i2 4 RUBBER AND 



Southern India. Indeed, the drain of coolies from 

 favoured districts in South India has recently been so 

 great that the local planters are finding a difficulty in 

 supplying their own needs, and there is a tendency to 

 place obstacles in the way of further emigration. Large 

 areas still exist, however, which have not yet been 

 exploited by the labour agencies, and a good deal can 

 probably still be done in this direction. 



The number of labourers employed on estates of all 

 kinds in the Federated Malay States in 1910 was 

 approximately as follows : 



TABLE XXVII 

 Labourers on Rubber Estates in Malaya in 1910. 



Tamils 99,000 



Chinese 46,000 



Javanese 18,000 



Malays 14,000 



Others 2,000 



Total 179,000 



The great majority of the above were at work on rubber 

 estates. 



The number of Indian Tamils in Ceylon is probably 

 nearly half a million, of whom perhaps a quarter are 

 employed in the rubber planting industry. Every year 

 a considerable proportion of these labourers returns to 

 India by way of Tuticorin. The Manaar Railway is 

 expected to be open next year, when the Tuticorin route 

 will be little used. This increased facility will probably 

 increase the flow of immigration. 



