9. Labour Enactment I9II. 
The Secretary reads the following correspondence : 
Kuala Lumpur, 
6th February, 1912. 
H. E. Sir Arthur Young, K.C.M.C., High Comm., F.M.S. 
Singapore. 
Your Excellency, 
I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that at a Meeting of 
this Association held on January 7th the following resolution was 
unanimously passed : 
“ That this Association strongly deprecates the precipitancy 
with which the Labour Enactment 1911 was passed through the 
Federal Council”. 
J. 11 d V v 
(Sd.) H. C. E. ZACHARIAS, 
Secretary. 
Singapore, 
2nd March, 1912. 
Misc. 179-1912. 
The Secretary, 
Planters’ Association of Malaya, 
Kuala Lumpur. 
Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 
6th February and to inform you that the delay in replying thereto is 
due to His Excellency the High Commissioner’s desire to send you a 
copy of the Minutes of the Federal Council. This copy has only just 
been received and is forwarded herewith. ( v. Appendix.) 
2. I am to say that His Excellency is confident that on a peru- 
sal of these Minutes those members who considered that the Govern- 
ment passed this bill after pecfunctory deliberation or who thought 
that the provisions of the bill were too drastic will agree that the 
measure was one which in the circumstances it was necessary to 
carry out not only in the interests of the coolies themselves but also 
in the interests of the whole planting community. 
3. I am to add that it is the firm conviction of His Excellency 
that if the condition of the labourers on this estate had been brought 
to the notice of the Indian Government and if no efficient action had 
been taken by the Federated Malay States Government to remedy 
the state of affairs it might have led to the Indian Government seri- 
ously considering whether restrictions should not be placed on the 
immigration of coolies into the Federated Malay States. 
X Uu V v dLtf 
(Sd.) H. MARRIOTT, 
I have etc. 
Secretary to High Commissioner for the Malay States. 
