February i, 1892.] 
539 
the diaplaoeraent of Indian. It was done, and who 
can blume tlie Ceylon plr. liters ? But they smashed 
our market, and their own too, and created the 
position in which we now jointly find ourselves — 
which, after all, is not so bs3 as it might be.— 
Yours, &o. Vis Unita Foetioe. 

THE LABOUR PROBLEM IN ASSAM. 
More than one leading planter has written to us 
to point <.ufc the evils of the present system of re- 
cruiting labour for the A=aam tea, gardeas. We do 
not doubt that tbe matter has the Attention not only 
of Government bat of the agency housep, and that 
all that is possible is being doao to remedy the evil. 
It m»y strengtlien their hands if we try to consider 
briefly where the trouble lies. Statistics seem to show 
that Assana absorbs every year from 30,000 to 50,000 
immigrants. We have every reason to believe that 
ho planters woqM gladly take an even larger supply 
if the distrio's of recruitment could furnish it. 
During the last fi?e yeirs the average number of ad- 
ults sent to Assam was 29,775, and of children 
9,302. In 1889, a year ol ' xce.ptioDally large ex- 
portation, no less than 37,548 jxdults cud 18,110 
children were sent to Assam. It seems to be 
admitted that the supply of useful coolies, suited 
to the conditions of tei garden life is frtiling. 
Planters go further afield, to Gaujam, Jubbulpore 
and oihor remote places, and preenmbly have to pay 
more. Even tbeee reoiotereources of supply must fail 
in time, for the Indiiiu ryot does not migrate so readily 
as the Irish pecsant, and i.he most vigorous recruiting, 
the most lavish expenditure is not likely to make any 
very sensible impression upon the crowded population 
of the recruiting districts. 
At the end of 1889 the total labour force of Assam 
was 390,463. During 1890, 36,000 coolies, nearly 10 
per cent, were imported; 17,000 in round numbers en- 
tered into contracts in Assam, 7,000 were received 
from other gardens, 500 deserters were recaptured. 
14,000 remained on the gardens after the expiry of 
their contracts, eokq 23,000 were " otherwise ob- 
tained," and there were 10,'JOO births. Altogether 
the additions to the present or prospective labour 
force cumo to about 107,500 souls. This^ would 
have been an ample if it had been a real increase. 
It is instructive to balance against this tbe de- 
ductions : 4,500 coolies were traueferred to other 
gardens (a number curicu-ly less than the num- 
ber received from other gardens), 50,600 left with 
permission, 14,000 died, 13,000 deserted, 7,500 laboursrs 
already workii g on gardens were put under contract, 
and about 400 coolies had their contracts cancelled for 
various reasons. Altogether there are about 90,000 
souls to bo written off. The net increase, therefore, 
was only about 17,500 and this in spite of 10,000 births 
and 30,000 new immigrants. Assuming th>it all the 
oooUes who entered into contracts locally (17,000) and 
all the coolies" otherwise obtained "(23,000) were all 
old hands who re-enyaged themselves, ttiere was still 
a Bubstmilivo and actual increase of 46,000 souls to the 
garden population. That the net inornase was only 
17,G0O shows that the losfcs are heavy. Now it must 
be remembfrc-d that the cost of importing 36,000 new 
coolies was probably not less, at a very moderate com- 
pntatiou, than two millions of ru])ee3. This is the actual 
O06t to the employer of landing 36,000 new, raw ami, for 
a long time, perfectly useless bauds in Assam. Many 
of these are bad bargains and represent a dead 
lOfiB. As compotitiou increases, the number of 
bad bargaint* increases, and there is an in- 
creasing toniKnoy on the pavt of coutractors to 
bo kI up men from parti of India, the climatic and 
other conditions of which do noj lit them for 
gardi'U labour. TUo acta»l cost of really gfoi 
working hands is tlierofore greitor than our 
estimate!. On tho other hnnd, the labour laws 
enable omp ojers t ) pny ocolies a les« rate of wage 
than would bo possible uiulor a system of free 
competition in labour, and acoordiugly a portion of 
tbe ititial expenditure is recouped in this way. But 
it is obviously i;;advisable that employers of labour 
should be tempted in times of pressure, and on 
gardens which do not pay, to reduce wages to a 
minicDum. One of the most important tasks which 
fall to the lot of an inspector of labourers is to 
satisfy himself that wages are adequate f jr healthy 
existence. But he is compelled to rely on averages; 
and some coolies, especially in the working season 
earn such good wages that many coolie,s may eiru 
very poor wages without greatly afftcting tho 
average. Obviously wages are a very important 
item in dealing with the labour qneetiou and es- 
peoiaily when it is romombered that the proShm of 
iccreafing the area of exterior supply seems impossible 
of solution. 
The way cf deliverance seema to lie in conserving 
the existing laliour force. What cno bo done in this 
direction ? A high death-rate as compared with that 
ofthe ordinary rustic pnpulatioD is perhaps inevitable, 
efpecially on newly cleared gardens. Looking to 
the conditions of tea garden life, to the fi ct 
that the women work ont of doors as well rs 
the men, that m^ny of the coolies are ur accli- 
matised new importations, it is perhaps surpri- 
sing that tho birth-rate does not fall extremely 
Ifar behind the death-rate. But it is clear that 
of the 50,000 coolies who refused to renew their 
agreements and the 13 000 deserters, a very 
arge propo rtion were lost to Assam, or at all 
events to the tea gardens. Some may have set- 
tled in the province as ordinary peasants, 
but the majority would aeem to have disappeared. 
This is a very serious evil, when the coat of procuriLg 
new labour Rx d the admitted evils cf the present 
system of recruiting are remembered. S .mething may 
pofsibly be dona in the way of reducing the death- 
latn, and the Government of India have very properly 
ordered stern measures to ba taken with gar- 
dens which persistently show a high mortality. 
But from the employer's point of view the most 
disheartening thing is the loss of able-bodied 
labour by other causes than death. That 13,000 coolies 
s'. ould have deserted in a single year is a serious 
matter when coolies are so expensive. We are not 
eufEi-iently acquainted with tbe details of tea-garden 
management to know whether many of these deser- 
ters engaged themselves on other gardens. The net 
deficit would seem to show that this is not the case. 
The conclusion to which we are driven is that a 
great part of the labour force of Assam is kept in 
the province by the artificial means of the labour law. 
This law can be defended on the groand that labourers 
who have cost so much to import may righteously bo 
deprived of their liberty for a while, and may be 
bound to labour for a term of years at a fixed 
rate of wages. But it seoma clear that labour 
under these conditions is not really popular. The 
planting industry of Assam has been in full force 
and vigour for many years. Its conditions mast be 
well-known by this time in the parts of India from 
wbich coolies are chiefly recruited. Yet the net in- 
crease last year, deducting the 10,000 births of chil- 
dren who, at present at all events, are not available 
for work, was under 8,000, though at least 36,000 
souls were actually, and at enormous expense, im- 
ported. 
We hope the suggestion we have to make may not 
ha regarded as a truism. There are many obvious 
truths which are not always applied to practical lilo. 
Surely the remedy for the exorbitant expense of 
importation lies in the mora careful conversation of 
the coolies who have found their way to Asuam. 
At present coolies are kept on the gardens chiefly, 
as we have said, by the artifi^'ial means of the labour 
law, and by mere inertia. Some district? — and, judging 
by the lf\st Immigration Keport of the Assam Govern- 
ment, Sylhet seems to he one of them — have a 
sufficient supply of labour. Probably in such districts 
local conditions favour tho labourer, and espociiilly 
tend to mnke his wagis sufEoient for his comfort, 
health and happine.ss. These, it is noticeable, are the 
very districts in which importation is cheap ; the;^ 
