NATIVE LABOUR IN KENYA COLONY

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 148, 13 September 1927, Page 15

NATIVE LABOUR IN KENYA COLONY

SCHOOLBOY TREATMENT FARM METHODS IN AFRICA “The natives must be treated like schoolboys, firmly but justly. The cane is the arm of farm law, which, though illegal, is much more respected and liked than any other form of punishment.” A description of labour problems in Kenya Colony is contained in a recent letter from Mr. P. Newcomb to his father, Mr. Neville Newcomb, of Auckland. Mr. Newcomb has taken up a farm of 600 acres at Mount Elgon, about 18 miles from Kitali, and 200 miles from Nairobi. The average height of the land there is 6.500 feet. WORK AT 8s A MONTH There are two kinds of labour, the squatter and the casual, he explains. The former is signed on for three years and the contract permits them to have sufficient land for the growing of crops, and grazing of cattle. In return for this the squatter and his entire male family must work at least 180 days in every year at a salary of 8s a month. Regally they are treated as tenants and not as servants. Fifty families of squatters, with an average of 20 head of cattle, require about 500 acres to accommodate them. The casual, employed by the small landholder, works for one or two months unless he is contracted for a longer period. His wages amount to anything from 10s to 16s a month. All labourers get 21b of maize flour a day and a quantity of salt on Saturday. Most farms have mow a native school run by a native mission boy, and the scheme is a good one. By law' the farmer is bound to have certain medicines for the native, who is treated well. GOOD MONEY IN COFFEE I “The possibilities of coffee in this j district are good,” says Mr. Newcomb. “One or two farmers have had as much as three quarters of a ton and half a ton per acre. The average yield is one-quarter or one-third of a ton. The price of coffee in London is about £l2O a ton, so letting the j expenses, be as heavy as you like, the profit is good.” Mr. Newcomb mentioned that Kenya has no income tax yet, but that this is substituted by impart duties. The only individual taxes are the poll and education, both of 30s, payable by every male over 21. If these are not paid by the end of April they are automatically doubled-