and Magazine of the 

 RUBBER IN MALAYA. 



MR. L. W. B. DAVIDSON ON HIS VISIT. 



THE NECESSITY FOR STOPPING FURTHER RUBBER 

 EXTENSIONS. 



COST OF LABOUR AND OF WEEDING. 



COST OF PRODUCTION OF RUBBER F. O. B. IN 

 MALAYA AND CEYLON. 



Mr. L. F. W. B. Davidson, the well-known 

 planting proprietor and V. A., returned from 

 the F. M. S. yesterday by the P. & O. 

 " Peninsular," after a visit to some of the 

 leading rubber districts in the Federated 

 Malay States. In conversation with an Observer 

 representative today Mr. Davidson, in reply 

 to questions, said :— 



"The conclusion I have come to generally 

 about rubber is that if men do not stop ex- 

 tensions, they will run up against a bad snag 

 in the shape of shortage of labour. They are 

 opening and developing rubber land in the 

 Straits right from Penang to Johore ; and 

 the very fact that in a lot of South Indian 

 estates they have already had to raise the 

 price of Tamil labour from 20 to 30 per cent 

 satisfies me that, unless some limitation of 

 the cultivation of rubber is brought about, 

 there will be a serious shortage of labour 

 within the next few years. You will recollect 

 this is one of the dangers I pointed out in 

 my articles in Public Opinion when I gave 

 figures supporting my statements, and I am 

 satisfied now there will not be labour avail- 

 able at reasonable wages to undertake the 

 cultivation of any more rubber than is at pre- 

 sent planted, and the going on with further 

 extensions with a rush is an absolutely suicidal 

 policy on thisaccount alone. Besides it seems 

 to me an unwise thing for a man to go on 

 opening large areas of new land, which always 

 involve an element of uncertainty, no matter 

 how careful the selection is made, when today 

 rubber shares in first-class young Companies 

 can be bought at about par and in some cases 

 even under par. It seems to me it would be far 

 wiser for people to invest in these shares where 

 the element of risk is to a considerable extent 

 diminished than to go on clearing land with the 

 certainty in doing so of helping to kill the goose 

 that lays the golden eggs. There are a large 

 number of first-claBs shares available at lower 

 prices than land can be opened for today— for 



m Agricultural Society. 189 



instance Weygangas in Ceylon and Langat 

 Rivers in the Straits — and these are only sam- 

 ples of a large class which the intending in- 

 vestor could put his money in." 



The Labour Position. 



" How did you find the position of labour ? " 



"I cannot speak too strongly on the labour 

 position — and I can speak with some authority 

 because at one time, as you know, I had about 

 40,000 coolies working under me, and I have just 

 been rightthrough the labour districts of South 

 India and on to the Straits. Chinese coolies in the 

 Strait6, although hard-working on contract work 

 raquire to make 40 to 60 dollar cents a day, ac- 

 cording to the position of the estate, which is 

 an average of about 70 to 85 cents to a rupee 

 Ceylon money, and now the planter before 

 he will willingly pay this will increase the 

 wages of his Tamil coolies, and, if this clear- 

 ing of land continues, the profits from the 

 rubber industry will be diminished consider- 

 ably through the cost of labour. Javanese coolies 

 are certainly very good ; but they cost 60 dollars 

 a head to import or roughly R95, only half 

 of which is recoverable ; and if the cooly dies 

 or bolts the whole thing will be lost. I went 

 into the question of importing these Javanese 

 on a largo estate with which I am connected, 

 and it was decided that the cost was too 

 high and the risk too great. 



The New Labour Ordinance. 



"How is the new Labour Ordinance working ?" 



"I had the advantage of fully discussing 

 the new Labour Ordinance in the Straits with 

 the Hon. Mr. John Turner and Mr. R. W. 

 Harrison, — two out of three of the unofficial 

 members of the Committee which suggested 

 it to Government. In my own case the effect 

 of the Ordinance will, to begin with, be very 

 severe because in the two estates with which 

 I am principally connected we spent a very 

 large sum of money in improving the health 

 conditions cf the property and establishing 

 the labour force. I think some notes of what was 

 done on Seafield will be useful information 

 to my fellow-planters. When the property 

 belonged to me at its early stages 



The Sickness was Appalling 

 and the outturn of coolies very small. 

 I instructed the Manager to spare no money 

 in the proper treatment of the coolies ; 

 and he engaged the services of Dr. Watson of 

 Klang. The results have certainly been wonder- 

 ful. We drained all the swamps and in some 

 cases it cost us £50 an acre. Before the swamps 

 were drained Dr. Watson used to take a] pan of 



