Another Attempt to

New Hebrides Labour: Another Attempt to Solve Vital Problem

Fan effort to solve the New Hebrides’ desperate labour problem, a move has been made to get 2,000 labourers from the north of Indo-China. The plan has yet to get the approval of the Con dominium Government and it is understood that it is not favoured by the British who have suggested Fiji- Indians as an alternative.

If the scheme is approved, it is understood that Mr. John Retard, of Aore, Santo, and a Vila lawyer, Mr. A. de Preville, will fly to Indo- China to recruit the required number of men and women for plantations, commercial houses and for others in need of workers.

Catholic Vietnamese are anxious to undertake long contracts and according to the RC Bishop in Vila, they have no leaning towards Communism.

If successful, the scheme would be controlled by the Condominium and both British and French in terests would share in the labour available. Before the war, Tonkinese labour was brought in but was available for the French community only. The British community had to make do with native Hebridean labour, or go without.

Most of the Tonkinese brought in before the war no longer work on plantations—they have set themselves up as shopkeepers and taxi drivers. The war and post-war trouble in Indo-China and the steep rise in the cost of shipping, prevented their repatriation and they have now become free settlers in the Condominium. A large pro portion of them are believed to be Communist.

The new scheme for imported labour embraces strict repatriation after fulfilment of the contract. But it seems doubtful whether the new scheme would work while the old Tonkinese remain under such different circumstances.