Iniguitous Sub-letting System:
Who is to Bear the Cost of Repairing Ricshas?
A dispute in the ricsha business resulted in the vehicles on hire on Monday being reduced by some 600. Investigation of the trouble reveals a somewhat complicated method of business in the ricsha trade. The establishment concerned has the ownership of scme 3,000 ricshas. These aig sub-let te ricsha foremen, at 75 cents per day for each riesha. The foremen in turn 8ub-let to other Chinese, who each rent 10 or 12 ricshas—some of them take only two or three at 85 cents per day. These men then hire the vehicles out to the coolies, the usual charges being 10 ten-cent i pieces per day, eleven if an additional one can be squeezed from the coolie.
To complete the process of subdivision (though this point has nothing to do with the present dispute), the coolie who pays, his ten or 11 ten-cents works for a few hours in order to reimburse himself and scrape a small profit, and then sub-lets to another coolie, the usual charge would fall upon their sublets to another coolie, the usual practice being for three coolies to take an eight hour turn with the riesha, The proprietor of the concern in foremen promptly intimated that the foremen would be responsible for the cost of repairs to ricshas. The foremen promptly intimated that charge would fall upon their subcontractors, who in tur expressed the intention of making the coolies pay, which of course is an impossi ibility. Matters came to a head on Monday when a number of the foremen went on strike and refused to hira out the ricshas. "Many of them went round the town en-basis this month, further meetings will be held.
The Company's system of making the foremen, and consequently subcontractors and ricsha coolies, responsible for repairs, certainly seems to be a hardship that should be remedied and as it is a matter which eventually concerns the peace and order of the Settlement, and the public in general, is one in which the Municipal authorities might reasonably take action.
The Star Ricsha Company on Thursday issued to their Chinese foremen a price list of repairs which the company proposes to charge. The gestion is: who is to pay for the repairs? Tke foremen have declared that they will not be responsible, and_ the ricsha coohee are apprehensive that an additional burden is a' out to fall upon them. The foremen are holding a meeting to discuss the new tariff. Meanwhile, the coolies oontinue yorking
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.