( 3 ) 
In the public services generally speaking, while con- 
struction work is done by Chinese the subsequent 
upkeep and maintenance are carried out by the 
Indians. 
In the Unfederated Malay States' where the Malay 
population is more dense, these essential services 
have been performed very largely by Malays who in 
those States are also employed in larger numbers' on 
the estates. 
4. Although situated so favourably in its 
geographical proximity to these vast sources of supply, 
the early history of the development of enterprise in 
Malaya is one of the constant difficulty in the matter of 
labour. 
In the Report of the Commission appointed in the 
year 1890 to enquire into the state of labour in the 
Straits Settlements and Protected Native States, this 
fact is abundantly clear. 
“The three main defects in the supply of Indian 
labour appear to be insufficient quantity, defective 
quality, and heavy cost of importation. The testimony 
on the subject of scarcity with its attendant evils 
of irregularity, crimping and desertion is almost 
unanimous. ” and so on throughout this, 
Report, and so matters continued until the institution 
of the Indian Immigration Fund in the year 1907. 
It was generally admitted that the whole system of 
recruiting labour from India was unsatisfactory but no 
ready solution presented itself. 
5. It was however thought that the situation could 
only be permanently remedied by the settlement of 
a permanent labour force in the country. 
/ 1 3 4 
