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Enclosed the newspaper in question he did not allude to Emigration from Hongkong, and that it was I who called the attention of the Duke of Buckingham & Chandos to the Editorial comment on the subject. It would serve no good purpose to go into detail into the contrast between Mr. Sampson's views on Emigration from Hong-Kong as described by Mr. Thomsett - I must however observe that Mr. Thomsett admits that the employment of native recruiters - the point on which Mr. Sampson has most continuously insisted - though necessary is in fact an evil - but he maintains that Mr. Sampson's system, which consists in the distribution of his advertisements through the Masters of native vessels, comes in practice to the same thing. I am afraid it is impossible in the nature of things to obtain Emigrants altogether without native intervention.
All that can be done is to restrict that intervention to the narrowest limits and as much as possible to deprive the native Agents of any motive for acting dishonestly or fraudulently. The exercise of a strict scrutiny at the depôt, and the requiring the Agents to