:
Encl. in No. 8.
20
SIR,
CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO
Enclosure in No. 8.
October 1852. I AM directed by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, to inform you that the Secretary of State has appointed you to the office of Government Emigra- tion Agent at the port of Victoria, and at such other ports on or near the coast of China, as the Governor of Hong Kong shall designate. You will be pleased to understand that the service to which you are thus appointed, being of very doubtful duration, the appoint- ment is not of a permanent nature, or such as to give rise to a claim to compensation for loss of office.
2. Your duties will have relation, first to a bounty emigration which is at present in progress to British Guiana and Trinidad, and next to such further emigration as shall be Bet on foot under Government superintendence, to those or any other West Indian colonies.
3. Arrangements have been sanctioned by Her Majesty's Government for sending three ships on bounty to Trinidad. And there is reason to suppose that private ship- owners have taken steps in pursuance of a recent Colonial Ordinance to import about 1,700 Chinese into British Quiana. It is probable that these emigrants will be despatched from Amoy. But this it will be your duty in the first place, to ascertain, and to use the influence which you will possess na Government agent, to facilitate or secure their judicious selection and proper treatment. You will, probably, find little difficulty in effecting this as regards Trinidad, the matter being in the hands of a single shipowner, who has contracted with this Board to supply a dietary approved by this Board, and to place no greater number of emigrants on board than is allowed by the Passengers Act. As regards British Guiana, you will observe, that by the 8th clause of the Ordinance, No. 20, of 1851, every vessel taking emigrants from a port for which you are appointed agent, will be unable to obtain bounty unless furnished by you with a certain list and certificate. If you should find that the authority given by this Ordinance could be exercised with advantage in any Chinese port, you will request the Governor of Hong Kong to designate that as one of the ports for which you are to act as Government agent.
4. It will not be, at present, necessary to send any emigrants to Trinidad, beyond those whose conveyance is already provided for. To British Guiana, as great a number should be sent out, as with those who may be despatched on bounty, can be paid for by the sum of 50,000, which has been appropriated to that purpose by the Legislature of British Guiana. You will, however, receive by this post more specific instructions respecting the number of emigrants to be sent out, and the mode of providing shipping.
5. You are yourself fully aware of the class of emigrants required for the West Indies. But I am to impress upon you the extreme importance, both morally and economically, of sending as large a proportion of females as possible.
6. With the male labourers, you will be authorized to make contracts, if possible, on the terms laid down by the Court of Policy of British Guiana, in a Minute from which I annex an extract. But, if necessary, you will consider yourself at liberty to increase the advance authorized by that Minute (especially in the case of women), and to offer wages amounting to five dollars a head per month with food and lodging, or seven dollars without such allowance. These contracts, as you are aware, may be made for five years, but are determinable by the emigrant at the end of each year, and should be made with the formalities prescribed by the 5th clause of the British Guiana Ordinance, No. 22, of 1851.
7. You will also be authorized to incur the expense necessary for procuring and send- ing out at least one competent interpreter in each ship, and of course those contingent on the collection of the emigrants and their maintenance for a short period before their' embarkation.
8. Your salary will be at the rate of 1,000 per annum, and you will be considered to have been continuously in the employment of the Government at that rate of salary since the date of your first appointment in September 1850. For this salary as well as for your travelling expenses, and for the sums which you are authorized to expend in the collection and shipping of emigrants, not exceeding, until further orders, 2,0004, you will be at liberty to draw bills upon this Board at not less than thirty days sight; trans- mitting to them, however, proper advices of such drafts, and furnishing them with quarterly accounts, countersigned by the Governor of Hong Kong, who should also certify (as required the British Guiana Ordinance, already referred to), that, as far as he knows, the expenditure has been incurred in conducting the emigration of Chinese to the West Indies, and appears to him just and reasonable.
9. The freight of any ships which you may engage in China, should be made payable by bills drawn by the Governor of British Guiana on the Commissioners, at not less than thirty days sight.
10. In conclusion, the Commissioners are directed by Sir John Pakington to apprise you that Her Majesty's Government have undertaken to authorize the expenditure of public money, and the employment of public agency, in promoting emigration from China, under the impression that the law of the Chinese Empire against the emigration of its
•
1
EMIGRATION OF CHINESE COOLIES.
21
subjects, which is said to have once existed, has fallen into desuetude; but that if the fact should prove to be otherwise, and if the Chinese Government or public authorities should insist upon that law as a law having present force and effect, and should conse- quently oppose the emigration, it will be your duty at once to desist from any operations within the territory of China (if any shall have been there carried on either by you or by any persons acting under your authority and directions), which may involve a contravention of the law.
I have, &c.,
J. J. White, Esq.,
&c.
&c.
(Signed)
EXTRACTS from the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Court of Policy, held 25th August 1851.
as it appears
"Your Committee would therefore respectfully recommend
that the Chinese labourers require to be guaranteed a certain rate of wages for the period of service, we recommend the emigration agent at the port of embarkation in China to be instructed to engage them at wages not exceeding four dollars per month, and the scale of allowance of food as stated in the annexed memorandum; stating at the saine time that if they should prefer to be paid at the same rate for the work they perform, they finding their own provisions as other labourers in the colony, they would have the option of doing so.
"That the emigration agent be authorized to advance a sum not exceeding ten dollars to such effective emigrant before embarkation, to be repaid by instalments in British Guiana.
"Scale of allowance of food for Chinese immigrants, being similar to that fixed for African shipe:-
Biscuits
" Rice
C
Beef, pork, or salt fish - "Women to receive the same rations as men."
No. 9.
lb.
Copy of a LETTER from T. F. ELLIOT Esq. to HI. U. ADDINGTON Esq.
Downing Street, October 20, 1852.
SIR,
In compliance with the request contained in your letter of the 7th ultimo, I am directed by Secretary Sir John Pakington to transmit to you, for the infor- mation of the Earl of Malmesbury, a copy of the instructions which he has authorized the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners to address to Mr. White, who has been appointed emigration agent for the West Indies and China.
I have, &c.,
H. U. Addington, Esq., &c. &c.
No. 10.
(Signed)
T. F. ELLIOT.
COPY of a LETTER from the Right Hon. Lord STANLEY to T. F. ELLIOT Esq. SIR,
Foreign Office, October 20, 1852. WITH reference to your letter of this day's date, I am directed by the Earl of Malmesbury to transmit to you, for the information of Secretary Sir John Pakington, a copy of the instructions which his Lordship has addressed to Her Majesty's plenipotentiary in China, with respect to the appointment of Mr. White as emigration agent.
T. F. Elliot, Esq.,
&c.. &c.
I am, &c., (Signed) STANLEY.
C 3
No. 9.
No. 10.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TC.O. 885
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO