The Washington herald., 1908-06-14
RUBBER IN BORNEO
Excellent Product Comes Out
of Northern Province.
TOBACCO ON THE WEST COAST
Cost Of Labor Low and Climate
suited to Production OF Para Rub
Contract System--Indentured Labor
the Rule I'm Parts Of Island.

The following information concerning
British North Borneo estates devoted 10
the cultivation Of Para rubber. the cost
and kinds OF labor. and the adaptabnity
Of the soil TO the industry Is furnished by
Consul Lester Maynard. Of Sandakun:
British North Borneo Is divided geo
graphically and cthnologicaHy into four
portions viz; Cd The East Coast. com
prising all land. from Cowie Harbor on
the south 70 Paitan Bay on the north
and extending inland as far as the sources
Of the segama, Kinabatangan. Labuk.
and Sugut rivers; C2) the Kudat district
comprising all land from Tclega 10 sam
panmangaio Point: tSl the West Coast
from Sampanmangaio Point 10 Aienga-
long and extending as far inland as sun
gei Rayoh; (O the Interior, from Sungei
! Rayoh TO Tambuuan on the north. To-
mani on the south. and Labau on the
east.
The soil Of British North Borneo equals.
II It does not actually surpass. that OF the
Federated Malay States. and Is about the
same as that Of sumatra. The cost Of la
Dor is as low as that OF any place east Of
Ceylon. and the climate Is well suited 10
the cultivation Of Para rubber judging by
growth thereof in such widely different
spots as Sandakan and the interior.
The Chartered Company OF British
North Borneo has issued a notification
guaranteeing that no export duty will be
assessed on plantatlon-grown rubber for
fifty years from April ], 1905.
Para Rubber on East Coast.
At present Para rubber IS cultivated at
one place only on the East Coast. al the
head Of Sandakan Bay, and here il ap-
pears to be doing well.
Practically all estate labor on the East
Coast IS imported indentured labor. the
men being brought from Singapore. and
costing landed in Borneo S36 20 lalI values
throughout this report are given in Unit
ed States currency per head for Chinese,
and S42 per head for Javanese and other
Malays. OF these sums. $3.50 and S26.SS.
respectively, are recoverable from the
coolie. leaving the balance to be written
of as brokerage. The Chinese contract
is for one year and the Javanese for two
years.
Chinese have so far been used on tobac-
co estates only, where they are paid at a
fixed rate per thousand stalks Of tobacco
delivered in the drying sheds, and under
this system they provide a fine labor
force, but they would not perhaps do so
well on daily wages on a rubber estate
They will, however. prove the backbone
Of that industry as soon as a system OF
payment by result can be introduced.
Javanese have a contract specifying
that they shall fell jungle. make build
IEgs. and drain at usual local rates.
When on daily pay they receive from
$3.50 10 $3.50 monthly, according TO their
abilities
The natives OF the East Coast are Su-
lus. Bajaus. and Orang-Sungei The only
form of work these people attempt is the
making OF leaf covering for houses. and
even this is chiefly carried on by their
women folk
KudRt District and West Coast
In the Kudat district tobacco is planted
In five estates. one of which has COM
menced to plant rubber. The Langkon.
worked for many years as a tobacco es-
tate, has now ceased to plant that prod
uct. and having been recently purchased
by a rubber company, is being planted
with Para rub5er.
In this district the bulk of the work
is done by imported indentured labor on
the same terms as on the East Coast.
The Bajau does nothing but the Dusuns
Of the district are industrious. and can
be relied 10 work well for short periods
at time Work on a rubber estate
should prove cOngenial to them. and they
Will probably form the chief labor force
of all rubber estates opened in the Kudat
district.
The West Coast is a weT-populated
country. with at least three hard-work-
ing races and three others of mixed quail
tiles. but out of whom a very fair amount
OF work can be obtained with patience
The Tuaran Dusuns, the Papar and Put
atan Dusuns, and the LlngkOnEan Kad-
vans may be put in the first class and
the Bajaus. the Blsaiyahs. and the down
country Murut IN the second class. Tho
Dusuns Of Pandassan and Tempassuk and
the semi-Chinese natives of Rundu are
also industrious. but seem 10th 20 leave
their own country, where they are in
deed well enough off.
There are three rubber estates now
opened on the West Coast. and all these
are situated in the neighborhOOd OF Beau
Tort The first opened were the Beau
fort and the Woodford estates. Some
four miles down the Padas River, on the
Beaufort-Weston Railway line. is an
other estate. All these properties are
connected with the port of Jesselton by
the Beaufort-Jesselton Railway These
three estates have ample command of