THE MALAY PENINSULA 209 



60 cents per day per man, and at this rate arrangements 

 can be made for nearly all classes of estate work, 

 whether tapping, weeding, roading, or draining. Many 

 managers prefer to work with Chinese contractors 

 rather than by daily employment of Tamils or Javanese, 

 and assert that the labour is better and more expedi- 

 tiously accomplished. 



During the last two or three years the demand for 

 coolies has been very great, on account of the large area 

 being opened for new plantations, and this has created 

 a decided tendency towards a rise in the rate of wages. 

 For the present, however, prices appear to have reached 

 as high a scale as they are likely to average for some 

 years to come, unless unexpectedly large additions 

 should be made to the area under cultivation. The 

 satisfactory annual increase in the importation of 

 Tamil labour is an important factor in keeping down 

 the wage rate, especially in regard to the Chinese. If 

 for any reason Tamil immigration should decline, and 

 the estate owners become dependent on Chinamen, 

 there is small doubt that increased wages would result. 



A day's work is nominally nine hours; but the dis- 

 tribution is by task which coolies can finish by 2 p.m., 

 and often at an earlier hour. In the factories, as a rule, 

 work continues until the day's delivery of latex has 

 been put through the machines, and special rates are 

 paid to the men detailed for this purpose. 



The only skilled labour required on an estate is for 

 tapping and factory work. Intelligent coolies learn 

 both very quickly under competent supervision. On a 

 plantation where all trees are yielding latex, at least 

 80 per cent, of the men, women, and children, will be 

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