486 



Total Contributions:— 



Colony 

 Perak 

 Selangor 

 Negri Sembilan 

 Pahang 



Railway Department 



8,050 

 21,600 

 29,600 

 6,700 

 1,000 

 9,050 



$76,000 



I calculate that during the first quarter about $38,000 has been 

 paid towards the importation of labour by employers who previously did 

 not pay anything. Practically the whole of the labour imported with 

 free tickets paid for by the Fund has gone to estates, and the larger 

 portion of it to Selangor. 



Mr. C. L. Gibson asked for some indication of the lines on which 

 the rebate would be given, and pointed out that if they were going to 

 go back as far as 1905 the rebate in each individual case would be a 

 mere driblet. 



Mr. Clayton said that the original idea had been to give a rebate 

 retrospectively for one year only, but that it had been pointed out that 

 it would be better to give the Immigration Committee a free hand. As 

 soon as the Committee got the full figures, they would have to devise 

 the best means of granting a rebate, and at the same time rule out 

 those who in the past had depended exclusively on locally recruited 

 labour. His department had kept records of all Immigrants who had 

 come over since 1905 and also, separately, the number of those who 

 had come over on state-aided tickets. 



If the surplus was not large, the rebate would be taken on the 

 basis of one previous year only ; if large enough, on the basis of the 

 three previous years. 



Mr. C. L. Gibson enquired what the liability of the employer 

 would be under the new definition of the term ; more particularly 

 whether a Manager would be entitled to deduct any cess which the 

 contractor might incur before paying the amount of the contract due 

 to the contractor. 



Mr. Clayton stated that such procedure would be perfectly legal. 

 He would however suggest that a proviso to that effect be added to any 

 contract about to be made. 



Mr. Lake was afraid that one planter might slur over this liability, 

 whilst another would be more conscientious, with the result that the 

 latter might find difficulty in getting contractors to work for him. 



Mr. Browell thought that the word "contractor" wanted defining. 



Mr. Parkinson came back to the point originally raised, viz., that 

 the rebates should be based on the number of coolies imported, not on 

 the number of coolies on which cess had been paid. 



Mr. Skinner still thought the best plan would be to approve of the 

 Bill as it stood, and to reconsider same as soon as the accounts for 

 the whole of 1908 were available. 



