71 
Kuala Lumpur, F. M. S. 
23rd October. 1908. 
No, 5172/1908. 
Sir, — I am directed by the Resident-General to acknowl- 
edge the receipt of your letter of the 9tli instant, com- 
municating the views of the Planters’ Association of Ma- 
laya on the subject of the procedure which should be adopt- 
ed to prevent coolies from absconding. 
2. I am to convey to you an expression of the Resi- 
dent-General’s regret that it does not seem possible to 
adopt the resolutions put forward at the Meeting of the 
Association on the 5th instant. 
3. I am to remind you that the passing of the Tamil 
Immigration Fund Enactment has already had the desir- 
able effect of charging those for whom the Immigrants work 
with the cost of importing them in proportion to the amount 
of work done and ’that amendments are in course of prep- 
aration which will effect 'The same i‘esult with regard to 
recruiting, and thus lessen the evil to which you allude. 
4. I am to point out that this country is dependent for 
its labor on the attractions offered to immigrants and that 
a system of registration such as that suggested would 
greatly hamper the movements of labour and would be like- 
ly to defeat its own ends by acting prejudicially on the sup- 
ply of immigrants, to whom it would no doubt be obnoxious. 
I have etc., 
(Sgd.) S. McArthur, v 
Ag. Federal Secretary. 
Mr. Parkinson considers that the Enactment, dealing 
with the prevention of this offence, has become a dead letter 
owing to lack of supervision on the part of the Department 
charged with carrying out its provisions. If Government 
would not help in any other way, they should make at least 
a closer inspection possible by considerably increasing their 
staff. 
Mr. Skinner understands that a new travelling inspect- 
or had recently been appointed, and recommends giving the 
Department a fair chance. 
Mr. J arvis narrates a recent experience of his, when he 
had to go to the Klang Office to look for some bolters, and 
found that no entries had been made in the Register for 
four months. Nobody could give him any information at 
all and it was clear, that the Enactment was a dead letter. 
