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As stated in a letter from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, dated July 27th, 1853:~-~
"it is alleged that great malpractices are resorted to in the collection of emigrants on shore, that on ship-board they are ill-fed, ill-treated, and grossly overcrowded, and that they are treated like slaves in some of the countries to which they are taken.”
The records of the time afford ample evidence of the truth of these allegations, instances being known in which nearly fifty per cent. of the coolies died on the voyage from China to South America from overcrowding, bad food and water, and lack of proper care.
To remedy these abuses, so far as lay in the power of the British Government, the Chinese Passengers Act of 1855 was passed, its object being to ensure that where British vessels or vessels sailing from Hong Kong were concerned, no coolie should be entrapped or coerced into signing a contract which he did not properly understand or of which the terms were unfair, and that the conditions of the voyage should be as satisfactory as possible. Experience, however, shewed the difficulty of ensuring the attainment of these objects in the case of emigration to foreign countries. There were also no means of guaranteeing that the contracts would be adhered to in such cases and, in view of several cases in which Chinese coolies sent to South America had been grossly ill-treated after arrival, Lord Clarendon expressed the opinion (in a letter from the Foreign Office to the Colonial Office of August 25th, 1869), that---
looking to the atrocities committed by Chinese crimps in procuring emigrants in the Chinese domin- ions and also to the reports which have been received. of the treatment of Chinese emigrants in foreign countries, and in Peru more particularly, Her Majesty's Government ought not to facilitate their emigration by allowing Hong Kong to be used by the parties concerned as a depôt for Chinese emigrants. It appears to
Lord Clarendon that the Emigration Commissioners have justly come to the conclusion that Chinese emigration should not be allowed to take place from Hong Kong except when the protection of Her Majesty's Government can follow the emigrants thronghout their whole servitude, and Lord Clarendon apprehends that this can only he effectually secured by prohibiting the departure from Hong Kong of Chinese subjects as emigrants in any other than British vessels, and to any place not in the dominions of the Queen."
It was pointed out that the restriction to British vessels would lead to difficulties with foreigu Powers whose treaty rights would be infringed, and Lord Clarendon accordingly modi- fied his opinion so far as to agree that foreign vessels might be allowed to carry coolies from Hong Kong to British Colonies:-
"provided the terms of the Chinese Passengers Act were complied with and that a certainty was obtained that those coolies would be delivered in a British Colony."
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Lord Granville concurred in this view, as modified, and issued instructions to that effect to the Governor of Hong Kong.
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To enable the Governor to carry out the wishes of Her Majesty's Government an Ordi- was passed in Hong Kong in 1870 providing that no Chinese passenger ship should proceed to sea without the Governor's licence, which was to be given subject to such conditions as might be prescribed by the Secretary of State.
The effect of this law, coupled with the in- structions from the Secretary of State above- referred to, was to prohibit emigration to foreign countries.
It was not explicitly stated in the corre- spondence that the prohibition applied only to contract emigration, but the instructions were so interpreted in Hong Kong, and when, in 1873, this point was referred home, Lord Granville (then at the Foreign Office) and Lord Kimberley agreed that this interpretation was correct. Lord Kimberley, accordingly, while reiterating the prohibition of contract emigration to foreign countries, informed the Governor that free emi- gration might be allowed, though he reserved the right to prohibit it in cases where it appeared that the emigration was not properly conducted, or that the emigrants were not properly treated after arrival. At this time there appears to have been no emigration from Hong Kong except to neighbouring countries or to the United States of America, and in these cases it was not thought. necessary to interfere.
[Though not expressly mentioned, it seems to have been always understood that the rules. laid down with regard to Hong Kong applied equally to emigration in British vessels from Chinese ports, and the Hong Kong laws have dealt with this traffic accordingly.] The Hong Kong laws have been modified at various times since 1870, but the main principle of requiring a licence has been adhered to throughout except in one respect. The 1870 Ordinance gave the Governor power to exempt "any mail steamers. or other vessels" from the necessity to take out
a licence, provided that they carried only free coolies. The exemption was specially intended to apply to the case of regular lines which carried on a continual and well conducted traffic with the Straits Settlements and other neigh- bouring countries.
In 1871 with a view further to relieve such vessels an Ordinance was passed exempting ships entering on a voyage of not more than thirty days from the more stringent requirements of the Act of 1855 and from the necessity of obtaining a licence, which cost $100. The Emigration Officer was, however, authorised to refuse the clearance certificate required by the
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