The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1914. INDIAN LABOR TROUBLES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 7, 8 January 1914, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1914. INDIAN LABOR TROUBLES.

The Indian question in South Africa has aroused so much feeling that it is quite likely exaggerated, if not quite untrue, charges of the ill-treat-ment of natives will be . brought against the Governments of other British dependencies in which Indian labor is employed. A strong indictment had.just been made, when the Home mails left, by the Hon. Air Kesava, Pillay and other prominent Indian gentlemen against the treatment of coolie emigrants in the Federated Malay States. The charges made will not, however, it is emphatically stain’d, bear examination in the light of the latest report issued by the Government of the Federation, which shows that coolies in that colony are better paid, better housed, and bettor treated than in any other like part of the world. Labor will always gravitate where the conditions are best and 65,102 laborers went to the Federated Malay States in 1912, against 67,403 in 1911 and 50.475 in 1910. The I greater part of the labor is Tamil, for out of 76,760 laborers in Selangor 66,- j 791 arc Indians. Many of these in-j vile their relations and friends to go to the States to share their prosperity, while many return to India with a competence. The statistical tables attached to the report show that the average death-rate is 3.72, but it might be pointed out that any percentage of deaths on an average population is sometimes misleading. The death-rate in the present case has, however, fallen by half during the

i last two or three years. Inspection (visits have been made by Government officers, hospitals have boon opened, /and no serious complaints have boon |made. With the great demand for ji'ibor on rubber estates and the paucity of Chinese and .Japanese laborers, ft is to the interest of the plantling eorhmnuity that they should treat their Indian laborers with the greatjest consideration.