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Authorities do not put forward charges against the treatment
of these Chinese labourers in Samoa, but allege that the
emigrants have a grievance because many more are induced to
leave their homes in Kuangtung and proceed to Hongkong than
are eventually sent on to Samoa (it seems that only one out
of every three or four sent to Hongkong is samt on to Samoa)
a ri because the rejected are (it is rather obscurely alleged)
fleeced by the Chinese boarding house in Hongkong to which
they have to hand over a deposit of $20 each. The Chinese
Authorities proceed to claim the right to control the recruit-
ing of this labour in accord nee with the terms of the
Emigration Convention of 1904. To these representations His Exoelleney the Governor of Hongkong replies (to Mr. Ehillips) that the Convention of 1904 is inapplicable because it refers only to the recruitment of indentured labourers and not to
been unable to obtain assisted emigrants and that he has
confirmation of the allegations against the Chinese boarding
house, Mr. Phillips requests my instructions as to whether
he should transmit this reply to the Chinese Authorities as
be entertains misgivings as to the correctness of the atɩit-
ude of the Hongkong Government in the matter.
3.
#ith a view to clarifying the issues involved in this
somewhat complicated case I submit the following explanation
of the attendant circumstances of the oase, as I understand
them. To begin with an indentured labourer is one who
leaves China under a contract to serve for a specified time
inter specified conditions in a foreign land. & free la bourer (such as the ordinary Chinese emigrant to Malaya) is one
who leaves China unbound by am contract to find work abroad
/An