485 
Mr. Skinner suggested that until these accounts were in their 
hands it was premature to discuss any Amendment Bill. The present 
Enactment should stand until the end of this year, and then be amend- 
ed, if necessary, in the light of the financial statement for the year just 
passed. He predicted that the apportioning of rebates would prove a 
great nuisance. In- any case he felt strongly that the change that was 
required w 7 as for the cess to be levied in future on those coolies only 
that had been recruited during the preceding quarter, and not on the 
total labour force employed; Some coolies never changed and it was 
absurd to have to pay perhaps as much as $50 for the same coolie. 
Mr. E. Macfadyen said that until a definite shape had been 
suggested for the rebate, it was impossible to predict whether it would 
be easy or difficult, 
Mr. H. M. Darby : Is this Bill the final amendment ? 
Mr. L. H. Clayton ; Of course, an Enactment can always be 
changed. It is now about a year since the original Bill was passed by 
the Legislative Council, and I take it this is what His Excellency had 
in his mind when he said the Ordinance would be re-cast in another 
year. 
Mr. A. B. Lake thought that the main difficulty was financial. 
They would always be behindhand with the figures, and how were they 
to criticize any new measure without having any figures before them ? 
Mr. Darby agrees with Mr. Skinner that the cess should be on 
newly recruited coolies only, 
Mr. Harrison said that the principal object of the present Enact- 
ment was to make the non-importer of labour pay. If in future the cess 
was only going to be levied on the number of coolies imported, the 
whole scheme would be stultified. 
As regard figures, he would give them the following approximate 
summary of assessment collected for 1st Quarter: — 
Estates:— 
Colony 
Perak 
Selangor 
Negri Sembilan 
Pahang 
4,950 
11,500 
22,800 
4,700 
200 
±U50 
Railway Department, Colony and Federated 
Malay States ■* ■ ••• ... ... 9,050 
Government Departments (excluding Railways), 
Miners and Contractors : — 
Colony ... ... 3,100 
Perak ... ... 10,100 
Selangor ... ... 6,800 
Negri Sembilan ... 2,000 
Pahang ... ... 800 
22,800 
