In Defence of System
p. 47 · Read in the full issue
Contract Labour
In Bs)
I-JERE is a Solomon Islands view
point on the subject of indentured
labour. It was written recently—not for publication—by a man who had long and valuable experience as an administrative officer in the Solomons.
INDENTURED labour! One might say that so much of so little worth has been said by so many knowing so little! I do not purport to be an authority on it; but during my years on Malaita, I did see much of the men who went and signed. Reading the “PIM” recently, I have wanted to shout; “Well, they needn’t go if they do not want to!
And they still go—so what’s wrong with it?”
I think the late Sir Hubert Murray’s argument for it entirely suits the Malaita man. Malaita is a poor island, and, even if there were no indenture, the young men who do sign would still be unable to marry and settle down. (Proportion of men to women; 6 to 4.) There will never be local industry on Malaita to support them, and if they could not go away on indenture, they would go away on some contract or other.
The Mala man respects force, and ex pects force, and likes the cards laid on the table.
Thus, indenture suits him. He knows what he will get, and it’s a fair deal. If an employer gets a bad reputation, then he just doesn’t get recruits, I’ve seen plenty of examples of that.
AS regards wages, they all forget that the wages laid down are the mini mum, payable to a brand new boy.
Levers had an excellent task and bonus system, whereby a boy with energy could do his task for the minimum wage by lunch-time, and from then on he worked on piecework, often making a substantial sum extra per diem —which, of course, suited both Levers and the boy.
In San Cristobal, F. M. Campbell used to run all his six plantations on contract with local boys of some intelligence. They would contract to cut so much copra in a certain time, and would engage and work their own boys.
I have not seen any of Bishop Crans wick’s “slavery” in the BSI. and most of the labour troubles there used to be caused by Malaita boys trying out new masters.
There were unfortunate incidents; but, usually, the new master learned a valu able lesson, and the Mala offender was quite satisfied to pay for his fun.
I think you brought up the point of what the Missions paid their boys. As far as I can remember, it was a common thing for natives to be told that it was a privilege to work for the Mission for nothing; and, if they didn’t like it, they were accused with the classic- mission ex cuse, “You’re being disloyal.” Bunkum IN the BSI, there are now several grades of intelligence amongst the natives, some of whom are quite capable of being held to responsibility. There is a Native Contracts Regulation whereby, if a European wishes to give a native a large contract and he trusts the native, he can have it witnessed by a District Commis sioner, who can satisfy himself that the native understands the responsibility.
After that, of course, the native is liable in the ordinary way.
It seems to me that some Mission heads
are using “Indentured Labour’’ merely as a political cry, to obtain prominence. My old friend, Mr. Goldie, talks of natives having no way of getting justice in the Courts —blissfully ignorant of the fact that in the very district to which he is about to return and exercise his sway, native have been dealing with all but the most serious offences for the last two years—and doing it very well.
Mrs, M. Trevett, who formerly was co principal with her husband of a native school in Rabaul, New Guinea, has been appointed a hospital welfare officer at the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne. This is the first appointment of its kind in Victoria. Mrs. Trevett and her four-year old son were evacuated from Rabaul in December, 1941; her husband has been missing since the invasion.