while the old planter seldom is, a native official once said to me, “The new man must submit to being worried and annoyed, and,” he added with a laugh, “even to be kicked for four years, and then he may do anything.”  Any planter, then, settling in a new district requires to act with great care and tact till he passes the four years period, when he may do anything in reason.  But unless he has a full control of himself, he will be sure to be involved in squabbles and disputes of a more or less troublesome character, which are injurious to the interests of the estate.  And hence there is the greater need for the proprietor being careful in his selection of a manager.

It is very important that, at the outset, a clear understanding should be come to between the absentee proprietor and his manager, so as to prevent disputes and confusion.  To avoid these it should be laid down either that the manager is to have full power to act on his responsibility, or that he is to act entirely under the instructions of the proprietor.  When the latter understanding is come to, the manager must adhere strictly to the orders of the proprietor, even though the agent may think that he would serve the proprietor’s interests better by neglecting the orders, and because, obviously, the proprietor may have reasons for his orders which are not apparent, or only partially apparent, to the manager.  In the event of a manager not being disposed to carry out orders to the letter, he should at once resign his situation, as he has no right to receive his pay on the understanding that he is to carry out his employer’s wishes, and then fail to do so.

Powers of attorney to managers should be carefully and fully drawn, as it is often of great importance that a manager should have full power to act in the courts as to buying and selling land, and other matters.  If the full power of acting on his own responsibility is to rest with the manager, it should be distinctly so stated in the power of attorney.  If the power of direction lies with the principal solely, it should be remembered (a fact that is not always remembered, by the way, as I know from my own experience) that, though the manager has the power of acting for the proprietor, he cannot do so in any degree at variance with the instructions received.  If, for instance, the proprietor orders that, in the case of a dispute between him and another party, the manager is to call in arbitrators to decide on certain points in a dispute, the manager would have no right to put other points connected with the dispute to the decision of the arbitrators, because he, the manager, might think it would be of advantage to his principal to do so, or for any other reason whatsoever.