0' labom-ers. It seems that for 

 thj-ee years none had been received, although they had 

 been indented for. Indeed the contention of the C'om- 

 mfrcial Gazette is that no fresh laboui- is needed, pro- 

 vided laws were passed or enforced which would render 

 available the enoi-mous supply of Indian coolies ah-eady 

 in the island. The object to be gained by introducing 

 fresh labour is .avowedly that of coercing the coolies 

 aheady in the island to work for what the planters 

 deem fan- wages. But it seems the wages difficulty is 

 not the only one. In is asserted that on estates coolies 

 are so won-ied by the working of sanitary laws meant 

 for then' good, such as compelling them (can it possibly 

 be done?) to use latiines, that they prefer to crowd 

 into their own dirty ^dUages, whither, it is complained, 

 the sanitary officers and the much abominated (more 

 abominated than dirt and disease) sanitaiy laws do not, 

 so the planters and the press complain, foUow them. 

 It is loudly demanded that sanitary and vagi'ancy laws 

 be sti-ingently enforced, and we have no doubt that 

 there is room for the enforcement of such laws, ^^^lat 

 the planters really want, however, is a law to compel 

 Indian cooUes to renew their engagements to labour on 

 sugar estates or to leave the colouy, and^this is just 

 the sort of law which the Colonial Office authorities 

 are not likely to sauction, whether demanded by .Maiu-- 

 itius or the Governments of Queensland and South 

 Australia. On the other hand it is neither good for 

 Mamitius nor for the Indian coohes themselves that the 

 lattei' should be allowed to agglomerate in filthy aggreg- 

 ations of abodes and there squat iu idleness and vice. 

 What has happened in Maiuitius is just what the white 

 Australian settlers object to and never would tolerate ; 

 while we do not suppose the IniUan Government would 

 sanction the emigration of then- labom-ing classes any 

 where, where they would not be allowed to settle if 

 they chose in order to better themselves after the 

 period of then- engagement to labour had expu'ed, as is 

 the case in Maiuitius British Guiana, &c. A paper 

 on the labour question drawn up by not a French but 

 a Scotch colonist, Mr. J. W. Shand, has been so landed 

 by the press and is so generally understood to have 

 guided the decision of the Government to send the 

 Acting Colonial Secretary to India, that we must quote 

 portions of it : — 



" I think it is admitted on all sides that the Labour 

 question has reached a stage wheu it will have to be 

 gr&ppled with immediately and energetically. Other- 

 wise tlie coming crop will not be got iu or at any rate if 

 thi? is done, the cost will have beeu so gri'at that expt-n.?- 

 es will barely be c'lvered. Tbe surplus of profit which 

 ougbo to belaid up at the end of this favorable s^aaon 

 to meet luturc bad yeais will not be realized, and the 

 monetary result will be about the same as if the island 



had suffered from a hurricane, which has not been the 

 case. 



"The remedy for this state of affairs is entirely in the 

 hands of Governmeut, and not of the planters as I wiU 

 show furtlieroM, but before going so far it may be worth 

 while examining the causes that have led totheiiuposs- 

 ibility of priicurmga fix'd steady supply of labor on 

 estates at a reasonable price. 



" The chief reason is that hy the action of Government, 

 life upon a sugar estate his been rendered souubeirable 

 to Indians, that they leave them to escape the numer- 

 ous pains and penalties they are liable to. 



"ExBter-H.iU people little know the enormous amount 

 of vexatiOH coolies are exposed to by Government whiht 

 engaged on Sugar estates, and they still further know 

 less how callous Government is to the welfare of these 

 same people as soon as they leave an estate. In the 

 Indian villages, the state of filth and ag^loineration of 

 men, women, children and animals is 3 raply appalling, 

 and yet Government does nothing to prevent it. 



"On estates, the people are bound to keep the ground 

 around their huts clear, to use latrines, to go to hospital, 

 to keep their animals far anay fiom their huts — these 

 huts have to be built of certain dimensions — whilst in 

 Indian villages, none of these regulations exi-t, or if 

 they do, they are not acted upon. If they are necessary 

 on estates, why should they not be also necessary in 

 these Indian villages ? What is the result ? The Indian 

 naturally prefers living where there are no restrictions, 

 so he leaves the estates and leases together with half a 

 dozen of his friends ^ acre close by and becomes a day 

 labourer with no one to worry him, and with his anim- 

 als, etc., under tbe same roof as himself. He is there 

 perfectly happy iu good years. No law can compel 

 him to work. He makes sufficient money in two or 

 three days to keep himself the rest of the week. If he 

 fulls ill he goes to some government hospital and is 

 treated gratuitously as a pauper. The men engaged on 

 estates, seeing this, object to reengage, which means 

 submitting themselves 10 being harassed and worried 

 by Government. Planters do not even expect Govern- 

 meut to try and ir.duce men to reengage. All they a»k 

 is that their men should not he driven oft' the cttates. 

 It is only when some deadly epidemic will have broken 

 out, which God forbid, and the people in the Indian 

 villages will be dying off by thousands for want of 

 medical care, etc , it is only then that Government will 

 be alive to the fatal mistake they have made in nnt doing 

 all they could to induce the labouring population to 

 settle down on the Sugar estati'S, where tine h spitaU 

 esist with a medical man antJ a trained staff of attend- 

 ants, but it will be too late and the deaths of thousands 

 of poor coolies will be caused by the want of foresight of 

 Government. Let 'he authorities think over this well. 



"Another serious aspect of the labour question is 

 the enormous amount of illegal absence on estates. 

 With a nominal list of 500 to 600 names, there are 

 often only 2U0 at work. Government is again solely 

 to blame for this. Planters have no rii/kt to examine 

 the status of laborers applying for work. If one does 

 the Indian goes to some other one who does not, 

 and the consequence is that many men engaged on 

 estates where they have a house, gardeu, etc. and the 

 use of the hospital, medicines, etc., desert the estate 

 and go and woik as day laliorers on some neigh- 

 bouring property. If Government would only enact 

 that all employers of day laborers are bound to regis- 

 ter the names and numbers of the men employed, 

 much illegal absence would cease. Punishment for it, 

 ia not nearly severe enough. Prison life and labour 

 as it is has no terror for the Indian. He laughs at the 

 notion of a month's imprisonment. 



"In Natal every coolie is bound under a penalty of 

 14 da>s' imprisonment to carry always abiut with 

 him a certificate 01 discharge or a permit signed by 

 bis master, which can be examined by almost any 



