134
such documents were necessary for Manila.
I have no doubt that the Master of the vessel My Merryweather, has acted in ignorance of the Law, and that the statement to him by his consignees of no emigration papers being necessary for Manila received authority in his conception from the fact, as he states that in 1856, he took Chinese passengers to Singapore without Emigration papers and landed them there and made his report to the Marine officer without any objections being raised.
May it not claim consideration whether Manila and Singapore should not be exempt by their comparative contiguity to the chief emigrating port of China from those provisions of the Chinese Passengers Act which were designed for consequences which are unlikely to occur in these short voyages. Between China and Manila, there is an extensive trade in passengers, and now I may