6lO MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS 



fulfilment of labour contracts or favouring such non- 

 fulfilment in any way whatsoever. 



Apart from the above the dissolution of labour con- 

 tracts, in the event of either party failing to observe 

 his obligations, is a question of compensation for costs,, 

 damages and interests. 



C. The Supply of Labour on the Estates in the Nether- 

 land East Indies. 



(i) Introduction. Administrators of estates situated 

 in Java and Madoera, are free to engage labour both 

 in those islands and in the Outer Possessions, on behalf 

 of their estates, without any permission from the 

 Authorities. 



Recruiting in the Outer Possessions for estates situ- 

 ated in Java and Madoera does not occur, as in Java, 

 with its 35,000,000 inhabitants, sufficient labour is always 

 obtainable under certain circumstances, and the local 

 native is preferred as a labourer to all other races. 



Natives of Java, chiefly of Central and West Java, 

 on the other hand are much in demand in the Outer 

 Possessions and elsewhere. The population of the 

 Outer Possessions is sparse and the people not always 

 willing to hire themselves out as labourers, as in most 

 cases, on account of the few people and the compara- 

 tively large extent of arable land available for them, 

 it is easier for them to supply their small wants in other 

 ways. 



Besides recruiting in Java on the basis of the recruit- 

 ing ordinance (see under (2) below) the employers in 

 the Outer Possessions try to keep a full complement of 

 labourers by making re-engagement contracts with the 

 labourers imported from elsewhere, whose labour con- 

 tracts have expired. 



Such men would have the right of repatriation at the 

 expense of the employer to the place where they were 

 recruited : by offering premiums, advances and higher- 

 wages, assurance of a maintenance of the right to a 

 free return and otherwise, it is sought to keep the 

 labourers on the estate. 



