RECEIVED
2 9 JAN 1930
N°552
My lord,
-37
COL, OFFICE
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONGKONG, 27th December, 1929.
Aned (3)
I have the honour to transmit the enclosed
copy of a despatch which I have received from His Excellency the Governor-General of New Zealand suggesting that the minimum period for which labourers are recruited in Hong Kong for work in Samoa should be raised from three to four
years, and to request Your Lordship's instructions in the
matter.
2.
Recruitment in Hong Kong of Chinese assisted
enigrants for Western Samoa began in 1920, when the terms of
employment agreed upon between this Government and the
representative of the Sanoa administration provided for the
signing by the labourer on arrival in the islands of a
contract to work for three years, on the expiration of which
he would be repatriated to China, if he so wished. This is
the usual term for contracts in the South Seas. In the East
Indies the labourer engages to work for his employer for a
period of 300 to 360 working days before he can claim
repatriation; but, owing to the greater expense of conveying
emigrants to the South Sea Islands and to the fact that most
administrations there do not encourage free settlement by
Chinese and are therefore liable to incur heavy expenditure
on account of men repatriated at the end of their term, the
longer
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
LORD PASSFIELD,
&c.,
&c.,
&C.