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unfair that an Emigrant should be protected against the capricious, & perhaps fraudulent, exercise of this power of refusal, by Coolies who may have been supported for some time in the Depot at his expense. The Governor of Macao appears anxious to eradicate the abuses which have heretofore disgraced the Emigration from Macao and the possibility of abuse under these provisions can scarcely have escaped his observation. It would not be becoming to assume that abuses should be practiced under it he would fail to take the necessary steps to put an end to them.
In the Convention concluded by the British and French Ministers with the Chinese Government in March 1866, it was provided (Article 13) that any migrant refusing to proceed after muster should be bound to repay the expenses of his maintenance in the Depot at the rate of 100 Cash a day, and in default should be handed over to the Chinese magistrate to be punished according to law.
The difference is that in the Convention