No. 19.
Enel. in No. 19,
54
CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO
I have been informed that emigrants do not come forward at Amoy as readily as was anticipated. One reason for this may be, that the people have been engaged in harvesting their rice, and will not leave until that has been secured for the benefit of their families; but I apprehend that the principal reason is the account they have received of bad treat- ment and cruelty on board some of the emigrant' vessels, and of the deception practised on the emigrants in regard to their future destination. With a knowledge of these facts it is not to be expected that men should come forward to emigrate (being ignorant of the country to which they are going), unless driven to it by actual and pressing necessity.
Looking to the apparent difficulty, under present circumstances, of obtaining readily good labourers at Amoy, I have intimated to Messrs. Turner and Co. that it would be desirable to try one vessel with emigrants from the districts along the Canton river. Tung Kwan, which is a sugar-growing district, was strongly recommended by Dr. Gutzlaff, and efforts will be made to obtain labourers from that quarter. The "Clarendon,” expected to arrive, will be placed on this service for Trinidad.
Messrs. Turner and Co., agents of Hyde, Hodge, and Co., with whom the Commissioners made arrangements for procuring and conveying emigrants to the West Indies, have their establishment at Canton. They have no establishment at Amoy, but have appointedl Messrs. Tait and Co., who are resident at Amoy, to procure labourers for the vessels sent out by Hyde, Hodge, and Co. as they arrive. Messrs. Tait and Co. are a very respectable house, but they are engaged to supply labourers for Cuba, and I consider it objectionable that the same party should have the shiptment of labourers to the British West Indies at the same time they are engaged in sending labourers to Cuba.
Mr. Wardrop, a gentleman connected with the Havaña, and partner in a firm there, is now at Amoy. It is said that he holds a contract under the Spanish Government for 8,000 Chinese Inbourers, and is to receive a bounty of 125 dollars on every emigrant landed at the Havaña. It is evident that he is in a better position to procure emigrants on the bounty of 125 dollars than other parties are on behalf of British Guiana and Trinidad who are limited to the sum of 100 dollars. Common rumour asserts that he expects to realize forty dollars upon every emigrant landed in Cuba.
There is also an agent here on behalf of certain parties in Peru, who hold contracts for the supply of labourers from the Peruvian Government. I have not been able to ascer tain the exact terms on which this gentleman is authorized to obtain labourers; but he goes up to Amoy in a few days to carry out the object of his mission. The additional demand for labour thus created will enhance for a time the difficulty of procuring emi- grants for the West Indies. Some vessels are also expected from Australia to take down labourers to that quarter; and notices of the gold diggings, with the regulations in force there, have been circulated here in English and Chinese, in order to induce a feeling favourable to that emigration. The emigration to California has ceased for the present, owing to the regulations in force there.
It is my intention to engage two or three respectable men, on a short contract of one or two years, to be sent back at the end of that term. If confidence can once be instilled into the minds of the Chinese, any amount of emigration will readily be obtained; but they will believe nothing until some of their own countrymen return here to tell their own tale. It is my intention also to inform them, that letters for their friends may be forwarded once a month, and that remittances of money to their friends and relations will be taken care of, and forwarded by Government. At present, and at the commence- ment of this new emigration, I consider these three points essential, as a means to instil confidence. The slight expense they may occasion will be more than compensated by the favourable results.
I trust that the Government and my fellow colonists will not expect too much at first. It is certain that any given number of emigrants may be sent forward within a given time; but looking to the future, they will do well, to be satisfied with a smaller at the commencement of this emigration. As the Chinese acquire confidence, they will come forward more readily; and as soon as it becomes manifest to them that the emigrants are prosperous in the new country to which they have transferred their labour, there will be no lack of able, willing, and effective hands "enger to emigrate. I feel satisfied that this emigration, surely and steadily conducted, although slow at first, will be found more conducive to the ultimate interests of the colonies than any convulsive and unregulated efforts.
I need not enter into any further details at present, as my information is but super- ficial; but I beg to assure the Commissioners that I will leave no effort untried to pro- mote the object of my mission. Difficulties must be expected at the commencement of this new enterprise, but the country overflows with a population who are willing to emigrate, and there must be gross mismanagement somewhere if it do not lead to a favourable and satisfactory issue.
S. Walcott, Esq., Secretary, Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners.
I have, &c., (Signed) JAMES F. WHITE.
EMIGRATION OF CHINESE COOLIES.
55
No. 19.
Cory of a LETTER from II. U. ADDINGTON Esq. to the SECRETARY TO THE COLONIAL OFFICE.
SIR,
Foreign Office, January 20, 1859. WITH reference to my letter of the 27th ultimo, I am directed by Lord John Russell to transmit to you, for the information of his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, a copy of a further Despatch from Dr. Bowring respecting the emigration of coolies from China.
The Secretary to the Colonial Office.
MY LORD,
I am, &c.,
(Signed)
H. U. ADDINGTON.
Enclosure in No. 19.
Hong Kong, November 26, 1852. As your Lordship has requested I would communicate any information, and convey any suggestion which I might deem useful in reference to the emigration of coolies from China; I beg to state that the senior naval officer in China, Captain Massie, has com- municated to me a letter from Commander Fishbourne, of Her Majesty's steamer "Hermes," lately returned from Amoy, in which he states that he has been informed the coolies were penned up in numbers from 10 to 12 in a wooden shed, like a slave barra- coon, nearly naked, very filthy, and room only sufficient to lie; the space 120 by 21 feet, with a bamboo floor near the roof; the number in all about 500; that many had been induced to come into the town by Chinese, and then confined that the words "no admittance," in English, were over the doors; that many of the men appeared not to be free agents, but escaped when they could. On the other hand, it was stated that some who refused to embark were allowed to leave; that others objected to the treatment, but stated that anything was better than starvation.
Amoy affording no adequate supply for the immense demand, one of the captains of the opium ships at Namoa has, it is reported, provided 1,000 coolies on account of the Demerara contract.
There is, I am informed, an unusual proportion of lads, whose families are reported to have claimed them in vain; large numbers have escaped from the boats on the way to the emigrant ships,
Might it not be worthy the consideration of Iler Majesty's Government, whether on the arrival of an emigrant ship in a British colony, a strict investigation should not take place, in order to ascertain whether the coolies are bona fide voluntary emigrants; that they have not been seduced by falsehoods or kidnapped by force; and on every occasion where such a case is established, that the improperly obtained emigrant should be sent back to China at the expense of the colony, giving the colony the means of redress against the misdoers?
The Earl of Malmesbury,
&c.
&c.
&c.
No. 20.
I have, &c., (Signed)
JOHN BOWRING.
Copy of a LETTER from II. U. ADDINGTON Esq. to HI. MERIVALE Esq.
SIR,
Foreign Office, March 1, 1858. WITH reference to the correspondence which passed last year between this Office and the Colonial Office on the subject of the emigration of Chinese coolies to the British colonies, I am directed by the Earl of Clarendon to transmit to you herewith, for the information and consideration of the Duke of Newcastle, à Despatch and its enclosures received from Dr. Bowring, containing particulars as to the manner in which the emigration of these coolies from Amoy is conducted.
Lord Clarendon is of opinion that the statements contained in these papers are deserving the early and most serious consideration of Her Majesty's Government, with reference more especially to the part which, by the employ- ment of Mr. White, Her Majesty's Government may seem to be taking for the
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No. 20.
No. 177.
PUBLIC RECORD
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