at the last named place where it is not so easy for them to reject the conditions imposed upon them being at a great distance from their homes. These passengers, whom they Call free, are put into separate places & are watched by armed men & therefore in the opinion of the Chief Magistrate of Hongkong they ought to be considered as slaves, and have the right to assassinate the Captde Crew of the ships that conveys them; but as such vessels are under the American flag they are exempt from all suspicion & eventually Hongkong Journals do not venture to Censure this system of Chinese Emigration.
It is a public & notorious fact that at Hongkong there are Agents of Emigration for California, & that they pay for the passage of the coolies, giving them a Bill or Card in virtue of which they are received & fed on the steamers & on their arrival at the port of their destination other Agents take hold of Them.
It is also known that in January of last year no less than two revolts occurred on board the Belgian ship "Frederic" then in the port of Hongkong ready to sail for Peru with coolies, & the "emigrants" who had revolted out were forcibly compelled by the Judge Sinate to return on board under the pretext that they had already signed their contracts.
Finally, the intention of that magistrate, as may be seen from the sentence above referred to, & according to the declarations contained in the wurpapers, is to draw public attention in Europe, & even in the Court of Pekin to the Chinese Emigration from Macao, in order that it whatever the same can be prohibited from that port.
In the absence of the director G. Jose Javanes de Macedo
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