25 



The Indian starts work at 6 a.m., and works on without a break 

 till 2 or 3 p.m., it depending somewhat upon his task and his inclin- 

 ation to finish it. He always takes some food in the morning 

 before he begins work, but it is not necessarily of good quality. 

 It is often either half-cooked, or what is over from the previous 

 day, in which case it is apt to be sour and fermenting. This is 

 especially the case with the unmarried men ; those who are mar- 

 ried fare better. To obviate this some estates have instituted 

 11 public kitchens " for the Indians, where they can obtain a freshly 

 cooked and hot meal of rice almost at any hour of the day. The 

 man can buy his meal of cooked rice with part of his daily rice 

 ticket, as he previously bought his uncooked rice. By this means 

 they can be sure of getting every morning, without any trouble to 

 themselves, a good wholesome meal, before starting work. They 

 generally also take some food with them into the fields to eat, 

 when they feel inclined to do so. 



This system has been working on Caledonia Estate (in the Pro- 

 vince) for about three years, and is proving more and more of a 

 success. At first there was much difficulty owing to caste preju- 

 dices, but by employing high caste men as cooks and by dividing 

 the eating room into two separate compartments, these difficulties 

 were obviated. It is found that the married man, as well as the 

 unmarried, now comes for his morning meal before starting for 

 work. 



Gula Estate, during the last two months, has started this institu- 

 tion, and the men are beginning to take to it. 



It is also to be instituted on Sungei Gedong Estate as soon as 

 possible, and will, I hope, be with good results. 



On Gula Estate the only men who have free rice ^iven to them 

 are those in hospital and " the convalescent gang" ; the latter used 

 to be fed in the hospital, now they receive their cooked food at the 

 " public kitchen," and the value of their "rice ticket" is not debited 

 to them at the end of the month : it would be absurd to do so, as 

 they are earning no wage. 



The Free Coolies look after themselves much in the same 

 way as the Chinese Laukehs do ; they are paid by results, but of 

 course they can make use of the "public kitchen, " if they please, 

 by paying for their cooked rice, by ticket or by cash. 



On the Irrigation Works it was proposed to provide all 

 Tamils with a cup of hot coffee, free of charge, every morning 

 before going to their work. It was calculated that this could not 

 be done for less than one cent a cup. There has been consider- 

 able difficulty in procuring apparatus large enough to provide 

 coffee on this scale ; and, owing to this difficulty, it has not yet 

 been put into practice. Whether the Tamils would drink it or not 

 is a question that does not seem to have been raised. 



It has since been proposed to give the Tamils a cup of hot rice 

 congee, every morning, before proceeding to their work, free of 

 charge. As can be seen from the above this is no new idea, and 

 is now being, in part, carried out on some estates, 



