1^6 
the: tropical 
AamcULTliRIST. [Aug. 1, 1903. 
ing the coolies for us. We also purchased and sup- 
plied the coolies with rioe, and in many cases even 
started shops on the estates, if the nearest town was 
too tar awHy for tlie coolief! to go there conveni- 
ently for their provision. We alsD let ( li-- coolits 
niidei'tauf) tii;'t, after paying their deli -, if they 
w-mtc'l money, ohey cuild p -; ii, oa easier terms 
frcni us than tliey could from ilieCJheily, who has, 
inconsequence, never piayeW any important par- 
in our dealings with our i ib iur. Even if a kant 
gany wanted advances from a C-iettyi having 
been unable to get them from iiis own master, 
there was little inducem nc for his requeso to be 
granted, more than for sucli an atnouni as the 
Chetty considered was covered by his wages and 
profit? on weeding contracts, for he had absolutely 
no power over his coolies, inasmncli as none of them 
ownl bim money, and would, therefore, be very 
unlikely to do anything for him which did not 
suit themselves. We consider that tnts direct 
dealing with caeh individual cooly is our gieatest 
siiUice of strengih, a- they know exac ly from 
montli lo moutli how tliey stand, and tliat they 
can always be sure of getting absolutely square 
reatment, 
But, of course, it was not very long before we 
found that the establishment of a distinct 
planting etiquette between employers was 
necessary if we were to steer clear of trou- 
ble in the matter of taking on each 
other's coolies, A ccordingly we, in Selangor, entered 
into an agreement which was signed, with one 
exception, by all the planters, that we would 
not engage any coolie whom we knew to have 
been employed by another planter, except with 
his full knowledge and consent ; and, in order tliat 
tlie labour on the other hand might have abso- 
lutely fair play, and never be nnju.stly boy<3otted, 
we also agreed to refer all differences to the 
Committee of the Planters' Association, and to 
abide by their decision. Perhaps I may be per- 
mitted to illustrate what I mean by an example. 
"A" has a gang of coolies who give notice and 
leave him, offering their services to " B," who, 
upon communicating with a "'A," is asked not to 
take them on. " B " considers (hat the coolies 
had good reasons for wishing to leave 
" A," and accordingly lays the whole thing 
before the Planters' Association. Both sides 
state their case and judgment is given. There 
is no ill-will between the disputants, and the 
coolies' interests have been carefully considered 
by a body of men, who, if bias can be suggested at 
all, will obviously be more in favour of coolies 
than of any individual employer, inasmuch as ail 
are, theoretically at any rate, interested in labour 
being fairly tieatecl, and in the country getting 
a good name. I must admit that no case has ever 
come before the P.A. ; but I can also, with entire 
truth add that complaints on this score are now 
almost unknown, whereas, before we ariived at 
this entente cordiale, the air was full of trouble, 
the basis ot ali di.-putes being that, as long as a 
cooly had been paid ofFaffcer giving the orihodox 
notice, he was entitled to be employed wherever he 
chose to go. Happily we were a small community, 
and this desirabe understanding was easily 
arrived at. I am far from suggesting that 
what is possible to us is possible in Ceylon, but, 
now that an attempt to alter the old kangany 
system has been seriously mooted, 1 would 
submit that the first move in the direction of 
reform might well be the debiting of each indi- 
vidual coolie with own coast advance — an easy 
enough step, I should imasine, in the case of new 
recruits from the Coast. Rama.=amy is much the 
same soi r ..f individual, 1 fancy, wherever he is, 
anil I can oonfitieiuly state that our experience 
with him liere goes far to show that, left to him- 
seif, he is most a ixious to p ly off his debt, and 
achieve the proud position of having " a balance 
in the hank" ! It is one of the terms on which 
our licenses to recruit in India are issued, that 
we are not to compt-1 a coolie to repay more of 
his det)t than ^faOe. per ineiisem, yet,' over and 
over again, my men, entirely of their own accord, 
have handed me sums largely in excess ot that 
amount, .'-ometimes even as much as $5. 
From this I julge that the condition of 
indebtedness is not acceptable to the in- 
dividual coolie, especially when newly re- 
cruited, and I firmly believe that, were it 
pn^-sible in Ct ylon to distribute your lump advances 
over the individuals in a gang of coolies, re- 
payment wou'd be not only mote rapid, but there 
would be far less inclination on the part of your 
labour to move from place to place, and these 
two features would be a considerable set-off to the 
probably heavy debt against the kangany himself, 
after his coolies' liabilities had been deducted from 
the gross amount. As I understand the law as 
affecting labour in Ceylon, it is on all fours with 
our legislation, in that no one individual can 
give notice for another. Take over the coolies' 
debts, and all obligations to follow their kanganies' 
fortunes at once disi|)pear9, as instancing the 
rapidity with which advances are recovered in 
this country, I would quote the case of the Bukifc 
Rajah estate, the property of the Anglo-Ceylon 
and Genei al Estates ' o.,Ltd., who are well-known 
in Ceylon. During the la^t four years some .300 
coolies have been imported direct from the Co.ast, 
and the advance account at I lie end of M.ircli 
stood at $76 lOe., with h force of 191 Tamil coolies, 
eaci* of whom has had to payoff from $16 to $20, 
for in the case of free labour, all Coast advances 
are recovered from the coolies. 
To touch for a moment upon the subject of 
indentures. I sincerely hope that Ceylon will 
think twice before attempting to adopt this system, 
for, even the sugar-planters over here are aband- 
oning it as far as they are able to do so. It is 
the reverse of acceptable to the cooly, and only 
recommends itself to the employer on the score 
that the law helps him to retain the services of 
his labourers for a fixed period of time, in return 
tor expenditure incurred in bringing the coolies ' 
over, which is not recoverable from them, and 
also to recoup him for the cost of erecting hospitals 
and so forth which the law compels him to do. 
I believe I am correct in stating that the Govern- 
ment intend to import none, Ini: indeniurpu labour 
for the future. That, is be • ,.nse i hey have no 
source frcUi which t o draw irnstwortny r-'c niting 
kannaiiies for one thing, and also, in my humble 
opinion, because -scarcely a Government servant 
can speak Tamil, overseers acting as interpreters, 
not always to the satisfaction of the coolie, who, 
for this and o her reasons— such as liability to 
be constantly moved from one place to another — 
rarely settles down as he does on au estate, and 
is apt to abscond or give a month's notice and 
leave, when a free agent. But there is a growing 
feeling all over the country that, if our labouy 
