18-1
here, as it seems so much out of proportion with the rental of the preceding property, and it was somewhat difficult for me to more accurately test its value, as I was not in a position to treat.
Both of these preceding properties would require to be surrounded with a wall, costing some 5,000-6,000 rupees, say, £400, and the whole of the four properties would require house accommodation for the coolies, hospital, latrines, cook-house and office, costing another £400. If, however, open land should be selected, I do not think it would be safe to allow a smaller sum than £1,000 to convert it into a Government depôt, as a wall will run away with a considerable amount.
4. A house for the Agent would cost from £800 to £1,000 to build, as those at present in the civil lines are mostly tenanted, and the Deputy Commissioner informed me that they were too few for their requirements. Those which I did see unoccupied were much inferior to those in the occupation of the Indian Officials, and could not be considered desirable as a residence for your representative. Whether a capitalist could be found who would come forward and build a house for the sum above-mentioned could only be ascertained if I was actually in a position to negotiate, but, even then, I expect that he would naturally protect himself by asking that a lease for no less than five years be taken at a certain percentage on his outlay.
In the cantonment there are quite a large number of houses, built in the bungalow style, occupied by the officers for six months during the cold weather, and half of them empty during the rains and hot weather, the remaining six months.
These houses, although the property of private owners, are governed by the Cantonment Committee, which arbitrarily fixes the rent and gives twenty-four hours' notice to an occupier who is not a military man or an owner, if the house should be required for a military officer. To expect any accommodation in this quarter, under these conditions is, therefore, quite out of the question.
5. Whether the outlay above described, and the labour and organisation which an up-country Agency will necessarily entail, should be undertaken with the present cloud which is overhanging emigration, is for the Secretary of State to decide, but beyond the amalgamation of the Agencies in Calcutta so as to ensure more economical working, I respectfully venture to ask whether it is worth while to undergo this expense until we have some knowledge that the Emigration Commissioners on their return after visiting the Colonies have reported favourably or some assurance that the questions of restricted area and remuneration of recruiters will be more indulgently viewed than they are at present. The telegram of the 5th February* to the India Office from the Government of India, of which you forwarded me a copy, carries with it, to my mind, if read between the lines, an impression, if viewed in the light of general opinion, that it will be but little more than a year before the guillotine falls on Colonial emigration so far as it relates to indentured labour. Whether it may continue in the form of assisted passages for approved labourers to the Colonies is another question.
185
to transmit to you the accompanying copy of a despatch* from the Governor of British Guiana, in which he deals further with this question.
2.
I am also to enclose an extract† from the report of the Medical Board appointed by the Government of Jamaica to examine the immigrants recently brought to that Colony on the s.s. "Indus"; a report by the Protector of Immi- grants, Jamaica, upon the immigrants landed ex s.s. reference to the absence of thymol treatment during the voyage, and a despatch§ Mutlah," which contains a from Governor Sir S. Olivier recommending the general adoption of thymol treat- ment upon coolie ships proceeding from India to Jamaica.
3. It will be seen from the enclosed papers that the question of the general adoption of thymol or beta-naphthol treatment for ankylostome infection upon coolie ships has been revived by the Governments of both British Guiana and Jamaica, and I am to invite special attention to the fact that in the case of the 9.9. Indus" 180 immigrants appear to have been treated by Dr. Welsh with thyinol and beta-naphthol successfully and without ill-effects.
4. Mr. Harcourt would be glad if this letter and its enclosures might be laid before the Surgeons Superintendent at their meeting which takes place, it is under- stood, at the end of the present month, when the Surgeons Superintendent should be invited to furnish a further report upon the treatment of ankylostome infection upon coolie ships.
5. There are several points which are not altogether clear at present, and I am, therefore, to ask that, in addition to reporting upon the question generally, the Surgeons Superintendent may further be invited to explain to what extent treatment with thymol or beta-naphthol has been resorted to upon coolie ships during recent years, whether the drugs are usually used in combination, and whether they are now used separately. It is understood from Dr. Fonseca's report of the 15th of October, 1906, that it was his practice to use the two drugs separately, that he found the results attending the use of both drugs equally favourable, but con- sidered beta-naphthol to be the safer of the two. In this connection, I am to enquire whether it can be definitely stated to what extent, if at all, and in what percentage of cases, treatment with thymol has proved deleterious to patients, whether suffering from ankylostome infection or not so suffering.
6. I am further to enquire whether it is possible, without general compulsory treatment such as was advocated by Dr. Fonseca, to secure adequate and effective treatment upon coolie ships with either or both of these drugs.
7. The whole question appears to Mr. Harcourt to deserve the most careful consideration, and he would be glad to receive the fullest possible information upon the subject.
I am, &c.,
H. J. READ,
for the Under-Secretary of State.
12657
I have, &c.,
A. MARSDEN,
Government Emigration Agent for Trinidad,
No. 120A.
Fiji, Jamaica, and Mauritius.
15653
No. 120B.
COLONIAL OFFICE to CROWN AGENTS.
[Answered by No. 130.]
GENTLEMEN,
COLONIAL OFFICE to CROWN AGENTS.
[Answered by No. 130.]
WITH reference to previous correspondence upon the subject of the treatment
Downing Street, 6 May, 1913. of ankylostome infection upon coolie ships, I am directed by Mr. Secretary Harcourt
• Enclosure in No. 110.
GENTLEMEN,
Downing Street, 15 May, 1913. WITH reference to the letter from this Office of the 6th instant,|| I am directed by Mr. Secretary Harcourt to transmit the accompanying copy of a despatch from the Governor of Jamaica enclosing copy of a report by Dr. D. B. Neish, Health Officer at Port Royal, on the thymol treatment for hookworm of East Indian immi- grants arriving in the Colony on the s.s. Indus and s.s.
• No. 4 in Appendix,
§ No. 1 in Appendix.
"2
† No. 2 in Appendix. | No. 120A.
Mutlah."
No. 3 in Appendix No. 5 in Appendix.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
'" य
Reference:
C.O.885
21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO