394 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  2,  1895. 
tured.  We  would  prescribe  a soothing  cup  of  its  ex- 
tract to  all  whose  brains  are  wearied  by  business 
troubles  and  to  the  many  whose  digestion  has  been 
weakened  by  the  too  stimulating  extract  of  coffee’s 
fragi’ant  bean.  w.  mck. 
LABOUR  CONTRACTORS  IN  MADRAS. 
We  have  before  us  the  Draft  of  an  Act  which 
it  is  proposed  to  pass  in  the  Madras  Council,  to 
provide  for  the  licensing  and  registration  of  con- 
tractors wlio  supply  labourers  to  estates  in  the 
Southern  Presidenc5^  One  of  them  is  the  Bill 
as  ]>repared  by  the  Advocate-General ; the  second 
embraces  the  alterations  which  the  United 
Planters’  Association  of  Southern  India  suggests 
shouldj  be  incorporated  in  the  Government  mea- 
sure. We  are  not  sure  if  these  alterations  are 
“amendments”  in  the  strict  acceptation  of  the 
term  ; but  it  ■would  not  be  wi.se  to  decide 
hastily  on  that  point,  without  knowing  some- 
thing of  the  origin  of  the  measure,  and  the 
reasons  which  have  weighed  with  the  j)lanters 
in  suggesting  the  alterations.  Has  the  Bill 
been  prepared  at  the  instance  of  the  planters, 
for  the  protection  of  their  own  interests,  or  has 
it  been  devised  by  the  Government  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  labouring  classes  from  Recruiting 
Agents,  whether  of  their  own  nationality,  or 
strangers  to  the  country  Y The  superiority  of  one 
Bill  over  the  other  must  depend  on  local  cir- 
cumstances on  which  we  cannot  pretend  to  be 
fully  informed  ; but  speaking  generally,  and  sub- 
ject to  correction,  we  should  say  that  the  pro- 
vision made  by  the  Advocate-General  for  the 
re<dstration  of  licensees,  which  the  revised  Draft 
oinits,  is  a wise  one.  It  is  .scarcely  bn.siness-like 
to  issue  licenses  without  keeping  some  record  of 
them  ; and  if  a Register  is  to  be  kept,  it  would 
be  obviously  useful  that  it  should  have  legal 
recognition,  both  for  purposes  of  reference, 
and  "as  a means  of  verifying  the  license  in 
the  event  of  suspicion  attaching  to  it,  either 
as  a whole  or  in  respect  of  alterations 
in  it.  The  chief  ditierence  between  the  two  Drafts 
lies  in  the  provision  for  a Register,  and  in  the 
absence  of  such  provision. 
The  Preamble  sets  forth  the  expediency  of 
licensing  [and  registering],  contractors  who  hire 
labourers  for  service  on  tea,  collee,  and  cin- 
chona estates,  and  of  preventing  unlicensed 
persons  being  employed  in  supplying  gangs  to 
work  on  estates.  The  interijretation  clause  is 
very  fvill  and  jjrecise.  and  ilelines  such  terms 
as  ‘ planter  ’ (to  include  owner  and  manager),  ‘ es- 
tate’, ‘gang’,  ‘contractor’,  and  not  least  ‘advance’ 
which  nieans  “ any  money  or  thing  given  to 
any  contractor,  as  a prepayment,  in  whole  or 
part,  on  the  consideration  for  his  contracting 
to  smpply  gang  labourers,  and  includes  any 
release  of  a balance  due  on  a previous  con- 
tract, when  such  release  is  by  mutual  consent 
treated  as  an  advance.”  That  strikes  us  as  a 
very  satisfactory  definition,  and  one  which 
micJ'ht  with  advantage  be  incorporated  into  our 
local  Labour  I.aw,  to  guide  the  Courts  in  deal- 
in"  with  the  indebtedness  of  coolies  to  estates 
an'^  vice  verm.  Indeed,  it  may  be  a question 
whether  we  should  not  have  a similar  Act  here, 
whereby  the  Kangany  might  be  licensed  and  re- 
"istered  as  a means  of  increasing  his  usefulness 
Slid  limitin-'  his  readiness,  sometimes,  to  Hit  from 
one  estate  to  another.  That  however  is  a matter 
on  which  we  should  like  large  employers  of 
labour  to  have  their  say,  through  the  Press 
or  in  District  Associations,  so  that  the  Parent 
Association  might  decide  whether  to  approach  the 
^(}veniTU?nt  or  not  with  a view  to  legislation^ 
Probably,  tlie  reason  of  the  disinclination  which 
Planters  show  to  enter  into  written  contracts 
with  labourers,  may  also  militate  against  the 
forging  of  any  shackles  for  the  Kangany,  lest 
his  conservative  mind  should  rebel  against  the 
change.  And,  to  ‘leave  wellalone’  is  a mottowliich 
has  much  to  recommend  it  in  this  age  of  unrest 
and  revolution. 
But  to  proceed,  the  Bills  we  are  notic- 
ing conteni]  late  the  restriction  of  the  recruiting 
of  labour  for  estates  to  persons  duly  licensed. 
The  license  is  to  be  obtained  from  the  Sub-Magis- 
trate within  whose  jurisdiction  the  applicant 
resides;  but  we  prefer  the  “may  be  granted”  of 
the  original  Bill,  to  the  “shall  be  granted”  of 
tlie  revised,  because  that  would  imply  .some  dis- 
cretion in  the  granting  of  licenses ; and  the 
withholding  of  a license  by  the  Magistrate  from 
an  applicant  of  known  bad  character  would  be 
an  advantage,  rather  than  the  reverse,  both  to 
the  labourer  and  the  estate.  Any  person  acting 
as  a labour-contractor  without  a license  would 
expo.se  himself  to  a line  of  Ro  for  every  day  he 
so  acts,  and  any  planter  who  enters  into  a con- 
tract with  an  unlicensed  person  would  similarly 
incur  a like  penalty  for  every  day  he  so  employs 
the  man.  Each  license  is  to  run  for  12  months, 
but  may  be  renewed,  the  renewal  being  recorded 
on  the  license  under  the  signature  and  seal  of 
the  renewing  olHcer ; and  it  must  contain  a cor- 
rect abstract,  according  to  a prescribed  form,  of 
every  contract  entered  into  by  the  licensee.  The 
abstract  is  required  to  be  both  in  English  and 
in  the  Vernacular  which  the  Maistry  understands, 
to  be  signed  by  both  planter  and  contractor,  and 
to  contain  j)articulars  of  estate,  district,  number 
engaged,  duration  of  contract  or  specification  of 
work,  amount  j>ayable  and  how,  and  amount  of 
advances.  Tiie  license  restricts  the  contractor  to 
work  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  licensing 
Magistrate,  but  if  the  coolies  be  engaged  to 
work  on  an  estate  outside  that  jurisdiction,  the 
contractor  is  bound  within  a week  (a  month  in 
the  revised  Draft)  to  produce  the  licen.se  before 
the  Sub-Magistrate,  within  whose  jurisdiction 
the  estate  is  situated,  to  have  his  signature  and 
seal  to  the  abstract.  So  with  regard  to  all  alter- 
ations and  modifications  of  the  contract.  The 
Bill  strikes  us  as  both  well-conceived  and  care- 
fully ])repared ; and  if  a trustworthy  class  of 
contractors  come  to  be  licensed,  there  should  be 
no  reason  why  we  (in  Ceylon)  should  not  ask 
for  .such  an  alteration  of  the  law  as  might  enable 
such  licensees  to  recruit  labour  for  our  estates 
too,  on  terms  and  conditions  to  be  hereafter  ar- 
ranged. Whether  this  be  thought  advisable  or 
not,  the  connection  between  ourselves  and  South- 
ern India  is  intimate  enough  to  explain  our  inter- 
est in  the  proposed  legislation. 
Tk.v  DniNKiNO  inCiiina.— In  a paper  on  “Work 
in  Heathen  Homes,”  by  Miss  Horne  and  Miss 
Miller  of  Amoy,  rea<l  at  one  of  the  L.  M.  S. 
Centenary  meetings  in  London  recently  the 
writer  says  : — 
Again,  a rule  of  Chinese  courtesy  is  that  a guest 
must  be  offered  tea,  or  a concoction  of  hot  water 
poured  over  a Chinese  fruit  mis-called  “ tea.”  The 
lady  worker  inwardly  groans  as  she  hcai-s  the  order 
given  by  the  mistress  of  the  house  to  prepare  tea  ; 
in  vain  does  she  say  there  is  no  need  to  make  tea, 
she  has  lately  eaten,  she  would  rather  they  sat  down 
and  listened.  Their  duty  of  politeness  is  to  offer  her 
tea,  and  tea  she  /shall  have.  (Laughter.)  So  she  has 
to  endure  the  fumes  of  wood  smoko,  and  then  to 
politely  taste  the  syrupy  beverage,  after  which  the 
household  can  spare  a little  attention  to  listen  to 
the  “ doctrines.  ’ 
