Notes on Labour, &c. 15 
Coolies thrive well here, and their children born in the 
Colony are generally more robust and better men than 
their Indian fathers. They are intelligent, persevering and 
good citizens, ambitious to better their position, and in- 
deed are quite the kind of men the Colony needs in 
greater numbers. 
Under the pressure of low prices for sugar, it has 
become imperative that the most rigid economy be prac- 
tised in every department of its produ6lion, and as the 
charge for labour constitutes the largest item, it must be 
obtained as cheaply as possible. It must also be ren- 
dered effe6live, and in agriculture this may be done by 
making the supply more reliable, so that tillage, on which 
the yield primarily depends, may be perfornied in a 
thorough manner, at the most suitable time. This is 
essential, if the industry is to be successfully carried on 
under existing circumstances. Labour not resident on 
estates can not be depended on ; when the season is 
favourable for agricultural operations, and labour is 
urgently wanted on sugar estates, the same conditions 
exist on farmers' lands, and they naturally have prior 
attention. At a later period, their labour, if offered at 
all, has not the highest effe6l. When crops are estab- 
lished, or the season becomes unfavourable through 
drought or otherwise, the opposite conditions prevail in 
both cases, and the cry of " no work" goes up from the 
transient labourer. This lament is intensified by the 
chronic complaints of no employment from that class of 
the population, who in social condition are considered to 
be rather above ordinary labourers, and who when sugar 
sold at a higher price, and money was more plentiful, 
found a livelihood in various occupations dire6lly or in- 
