PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O.885
21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
164
quarters at Madras rather than at the up-country depôt, and he recognises that ulti- mately such an arrangement may prove to be the wisest, but whatever may eventually be decided, it will be necessary that one of the two Emigration Agents should spend a considerable portion of his time at the up-country depôt until the new arrange- ments are in working order.
4. With regard to your suggestion for unifying the conditions of service in the West Indies. I am to point out that the differences which exist appear to be due in a measure to differences in the geographical positions, the requirements in respect of population, and the extent of the Crown lands of the various Colonies. Uniformity in the laws of the various Colonies has never been required. and there are consider- able divergencies between them. In these circumstances, Mr. Harcourt does not propose to consider the question of introducing uniform conditions, at any rate, until he has received the report of the Commissioners who are now visiting the Colonies, and he doubts whether any steps should be taken in the matter unless the Commissioners express themselves strongly in favour of the establishment of uniformity.
I am, &c.,
6912
SIR,
No. 114.
HENRY LAMBERT,
for the Under-Secretary of State.
INDIA OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received 27 February, 1913.)
[Answered by No. 117.]
India Office, Whitehall, London, S. W., 26th February, 1913. In reply to Mr. Lambert's letter of the 20th instant, No. 4565,* I am directed by the Marquess of Crewe to transmit, for the information of Mr. Secretary Harcourt, a copy of the annexed correspondence with the Foreign Office on the proposal to effect recruiting for Surinam by means of the British Colonial Emigration Agencies.
It is expected that Mr. McNeill and Mr. Chimman Lal will very shortly visit Surinam, but in the meantime His Lordship is enquiring from the Foreign Office how the question stands.
SIR,
I have, &c.,
T. W. HOLDERNESS.
Enclosure 1 in No. 114.
India Office to FOREIGN OFFICE.
India Office, 28th October, 1911. I AM directed by the Marquess of Crewe to invite the attention of Secretary Sir Edward Grey to the correspondence on Indian emigration to Surinam communi- cated in Sir A. Godley's letter of the 30th July, 1909.
In this connection I am to point out that Lord Sanderson's Committee on Indian Emigration, in paragraph 82 of their Report (published as Parliamentary Paper [Cd. 5192] of 1910), suggested that if, as they proposed, the two British Colonial Emigration Agencies in Calcutta were amalgamated, some arrangement ought to be made by which emigration recruits for foreign Colonies should be supplied through the combined Agency.
The Government of India, in the fifteenth paragraph of their letter, No. 30 (Commerce and Industry), dated the 25th May last, a copy of which was, in another connection, transmitted to your department in Mr. Abrahams's letter of the 6th instant, on the Réunion question, express the opinion that the suggestion is in itself a desirable one, but recognise that it cannot be adopted unless the Netherlands Govern- ment be willing to abandon recruitment by its own agents.
I am, therefore, to suggest that, if Sir Edward Grey sees no objection, the views of the Netherlands Government on this question might be ascertained. Meanwhile
• No. 112.
165
the question of the amalgamation of the British Agencies is being discussed with the Colonial Office.
I have, &o.,
The Under-Secretary of State,
Foreign Office.
Enclosure 2 in No. 114.
FOREIGN OFFICE to INDIA Office.
ED. S. MONTAGU.
The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs presents his compliments to the Under-Secretary of State for India, and by direction of the Secretary of State transmits herewith 1912, on the subject of Indian Emigration to Surinam.
of a despatch from Sir Alan Johnstone, dated 16 February, copy
Foreign Office,
4th March, 1912.
Reference to previous letter: 28th October, 1911.
Sir ALAN JOHNSTONE to FOREIGN OFFICE.
(No. 7. Consular.)
SIR,
WITH reference to your Consular despatch, No. 33, of 22nd November, respect-
The Hague, 16th February, 1912. ing Indian emigration to Surinam, I have received a note from the Minister for Foreign Affairs stating that this question has been submitted to the Governor of Surinam by the Minister of the Colonies, and that a further communication will eventually be addressed to me on the subject.
The Right Hon. Sir Edward Grey, Bart., M.P.,
&c.,
&c.,
&c.
SIR,
Enclosure 3 in No. 114.
INDIA OFFICE to FOREIGN OFFICE.
have, &c.,
ALAN JOHNSTONE.
India Office, 27th June, 1912.
I AM directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to acknowledge the receipt of your letters of 3rd, 6th, and 17th May, 1912, and to state, for the information of Secretary Sir E. Grey, that copy of the correspondence forwarded will be sent to the Government of India.
With regard to the question of repatriation of time-expired British Indian immigrants in Surinam, I am to invite a reference to the despatch from the Govern→ ment of India of 28th September, 1911, copy of which was forwarded with Mr. Abrahams's letter of 13th November, 1911, and to suggest that the attention of the Dutch Government should be recalled to the arrangement mentioned in the note of the Ministry of the Colonies, dated 29th November, 1897 (a translation of which was forwarded with Foreign Office letter of 18th December, 1897), for utilising ships sailing from Demerara when the number of applicants for return passages from Surinam is not sufficient to warrant the chartering of a special ship for them- which arrangeinent was said to constitute a complete guarantee that immigrants wishing to avail themselves of the right to the return passage would not have to wait for it longer than a reasonable time.
I am also to suggest that, if Secretary Sir E. Grey sees no objection, the Dutch Government should be asked when a reply may be expected regarding the question of the amalgamation of the Surinam Emigration Agency at Calcutta with the proposed joint British Agency, which formed the subject of Mr. Montagu's letter of 28th October, 1911, and your letter of 4th March, 1912.
I have, &c.,
រ
The Under-Secretary of State,
Foreign Office.
33891
ED. S. MONTAGU.
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