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such shop, the recruiter, who took them down, explaining the matter to the coolies by saying he had been cheated by the Hong-kong Boarding House. In fact the recruiter had received the sum of $70 in cash from the Boarding House master, in payment of his own expenses and of presents to the coolies on arrival, and the draft was a trick on the part of the recruiter to keep the coolies satisfied without paying over any money until he had escorted them safely to Singapore. The scheme of the man, Lam Sam, seems to have been to use the advance made to him by the Boarding House to redeem the four coolies in Singapore, the redemption price being $16 a head, and then to dispose of them privately at $25 or $30 each to Chinese employers of labour who cannot compete with Rubber Companies in the open market. He would thus make a profit for himself of $100 or more. There is nothing to show that this swindle, perpetrated not only on the four emigrants but on the Kitlang Company as well, was in any way countenanced by the Boarding House. The case did not escape the notice of the Protector of Chinese, Singapore, who watched the interests of the four coolies. Lam Sam, however, has not yet been located.
The year showed a brisk demand for Chinese labour in British North Borneo; the number of coolies examined and passed for Sandakan was just double the total for 1910. It is probable that the knowledge of the proposed new scheme of immigration had some effect in inducing planters to hurry their coolies through before the end of the year. From the 1st April, 1912, all recruiting of Chinese labourers for work in British North Borneo will be under the direct control of the British North Borneo Government. Mr. Young Riddell, who had great experience of Chinese labour in South Africa, has been appointed Labour Commissioner and Chief Protector of Labour Contracts in Borneo by the Chartered Co. and has been in close touch with this department. In accordance with instructions from the Secretary of State no contract for more than 300 days work will be recognised by this office after March 12th, 1912.
The "Kangany" system of recruiting labour for the Malay Peninsula, as described in the 1910 Report, does not appear to be much in vogue. No case of a recruiter carrying a certificate issued by the Chinese Protectorate either at Singapore or Penang in encouragement of this system, has come under the notice of this office. The rather ragged edges of the system as so far defined in Hongkong—there being apparently no limit to the number of "relatives" and "friends" that a kangany recruiter may take with him—and the consequent openings for fraud, will make it necessary to keep the strictiest watch on its beginnings.
Thirteen (13) assisted emigrants who asserted on examination at this office that they had friends or relations willing to redeem them in Singapore, and on arrival there could find no such relatives, were sent back to Hongkong by the Protector of Chinese, and sent on to their homes, all the expenses incurred being defrayed by the Boarding Houses concerned.
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such shop, the recruiter, who took them down, explaining the matter to the coolies by saying he had been cheated by the Hong- kong Boarding House. In fact the recruiter had received the sum of $70 in cash from the Boarding House master, in payment of his own expenses and of presents to the coolies on arrival, and the draft was a trick on the part of the recruiter to keep the coolies satisfied without paying over any money until he had escorted them safely to Singapore. The scheme of the man, Lam Sam, seems to have been to use the advance made to him by the Board- ing House to redeem the four coolies in Singapore, the redemption price being $16 a head, and then to dispose of them privately at $25 or $30 each to Chinese employers of labour who cannot com- pete with Rubber Companies in the open market. He would thus make a profit for himself of $100 or more. There is nothing to show that this swindle, perpetrated not only on the four emigrants but on the Kitlang Company as well, was in any way countenanced by the Boarding House. The case did not escape the notice of the Protector of Chinese, Singapore, who watched the interests of the four coolies. Lam Sam, however, has not yet been located.
The year showed a brisk demand for Chinese labour in British North Borneo; the number of coolies examined and passed for Sandakan was just double the total for 1910. It is probable that the knowledge of the proposed new scheme of immigration had some effect in inducing planters to hurry their coolies through before the end of the year. From the 1st April, 1912, all recruiting of Chinese labourers for work in British North Borneo will be under the direct control of the British North Borneo Government. Mr. Young Riddell, who had great experience of Chinese labour in South Africa, has been appointed Labour Commissioner and Chief Protector of Labour Contracts in Borneo by the Chartered Co. and has been in close touch with this department. In accord- ance with instructions from the Secretary of State no contract for more than 300 days work will be recognised by this office after March 12th, 1912.
The "Kangany" system of recruiting labour for the Malay Peninsula, as described in the 1910 Report, does not appear to be much in vogue. No case of a recruiter carrying a certificate issued by the Chinese Protectorate either at Singapore or Penang in encouragement of this system, has come under the notice of this office. The rather ragged edges of the system as so far defined in in Hongkong-there being apparently no limit to the number of "relatives and "friends" that a kangany recruiter may take with him-and the consequent openings for fraud, will make it necessary to keep the strictest watch on its beginnings.
Thirteen (13) assisted emigrants who asserted on examination at this office that they had friends or relations willing to redeem them in Singapore, and on arrival there could find no such relatives, were sent back to Hongkong by the Protector of Chinese, and sent on to their homes, all the expenses incurred being defrayed by the Boarding Houses concerned.
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