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A.-Oh, they do go away on account of the plague.
Mr. Badeley.-Would private servants be more ready to run away on account of the plague than ordinary public chair and ricksha coolies ?
A.-I don't think so. It is like this, a private chair coolie lives on the premises with his master. He is more likely to be found out when he is sick and runs more risk of being forced into Hospital.
The Chairman.-There would be a good deal of point in that if it were shown that there was a larger exodus of private coolies out of private employ in summer, during the plague months, than in winter.
Witness. It was during this year that I heard that the private chair coolies were going away in large numbers.
Q.-Does the plague here affect the number of public coolies for chairs and rickshas? Mr. Badeley.--For each ricksha there are plenty of applicants. Rickslas are never
vacant.
Witness.--If a coolie get sick another man comes aud takes his place. It very often happens that he simply holds the number of the sick man.
Mr. Badeley.--Public coolies go away in large numbers and have substitutes for the time being. We issue a very large number of substitute ricksha drawers' licences,
Mr. Wilcox. You were in the Registrar General's Office. Mr. Osmund ?
A.
I was.
44
Q.-I suppose you would know what number of guilds there were in the Colony?
A-I don't remember.
Q.-Is it true that the guilds in Singapore are registered?
A.—I don't know that they are registered.
Q. Do you know if the Chinese who employ private chair and ricksha coolies have been affected in any way by the scarcity of coulies?
A.-I have never heard.
Q.-Do you know how they engage their servants ?
A.--No, I never asked any of them.
Q.-Did they, during the time of the registration of servants by Ordinance, re- gister any of their servants ?
A.-No, the Chinese did not.
Q.-It did not apply to Chinese at all, I believe, but did they not voluntarily register? A.—Oh, no.
Q.--I believe the system they adopt is to get meu down from Canton or from the country under guarantee?
A. They get their own country people..
Mr. Badeley. You said servants would come and get registered over and over again. Do you mean to say that a man who had been registered and had reason to think that his employer did not think very well of him, sunk his previous ticket and went and got registered again?
A. On two or three occasions they attempted it.
Q.-What would you do if you found them out attempting to do that? Was it any offence?
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