C 0. 15775
REOP
REGO 5 SEP 31
THE
Hongkong Telegraph.
HONGKONG, 12TH JULY, 1881.
In making a reference to the files of our morning contemporary, we accidentally came across the following paragraph in the Daily Press of April 29th. "The coolies to depart per Glamis Castle have, we hear, all been duly passed by the eminent board deputed to conduct the examination. Further delay has, however, been caused in connection with the signing of the necessary papers." It will be remembered that the above-named steamer, under charter to Messrs. Gibb, Livingston & Co., left this port on Friday, April 29th, carrying 830 odd Chinese passengers bound for Sydney, and the other Australian ports, having been delayed several days after her advertised time of departure in order that the passengers might be examined by the "eminent board" above referred to, consisting of the Acting Colonial Secretary, the Acting Registrar General, and Dr. Eitel, to ascertain whether the passengers were really free emigrants, as described in the passenger list.
The case of the Glamis Castle will serve to illustrate our ideas on Chinese Emigration to Australia, and will clearly explain to our readers not only the duties of our local Government, but also the views of our Australian cousins on a question which principally concerns their interests. On April 22nd, Messrs. Gibb, Livingston & Co. applied to the Government, in the usual form, under Section II of Ordinance 5 of 1876, for a general licence to convey per s.s. Glamis Castle, 839 Free Chinese Emigrants to Singapore and the Australian Colonies. The application was in due course forwarded by the Harbour Master, who is also Emigration Officer, to the Colonial Secretary, and submitted to the Members of the Executive Council who unanimously approved of the application.
On being laid before the Governor, His Excellency requested to be furnished with a list of the 839 free emigrants proposed to be taken to Australia by the Glamis Castle, and the list—which sets forth that the emigrants were nearly all tin-miners, gold diggers, and laborers, with a few carpenters and cooks, and one trader and one gardener—was accordingly forthcoming.
The next step was a minute by the Governor instructing the Acting Colonial Secretary, the Acting Registrar General, and Dr. Eitel, to examine the list, and question a sufficient number of the proposed emigrants to see if they were really free, and under no contract of service. Accordingly, the three members forming what the Daily Press sarcastically terms the "eminent board" assembled at 9 o'clock on the morning of the 26th April, at the Harbour Office, prepared to cross-examine the motley crew of diggers, tin-miners, carpenters, cooks, &c., when an unforeseen difficulty arose.
Captain Thomsett, the Emigration Officer, considering that his prerogative was being infringed on, objected to the examination of the emigrants by any person excepting himself, and the upshot of the fracas was that Dr. Eitel left the office in disgust, leaving Dr. Stewart and Mr. Gerrard to settle with Captain Thomsett as best they could. These two gentlemen settled the question, so far as they were concerned, by proceeding with the examination as directed by the Governor, and after devoting two hours to questioning ten men, they reported that, if the emigrants they had examined were not free and under no contract of service, it would be impossible for them to show that they were not.
Soon after Dr. Stewart and Mr. Gerrard had left the Harbour Office, Dr. Eitel returned by order of His Excellency, and was permitted to question four emigrants, and reported: "Taking these four men as a sample of the whole, I am convinced that the vast majority would, on strict examination, be found to be men utterly unable to pay the passage money themselves, but who, whilst being perfectly free and willing emigrants, have had the passage money advanced to them by Chinese firms, and will have to repay the money with interest within 18 months after arrival in Australia. The very appearance of the men—shoeless, stockingless—indicated the class of labouring men who live from hand to mouth."
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