BURMA AND INDIA. 431 
recruitment. It involved the institution of a recruiting bureau to be 
managed by the three large firms which control the bulk of the rice mill 
labour in Rangoon. The basis of the proposal was that the miller should 
deal directly with the gang maistry and should engage him through the 
bureau. It was suggested that the payment of advances was unneces- 
sary. In response to our invitation, the three firms in question furnished 
us with their views on this scheme. Briefly, they contest the view that 
the labour required by the rice mills could be met by local recruitment 
and stated that it did not appear possible to obtain sufficient labour 
without giving advances. Their general conclusion may be summed up 
in the words “ On the whole, the system works well and it is difficult to 
see how it can be improved ”. They regard the idea of a labour bureau 
started by the firms as quite impracticable. Such evidence as we were 
able to secure does not warrant any definite conclusions regarding the 
most suitable method of recruitment, but we are quite clear that, 
however well the present system may appear to work from the point 
of view of the employer, it is unsatisfactory from the point of view of 
labour. If the proposals made elsewhere become operative and ad- 
vances for recruiting purposes are made irrecoverable, one objection 
to the system will be substantially minimised, but others will remain. 
The labour is specially brought over for a season, which may be 
less than six months and is seldom more than eight. Even during this 
season, employment may not be continuous. But there is no assurance 
that other work will be available, nor is any allowance regularly paid 
when work cannot be provided, nor is repatriation guaranteed.” The 
result is that, after the season is over, labour may be sent to swell the 
aumbers competing for other employment. We consider it unreasonable 
that labour should be assisted to emigrate by any industry in such cir- 
cumstances. If, therefore, this or any other industry finds it necessary 
to recruit in India, it must be prepared to repatriate the recruited worker 
a8 soon as it ceases to pay him his normal wages and so to secure that 
the workers it brings are not left in a foreign country without the means 
of subsistence after a short period. We return later to the question of 
the control over emigration, with which this is bound up. 
Competition from Burmans. 
In addition to the difficulties arising from indirect employment 
and fluctuations in demand, a third factor is assuming increasing signi- 
cance. This is the tendency for the Burmans to claim work which has 
hitherto been carried on by Indians. The Burman has little liking for 
monotonous unskilled work, and, until recently, he has had more attract- 
ive alternatives. For many years after the annexation of Upper Burma, 
there was little difficulty in securing fresh land for cultivation at a low 
cost, and the land offered a more pleasant and prosperous life than em- 
ployment in the towns. The large expansion of agriculture led to an 
expansion of industry, and both were made possible by an increasing 
supply of Indian labour. The Burman was able to maintain a much 
higher standard of living than is general in any Indian province, while the 
harder and more monotonous work was left to Indians, who. if they did not