[Nov.  I,  1895. 
346  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
COLOMBO  TEA  SALES:  DEMAND  FOB 
AUSTRALIA  AND  AMERICA. 
(Front,  a City  man,) 
Lorulon,  Out.  4. 
The  Planters  are  gottiiu>  line  price.s  for  their 
teas  in  Colombo  ; for  some  time  they  have  been 
about  1(1.  per  lb.  ahead  of  prices  here.  I am  glad 
to  see  the  sMes  in  Colombo  increasing  so  ra])idly; 
by  last  mail,  1 noticed,  tliat  about  18  million  lb. 
had  been  ollered  at  public  auction  from  1st  Janu* 
ary  to  12th  September,  or  more  than  l-4th  of  the 
total  export.  In  the  best  of  tlie  coffee  days, 
local  sales  never  exceeded  UlOth  of  tlie  exjiort. 
It  is  gratifying  to  note  the  rajiidly  increa.sing 
exjjorts  to  Australi.a  See..,  it  relieve.s  the  London 
market  and  efoes  good  all  round.  I hear  the 
Americans  strongly  favor  direct  imports  from 
Ceylon. 
In  London,  prices  have  again  advanced  and 
a steady  advance  till  nigh  ’Xmas  seems  likely. 
THE  LABOUR  QUESTION  IN  CEYLON. 
We  direct  attention  to  a special  paper  printed 
on  “The  Labour  t^ue.stion”  in  i)amphlet  form 
and  which  the  writer  has  given  us  permission 
to  reproduce  in  full.  Though  his  name  cannot 
be  given  at  present,  we  may  say  that  the  planter 
responsible  for  the  views  now  put  forth  is  one 
who  travels  about  a great  deal  and  has  special 
o|)portunities  of  judging  of  the  condition  of 
allairs  and  of  the  remedies  so  far  applied.  In 
his  opinion,  the  proposal  of  the  Dikoya  Planters’ 
Association  to  ask  Covernment  to  give  planters 
a first  claim  on  coolies’  pay  for  advances  “re- 
quires a deal  of  trimming.”  But  to  turn  to 
the  paqier  itself,  the  writer  is  greatly  iinjiressed 
with  the  Iieljiless  condition  of  the  average  cooly 
as  regai’ds  the  burden  of  debt  he  staggers  under- 
debt  wliich  he  has  often  incurred  himself,  which 
has  been  thrust  upon  him,  and  which  he  has 
more  often  th.an  not  inherited.  It  is  the  heaped- 
up  responsibilities  of  the  cooly  by  this  last-named 
iniquitous  ]iroce.ss  which  chietly  troubles  our 
autlior,  and  which  doubtless  has  troubled  many 
conscientious  jdanters  before  him.  For,  undoubt- 
edly it  is  a circumstance  that  has  been  well 
known  to,  and  understood  by  old  planters ; and 
the, I file  of  the  Observer  in  olden  days  teems 
with  suggested  remedies,  chief  of  whi'cli  there 
has  lately  come  into  favour  the  only  remedy  in- 
sisted upon  by  this  wiiter,  namely,  nionthlij 
payments  of  ivnyes  to  coolies.  In  order  that  this 
rule  should  become  universal  we  would  have  it 
made  compulsory  by  law.  The  practice  of  im- 
posing debts  by  inheritance  is  bad,  and  should 
be  stopped  on  principle ; but,  nerhaps,  somewhat 
too  much  is  made  of  this  in  the  pamphlet.  The 
chief  end  of  most  coolies  has  been  .and  alw.ays 
is  the  same  : somehow  or  otlier  to  get  overhead 
in  debt,  liowever  contracted. 
In  in.sisting  upon  his  two  points  the  writer  uses 
arguments  and  illustrations  which  are  forcible  and 
true,  and  against  which  very  little  can  be  said. 
To  break  the  pow'er  of  the  Chetty  and  kangani 
over  the  cooly  has  been  the  theme  of  many 
l)lanting  pens,  .and  in  .some  few  instances  there 
are  planters  who  have  had  the  courage  of  their 
convictions  to  brave  .all  opposition,  and  to 
carry  their  theory  of  monthly  .settlements  into 
practice.  Pertinently  enough  the  writer  .of 
this  brochure  speaks  of  tlie  experience  of 
“.a  friend  of  liis”  wlio  has  “paid  his  coolies 
“ ei  ery  month  for  many  j’cars  |iast,  and  has 
“al)undantly  proved  tlic  blessing.s  of  this  system.” 
On  the  other  hand  we  juiblished  not  long  ago, 
one  or  two  letters  from  old  Managers  with  tJie 
deepest  possible  intere.st  in  their  coolies,  pointing 
out  practical  objections  to  monthly  p.ayment  of 
caolies.  One  of  tlie.se,  a letter  from  Uibapussilawa, 
excited  a good  deal  of  attention  at  the  time. 
And  if  this  question  of  “ Cooly  indebtedness  and 
monthly  settlements''  is  to  be  threshed  out,  it 
should  be  done  after  the  manner  of  those  other 
planting  questions,  treating  in  detail  and  the 
discussions  collected  in  a concise  shajie — to- 
gether  forming  a little  reference  library — pub- 
lished  by  the  Ceylon  Observer.  Let  leading 
planters  all  give  their  opinions  and  experiences, 
and  let  tlieir  letters  be  collected  into  p.anqihlet 
form  for  distribution  and  comment.  It  is  sug- 
gested tons  that  this  could  hast  be  done  by  the 
Committee  of  the  Planter.s’  A.ssociation  caUingfor 
reports  from  the  dillerent  districts.  In  the  mean- 
time, the  “ paper”  we  give  elsewhere  deserves 
careful  consideration. 
(From  a pamphlet  by  an  experienced  planter.) 
\V  th  one  or  two  exceptions,  those  who  have  lately 
written  and  spoken  about  the  great  “ Labour  Question” 
appear  to  me  to  have  dealt  with  the  subject  almost 
entirely  from  the  Proprietors’  and  .Superintendents’ 
point  of  view,  while  the  caugaiiios  and  coolies  have 
been  represented  to  us  as  being  for  the  most  part 
demoralized,  and  quite  different  in  many  important 
respects  to  what  they  used  to  be  in  days  gone  by. 
They  are,  however,  in  my  humble  judgment  entitled 
to  a great  deal  of  sympathy,  and  the  present  may 
not  perhaps  be  an  inopportune  time  to  state  their 
case  for  public  consideration  rather  more  fully  than 
has  hitherto  been  done. 
Taking  our  Tamil  labourers  as  we  find  tliem  in  the 
present  day,  it  will  be  admitted,  that  not  only  are 
they  deeply  involved  in  debt,  but  speaking  of  them 
generally,  they  are  held  responsible  for  tire  repay- 
ment of  monies  w hich  they  have  only  in  part  received, 
and  for  liabilities  which  they  cannot,  with  any  show  of 
justice,  and  ought  not,  for  many  obvious  reasons  to  be 
called  upon  to  meet. 
Dealing  first  of  all  with  the  indebtedness  of  these 
people,  it  will,  I presume,  be  conceded  that  although 
ths  Coast  Advance  Account  as  shown  in  the  Estate 
books  is  frequently  a lieavy  one,  it  probably  does 
not  represent  very  much  n 0 e than  a fraction  of 
wliat  they  are  supposed  to  owe  to  the  Chetties  and 
Bazaar-keepers,  to  say  nothing  of  Afghans  and  other 
creditors,  and  the  lumdred  and  fifty  transactions 
running  on  betw'een  themselves  ! With  the  exception  of 
the  so-termed  Coast  Advances,  all  these  debts  carry 
interest,  at  more  or  less  exorbitant  rates,  and  instead  of 
dying  a natural  death,  as  other  debts  frequently  do, 
they  are  handed  down  from  father  to  son  in  per- 
petuity. There  is  in  fact  no  escape  from  them,  and 
they  multiply  as  tliey  grow  older.  New  coolies  arriv- 
ing from  tlie  Coast  are  taught  to  consider  themselves 
part  security  for  this  accumulated  debt,  or  bribed  to 
do  so,  and  children,  instead  of  being  born  naked  into 
the  world,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  globe,  make  their 
debut  here  with  a halo  of  debt  around  them,  which 
becomes  rapidly  denser  as  they  advance  in  maturi  ty. 
If  a Superintendent  will  patiently  investigate  the 
origin  of  any  particular  debt  of  long  stauding 
amongst  liis  coolies,  he  will  find  in  nine  cases  out 
of  ten  that  it  pertains  largely  to  a generation  of 
people  who  have  long  since  passed  away.  The  debt 
in  fact  has  survived,  while  the  debt  rs  themselves 
have  died 
In  too  many  instances  these  debts  had  their  begin- 
ning at  the  time  of  the  collapse  of  coffee,  when 
wages  were  hopelessly  in  arrears,  and  frequently 
not  paid  at  all,  and  it  is  a reproach  to  us  to  be 
reminded  that  at  this  unfortunate  period,  while 
Euiopeans,  Chetties,  and  traders  were  chasing 
each  other  through  the  Bankruptcy  Courts,  the 
canganies.  and  coolies  were  practically  left  outside 
in  the  compound.  The  burden  of  debt,  though 
removed  from  others  leas  deserving  of  relief, 
was  not  raised  from  their  shoulders,  and  they 
and  their  children  are  still  hold  liable  lor 
responsibilities  incurred  at  .that  time. 
