Aug. L 1903, J 
THE TROPICAL AGPJCULTURIST. 
131 
conneccion with India is to be on a sounil liasis, 
coolies must be free to come a;idi,'o, within reason, 
and I cannot but think that ^reat trouble would 
arise in Ceylon if such an apparently retro- 
grade move as that suggested were to be m ide, 
I do not wish it to be inferred froin anything:,' 
that 1 have said in thii letter, that we have 
snfficie it labour ourselves, for evea in this one 
btate we could do with 50 per cent mare coolies 
than we have, and there is no doubt that the 
question of recruiting is in tlie near future going 
to assume very serious proportions ; but, having 
once got our coolies, we find that the system 
which I have endeavoured to d'isci iba appears to 
suit them well enough, and that in itself is a 
matter for congratulation. 
Apologising for the length of this letter. I anj, 
dear sir, yours, faithfully, K V CARliY. 
Klang, Selangor, F M S, May 9th, 1903. 
The Chairman, C.P.A., Kookvvood, Hewahefca, 
Ceylon, 
Dear Sir,— I have to thank you for your letter 
of llth inst. , and will now endeavour to explain 
such points as I failed to make cle ir in my last. 
I may add that I have not the slightest objec- 
tion to your publishing either or both of my letters 
in the Ceylon papers, if you think that any use- 
ful purpose will be served thereby, You ask 
me how men with a poor labour force or useless 
kanganies are to get labour honestly, To this I 
would reply that in every collection of coolies, 
however poor as a body, there must be several 
individuals who stand out from the others, as 
being useful and reliable men. 1 do not think 
that time should be wasted in hunting up good 
kangauies, but would suggest that such coolies 
as I have referred to might v/ell be entrusted 
with the work of recruiting the requisite fresh 
labour. The collection of coolies in India is not 
a very complicated matter, and the inducement 
to an intelligent and enterpdsing cooly of be- 
coming a kangany would be in most ca~es a snffi- 
cient set-off for want of experience in recruiting. 
Over here if a man is opening a now place and 
has no labour connection at all, it is usually pos- 
sible for him to get from a neighbour a cooly 
or two, with whom to make a start, and whom 
he can send to India to bring others over. It is 
in this way that our labour connections have, 
almost invariably, been built up out here, for, 
with the exceptions of Mr. Hill, Mr. Bailey and 
the late Sir Grteme Elphinsione, some of whose old 
Ceylon kanganies, I believe, followed them to this 
country, we none of us had any nucleus upon 
which to set to work. All our kanganies, there- 
fore, are coolies tliat have been promoted to their 
present positions, and speaking from ray owu per- 
sonal experience, I can testify that- they are on 
the whole a very satisfactory lot of men, far 
easier to handle than those who have been to the 
manner born ! From what 1 have written so far, 
you will gather that I am not personally in favour 
of planters going over to India themselves to 
recruit their coolies, I tried it myself many years 
ago, and though the result of my visit was on the 
whole satisfactory, and has been a useful experi- 
ence to me since, stiil I do not think that 1 w,as able 
to do very much more than any men would have 
been competent todo without me; and in the Puthu 
Kotah country, my nationality was actually afraiSisi 
me, as the Chetties got it into their he.tds 
17 
that I was a police agent, and ilio reception 
accorded to me was anytliing but encouraging. At 
the same time, I do not think that the straight 
dealings of the white man are understood and 
appreciated, even in the most out-of-the way 
vill.iges, and that when any particu'ar individual 
Ijecomes known to the natives as i, bona-fide 
recruiter, ho will meet with no smai; measure of 
success. 
The employers of free labour over here have 
nothing more in the shape of an agreement with 
tiieir coolies than the obligation to work for a 
month and the giving of a month'w notice, or the 
paym nt of a month's wages in lieu of notice, when 
the coolie desires to leave. The employer i-; 
hound by law to end his coolie's engagement 
in the same way, when and if he desires to get 
rid of him. Any attempt on the part of the 
coolie to sever his connection with his em- 
ployer, exrept as described above, carries with it 
criminal liability, but he may repudiate his debt at 
anytime, and the employer has only a civil re.medy, 
which i.«, of coarse, of very little value. In actual 
practice, however, we find it an almost unknown 
thing for a coolie to demand his discharge, without 
at tlie same time paying ap what he owo.s. Tt 
is contrary to his sense of " naiam," and lie 
receives no support from his fellow coolies. 
Then, again, there is a distinct understanding, 
which I would not, however, say has the force 
of law, between the employer and his kangauie«, 
that the latter are responsible for their coolies' 
presence on the estate, and. also for their advances. 
The kangany gets higher wages, pence money, 
and weeding contracts for taking this liability 
upon himself, and they never complain when 
they hiive to pay up for bolters. At least 
such is my experience. Of cour.-^e, in an un- 
healthy or otherwise unpopular locality, this 
.sys'Cra might not work ; but, even then, it could, 
I fancy, be settled by e.^tra remuneration to 
the kangany for extra risk incurred. 
I regret that I am unable to give you com- 
parative statistics as to the nuoiber of free 
and indentured coolies imported into the 
Straits Settlements and Native States, but have 
referred the matter to the Protector of Labour, 
F.M S., who will no doubt communicate 
with you on the subject. It is part of tlie 
Government programme, I believe, that in future 
only indentured immigrants are to be imported for 
their own works, but among iill classes of planteis 
it is strongly felt that the more free ''oolies we can 
get the better it will be for the count y. Amongst 
the sugar planters, it is true, large number of in- 
dentured coolies are employed, but I have been 
told by many of the most influential of them, that 
they would gladly work with free labour only if 
they could get sutficient coolies. The trouble with 
them is that they do not tlioroughly understand 
the free system, and are more or les^J dependent 
upon the recruiters of indentured labour in India 
for their supply. 
If there is anything more that I can tell yon, 
plea-e regard me as alwiys at your service. — I am, 
dea>- sir, yours truly, ' E. V. C.-\KEY. 
Klang, Selanftor, F. VI, 8., June 29th, 1903. 
P. »9.— I trust that ynu will un-kistand that I 
am not writing in any rep os; i-ative capacity, but 
am merely giving you my own experience and 
ideas, for what they are wonh. — S. V, C, 
