As time is
libel,
an
element
k.
of great importance,
I have most respectfully to submit that I am entitled to a reply to my letter of the 16th instant without further delay.
I have ...
(Signed) St. Jp. Aheurst. R.N.
Admiralty, 7th July, 1881.
Page 183
SUPPLEMENT TO THE "HONGKONG TELEGRAPH."
HONGKONG, THURSDAY, JULY 1st, 1881.
NEWS for the ENGLISH MAIL.
Government.
These regulations consisted of twenty-two articles, and were meant to insure regularity and fair dealing in the engagement of Chinese emigrants.
The seventh article, which contains the gist of the regulations, reads as follows:-
"The contracts shall specify :-
1st. The place of destination, and the length of the engagement.
2nd. The right of the emigrant to be conveyed back to his own country, and the sum which shall be paid at the expiration of his contract to cover the expenses of his voyage home, and that of his family, should they accompany him.
3rd. The number of working days in the year, and the length of each day's work.
4th. The wages, rations, clothing, and other advantages promised to the emigrant.
5th. Gratuitous medical attendance.
6th. The sum which the emigrant agrees to set aside out of his monthly wages for the benefit of persons to be named by him, should he desire..."
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 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.
Ordinance 5 of 1874 (Part I. see Sections 4 and 5), clearly defines the difference in law which exists between a Chinese passenger ship carrying free emigrants, and one carrying emigrants under contract of service.
The owners or charterers of every Chinese passenger ship must give notice to the Emigration Officer that such a vessel has been laid on the berth for the conveyance of Chinese emigrants, specifying name of ship, destination, and probable time of departure; and in all cases where such intending emigrants are under contracts of service, the depot where these emigrants are to be lodged before embarkation must be stated.
No Chinese passenger ship can embark without a permit from the Emigration Officer, who is forbidden to issue the same unless he has proof that the emigrant has entered into a contract of service, and that such contract has been explained to him.
The Chinese emigration from this port to the Australian Colonies has been tainted to a considerable extent by what is known as 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, for the purpose of arranging the contracts, getting the coolies from the country, and seeing them safely housed, and shipped here, and started to work on the other side, make vast sums out of the traffic.
There are many sound reasons why emigration to the Colonies should not be encouraged by the English Government; and we submit that the least the Hongkong executive can do is to insist on the ordinance being carried out to the letter, and that in the case of all free emigrants, a thorough examination be instituted by properly qualified examiners, instead of the unsatisfactory inspection by the Harbour Master, and a Portuguese clerk (whose honorarium from the state hardly places him in the position assigned to Caesar's wife), which has hitherto been considered sufficient.
Capt. Thomsett is not a Chinese scholar, and as Harbour Master, he has more work than he can properly attend to--or why should there be a Deputy Harbour Master!
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