International Labour Office Geneva, Switzerland

Legislative Series 1925 - D. E. I. 1

DUTCH EAST INDIES . 1. Ordinance: Native Labour

Besluit van den Gouverneur-Generaal van 29 Juni I925, No. I5. Vaststelling van een nieuwe Koelieordonnantie voor Sumatra' s Westkust. (Staatsblad van Nederlandsch-Indie-, I925, No. 303.)

Decree of the Governor -General , no. 15, to issue a new Coolie Ordinance for the West Coast of Sumatra. Dated 29thJune, 1925. 1

Firstly. The following regulations concerning the rights and duties of employers, and of wor kers from outside the Province who belong to the native or foreign Oriental population, are hereby laid down for the Province of the West Coast of Sumatra, and all provisions contrary thereto are hereby repealed.

I. Without prejudice to the provisions of sections 11 and 14 of the Recruiting Ordinance (Staatsblad 1914, no. 613), workers may be engaged, in virtue of a contract of employment in writing con­c1uded under this Ordinance and having the consequences therein prescribed, for commercial, agricultural or industrial undertakings (provided that such undertakings do not in the opinion of the Director of J ustice belong to the category of small-scale agriculture or hort i­culture and are not deemed to be small-scale establishments), and likewise for public works and the construction and operation of railways and tramways.

2. For the purposes of this Ordinance:-( a) "employer" shall mean an individual or body corporate

established in the Dutch East lndies and carrying on an undertaking as provided in section I, or, if such individual or body is not established in the Dutch East lndies, bis or its representative there appointed by an authentic document. Wherever the word" undertaking" is used in this Ordinance, it shall be deemed to inc1ude public works, and also the con­struction and operation of railways and tramways, as provided in section I;

(b) "manager" shall mean the person responsible for the im­mediate management of the undertaking as a whole or of an independent part thereof;

1 Identical Ordinances were issued on the same date by the same Decree for Beng­koeloe (Staatsblad no. 304), Palembang (S. no. 305), the soutbern and eastern divisions of Borneo (S. no. 306), Celebes and dependencies (S. no. 307), Manado (S. no. 308), Riau and dependencies (S. no. 309), and tbe Lampoeng Districts (S. no. 310). The Coolie Ordinances for the East Coast of Sumatra (S. 1915, no. 421, last amended by the Ordinance of 3rd May, 1925, S. no. 201), Atjeh and dependencies (S. 1916, no. 334) Tapiannoeli (S. 1918, no. 41), Djambi (S. 1918, no. 39), the western division of Borneo (S. 1918, no. 37), and Amboina (S. 1918, no. 45), were rendered practically identical with the above-mentioned Ordinances by an amending Ordinance also issued on 2gth June, 1925, by Decree no. IS (S. no. 3II). A model contract of employment and register of contracts, in pursuance of all the above Ordinances, were issued by tbe same Decree on tbe same date (S. no. 312).

Price 3d. (6 cents).

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(c) "worker" or "wor kers" shall mean adult male or female coolies and artisans belonging to the native or foreign Oriental population, who have bound themselves by a contract of employment to perform work and who do not belong to the aboriginal population of the province in which the employer's undertaking is situated; the "aboriginal population" shall be deemed to include persons born in the province and established there who are descendants of natives or foreign Orientals from outside the province;

(d) "immigration contract" shall mean a written contract of employment concluded outside the pro vin ce or such contract concluded on the first occasion within the province with workers who have come or have been brought from a place outside it;

(e) "re-engagement contract" shall mean a written contract of employment concluded within the province in all other cases;

(IJ" family " shall mean a man and woman who on the occasion of the conclusion of a contract of employment have stated that they . are husband and wife, together with the minor children of either or both, and Iikewise any man and woman who marry during the currency of the contract of employment, together with the minor children of either or both.

3. (r) Contracts of employment shall be concluded for a specified number of consecutive years or months reckoned from the date of the signature of the contract, but not for more than three years in the case of an immigration contract or thirteen months in the · case of a re-engagement contract, provided that in the case of an agricultural undertaking, if the annual harvest season is not over, current re­engagement contracts shall automatically continue in force until the end of the said harvest season if this is deemed necessary by the head of the Iocal authority, but shall not remain in force for more than eighteen months in all.

(2) Any time during which a worker has been unable to work owing to sickness, reduced by one-tenth of the duration of the con­tract of employment, and any time which he has lost owing to Ie ave or through desertion, and Iikewise any days which he has spent in prison, shall not be taken into account in calculating the duration of the service rendered or of the contract. Further, days on which the worker without sufficient reason has failed to work shall not be taken into account for this purpose. For the purpose of calculating the duration mentioned in this subsection, a year shall be deemed to be 360 days and a month 30 days.

(3) Days of sickness not spent in a hospital specified by the head of the provincial authority shall be deemed to be days on Ieave, except in the cases mentioned in section 4, subsection (r), no. 8 (b).

(4) The prolongation of the employment shall not in any case exceed one-third of the agreed duration of the contract.

(5) A record shall be kept by the manager, in the manner prescribed by the head of the provincial authority, of the days on which no work

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is done and the reasons for the non-performance of work, and a monthly return thereof shall be made to the official designated by the said head of the provincial authority.

(6) Total or partial exemption from the duties mentioned in the preceding subsection may be granted by the he ad of the provincial authority in respect of undertakings the manager of which has previously pledged himself in writing to relinquish the right to require the workers subsequently to make up days as specified in subsections (z) and (3) of this section on which they have not worked.

4. (r) The contract of employment shall specify:-I. the name, the approximate age, the place of origin, the

nationality and if possible the tribe, of the worker or workers, and also the name of the wife;

z. the name of the employer, the name of the undertaking or undertakings for which the worker is engaged, and also the name of the division or divisions comprising the said undertaking or undertakings;

3a. the kind of work for which the worker is engaged and the number of hours of work, provided that the said hours shall not exceed the following standards:-ISt-in work above ground, ten hours a day if worked between

5.30 a.m. and 6 p.m., or eight hours a day if worked wholly or in part between 6 p.m. and 5.30 a.m.;

znd-if the work is performed wholly or in part (i.e. for at least four hours) underground, 812 hours a da y : for this purpose the work underground shall be reckoned from the time of passing through the entrance into the under­ground workings to the time of leaving it.

3b. For workers in railway and tramway undertakings for public traffic which are in operation, a period on duty of twelve hours a day may be prescribed by the contract of employment, provided that the said workers are employed on the line, at stations or on trains or trams.

3e. The contract of employment concluded on behalf of the under­takings mentioned in the preceding paragraph mayalso contain clauses applying to all workers without distinction, which impose upon them longer hours on duty or hours of work at a wage per hour equal to 15/100 or 15/120 of the ordinary daily wage (according as the hours on duty fixed by the contract of employment amount to ten or twelve hours a day) in exceptional circumstances, in case of accident or to ensure the safety and regularity of traffic.

3d. The contractual number of hours of work shall include the time during which the worker is employed on accessory work, e.g. transport , watching, etc., and also the time required for the checking off and allocation of the workers and for traversing the distance from the worker's dwelling to the point at which he works at the beginning of the working day, and the distance from the point at which he works to his dwelling wh en work is over. The same rule shall apply to mining work, provided that

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in underground work the checking off and allocation, if they take place at the surface, and the traversing of the distance from the dwelling to the ent rance of the underground workings and back, up to a maximum of I Y2 hours in all, shall not be deducted from the 8Y2 hours mentioned under no. 3a above.

3 e. It shall not be lawful to compel a worker to work for more than six consecutive hours; the break shall not be Iess than one hour. Exceptions to this provision may be authorised by the head of the provincial áuthority in respect of workers in railway and tramway undertakings for public traffic which are in operation, and also for those in mining undertakings;

4. the wages for overtime, i. e. work beyond the contractual number of hours per day, which shall not be performed other­wise than at the request of the manager and with the consent of the worker.

For workers employed in undertakings for the carrying on of work at docks and coaling stations, and also in the business carried on by shipping agencies, the contract of employment mayalso contain c1auses which impose upon the said workers longer hours of work, not exceeding two hours a day beyond the hours of work stipulated in the contract of employment, at a wage per hour not Ie ss than 15/100 of the customary daily wage, in exceptional circumstances, whenever shipping con­ditions render this necessary. A record shall be kept by the manager, in the manner prescribed by the head of the provincial authority, of the days on which and the time for which the workers have performed such overtime work, and a monthly return thereof shall be made to the head of the local authority;

5. the amount of the wages to be paid to the worker, which shall be fixed for a day's work and shall serve as the basis of calcula­tion in case of work by the daily task or of work at piece rates or by the job, in default of any agreement to the contrary respecting the matter; and also the manner in which wages are to be paid, provided that the worker shall be entitled to the stipulated daily wage for the rest days and holidays stipulated in the contract, and also for days on which he was ready and able to work but the manager or his staff failed or were unable to utilise him; the last-mentioned condition shall be established by the award of the head of the local authority or another official designated by the he ad of the provincial author:ity;

6. the amount of the advances received and the method of settling for the same.

The highest sum which may be advanced shall be fixed by the he ad of the provincial authority;

7. the duration of the contract of employment; 8. the rest days and the holy-days customary for the worker,

on which no work is done, provided that the number of rest days shall not be less than two a month.

( )

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(a) In the contract of employment on behalf of a railway or tramway undertaking for public traffic which is in operation, a statement of the number of days (not being less than two a month) on which no work can be required of the worker sha11 be sufficient.

(b) Further, female workers sha11 not be required to work shortly before their confinement is expected, nor dming thirty days after childbirth or a miscarriage, nor during the first two days of menstruation. These days sha11 be deemed to be days of sickness, even if not spent in a hospital;

9. the employer's obligation to provide at his own expense for the housing, medical attendance and nursing of the worker and his family, and also to supply food free of charge to the family of a worker for the duration of his sickness when the said family is left at home while the worker is nursed elsewhere, unless thè family can provide for its own maintenance;

10. the employer's obligation to pro vide at his own expense for the proper burial of the worker in case of his death during the currency of the contract of employment;

IJ. the employer's obligation to send back the worker and his family free of charge to their place of origin on the expiry of the contract of employment, unless the worker wishes to remain in the province and there is no hindrance to this under the relevant provisions in force;

12. a stipulation that the worker sha11 not be separated trom his family against his win; .

13. the worker's obligation to keep clean the dwe11ing assigned to him by the manager ànd to use the said ,dwelling as it is intended to be used;

14. the time when the worker is to attend at the undertaking and report to the manager;

15. a stipulation that at the request of the employer, the manager or the worker, either on account of the worker's continued incapacity for work or in any other special case at the discretion of the head of the local authority or of another official designated by the head of the provincial authority, the contract of employ­ment sha11 be deemed to be rescinded as from the date on which the said official gave an award thereon in favour of the applicant; and the other party sha11 be bound to submit to this award and to renounce all rights and claims which might have arisen from any such breach of the contract.

(2) Other stipulations than those mentioned in this Ordinance and in the model contract in connection therewith2 mayalso be inserted in the contract of employment, provided th at failure to observe such other stipulations sha11 not entail liability at criminal law, and that any such stipulations which are contrary to the provisions of this Ordinance or the above-mentioned ,model contract sha11 be deemed to be nu11 and void, while the remainde.r of the contract sha11 be valid.

:I A model contract of employment in connection with this Ordinance was issued by Decree no. IS on 29th ]une, 1925 (Staatsblad no. 312).

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5. In railway and tramway undertakings for public traffic which are in operation, the employer shall have power to apply to a worker who has concluded a contract of employment under th is Ordinance the rules of employment mentioned in section 3 of the General Regulations for the railway service in the Dutch East Indies (Staats­blad r895, no. 300) and in section 4 of the General Regulations for the construction and operation of tramways with mechanical traction which are open for public traffic in the Dutch East Indies (Staatsblad r905, no. 5r6).

6. (r) In case of the transference to another employer of the under­taking or undertakings with which the worker has entered into an engagement, the contract of employment shall remain in force for the period stipulated therein, and the provisions of this Ordinance shall apply thereto in so far as the contract relates to the undertaking where the worker was employed at the time of the transference. The new employer shall thus acquire all the rights and undertake all the duties in respect of the worker which arose for the original employer out of the contract of employment.

(2) The new employer, within three days of his coming ' into possession, shall give notice of a transference as specified in the preceding subsection to the he ad of the local authority, stating his name and address. If the new employer is not an employer within the meaning of this Ordinance, the contracts of employment shall be deemed to be rescinded as from tbc date of the aforesaid trans­ference.

(3) A worker with the consent of his employer may enter the service of another employer during the currency of his contract of employment. The rrovisions of subsections (r) and (2) shall apply ta this trans­ference, mutatis mutandis.

7. (r) Except in the case of valid immigration contracts concluded under the Recruiting Ordinance in force for Java and Madoera, and subject to the provisions of the next subsection, immigration contracts shall not be valid until the existence thereof is shown by deeds drawn up in the presence of an official designated by the head of the provincial authority, who shall have power to sign the deeds on his own account and also on behalf of tbe workers.

(2) Immigration contracts concluded abroad, in places concerning which the Govemment has made an explicit public declaration that adequate supervision is there exercised over emigration, shall be ratified by an official designated by the he ad of the provincial authority.

Ratification shall not be refused unless the contract fails to comply with the requirements laid down in section 4 of this Ordinance or there has been failure to report the contract of employment to the competent official within the prescribed time limit.

(3) Re-engagement contracts shall likewise require ratification as provided in the first sentence of subsection (2) of this section.

(4) Co-operation in the drawing up of the deeds mentioned in sub­section (r) or the ratification of the contracts mentioned in the preceding subsection shall be refused 'by the competent official if the contract of employment fails to comply with the relevant req uire-

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ments laid down in this Ordinance or in virtue thereof, or in case of failure to report the contract to him within the prescribed time limit, or if he suspects coercion, error or fraud in the case.

(5) In case of refusal as specified in subsections (2) and (4), the employer or manager may appeal to the he ad of the provincial authority within two days for his decision. In default of an appeal within this time limit for the said further decision, or in the event of the disallowing of the appeal by the said head of the provincial authority, section r6 shall apply.

(6) In case of refusal of ratification, the contract of employment shall cease to be valid as from the date of the refusal.

(7) The competent official shall make a note of the drawing up or ratification of every contract of employment, at the foot of each copy thereof, and shall enter the same in a register, the model for which shall be prescribed by the Governor-General.

The fee due from the employer for this registration shall be 2 gulden 50 cents per worker for immigration contracts and r gulden 50 cents for re-engagement contracts.

The he ad of the provincial authority shall lay down rules for the procedure for paying these sums into the State Treasury.

(8) The head of the provincial authority shall fix the time limitwithin which the deeds embodying the contracts of employment mentioned in subsections (2) and (3) of this section must be reported to the com­petent official.

The deeds embodying the contracts of employment shall be exempt from stamp duty, and shall be drawn up in duplicate in conformity with a model prescribed by the Governor-General, and one copy thereof shall be filed by the head of the local authority.

8. (r) A worker who has concluded a contract of employment as provided in section 7 shall not be engaged by another employer during the currency of ~uch contract.

(2) Any contract of employment concluded contrary to this provision shall be null and void.

9. (r) Without prejudice to the provisions of the next subsection, a worker shall not leave the undertaking where he is employed without permission in writing given by the manager or a person appointed by him for the purpose, except on the days when in virtue of the contract no work can be required of him and on occasions when he goes to lodge a complaint against the employer, the manager or his staff on account of ill-treatment.

(2) In railway and tramway undertakings for public traffic which are in operation, a worker employed on the line, at stations or on trains or trams shall not leave the post assigned to him at any time during his fixed hours of work, on any pretext whatever, without permission from his superior officer. If the worker wishes to lodge a complaint with the competent authority on account of ill-treatment by the employer, the manager or his staff, he may do so even on a working day and without permission from his superior officer. Never-

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theless, he shall give notice to the station-master at the nearest station or halt, not less than twenty-four hours in advance, at the end of his period on duty, of his intention to go and lodge a complaint.

(3) The provisions of the preceding subsection shall apply likewise to workers in mining undertakings; the nofice there mentioned shall be given by such workers to their immediate superior.

(4) A worker shall be bound to perform his work regularly, to obey the orders given by the manager or his staff with respect to his con­tractual obligations, and in every respect to conduct himself in accord­ance with his contract.

(5) A worker shall be bound to ren der ássistance, for which wages shall not be due, in case of force maieure or impending danger, if so required by the manager or his staff, even outside the hours of work fixed by the contract of employment and on the days on which work is otherwise not done, provided th at he is at the undertaking on such days.

10. (I) If a worker during the currency of his contract is committed for trial or imprisoned outside the undertaking, or if, af ter absence on leave, on account of sickness or otherwise, he fails to return to the undertaking within the time which has been granted or which is considered sufficient by the local authority, he may be brought back to the undertaking by the employer's staff acting in the name of the police. In certain cases, at the discretion of the he ad of the local authority, the police may give assistance in this connection at the expense of the employer.

(2) The employer shall likewise bear the expense of sending thè worker to the place where he is to be tried for a contravention of this Ordinance.

11. If a worker, without permission in writing from the competent doctor in charge, leaves a hospital as specified in the Ordinance of 6th September, 1910 (Staatsblad no. 469), in which he has been placed, he may at the request of the said doctor be brought back to the aforesaid hospital by the poli ce or in the name of the police by the employer's staff at his expense.

12. (I) The employer shall see that his workers are well treated, th at the stipulated wage is paid direct to them regularly, th at they and their families are provided free of charge with suitable dwellings 'supplied with good water for bathing and drinking, and also with free medical treatment and nursing (including the necessary medica­ments and dressings) in a suitable hospital, even in case of injuries not received in his service.

(2) If a worker or a member of his family is placed in a hospital for treatment, he shall be entitled free of charge to a sufficiency of prepared food so long as he is under treatment there.

(3) The employer shall see that the transportation of the workers to the undertakings for which they have been engaged and to the hospitals where they are to be placed in case of sickness is effected in the manner prescribed by the head of the provincial authority.

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(4) The employer shall further be bound to give the workers facilities, in the manner prescribed by the he ad of the provincial authority, to acquaint themselves regularly with thé state of their account and the number of lost days, and also to issue to them a card drawn up in accordance with the model issued by the head of the provincial auth6rity, on which shall be entered the name, nationality or tribe, actual or estimated age, height in centimetres, date of entry into employment and duration of the contract of each worker, together with the name of the undertaking to which he belongs and the days on which he is free.

(5) The workers shall always carry the above card ab out them when they leave the undertaking, and pro duce it to the authorities on demand.

(6) Without prejudice to the provisions of section 5, deductions shall not be made from the part of the worker' s wages which is to be paid in money, except in the cases specified in the contract of employment and in respect of advances made by the employer on account of the worker for taxes and for payments to which the worker is sentenced by judicial verdicts. Deductions shall not be made for fines imposed on the worker by the employer, the manager or his staff.

(7) The total amount of the deductions mentioned in the preceding subsection shall not in any case exceed one-fourth of the wages earned since the last payment of wages, provided that, in case of the termina­tion of the contract of employment, the whole amount of any taxes advanced on account of the worker and not yet repaid by him may be deducted from the wages earned by him in addition to the above total.

13. (I) The employer shall keep the pay-books and other books containing the worker's current account in the manner prescribed by the head of the provincial authority, and on demand shall grant the authority and the officials of the labour inspectorate access to all records prescribed by this Ordinance.

(2) The officials mentioned in the preceding subsection and the public employees accompanying them shall have access at all times to the places where workers are employed and to the buildings where workers are housed or nursed.

14. (I) The employer shall give the worker a certificate of dismissal within three days of the termination of the contract of employment, unless the termination of the said contract is consequent upon the death of the worker or the employment is continued with the same employer in virtue of a new contract of employment under this Ordinance.

(2) In cases in which the issue of a certificate of dismissal in virtue of the pre ce ding subsection is required, and also in the event of the death of a worker, the manager within eight days of the termination of the contract of employment shall give notice thereof in writing to the official mentioned in section 7, subsection (7), who shall enter the case in the register there mentioned.

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(3) The model for the certificate of dismissal shall be prescribed by the he ad of the provincial authority.

(4) In the certificate of dismissal the employer shall state the name, nationality or tribe, actual or estimated age and height in centimetres of the worker, together with any further data deemed necessary by the head of the provincial authority.

IS. The contract of employment shall be ended by the death of the worker but not by the death of the employer.

16. (I) The employer shall be bound on each occasion of the termination of the last contract of employment concluded with a worker to send the said worker and his family (or, in the event of the death of the worker, his family alone) back to their . p]ace of origin, free of charge, at the first possible opportunity, in accordance with the rules laid down as required by the he ad of the provincial authority, unless the worker wishes to remain in the province and satisfies the provisions respecting admission ànd settlement in so far as they apply to him.

(2) The employer shall continue to be responsible for the maintenance of the worker and his family until the opportunity mentioned in the preceding subsection occurs.

(3) If the worker and his family fail to avail themselves immediately of the opportunity for repatriation offered them under subsection (I) of this section, the employer for one month after the termination of the contract of employment shall continue to be responsible for their gratuitous repatriation if the worker so requests. .

(4) In case of failure to discharge the obligations mentioned in this section, the head of the local authority shall take steps to discharge the same at the expense of the employer. .

17. (I) The manager shall in general be bourid to do and to refrain from doing all things which a good manager in like circumstances should do or refrain from doing.

(2) The manager shall be responsible not only for the duties in­cumbent upon him under this Ordinance, but also jointly with and in addition to the employer for the discharge of the obligations incumbent upon the latter under this Ordinance.

18. Disputes respecting the interpretation of the contract of employment shall as far as possible be settled by amicable agreement, in an informal manner, by the ' officials of the labour inspectorate or by the head of the local authority. Where this is impossible, the parties shall be referred to the civil or criminal magistrate if necessary.

19. (I) Detention for not more than one month or a fine not exceeding one hundred gulden shall be imposed for every wilful breach of the contract of employment. .

(2) If at the time of the action in question two years have not yet elapsed since a previous sentence for a wilful breach of the contract of employment became definitive, t~e penalty imposed shall be detention for not more than th ree months.

(3) The following actions shall be deemed to constitute a wilful breach by the worker of his contract of employment:-

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(a) failure to discharge the obligation to attend at the under­taking and report to the manager on the date mentioned in section 4, subsection (I), no. 14;

(b) desertion; (c) persistent refusal to perform the work undertaken. 20. (I) Resistance or threats to the employer or his staff shall

entail detention for not more than one month or a fine not exceeding fifty gulden, and insults to the said persons, breach of the peace, refusal to perform the work undertaken, incitement to desertion or to refusal of the ~ork undertaken, brawling, drunkenness and similar offences against public order shall entail detention for not more than twelve days or a fine not exceeding twenty-five gulden, in so far as the above-mentioned actions are not deemed to be punishable as misdemeanours.

(2) If at the time of resistance or threats to the employer or the staff two years have not yet elapsed since a previous senten ce on the offender for a similar contravention became definitive, the penalty imposed shall be detention for not more than three months.

2I. In case of incitement to non-observance of the contract of employment, or the encouragement of such non-observance by housing a worker who fails to show by a duly filled-in certificate of dismissal or by a document issued to him by the authorities that he is entirely free from any obligation to serve another, or by taking such worker into employmènt, every separate instance of the contravention shall entail detention for not more than one month or a fine .not exceeding two hundred gulden.

22. (I) A prosecution shall not be instituted for a breach of the contract of employment committed by the worker, otherwise than on the complaint of the manager of the undertaking to which the worker belongs.

(2) The penalty imposed for desertion when committed for the first time shall not be enforced if the worker returns to the under­taking within the time limit allowed him by the magistrate.

23. Detention for not more than twelve days or a fine not exceeding one hundred gulden shall be imposed for contraventions of the provisions of this Ordinance and of the provisions laid down by agree­ment in the contract of employment in cases where no special penalty is imposed.

24. (I) The Governor-General shall be empowered to re duce the maximum duration of contracts of employment as specified in section 3, subsection (I), either for all contracts of employment or for contracts of employment of a particular kind or scope defined by him, either for undertakings throughout the province or for those in a particular part of the territory thereof.

(2) The provisions of this Ordinance which lay down penalties for breach of the contract of employment by workers and for refusal to perform the work undertaken, and also those respecting the bringing back of workers by the police to the undertaking, shall cease to be oper­ative as soon as circumstances in the opinion of the Governor-General admit of this, on a date fixed by him for the undertakings throughout

province or for those in a particular part of the ;:f;èt;ti1~~~lt either in respect of all contracts of employment or In reS1pectol; tracts of employment of a particular kind or scope defined b

(3) The possibility of carrying out this section and the extent to which this can be done shall be investigated every five years by the Governor-General in conformity with the provisions laid down for the Province of the East Coast of SumatraS respecting the matter.

25. (I) The Governor-Generàl shall be empowered to issue a decree with a statement of the reasons therefor~ af ter hearing the ~ouncil of the Dutch East Indies, to provide th at in an undertaking mentioned by name in the decree, in which persistent conditions contrary to the provisions of this Ordinance or conditions of any other kind render it necessary, workers shall not be engaged under a contract of employ­ment on the basis of this Ordinance until the decree in question has been withdrawn; the decree shall be published in the ] avasche Courant.

(2) In such cases the current contracts of employment shall auto­matically be rescinded as from the day af ter that on which a copy of the decree in question is transmitted to themanager of the under­taking.

26. The contracts of employment registered before the coming into operation of this Ordinance, under the Coolie Ordinance previously in force, shall remain in operation for the period specified therein; and the provisions of this Ordinance, with the exception of section 7, shall apply to them.

27. The actions dec1ared by this Ordinance to be punishable spall be deemed to be contraventions.

28. This Ordinance mav be cited as the Coolie Ordinance for the West Coast of Sumatra. ~

Secondly. In cases where contracts of employment are conc1uded with workers as provided under Firstly, in pursuance of other provisions than those there mentioned, the provisions under Secondly of the [Coolie] Ordinance of ' 3rd October, 1911 (Staatsblad no. 540), as last amended by the Ordinance of 28th May, 1924 (Staatsblad no. 250), shall apply to the employers and to the workers.

Thirdly. This Ordinance shall come into operation as from ISt Sep­tember, 1925.

And in order that no one may allege ignorance thereof, this Ordinance shall be published in the Staatsblad of the Dutch East Indies and affixed wherever necessary in the native and Chinese tongues.

a By Decree no. lof 3rd May, 1925 (Staatsblad no. 201) a new section (24a) was added to the Coolie Ordinance for the East Coast of Sumatra (Staatsblad 1915, no. 421). This new section provides for the constitution of a standing committee appointed by the Governor-General, to investigate conditions of employment and advise the Govern­ment and its officials thereon, and in particular to make the quinquennial inquiry here mentioned, beginning in 1930.

Published in the United Kingdom by P. S. KING & SON, LTD., 14 Great Smith Street, Westminster.

E. Birkhreuser & Co., Printers, .Basle.