Dec.  2,  1895,] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
379 
THE  LABOUR  QUESTION. 
We  direct  attention  to  two  letters  elsewhere 
from  men  of  planting  experience  and  long  re.si- 
dence,  writing  the  one  from  a Kandy,  and  the 
other  an  Uva,  district.  Both  de])recate  any 
a])peal  to  Government  for  legislation  to  render 
monthly  payments  compulsory,  and  we  think 
the  parent  Association  will  he  very  slow  to 
accept  a proposal  of  the  kintl  until  they  see 
a good  deal  further  into  its  working  and  con- 
sequences. These  “ consequences  ” are  depicted 
by  a contemporary  after  a graver  fashion  than 
is  attempted  even  by  the  planters  themselves, 
and  we  quote  the  following  for  the  purpose 
of  asking  how  far  actual  experience  bears 
out  the  several  anticipations  of  evil  results  all 
round  ; — 
If  the  cooly’s  wages  are  paid  into  his  own  hand  at 
the  end  of  every  month,  it  will  be  a good  thing  for 
him,  but  probably  his  creditors  will  see  very  little  of 
this  same  pay,  and  either  the  debtor  must  go  through 
the  bankruptcy  court  and  get  a clean  slate  to  begin 
again  with,  or  else  his  creditors,  including  the  estate 
proprietor,  must  face  the  loss  of  large  sums  of  money 
in  the  shape  of  bad  debts  written  off.  This  arrange- 
ment would,  no  doubt,  be  a splendid  thing  for  the 
cangany,  who,  in  spite  of  what  is  said  about  him,  is 
often  a distinct  genus  from  the  ordinary  cooly,  having 
inherited  the  gang  that  works  under  him,  with  his 
father’s  possessions  and  liabilities,  and  being  a 
somewhat  important  personage  in  his  way,  more  in- 
telligent and  unscrupulous  than  the  cooly-cangany 
who  has  worked  all  his  life  in  the  field  and  has  been 
merely  promoted  by  the  favour  of  his  master.  The 
.former  receives  large  sums  of  money  from  time  to 
time,  which  are  spent  in  other  methods  than  advances 
to  the  humble  cooly  on  the  coast,  and  are  often  uti- 
lized for  money-lending  purposes  and  in  the  purchase 
of  I'eal  estate.  If  the  cangany  is  to  get  a release 
from  these  debts,  simply  because  the  coolies  under 
him  are  unable  to  bear  the  burden  of  their  indebted- 
ness to  the  cangany,  the  latter  will  undoubtedly  score 
all  round,  and  we  do  not  see  how  distinctions  are  to 
be  made  betw'eon  one  class  of  debts  and  another,  or 
how  the  debt  which  has  been  rightly  incurred  is  to  be 
Separated  from  that  for  which  the  debt  r is  not  really 
responsible,  and  which  he  has  never  benelitted  by  in 
the  slightest  degree. 
Now,  while  the  writer  of  the  pamphlet  only 
makes  mention  of  one  friend  wlio  ha.s  for  a 
con.siderable  time  practised  “ monthly  payments” 
with  theHitmost  satisfactioji,  there  must  .surely  lie 
several  other  planters  thronjjhont  the  planting 
districts,  who  have  had  experience  of  the  system. 
At  the  time  when  Sir  Arthur  Gordon  wisiied 
very  much  to  legislate  in  this  direction,  lie  liad 
— it  we  remember  rightly — a leading  Dimbula 
planter  and  a well-known  group  of  estates  in 
^latale  to  refer  to,  in  support  of  the  case  for 
“monthly  payments.”  Now,  in  a matter  of 
this  kina,  a singly  fact  is  worth  a bushel  of 
theories.  Will  the  gentlemen  who  have 
actually  carried  on  “monthly  payments”  for 
it  may  be  half-a-doren  years,  tell  ub  exactly 
their  experience.  How  have  their  Canganiesgot 
on  about  the  old  debts  ; how  about  security  for 
Coast  advances  ; liow'  about  hereditary  claims  ? 
We  do  not  say  that  even  if  the  answers  should 
1)C  satisfactory,  the  time  is  rii»e  for  compulsory 
legislation.  The  case  is  one  to  which  Festma 
Icntc  pre-eminently  applies.  But  if  we  have  all 
the  advantages,  as  realised  in  actual  practice, 
related  to  us  by  those  who  arc  making  monthly 
payments,  and  perhaps  the  drawliacks  noted  by 
observing  neighbours  who  have  watched  the  work- 
ing of  the  new  .system,  we  are  far  more  likely  to 
arrive  at  safe  conclusions  than  if  we  go  merely 
speculating  about  consequences,  without  taking 
tt(Ko  of  actual  eaporieucc. 
48 
THE  ELK  HILL  COFFEE  ESTATES 
COMPANY. 
The  Elk  Hill  Coffee  Estates  and  Land  Explora- 
tion Company,  Ld.,  of  which  we  published  the 
prospectus  a few  days  ago.  is  a company  formed 
with  a capital  of  £100,000  in  shares  of  £1  each 
to  take  over  as  a going  concern  the  coffee  estates 
and  business  of  Mr.  James  Chisholm,  a well-known 
and  successful  coffee  planter  in  Mysore.  The 
pro.spectus  states  that  the  books  of  the  firm  cover- 
ing a period  of  ten  years  have  been  submitted  to 
a prominent  firm  of  chartered  accountants  in 
Loudon,  and  the  result  of  their  examination  shows 
an  annual  average  profit  of  £7,70.3.  On  the  Boanl 
of  the  Company  are  two  late  Commissioners,  Colonel 
Henderson,  C.S.I.,  and  General  Cole,  who  are  well 
acquainted  with  the  district  and  have  visited  it 
in  their  official  capacity.  The  profits  of  the 
concern  on  the  basis  of  ten  years’  working  would 
be  equal  to  the  payment  of  6 per  cent,  interest 
on  the  intended  issue  of  £32,000  of  cumulative 
preference  share,  and  10  per  cent,  on  £.30,000  of 
ordinary  shares.  The  Indian  Agents  of  the  Com- 
pany are  the  firm  of  Messrs.  Pierce,  Leslie  and 
Co.,  well-known  in  Southern  India,  and  the  vendor 
and  his  friends  take  payment  of  a large  portion 
of  the  purchase  money  in  ordinary  shares.  The 
prospectus  provides  for  the  way  in  which  intend- 
ing subscribers  in  India  should  apply.  The  bulk 
of  tlie  Indian  tea  companies’  capital  on  the  Bengal 
side  has  been  subscribed  in  England,  and  tnis 
seem  to  be  an  effort  to  apply  the  same  principle 
to  coffee,  giving  Indian  subscribers  an  opportunity 
of  investments  akso. — Times  of  India. 
BENGAL  CINCHONA  PLANTATIONS. 
Dr.  King’s  report  on  the  Bengal  Cinchona 
plantations  for  the  past  year  is,  as  usually,  a 
most  satisfactory  record.  The  scope  of  operations 
was  much  extended  owing  to  the  purchase  of  the 
Lebong  plantation  from  the  Bhutan  Cinchona 
Association,  from  which  203,000  trees  (all  quinine 
yielders)  were  cut  down.  Altogether  295,500 
trees  were  uprooted  for  their  bark,  in  addi* 
tion  to  those  from  the  Lebong  plantation ; the 
greater  number  of  which  were,  however,  feeble 
plants.  The  year’s  cropping  reduced  the  number 
of  trees  to  3,277,000,  out  as  there  are  still 
650,000  trees  growing  on  the  Lebong  property, 
the  total  number  of  living  trees  belonging 
to  the  Bengal  Government  at  the  end  of  the 
official  year  was  3,927,501  in  permanent  planta- 
tions and  20,000  in  nursery  beds.  It  is  satisfac- 
tory to  note  that  the  demand  for  quinine,  owing 
to  the  success  of  the  pice-packet  system,  has 
increased.  It  is  therefore  intended,  in  view  of  a 
further  Increase  in  the  demand,  to  plant  out  during 
each  year  an  area  in  excess  of  that  uprooted 
during  the  previous  one.  The  year’s  crop  yielded 
over  500,000  pounds  of  bark,  the  bulk  of 
which  was  of  the  quinine-producing  kind.  The 
whole  cro]i,  with  the  exception  of  about  2,(XX) 
pounds  sold  independently,  was  made  over  to 
tlie  Government  Cinchona  Factory.  There  was 
a sliht  falling  off'  in  the  issue  of  cinchona  febri- 
fuge as  compared  with  1893-94,  due  mostly  to 
a decrease  in  indents  from-  the  Government 
Medical  Depots  at  Calcutta  and  Mian  Meer. 
Considering  the  low  rate  to  which  the  price  of 
-quinine  has  fallen  during  recent  years,  and  the 
still  lower  level  to  which  the  prices  of  cinchoni- 
dine  and  cinchonine  have  been  reduced,  says  Dr. 
King,  a dimunition  in  the  demand  for  cinchona 
febrifuge  was  inevitable.  The  diminution  has, 
been  uiDre  gradual  than  was  anticipated. 
