May 2 , 1892.1 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 8o> 
aa regards minors. Tliis prevents abuse, because 
unlike Mauritius, A’c., the coolies are not protected 
by special (Jovernment regulations, but, neing so 
near, they are supposed to come and go voluntarily. 
The kanganies receive iidvances of money from 
the Ceylon planters, and they go over and recruit in 
the villages and collect gangs of coolies at about 
(roughly) a pound a head. Hut since coffee failed, 
and tea arose in its stead, there lias been far too 
little recruiting in India. Coolies now-a-days prefer 
to remain in a country where they have more 
freedom and licenM, far from the restraining in- 
fiuonceB of caste, priests, and family ties, where money 
is more plentiful, and life more exciting and lively. 
The Tamil Coolie when he first lands in Ceylon suffers 
from a revulsion of feeling when he finds the couUur-de- 
promises of the kangany fade away into real life. 
But gradually he gets used to the new order of 
things and grows contented— even happy. Then there 
has grown up what I may call a “creole" class 
of coolie. What I moan by a creole class are 
those coolies born of Indian parents, but born and 
bred in Ceylon, who have not seen the country of 
their fathers, and who only know the country of 
their birth. These coolies form themselves into gangs 
and go from estate to estate trying to got larger 
advances, and they at last get so indebted to their 
kanganies, that they are virtually enslaved to them. 
Planters have unfortunately been obliged to play 
into those kanganies' hands and the rate of advances 
has gone up, and the security of a settled labour 
force lias been shaken by those restless gangs who 
try to obtain higher advances. But, notwithstanding, 
these drawbacks. Ceylon stands in a unique position 
as regards facility of labour. In Southern India, 
of course, they obtain labour in the country itself, 
but one disadvantage arises from being too near the 
homes of the labourers for this renders the labourer 
too independent, because ho is within “ moaHurablc 
distance " of his home, and can go and come — omUjte 
the convenience or control of the planter. Put in 
Ceylon, though the coolie is supposed to be a free 
agent, and is really so as regards the planter, j-et is 
not so as regards his kangani, or proprietor of the 
gang ; and in any case the existence of the sea being be- 
tween him and his home, greatly strengthens the hands 
of the planter in Ceylon, aa compared to Southern 
India. The labour is diawn from an immense country 
in Southern India, which is thickly populated with 
Tamil-speaking people. But there are other tracts 
whore “maliyalnm " and “Teingu " are spoken, and 
then Mysore, where Canarese is spoken, which would 
yield immense labour-gangs for our colonies. 
Now I am coming gradually round to tliis question of 
Queensland requirements. The Cinhalese are not 
very suitable for plantation work; though, since tea- 
cultivation has 80 gieatlv increased, very many 
Ciuhaleso who have suffered from the coffee failure, — 
partly because they grew it, but chiefly because they 
stole it from plantations, and cannot now steal it since 
coffee plantations have been superseded by tea-gardens 
—very many Cinhalese have begun to work, and giving 
groat satisfaction. But the fact of their being so 
near their villages, like the case of the Indian coolie, 
renders them unreliable, unsettled, and independent. 
Mr. St. George Caulfeild did much to influence 
Queensland against Indian labourers by importing the 
Mum of the Colombo Jail and “Sea Street" bullies. 
Many of those rascals wore wrecked in the “ Quetta" 
going home lately, and are giving trouble in ihe neigh- 
bourhood of the wreck. These Cinhalese scoundrels 
f ave Queensland an unfavourable imoression of 
ndian labourers. But the unsophisticated Tamil, or, if 
you like, the sophisticated-this is a very different 
being. The Hindustani or Bengali labourer is very 
largely sent to the West Indies under Government Pro- 
tection Now here is a vast field of available labour, 
and in Queensland you have a vast unopened 
tropical country, rich with undeveloped wealth, ready 
to grow products which this Southern Empire has 
to get from outside her bounds. Cotton, coffee, tea, 
chocolate, rice, maize, coconuts, tobacco, spices, &c., 
®'il these tropical riches are, as it were, latent in 
your soil and climate, and who bars the way ? The 
aog-iu-ih«-miu>iio( wbito l«ibou{er vfbg ctinugl wgik 
^’imself, and grudges his coloured brother a “ show.” 
The white man has ali the rest of the country ; but 
here a hard and fast line must be drawn as the white 
and block cannot work alongside each other. Jiut 
before we go farther with the (lucation of labour I 
must point out that “mining" must be prohibited 
whore plantations are established because a rush of 
miners will ruin any tropical planter. I am new to 
this country, and om not Tory sure of my ground, 
hut I understand that the Oovernmont reserves all 
right to minerals ; and, should valuable minerals bo 
discovered, miners are admitted to take up allotments 
or “ claims." If that is allowed in Northern Queens- 
land then capitalists could never be expected to open 
up t)>o country in tropical agrioultnre, and would not 
dream of importing Indian labour. 
My idea is, let there he full compensation made 
to planters in the event of a miners' rush ; or let 
the planter benefit liy the chance of minerals being 
found on his property, and protect him in the 
possession of it. Then Government could appoint 
immigration agents and commence negotiations 
with the Indian Government. The three 
causes that rendered Sir Samuel Griffith a de- 
termined opponent to coloured labour, seem to a 
tropical planter very weak, narrow and unworthy of 
a great politician. No wonder that his mind nas 
at last shaken off the sliooklos, and has risen above 
siicli a narrow liorizoii. And now lot us see what 
reasons have roused him. Ho fiiids that the sugar- 
cane can be cultivated by wtiite families and sold 
to the manufacturers at rciiBOtiable prices, yet there 
are not enough of Europeans to carry this ont 
everywhere, and the planters ore really in great 
straits for labour, and mills have therefore to be 
closed. Now the Government step in and tries to 
save an industry tliat it has done its best to strangle. 
Sir Samuel Griffith appears to favour Polynesian to 
Asiatic labour. 1 know notliing of Polynesian labour 
except what 1 have read and heard. Fiji’s ex- 
perience, and also the past experience of Queens- 
land does not lead me into the belief tliat those 
scattered islands of the East, whore kidnapping and 
reprisals in the shape of murders of boats' crews 
are the best recruiting pounds for Queensland, 
Turn to the otlior side. You approach an Empire, 
whose civilization is tlie oldest in the world, whoso 
present Government is a model to tlie rest of 
Governments, whose teeming millions of industrious 
races ore ready to go and work— not on the selfish 
principle of the lioathei: Chinee, — an alien of the 
Empire— but as fellow-subjects of the CrOH-n. They 
are docile, intelligent, and obedient. You have a 
glorious tropical country that has been strangled 
by the close proximity of the white labourer. Had 
there been a stretch of sea between Queensland 
and the rest of Australia, it would long ago hove 
settled matters in accordance with the peculiar and 
special circumstances and position, regardless of the 
jealous and selfish hootings of her sister colonies. 
(Signed) W. A. Tytler. 
THE AMSTERDAM CINCHONA 
AUCTIONS. 
(Telegram from our Correspondent,) 
AMSTF.nD.YM, February 2!)th. 
At today's cinchona auctions 4,780 paclcages of 
Java bark, representing about 510,0(X) oz. sulphate of 
quinine, were offered for sale. With fair competition, 
4,01)7 packages sold at an average unit of M cents, 
(equal to IJd to IJd per lb.), being about equal to 
tuAt obtained at Tuesday's Loudon auctions, and 
the same os that at the Amsterdam auctions of Jan- 
uary aist. Considering the heavy quantity of bark 
offered, this is very satisfactory. The following prices 
were paid Manufacturing barks in chips, broken 
quill and long quill from 15 to .% cents, (equal 2Jd 
to 6Jd per lb.); ditto root, 1.5 to 30 cents, (eaual to 
2Jd to 5id per lb.); druggists' barks, (n chips, 
broken qmll and long qnill, from fi to W cents 
(equal to Id to lOjd per lb.) ; ditto root from 16 to 
64 cents, (equal tg 2id tg lOd per lb.). The priasi. 
