Viewing page 47 of 59

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

96

gambling another source of male endebtedness -- deliberately licensed on the estates 

in early expansion of tobacco, rubber & palm oil estates far into jungle, "company stores" owned by Ch. merchants only source of most goods; that they charged exhorbitant prices & demanded high interest rates a subject of labor inspectorate reports thru 1920's & early 30's

Stoler likens these early plantations to lumbercamps of N. America - both male societies in which huge sums of cash dissipated on gambling, prostitution & over-priced staple commodities

many men, both whites & Jav, voluntarily extended contracts in hopes of saving large amt. of money in short time, but seldom able to save

[[left margin]] p8

by 1920's planters [[strikethrough]] worl [[strikethrough]] worried about high costs of supposedly cheap kuli labor 

major problem illness & epidemics causing death, high nursing costs and low productivity 
quotes 1919 report in favor of baracks
over individual family dwellings
 
97
 
because easier to maintain hygiene in baracks & used less land thus still see opposition to creation of living conditions conducive to family settlement
 
[[left margin]] p9

during the Great Depr. ((no dates given, apparently affects Sum. beginning about 1910)) the estates severely short of funds, threatened w/bankruptcy and burdened w/massive imported labor force bound by contracts for which companies liable
under these conditions contracts terminated, penal sanctions lifted & more than half the kuli pop. repatriated to Java
 
new category of "free workers" (vrije arbeiders) created who came over on contract but could not be legally coerced to stay on the estates- wages for free workers much lower & some kulis released from bonded contracts & rehired as free workers
 
abolishment of penal sanction (by the colonial authorities in 1911) forced plantations to consider 3 related matters:

[[left margin]] p10
 
1. means by which they could encourage laborers to migrate & remain in N. Sum.