Information
(a) must have den:
A. S. WATSON & Co. WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DRUGGISTS,
GENERAL CHEMISTS,
AND
Manufacturers of the following, AERATED WATERS, viz: SODA, TONIC, SARSAPARILLA, AND POTASH, LEMONADE, GINGERADE, RASPBERRYADE-- AND PHOSPHORIC CHAMPAGNE.
Deliveries in Town and Harbour from
7 AM to 7 P.M.
SHIPS MEDICINE CHESTS VERIFIED, PASSENGER SHIPS SUPPLIED.
Prompt Attention given to Coast Orders.
HONGKONG DISPENSARY,
HONGKONG. SHANGHAI PHARMACY,
SHANGHAI CANTON DISPENSARY,
CANTON.
THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH-TUESDAY 28TH, 1881.
Chinese Emigrants to Singapore and some sort of an examination, purpose of arranging the con- the Australian Colonies. The application was in due course forwarded have laid itself open to severe cons and seeing them safely by the Harbour Master, who is also That the Emigration Officer's end shipped here, and started Emigration Officer, to the Colonial nation was a thorough farce, the other side, make vast Secretary, and submitted to the be patent to every one who of the traffic. There are Members of the Executive Council anything of the manner ind reasons why emigration who unanimously approved of the these sham examinations are lanies should not be en- application. On being laid before ducted, and We must hold by the English Govern- the Governor, His Excellency re- | Governor responsible for permining we submit that the least quested to be furnished with a list such a state of affairs to exist. kong executive can do is of the 839 free emigrants proposed absolutely indispensable that on the ordinance being car- to be taken to Australia by the Emigration Officer should be the letter, and that in the Glamis Castle, and the list which thoroughly conversant with the free emigrants, a thorough sets forth that the emigrants were uage and general customs of on be instituted by pro- nearly all tin-miners, gold diggers, Chinese, and it is equally necesslified examiners, instead of: and laborers, with a few carpenters that his time should not be taken isfactory inspection by the and cooks, and one trader and one with other duties. Capt. Thomsett Master, and a Portuguese gardener was accordingly forth is not a Chinese scholar, andose honorarium from the coming. The next step was a minute Harbour Master he has more ly places him in the posi- by the Governor instructing the Act- than he can properly attend toned to Caesar's wife), which ing Colonial Secretary, the Acting why should there be a Derto been considered suth- Registrar General, and Dr. Eitel, to Harbour Master! The principe examine the list, and question a one government official filling sufficient number of the proposed three different positions, so co emigrants to see if they were really in Hongkong, is rotten to the e free, and under no contract of service, and wholly indefensible. The ti Accordingly the three members form-has surely come when the Auge ing what the Daily Press sarcastic-Stable wants a thorough clean ally terms the eminent board" cunt, and we would strongly re- assembled at 9 o'clock on the morn- mend that a start be made at out! ing of the 26th April, at the Harbour the Emigration Department. motley crew of diggers, tin-miners, Office, prepared to cross-examine the
carpenters, cooks, &c., when an un- foreseen difficulty arose. Captain Thomsett, the Emigration Officer, considering that his prerogative was being infringed on, objected to the examination of the emigrants by any other 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, and from the experience I have had of these classes in China, I am induced to believe that the idea of these men having paid their passages with their own money is utterly improbable." We have very carefully gone over the printed notes of the evidence of the witnesses examined, and have no hesitation whatever in confirming Dr. Eitel's report in every particular. Captain Thomsett reported on the 28th April that he had examined the 839 Chinese emigrants, and found that they were free and under no contracting of service whatever. One man however, one of the four examined by Dr. Eitel, had admitted that he had a written agreement, and his name was removed from the list. On this report, the Governor, holding Captain Thomsett responsible for the examination of the 835 whom Dr. Eitel had not examined, signed the license, and the steamer accordingly left on the following day.
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THE DISPENSARY,
Foochow.
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THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH.
Hongkong, 12th June, 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 officially 839 Chinese passengers bound for Sydney, and 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.
Every mercantile man in Hongkong knows well enough, the system by which these so-called free emigrants are shipped on board steamers for the Colonies, and they are well acquainted with the share taken in the transactions by the Chinese Agents, or sub-charterers, so we shall not waste time and space by detailing matters which are perfectly understood throughout this colony. Emigration from China to the Colonies should not be encouraged, because it is very rarely conducted honestly towards the emigrants themselves, and it has been, is, and will be the cause of serious troubles in nearly every city in Australia. Chinese labour of the description sent down in Glamis Castle is not required, nor is it desired in the Colonies, Gold diggers, tin miners, and general laborers are not the sort of people likely to add to the permanent stability of the country; and the natural development of the Australian continent will come in its own good time, so far as railways, etc., etc., are concerned, without the aid of Chinese labour. The Colonies are progressing with the times sufficiently fast to meet their own requirements. Although certain powerful companies in Australia would like to see, for their own especial benefit, a great deal of cheap Chinese labor introduced into the country, the great mass of the people are strongly averse to their being inundated with an alien race, whose presence has already made itself felt to the detriment of the native born laboring classes, as recent legislation on the subject has evidenced how the feeling of the people inclines. We read in the latest Sydney papers that when the emigrants by the Glamis Castle arrived, they were actually stoned in the streets. Such barbarous treatment to a race of inoffensive, well-meaning beings is a disgrace to our civilisation, but it proves clearly enough the strong feeling which exists against the Chinese in the capital of New South Wales, and that this feeling is a most powerful factor in the question we are now considering. The Imperial Chinese Government apparently take no interest worth naming in the immigration of their subjects, unless their attention happens to be directed to some tremendous grievance, similar to the cruelties practised against the coolies in Cuba, Peru, and elsewhere. The emigrants themselves are doubtless willing enough to try their luck in other lands, but they are of a class who cannot afford to pay for their own passages, hence the contract system, which under some circumstances is a sort of debased slavery. The prosperity of Hongkong, commercial or social, is not increased by encouraging the Chinese to emigrate to the Colonies; although no doubt, associations exist here as well as in Sydney.
DEATH.
At Shanghai, on the 4th inst., on board Receiving-Ship Wellington, Captain George Wright Bounett, aged 38 years.
It was no doubt very annoying for the charterers of the Glamis Castle to have the steamer detained in the harbour for days after she was ready to go to sea, and it was equally certain that if the vessel had been permitted to leave without its so called free emigrants undergoing