( 20 ) 
Following the report of a Commission appointed in 
1876 a second Chinese Immigration Ordinance No. II 
of 1877 was passed and became law and from it dates 
the origin of the Chinese' Protectorate, which was 
established in 1880- 
25. In the Report of the Labour Commission of 
1890 the system as it then existed is thus described: — 
“ Speaking generally, all Chinese immigration is 
conducted on the same system, that is to say, a 
recruiter or agent pays the passage and expenses 
of the intending emigrant, in some cases giving 
him a small advance as well, on condition that 
the cooly ultimately works off by his labour the 
expenses so incurred. Usually the Chinese agent 
recovers his outlay, plus a profit, from an agent 
or broker in Singapore or Penang, to whom the 
cooly is consigned, and who remits the necessary 
sum to China on receipt of the cooly. This second 
agent then disposes of his cooly to the employer 
or his agent, making the best terms he can, 
according to the state of the market, to recoup 
his outlay and secure himself a profit. 
On arrival in Singapore, the cooly,, after being 
inspected on board ship by an officer of the 
Chinese Protectorate, is taken by the broker to 
whom he is consigned to a licensed depot where 
he is to be lodged until he finds employment. 
The broker always has orders on hand from the 
agents of the various employers in Sumatra and 
elsewhere, and when coolies arrive, he informs 
these agents and arranges a price at which he 
will deliver the required coolies’ on board a steamer 
sailing for their destination- The representative 
