PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
PELE C.O.885
21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
(No. 67 of 1912.)
My Lord Marquess,
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Enclosure in No. 84.
Emigration.
Government of India (Department of Commerce and Industry),
Simla, the 17th October, 1912. We have the honour to confirm our telegram of the 14th instant, which we quote below:-
C6
Please refer to correspondence ending with your telegram dated 24th July: deputation of officers to Colonies. We have selected Lala Chim- manlal, nephew of Rai Nathimal Bahadur, Commercial Representative, Legislative Council of the Lieutenant-Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, as Indian colleague to accompany McNeil. We request sanction to following terms for the two officers. McNeill should receive two- thirds Indian salary, period of deputation counting for service in India, and Chimmanial 50 pounds per mensem. Both should receive in addition actual expenses by rail and steamer and guinea and a half or such daily allowance when not travelling by steamer, as your Lordship may deem fit. manlal leaves Bombay on the 2nd November per steamer China. Despatch Chim- follows."
2. With regard to our selection of Mr. Chimmanlal, we would add that he is an Agarval Váni (trader) of Khurja in the United Provinces, and a member of a firm doing business in the sale and export of produce, which owns cotton mills, gins, and presses in various parts of India. He has served for three years as a member of the Khurja Municipality, and has recently been appointed Honorary Magistrate by the Government of the United Provinces. He was for some years manager of the firm's cotton mill at Ulwar, and has thus acquired knowledge of the conditions, earnings, and requirements of labourers employed in Indian cotton mills. specially in charge of the firm's business branches at Bombay, Karachi, and Calcutta, He is which he has controlled for ten years.
3. In our telegram dated the 2nd July, we intimated our intention that the deputation should visit British Guiana, Trinidad, Jamaica, and Fiji. On considera- tion of recent despatches from your Lordship concerning indentured labour in Surinam, we incline to the view that, if the Foreign Office is able to make the necessary arrangements, Surinam should also be included within the scope of the enquiry. We do not propose to include Mauritius, which lies much out of the route that the deputation would follow, since emigration to that Colony is no longer allowed.
4. We enclose for your Lordship's information a memorandum of instructions which we have had prepared for the guidance of Messrs. McNeill and Chimmanlal, and we would request that the former may be furnished with a copy. We also attach
a list of the papers which, we consider, should be supplied to Mr. McNeill by the India Office. We leave it to your Lordship to issue such further instructions to these gentlemen as may be deemed desirable. We England for the Colonies early in December, arriving in India from Fiji at the begin- that they should start from propose ning of next cold weather season. This will allow a period of ten months for their labours, including the time spent in travelling. Subject to your Lordship's approval, we are disposed to hold that this period should suffice for full and careful enquiries into the questions included in our memorandum of instructions.
The Most Honourable
We have, &c.,
R. W. CARLYLE. SAIYID ALI IMAM. W. H. CLARK.
R. W. GILLAN.
His Majesty's Secretary of State for India.
The Marquess of Crewe, K.G.,
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MEMORANDUM of Instructions for the guidance of officers deputed to the Colonies importing Indian labour,
The general object of the enquiry is to report upon the conditions of life of the Indian immigrants in the Colonies. The officers should also submit recommendations as to any arrangement which may be considered desirable to promote their welfare.
This general object will involve an enquiry into the following matters inter alia:-
II.
(1) The housing of the labourers and the sanitary conditions in which they
live.
(2) The adequacy of medical arrangements. In this connection the birth and
death rates should be examined.
(3) Whether tasks are moderate, hours of work suitable, and wages adequate. A comparison should be made between the earnings of indentured labourers and those of free labourers, taking into account the advan- tages derived by the former in the matter of free quarters, medical attendance, &c.
(4) Whether the administration of justice is fairly conducted and whether labourers meet with any difficulties in prosecuting employers or defend- ing themselves. Whether the penalties imposed by the labour laws are in any case excessive or unsuitable.
(5) Whether the labourers are subjected to undue restrictions, outside work- ing hours, in visiting their friends or places outside their estates, and whether they enjoy sufficient facilities for proceeding to the Protector of Immigrants or to the Magistrate to lodge complaints.
(6) The relations generally between employers and labourers.
(7) Whether facilities are afforded to Indian labourers in the performance of marriage of other ceremonies and in the observance of their religious rites and festivals.
(8) Whether repatriations are promptly made and whether immigrants
experience any difficulty in obtaining repatriation.
In addition to the general questions enumerated above special consideration should be given to the following subjects:-
It
(a) The excessive number of prosecutions of labourers by employers.
should in particular be considered whether the special* measures that are being taken in the different Colonies to reduce the number of prose- cutions are adequate or what further measures can be suggested. this connection the desirability of repealing the laws in Trinidad and British Guiana which makes the prosecution of deserters obligatory should also be considered.
In
(b) The position of the Protector of Immigrants. Enquiry should be made whether this officer performs his duties satisfactorily and whether the inspectoral staff is sufficient.
(c) The terms of agreement which the emigrant is required to sign. It should be ascertained whether the labourers sufficiently understand the condi- tions of service before they leave India.
(d) The use or abuse of the power conferred on employers and police officers
by the labour laws to arrest labourers found away from the estates. (e) The position of free Indians. It should in particular be considered whether they receive equal treatment with the rest of the population of the Colony, and whether there is sufficient employment open to them. In this connection attention should be paid to the question of the grant of land to Indians on the expiration of their period of indenture. It should be ascertained whether land is generally available for all labourers who wish to settle in the Colony, and what extra facilities in this direction can be recommended. Another matter which should be considered is whether in Jamaica the employment of free Indians is checked by Section 13 of the Immigration Act of 1891, which requires the payment by employers of 1s. a week to the Protector for every free labourer employed by him who has not completed a continuous residence of ten years in the Colony.
Vide despatch from Secretary of State, No. 83, dated the 17th May, 1912, [Eticlosure 2 in No. 68] and despatch to Socretary of State, No. 45, dated the 1st August, 1912 (Euclosure in No. 69].
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