( 22 ) 
The Sin-Kheh {Chinese, “ New hand ”) system as 
above described lasted with little modification till the 
abolition of indenture at the end of 1914. 
26. Chinese coolie immigration is still conducted 
on more or less the same lines that is of passages 
assisted by private enterprise — and under the Labour 
Oode the “ indebted immigrant," is still liable to repay 
his “ creditor ” the amount of passage money and 
“ advances,” but there is power to limit these by law, 
and the liability for repayment is a civil one. It is 
only fair to state that this liability is seldom repudiated. 
27. The average number of Chinese immigrants 
who arrived in Singapore annually during the decades 
1911 to 1920 was 160,000 as compared with an average 
of 90,000 arrivals per annum in Penang from Southern 
India during the same period. 
Complete figures for the number of departures 
of Chinese deck passengers from Singapore are not 
available but for the five years ending 1920 they 
averaged 49,000 as compared with an* average of 56,000' 
departures from Penang to Southern India. 
The highest figure for the number of arrivals 
from China was reached in 1911 when 269,854 landed 
in Singapore and the total in each of the two succeeding 
years exceeded 240,000. After the outbreak of war 
the numbers fluctuated considerably and fell to 58,000' 
in 1918- 
The numbers were not affected in the same way 
as those from India by the trade depression for the 
arrivals rose from 126,000 in 1920 to 191,000 in 1921. 
Arrivals in 1922 were 132,886 and departures- 
96.869 and for the first nine months of 1923 the figures 
of arrivals are 118.000 and departures 55,000. 
