210 THE RUBBER INDUSTRY 



employed at tapping and collecting. For factory work 

 specially intelligent men are selected, but the whole 

 process of the curing and preparation of rubber is so 

 simple that there is seldom any difficulty in connection 

 with the labour employed. Cleanliness is one of the 

 principal factors, and that depends on supervision. 



Health conditions vary very greatly throughout the 

 Malay Peninsula, but the three principal diseases found 

 in more or less degree in all districts are malaria, 

 dysentery, and diarrhoea. The deaths amongst Indian 

 coolies from the former in 1910 numbered 2,597, and 

 from dysentery 1,350, while 683 were due to diarrhoea. 



Sanitary regulations are now enforced by Government 

 ordinance on all estates. Adequate hospital accommo- 

 dation must be provided, with properly qualified medical 

 attendance and supervision, and these hospitals are 

 constantly visited by official medical officers. The 

 cost of the erection and equipment of the estate 

 hospitals is a serious item of expenditure ; but in the 

 case of smaller properties it is not uncommon for an 

 arrangement to be made to contribute to the cost of a 

 joint hospital situated in a central position, and to pay 

 pro rata of the coolies employed to defray the expenses 

 of the resident doctor and the maintenance of the wards. 

 Naturally, planters grumble a good deal at the strict 

 medical inspection practised by the authorities ; but it 

 is obviously necessary to enforce all possible measures 

 for the health of the labourers, both on account of the 

 loss of work occasioned by sickness, and also in order 

 to maintain a good reputation for the Malay planta- 

 tions in the districts of Southern India where the 

 coolies are recruited. 



