RECRUITMENT FOR ASSAM. 
381 
secure the return of the ““ misfit” or unsuitable recruit. A number of 
employers already return such labourers of their own accord, and most 
planters have shown a readiness to repatriate workers when official 
suggestions were made to this effect. During the depressions in the 
tea industry and noticeably in 1920-21, it has not always been possible 
for all employers to provide an adequate amount of work to enable the 
worker to maintain his accustomed standard of living. Where an immi- 
grant entitled to repatriation at the end of three years makes a claim 
that he is unable, with due diligence, to secure a normal wage or where 
the Protector discovers that this is the case and that the worker desires to 
be repatriated before the three years expire, he should have the power, after 
proper investigation and the establishment of the facts, to order repatria- 
tion at the expense of the employer. A worker dismissed at any time 
before the three years expire should be entitled, if he so desires, to 
be repatriated at the expense of the employer dismissing him, unless it is 
established that the dismissal was due to wilful misconduct. Finally, 
we recommend that in the case of physical violence by an employer or his 
agent, in addition to any other penalty which may be provided by law, 
the magistrate should be empowered to order the repatriation of the 
worker at the expense of the employer. In making this last recommenda- 
tion, we do not desire to suggest that there is any widespread resort 
to physical coercion. We believe that the great majority of planters de- 
plore, as we do, the use of such methods and recognise that even rare cases 
can do much to injure the whole industry. Unfortunately, a few connive 
at them or take insufficient pains to prevent their adoption by sardars 
and others. The presence of the Protector of Immigrants and the grant to 
him of the powers suggested should assist in protecting both workers 
and the industry against injury. 
General Comments. 
We are glad that the general idea of repatriation after three 
years was favourably received by the Indian Tea Association, in- 
cluding its two Assam branches, and by individual managers. It is not 
necessary, therefore, to labour the arguments in its favour. The scheme, if 
put into operation, should lead to a substantial increase in the number of 
candidates for emigration and for ever destroy the belief that Assam is a 
country from which return is difficult or impossible. It should lead to a 
healthy rivalry among garden managers in the matter of improving 
conditions, while it will give the labourer a greatly increased sense of 
security. We understand that a scheme of repatriation is already in 
force in the Assam coal mines, and we were informed that a group of gar- 
dens in Jorhat promise repatriation at the end of three years if the emi- 
grant so desires. By the industry generally substantial sums are already 
spent in repatriation, for much of what is officially described as sending 
down garden sardars is in essence repatriation, and so regarded by the 
industry. Whether the changes involved in our scheme are covered by 
the diversion of existing expenditure or not, we believe that they will 
prove a profitable investment, and will secure an increased flow of labour, 
and thus lower recruiting costs. As regards the fear that the offer of