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CHINESE PASSENGERS' ACT.
RULES
UNDER WHICH HOUSES FOR THE RECEPTION OF CHINESE EMIGRANTS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES MAY BE OPENED
AT THE CITY OF CANTON.
I.-The applicant for permission to open an emigration house shall furnish the Consul of the nation to which he belongs, for the information of His Excellency the Governor-General, with written particulars as to his name, nation, and the extent and character of his intended operations.
II. The applicant will also furnish copies of all the rules, of whatever description, under which he proposes to conduct the emigration, or to regulate the business of the emigration house; as well as all conditions or terms under which he proposes to engage the emigrants. All such rules must receive the approval of the Governor-General and the Consul before they can be carried into effect, any new regulation or alteration in the old rules, that the person conducting the emigration may at any time think it necessary to adopt, must in the same way be first submitted to, and approved by, the Governor-General and the Consul, before being enforced or acted on. No notice can be issued or in any manner made public by emigration agents in the city or environs of Canton, without the previous sanction of the Governor-General and the Consul. The person in charge of the emigration house is to employ such number of servants or watchmen as may from time to time be found necessary to maintain order during day and night throughout his premises; and every person employed in the emigration house, whether foreign or Chinese, is to be registered in the manner appointed by the Governor-General.
III.-Copies of all the said rules and regulations when so approved of by the Governor-General and the Consul, as well as of all the conditions or terms under which emigrants are to be engaged, are to be posted in such manner that they can be easily seen and read at all the entrances to the emigration house, as well as in the quarters occupied by the emigrants.
IV. The proprietors of emigrant depots shall provide suitable office accommoda- tion within their houses for the inspecting officers, appointed by the Governor-General, in the performance of their duties. The emigration house will be visited daily by the inspecting officers and their assistants. The emigration agent will at each visit produce before the officers such applicants for emigration as may have presented themselves, and will note in his own register, the name, age, sex, and residence of each applicant, with such other particulars as may be deemed necessary. The inspecting officers will see that each emigrant is provided with a copy of the contract under which it is proposed to engage him, which must be read over and explained to him in their presence, and they will see that all information which may be required is fully afforded to each applicant. They will also inspect the quarters of the emigrants, and see that careful attention is paid to their health, comfort, and cleanliness.
In the event of the houses or depots for emigrants in both sexes, the accommodation for females or families is to be separate from that provided for single male emigrants, and to be so arranged as to ensure decency, and such privacy as they may reasonably claim. The door of the emigration house will be opened at sunrise and closed again at sunset, and free egress and ingress, without any let or hindrance whatever, will be allowed to all the emigrants residing in the emigration house within certain hours on each day, to be approved by the inspecting officers.
V. In the event of any emigration agent having to complain of improper conduct, or of any offence on the part of the inmates of his house, he is at liberty to place and keep the offender in confinenient until visited by the inspecting officers, who will direct him as to the course to be pursued, but punishment must only be carried out in the depot when the Governor-General sees fit to sanction the same through the inspectors.
VI. The inspection of registered applicants for emigration shall take place every afternoon, and the signing of contracts twice during the week, or as often as the inspectors deem necessary. No emigrant shall be called upon to sign his contract until four days shall have elapsed since the date of his registration by the inspecting officers.