jt;i,y I, iSSj,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTtJRISf, 



i0 



keep awake. It will be inexcusable were the cultivation 

 of this valuable product neglected iu the Philippiues, 

 famed as they are from of old for producing tobauco 

 of the best quality iu the Far East, and \v*l-e the 

 Government aud mercantile community obliged in 

 consequence to have recourse to foreign ports in search 

 of what should be available at home. 



. THE LABOUraNG CLASSES IN BRITAIN AND 



IN CEYLON. 



{By an ex-Ceyhn Cofl'ec Planter.) 



How often do we hear old Indians inveigh against 

 the coolies aud servant boys whom they were ac- 

 customed to have in the East ? Their stealing pro- 

 pensities, their want of gratitude and their general 

 behaviour, are sources of unending conversation for 

 them, and I have oftimes found myself in a woeful ' 

 minority, when I have taken up the cudgels in de- 

 fence of the absent Hindu. It is now my purpose to 

 compare the working classes of Great Britain with 

 those dark-skinned workers of India, and try to prove 

 from my personal knowledge of the two classes, 

 that the latter is the better after all. No doubt, every 

 coQee planter has had his troubles with r''gard to 

 labonr-supply, and the petty jealousies and quarrels 

 which went on amongst his coolies were, doubtless, 

 BOurcea of great annoyance to him : but we all have 

 our little troubles of this kind, in whatever sphere 

 of life we have a part, and the settling of disturbances 

 in the eooly lines or smoothing down of jealous feel- 

 ings are scarcely sufficient cause for a sweeping de- 

 nunciation of a whole class. But it is Iho incorrig- 

 ible wickedness of the Hindu that is always spoken 

 about, and first and foremost of all their vices comes 

 the one of cleptomania, — a vice that is supposed to 

 reign paramount in a coolie's breast. I have known 

 of many cases of coolies having committed theft, aud 

 I have taken evidence down in my judicial capacity, 

 which would have bean counted as conclusive by 

 many, but, when the poor half-starved and shivering 

 creaturis. who as a rule represented the accused, 

 pleaded hunger as a reason for their ciime, I always 

 felt inclined to lean to the si'Ie of mercy. I have 

 be^n ti Id of bungalows being brokfn into and robbed 

 of parchment cotlee taken from stores, aud of many 

 other instances of petty larceny, but I have never 

 had my bungalow or store broken into, aud so I can 

 only speak of tbe.se things from hearsay. The bun- 

 galows of some planters are in a chronic state of 

 being broken into, and it is possible that this m^iy 

 be accounted for by the fact that the planter is not 

 altogether a favourite with his coolies aud they do 

 it for revenge. At one time, the aistrict in which 

 I was residing was visited by a gang of thieves, and 

 one bungalow after another fell a prey to their maraud- 

 ing propensities. I daily expected that it would bo 

 my turn next, but, although I made no difference 

 in the way of watching, I was never interfered with. 

 However, before I had been long away from that 

 estate, I heard that both the bungalow and the store 

 hid been visited by light-fingered gentlemen. This gang, 

 however, — and indeed, I may eay, a very well-organized 

 gang,— of robbers in Ceylon consisted of Sinhalese, 

 whose lazy habits have been so fostered by Govern- 

 ment that they prefer stealing to working, and living 

 in gaol to life in their own villages, for, in gaol, 

 they have better food and a greater selection to 

 chose from than they could possibly have in the 

 villages, 



liobberies that have come to my knowledge, and 

 which had been committed by coolies, have as a 



rule been very trifling and were evidently perpetrated 

 more for the sake of supplying themselves with food 

 than anything else. Their want of gratitude I admit 

 to a certain extent only. They are alw.iys grateful 

 to the hand that supplies them with rice, but, when 

 the donor goes elsewhere, their gratitude is promptly 

 transferred to his successor, and the former " durai " 

 is blotted from their memory so far as gratitude ia 

 concerned. Yet I have met with many coolies who 

 were grateful for any little attention I had bestowed 

 on them during sickness, that I am f:iiu to believe 

 that theirs is a grateful nature if one cau touch tho 

 right chord, and I have never yet known a ooolie return 

 a kind action by an ungrateful one. 



Now compare this with the manners and customs of 

 the working classes in the country at home. As a rule, 

 the lairds aud large farmers are a warm-hearted race, and 

 everready to put their hands in their pockets to relieve 

 their poorer brethren ; in return for this, they are 

 abused in public as well as private, and are spoken 

 of as if they were grinding the working classes under 

 their heels. In Scotland, there is, of course, no such 

 thing as politeness amongst the labourers : they think 

 that rudeness shows a tine, free and independent 

 spirit ; but iu England one does find a trilling display 

 of polish in the manners of the country labourers. 

 As there is an e.^cception to every rule, it would be 

 unjust of me if I neglected to mention that, when 

 travelling in one part of Scotland, in a parish called 

 Huntly in Aberdeenshire, I conversed with every 

 labourer that I chanced to come across, and met only 

 with politeness, and a quiet yet straightforward 

 manuer. I mentioned the fact to a clergyman there, 

 and asked him how he could account for it, and was 

 told that it was all due to the schoolmaster, who 

 was a gentleman and had inculcated his manner into 

 his pupds, and that under the present school-board 

 system the teachers often sprang from the lowest rung 

 of the village ladder, and therefore failed to have 

 and to hold the respect which they were entitled to 

 from their pupils. Whether this is the case or not 

 I am not in a positiou to say, but I give the illustra- 

 tion as I got it. One thing I do know, is that tho child 

 is father to the man, and that both child aud man 

 of the labouring classes here show a want of gratitude 

 aud a total ignorance of the distinction between 

 iiieum and luum that far outstrips the coolies on tho 

 estates of Ceylon. Both boy and man consider that 

 they have a perfect right to go into private plant- 

 ations and steal firewood or \juI1 up young trees for 

 decorating the halls of their Mutual lm|)rovcinent 

 Associations without leave from the proprietors. For 

 the same reason, llowers growing in gardens easy of 

 access are considered as public property, and tho 

 poultry fancier is lucky iudcid who cau bring up 

 chickens or ducklings fur his own table, they gcner.ally 

 being confiscated by lads who, having passed the 

 necessary standards at school, are free to apply their 

 education to such noble ends. In my younger days, 

 taking a turnip out of a field was considered a sin, 

 but we now live in an age, when one's turnips scein 

 to be public property, and when not only is it ap- 

 parently thought to be perfectly legitimate to take 

 turnips to eat, but also to throw them over the 

 dykes for sheep travelling along the road to partake 

 of, these sheep not being the property of the 

 grower of the turnips ! 



My shooting extends to about l,(X)0 acres aud my 

 fishing to about two miles of river frontage, aud, 

 during the season, scarcely a day passes that I do 

 not order poachers ofl' tho river, who kn.>w they 

 are trespassing, and chief among these is our district 

 constable, whose arduous duties seem to consist of 

 poaching on my (idling ground and spooning on 

 the post ollice girl ! Poaching game was much in- 

 dulged in before I came hire, but I liavo an awkwar^! 



