TH£  tropical  AGRICCTLTURtST. 
347 
Kov.  J,  1895.) 
The  habit  of  inheriting  and  immortalizing  debt  is  a 
feature  in  the  character  of  the  Tamils,  which  though 
praiseworthy  enough  in  itself,  has  been  traded  on 
kr  too  largely  by  employers  of  labour  in  Ceylon, 
'and  it  is  bliis  monstrous  system  of  extracting,  or 
attempting  to  extract,  from  the  living,  the  debts 
which  rightly  belong  to ‘the  dead,  and  is  largely,  if  not 
wholly,  responsible  for  the  present  unsatisfactory 
state  of  affairs. 
If  what  is  involved  in  the  above  statement  is 
denied  or  questioned,  I would  ask  how  it  is  that 
Estates  hitherto  have  lost  so  littlo  by  Advances? 
If  a planter  of  long  standing  is  asked  to  name  the 
sum  he  has  from  time  to  time  written  off  his  Coast 
Advance  Account,  the  reply,  in  the  vast  majority  of 
cases,  indicates  either  that  nothing  at  all  has  been 
lost,  or  at  most  something  very  trifling. 
Now  what  is  the  precise  significance  of  this  ad- 
mission ? and  what  conclusions  are  to  be  drawn 
from  it  ? Either  it  means  that  the  Coolies 
who  have  died  in  his  services  have  departed 
without  leaving  debts  behind  them,  or  that  he  has 
contrived  somehow  or  other  (thi'ough  the  Cangany) 
to  recover  them  from  the  living.  We  know  as  a 
matter  of  fact  that  dying  Coolies  are  always  more  or 
less  in  debt,  and  instead  of  the  Estate  bearing  the 
loss  as  it  ought  to  do,  we  carry  on  the  account  from 
time  to  time,  knowing  that  if  their  surviving  rela- 
tives do  not  themselves  pay  the  money,  the  sword 
can  be  held  over  them  until  the  debt  is  liquidated 
from  other  sources.  On  some  Estates  the  propor- 
tion of  debt  due  by  deceased  Coolies  may  not  amount 
to  very  much,  but  on  others,  especially  in  pai-ts  of 
the  low-country,  where  the  mortality  is  heavy,  it 
represents  a very  large  sum,  and  is  constantly  accu- 
mulating. 
Of  late  years  we  have  gradually  come  to  realize 
that  it  is  practically  impossible  to  recover  all  out^ 
standings  from  the  people,  who  are  supposed  to  owe 
the  money,  and  it  has  therefore  become  customary 
and  more  convenient  to  accept  payment  of  advances 
from  employers  of  laboirr ; but  at  the  same  time, 
we  take  very  good  care  that  the  Canganies 
and  Coolies  are  not  relieved  in  any  way  of 
the  responsibilities  in  connection  therewith,  and  every 
time  the  debt  is  transferred  from  one  estate  to  another, 
it  increases  in  bulk,  like  a snow-ball,  with  this  one 
distinction,  that  it  never  melts.  Not  infrequently  the 
coolies’  pay  is  indiscriminately  and  unjustly  withheld, 
as  a set-off  against  these  outstandings,  and  this  com- 
bined with  a wicked  system  of  irregular  payment  of 
wages  due,  has  necessarily  produced  a demoralizing 
effect  on  the  labour  supply  of  the  country,  and  one 
may  well  enquire  how  it  could  possibly  be  othei-wise  ? 
Sometimes,  an  attempt  is  made  to  draw  a distinc- 
tion between  the  kanganies  and  the  coolies ; the  latter 
it  is  urged  are  to  be  sympathised  with  to  some  ex- 
tent, perhaps,  but  as  for  tne  former,  they  deserve  all 
the  abuse  they  get,  and  a great  deal  more  besides. 
No  doubt,  many  cases  could  be  quoted  to  show  that 
the  kangany  has  defrauded  his  employer,  especially 
at  critical  times,  when  opportunities  have  given  him  a 
chance  of  dictating  terms  ; but  as  a general  rule,  it  may 
be  taken  that  his  position  is  a very  unhappy  one.  He 
owes  far  more  money  than  he  can  possibly  pay,  and 
far  more  than  he  has  ever  received,  and  after  all  he 
is  only  a cooly,  with  an  umbrella  to  protect  him 
from  the  rain  in  place  of  a cumbly. 
The  idea  that  Canganies  are  well  off  and  that 
their  head  money  is  paid  them  in  order  that  they 
may  become  security  for  advances,  is  quite  erroneous. 
The  head  money  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
advances,  and  the  only  security  which  the  Cangany 
holds  for  debts  standing  in  his  name  is  the  Cooly ; 
and  what  is  the  Cooly  worth  ? He  is  possessed  of 
two  things:  his  cumbly  and  his  labour  1 The  latter 
no  doubt  is  a good  marketable  asset,  while  it  lasts, 
but  it  shoubl  not  be  mortgaged  too  heavily,  and 
people  who  complain  that  Coolies  do  not  w’ork  so 
well  as  they  used  to.  should  rcnicmber  that  they 
have  very  little  incentive  to  do  so;  in  fact,  it  is 
rather  the  other  way  on. 
In  olden  days  their  tlehts  were  never  more  than 
could  easily  be  repaid,  and  they  moreover  received 
every  month  the  where- withal  to  meet  them.  In  the 
present  day  their  liabilities  are  in  the  majority  of 
cases  beyond  reasonable  prospect  of  liquidation,  and 
it  is  no  wonder  therefore  that  they  work  more  for 
Rice  than  for  Wages.  The  former  is  served  to 
them  regularly,  and  they  barter  what  they  do 
not  require  for  other  necessaries.  The  latter  is 
-in  a great  number  of  cases  and  unknown  quantity, 
which -they  may,  or  may  not  receive  into  their  own 
bands,  but  in  any  case  it  is  pretty  certain  to  be  doled 
out  at  long  and  uncertain  intervals,  and  grabbed  at  by 
hungry  creditors  when  payday  arrives.  So  regardless 
have  coolies  become  in  respect  to  their  balance-wages, 
that  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  get  them  to  tiavel  from 
the  lines  to  the  bungalow  for  a settlement,  and  in- 
stead of  expressing  surprise  that  people  so  burdened 
with  liabilities  should  work  irregularly,  and  with  in- 
difference as  to  the  future,  the  wonder  is  that  under 
all  the  demoralizing  influences  of  an  unjust  and  ever- 
increasing  debt,  the  labour  arrangements  of  the  island 
should  continue  as  satisfactory  as  they  are. 
The  system  on  which  we  have  worked  our  coolie.s 
for  years  past,  and  which  we  are  always  impressing 
upon  Government  is  as  perfect  as  it  well  can  be,  en- 
courages and  fosters  hereditary  debts,  and  there  is  no 
escape  from  the  conclusion  that,  if  it  is  not  directly 
responsible  for  bringing  our  labourers  into  a state  of 
hopeless  insolvency,  it  has  at  all  events  been  closely 
associated  w’ith  this  unhappy  result,  and  it  is  not  very 
creditable  to  us  that  it  should  be  so. 
The  labour  difficulty  of  the  present  day  is  summed  up 
in  the  one  word“Debt.”  It  is  not  that  the  coolies  have 
individually  changed,  or  that  there  is  scarcity  of  them 
in'  the  vineyard,  but  that  surrounding  circumstanees 
are  such  as  to  render  it  difficult  for  us  to  make  the 
most  of  the  material  at  ohr  disposal,  and  a state  of 
affairs  has  been  brought  about,  which  shews  it  to  be 
desirable  that  the  Cooly  should  in  future  be  pro- 
tected to  a greater  extent  than  he  has  hitherto  been, 
both  from  himself  and  from  others. 
Seeing  that  the  Tamil  Cooly  is  a pauper  labour,  it 
seems  only  fair  and  right  that  his  debt  should  be  buried 
with  him  when  he  dies,  and  as  he  has  practically 
nothing  but  his  labour  to  mortage,  his  debt-contract- 
ing powers  should  be  ai5  limited  as  we  can  make  them. 
At  first  sight  it  may  appear  almost  impossible,  by 
any  means  short  of  a miracle,  to  better  his  position  as 
regards  debt,  or  to  bring  about  a more  healhty  state  of 
affairs  generally. 
The  Cooly,  we  know,  lives  in  an  atmosphere  of 
debt,  and  likes  it  rather  than  otherwise;  but  w'hile  con- 
ceding all  this,  and  a great  deal  more  besides,  there  is  no 
sufficient  reason  why  he  should  be  Jiopelenshi  in  debt, 
and  mixed  up  irretrievably  with  the  debts  of  others, 
or  why  indeed  he  should  be  any  w'oi-se  off  in 
this  respect  than  he  was  twenty-five  years  ago.  In 
those  days  Coolies  were,  as  a rule,  regularly  paid, 
and  Chettics  advanced  them  sparingly,  because  the 
balance  of  wages  telig  practically  confined  to  one 
month’s  pay,  did  not  represent  sufficient  security 
for  a substantial  lean. 
If  we  would  w'ish  to  return  to  these  happy  times, 
it  is  imperative  that  wages  should  be  promptly  and 
regularly  paid,  but  as  the  debts  in  the  counti'y  are 
now  so  overwhelming,  (assumed  and  otherwise,)  the 
only  hope  of  this  system  being  generally  adopted 
is  to  make  it  compulsory  by  Legislative  enactment 
and  penal  in  its  operation. 
So  long  as  it  is  optional  (practically)  for  a Super- 
intendent to  pay  his  Coolies  once  a month,  or  once 
in  three  months,  as  the  case  may  be,  no  general 
change  in  the  direction  indicated  need  be  looked  for, 
but  once  make  monthly  payments  compulsory  and 
penal,  and  the  debt-contracting  power  of  the  employed 
will  be  immediately  and  permanently  lessened,  while 
other  vei-y  beneficial  results  may  be  expected  to  fol- 
low as  a natural  consequence. 
Some  years  ago  Lord  Stanmore  (then  Sir  Arthur 
Gordon)  strongly  urged  upon  the  planting  community 
the  importance  of  monthly  payments,  and  if  ho  had 
had  his  way,  the  prompt  settlement  of  wages  due  would 
then  have  been  made  law  ; but  it  was  pointed  out  to 
him,  amongst  other  things,  that  as  the  Island  was  only 
•just  emerging  from  the  dark  days  of  depression  into 
the  light  of  better  times,  it  might  be  well  to  postpone 
lemslative  measures  in  this  direction  until  the  Tea 
industry  had  thoroughly  established  itself  in  the 
