466 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTDRIST. I-Tan. 1, 1904. 
Hon were lodged in tlie depot to await shipmeut. 
Tlie Biilisli Consul, who is also the protector of 
emigrants for the ports of Pondicherry and 
Kariikal, was invited to hold a survey on such 
of the emigrants who claimed to be ^Bri- 
tish subjects, and to satisfy himself that tliey 
were proceeding to Madagascar entirely of their 
own , accord. This was all very right and proper, 
and the "cargoes" were landed at Tamatave all in 
gopd health and condition. But unfortunately 
for the poor coolies, there were practically r o 
suitable arrangements prepared for their reception 
or future disposal: no figanised medical staff; 
no commissariat ; no proper camp and no adequate 
or intelligent supervision or direction ; the pro- 
visions provided were totally insufficient, the 
duality inferior and objectionable and not suited 
for newly arrived Foreign emigrants. The whole 
business was, indeed, a helpless and shameless 
muddle, brought about by sheer neglect and 
Svatit of care and foresight. It is not to be 
wondered at that the scheme failed and that 
Indian Cooly Emigration to Madagascar naturally 
died out : but the result of this ill-starred enter- 
prise should be a wholesome warning to Govern- 
ments, contractors and others engaged or con- 
cerned in trading with Foreign cooly labourers. 
Of the one-thousand emigrants landed at Tamatave 
about one-third are said to have died in the 
country, another third returned to India, and the 
remainder are supposed to be working out their 
time. The Madagascar Government will, of course, 
have' to foot up the bill of costs, but the con 
tractor — who happens to be a man of means, 
has been fined in the sum of lOO/lOO francs 
—for neglect: the case is under appeal. This 
Madagascar afifair is brought prominently to the 
front for the reason that it is quite a recent occur- 
rence and with a view that while entrusting 
British Indian emigrants to French officials and 
employers, positive and stringent provisions should 
be made to guarantee beyond the question of a 
doubt, their absolute freedom from oppression and 
injustice. The contractors should be required to 
give valid security— guaranteed by the local 
Government, for the due and faithful performance 
of their contracts with the coolies. The promoters 
of the new scheme are sanguine of obtaining a 
modification of the late Convention proposed by 
the Government of India : it is rumoured that 
several leading English Statesmen have promised 
to support the French planters' appeal and certainly 
Messieurs Hebrard and Guyot deserve recognition 
for their plucky advocjacy of the British cause when 
nearly every other paper on the Continent was 
doing its best to bring odium upon the English 
nation. It is moreover said that Monsieur Yves 
auyot is a personal friend of Mr Chamberlain— 
not a bad omen— perhaps, true? That a concession 
in the present case would be appreciated— not 
only by the whole island of Bourbon, but equally 
so by the French Government and a strong sec- 
tion of the entire Fiench people, is beyond 
doubt or question. The French nation has taken 
a noble initiative in suggesting to the English 
people a closer alliance and a better friendship 
than that which has existed during late year- 
between the two countrie:=, and the Government 
would be guilty of a grave error should it fail to 
accept the generous offer. But the responsible 
Ministers of King Edward dare not refuse and 
will gladly do all in their power to consolidate the 
good feeling. It is admitted that the emigration 
question is exceedingly complicated and requires 
very careful handling and profound consideration. 
The Government of India must po>^sess an absolute 
and direct controlling power over the actnai em- 
ployers of British-Indian labourers — so far as the 
))roper treatment of the coolies is concerned : half 
measures and a shifting liabili y will not work: 
substantial penalties for offences against the Act 
of Convention must be positively defined and 
rigidly enfoiced, and to secure this and the general 
agent at head-qnai ters — Pondicherry— must be 
amenable to the British autlioiities. 
THE DEMAND FOE INDIAN COOLY LABOUR 
is rapidly increasing end old established emi- 
gration agencic s find it difficult to obtain a tithe 
part of the ordinary rfquirements of the trade ; 
urgent orders arc coining in from all quarters 
for largely increased supplies, which, with the pre- 
sent stale of the local labt ur markets, it will be 
impossible to nuet for many months to come. Tlie 
current season's crops, which are now appioachiiig 
matuiity, are expected to give record reiurns, and 
if the out'turn reaches a good average limit, the 
harvest should be a prodigious one : it seems likely 
that in some districts the local labour will fall 
short of the demand and that assistance from out- 
laying taluks will be needed to gather in and 
thrash out and prepare the grain and other pro- 
ducts for market. It is highly satisfactory to 
notice that the condition of the agricultural 
labourer is gradually being changed ; tlie rates of 
pay, the hours of work and other considerations 
are being modified, and in certain measure by 
mutual consent : there is— at last — a good prospect 
that the hard-working cooly population of the 
country will receive a fair wage for his labours. 
A few years of agricultural prosperity and a brisk 
demand for Foreign labour, and the conditions 
between employer and the employed, must mate- 
rially help to bring about the desired change. For 
centuries the lion's share of the Indian labourers' 
earnings has found its way either directly or in- 
'directly info the pockets of voracious and unprinci- 
pled agents and employers of high and low 
degree, whose professed object is to enrich their 
condition by grinding the work-people to the finest 
edge of endurance. The Foreign emigration system, 
as generally conducted in India, is a scheme for 
making (sic) wholesale and retail, without sharing in 
any risk or liability, financially or otherwise, that 
may overtake any transaction. The process is 
simple and effective : a favoured few— mostly ad- 
venturers, secure an order (usually through an 
agent) from a Foreign Government for a supply of 
Indian labourers to be delivered at a fixed price 
per head : the rate arrived at generally represents 
the maximum limit, plus an unblushing margin 
for possible contingencies, foreachand every item 
of charge, and to this aggregate of small totals is 
added the Chief Agent's modest commission. 
Indirectly the poor emigrant pays the whole cost 
incurred by the Government— and paid to the 
Colonial Agents — for his transport and expenses 
from tha date of his enlistment in India up to the 
time of his arrival at the dep^t where he ,is to be 
employed. It may fairly be assumed that in the 
large majority of cases not one-half of the 
" incidental expenses" debited in emigration ac- 
counts are legitimate charges. It is, perhaps, but 
natural that these extreme statements should be 
ridiculed by theorists and others interested in the 
pecuniary side of the case, but the facts are un- 
deniable aud carry conviction. 
G. D. 
