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imported labourer are largely of a prohibitory nature, and contain nothing as to rates of wages, hours of work or the other details usual for his protection in such cases.
Companies and individuals duly authorised by Cube have commenced operations in the Colony. One com- pany, with three partners, has chartered three ships and proposes to embark several thousand emigrants during the next few months, In no case has any official communica- tion been made to the Government of the Colony, either direct or through the Cuban Consul.
4.
The terma offered by the recruiters are alluring, but vague and lacking in detail. They do not in fact go beyond the promise of wages at 745 (gold) per month; and in the case of one recruiter at least it appears that the labourers would be expected to refund the cost of passage (some 8250 Mexican) by deductions from wages. The recruiters appear ready to fall in with any suggestions that may be made to them for the alteration of the terms: but such alterations are of course based on no better authority than the original terms, and carry no guarantee that the Cuban Government would see that they were observed. And in any event the conditions of living in Cuba are unknown in Hongkong; and therefore even the dis- cussion of detailed conditions is impossible without further information which would have to be based on better authority than that of the contractors or recruiters.
5. While it is clearly undesirable that labour should be permitted to leave the Colony under auch unsatis- factory and vegue conditions conditions which even if they can be made satisfactory beer no officiel guarantee, and about which indeed there has been no official communicatior whatever received by the Government, I have to bring to Your Lordship's notice the difficulties in the way of deal- ing with it. The practice of refusing to permit "assisted