Systems of contract labor are established in specific political, economic and social conditions to meet the needs of employers, governments and, sometimes, employees. They are maintained if these conditions continue or if one or more of the participant groups has sufficient power or interest to maintain the system. In the case examined here the interests of government, employers and, by proxy, employees were seen to converge and led to the establishment of Papua New Guinea's Highland Labour Scheme. This opened up a hitherto little known population and untapped source of labor with few previous contacts outside their own tribal group. It was the initial avenue by which highlanders entered the monetary economy and the wider national polity. The scheme was successful in controlling the more destructive effects of over-rapid introduction to new socioeconomic systems and disease. When medical transport and political contexts changed the scheme was no longer justified and was abolished.
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