i6o 



Settlements did me the honour in 1904 of despatching me on a com- 

 mission of inquiry to the neighbouring Dutch Dependency, Java. 

 The result of my investigations there was the discovery that close 

 at hand we had an amazingly densely populated country, with over 

 32,000,000 inhabitants, and an annual increase in their number of 

 600,000. I found the Dutch authorities most disposed to eye with 

 favour the idea of their people coming to the Federated Malay 

 States, and recruiting agents there gave me letters, which I still 

 hold, guaranteeing to supply me with practically as many coolies 

 as I could possibly want. Now there are several thousands of these 

 Javanese who have been imported, more especially on sugar estates, 

 doing well, and giving every possible satisfaction to their employers. 

 The drawback of this labour to the "free" labour planter, as all, 

 or almost all, rubber planters are, is that the. Dutch Government 

 insists upon indentures, believing that what the Liberal party desig- 

 nates "slavery," is the best method of securing protection for their 

 people when in a foreign country. Now, we like all our coolies 

 to be free to go and come as they choose, subject to the discharge 

 of their financial obligations, and to a month's notice of their 

 intention to leave us and go elsewhere. It is apparent, therefore, 

 that the objection to the importation of Javanese is purely technical, 

 and does not in any way affect the contention that in this quarter 

 lies our insurance against a labour famine. I may add that there 

 are in the Federated Malay States large numbers of agricultural 

 Chinese who are employed on many estates for road construction, 

 earth shifting, etc. It is my opinion that the failure of the average 

 planter to appreciate the Chinaman as an estate coolie is due 

 largely to the fact that we cannot speak his language, and therefore 

 cannot get the best results out of him. When serving under inden- 

 tures as a mining coolie, paid in proportion to the amount of tin 

 or gold, or whatever it may be, that he brings in, this objection at 

 once disappears, and the Chinaman is indeed hard to beat. 



With all these considerations before me, I state deliberately that 

 I know of no country dependent for its supply in any degree upon 

 imported labour so favourably situated as the Malay Peninsula, and 

 I cannot foresee the possibility of a scarcity of agricultural labour, 

 even in the very remote future, with Java willing to help us and 

 boasting a population far in excess of her needs. Given too, that 

 Sumatra is rapidly opened up entirely by Javanese, there would still 

 be lots of labour to spare for us. 



There are two further considerations which must not be over- 

 looked. The first of these is the existence of a very strong etiquette 

 amongst the planters regarding the employment of each other's coo- 

 lies, and this causes them to go to the trouble of themselves import- 

 ing all their requirements. The other factor is the cordial and liberal 

 assistance and sympathy of a rich Government, It would take too 

 long to state here all that the Government have done, are doing, 

 and will do, to help in the development of the country, but espe- 

 cially in connection with the labour question, the liberality and 

 sympathy of the official attitude has been beyond all praise. 



