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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

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214

General Order No. 13.

The following copy of a letter from the Honourable the Procureur-General is published for the information of the force :-

(Signed)

J. T. N. O'BRIEN,

Inspector-General of Police.

General Police Office, February 24, 1869.

C

"

'(Registered No. 198.)

Bir,

"Mauritius, Procureur-General's Chambers,

**February 22, 1889.

Referring to your letter No. 52 of the 18th instant, relative to the question of whether a day labourer is obliged to obtain a fresh license in the event of his changing his residence, I have the honour to state that the Indian cannot be subjected to the expense of paying for a new license each time he changes his abode.

"I have, &c.

·

(Signed) "JULES COLIN,

* Acting Procureur- and Advocate-General.”

General Order No. 34.

The question having arisen as to whether an old immigrant under verbal engage ment is to be bound to carry with him, and produce when called on, his police pass and portrait ticket, the following opinion of the Honourable the Procureur and Advocate- General is published for the information of the force :

(Signed) J. T. N. O'BRIEN,

Inspector-General of Police.

General Police Office, May 24, 1869.

(Extract.)

"In the first case the verbally engaged must keep upon his person, and produce when required all his papers, viz., ticket, photograph, police pass, &c., in order that his status may be at once identified by the police.

"As to the master to whom the Indian gives his papers for custody, it is very doubtful whether he can be prosecuted.

"With regard to immigrants regularly engaged, a permit, or pass signed by the master, is sufficient to authorize such immigrant to circulate freely.

"May 21, 1869."

(Signed) "JULES COLIN,

"Procureur and Advocate-General.

General Order No. 61.

The following copy of a Report from the Acting Substitute Procureur-General is published for the information of the force :-

"

Report No. 300.

According to Article 55 of Ordinance No. 31 of 1867, a warrant of a Stipendiary or District Magistrate is necessary to enter by day or night any premises wherein any immigrant is employed or resides, in order to ascertain whether such immigrant has a ticket and pass in due form.

"I am of opinion that this has been enacted, not only for the protection of the proprietor of the premises, but also for that of the occupant, and the more especially so when the search takes place in the middle of the night."

“August 24, 1869.

(Signed)

General Police Office, September 4, 1869.

J. T. N. O'BRIEN,

Inspector-General of Police.

215

General Order No. 64 of September 18, 1869.

[Vide Annexure R.]

General Order No. 76 of October 29, 1869. [Vide Annexure R.]

General Order No. 1.

The following letter forwarding certain remarks by the Honourable the Procureur General on the issue of police passes, permits to work, &c., is promulgated for general information:-

"Sir.

"

Mauritius, Colonial Secretary's Office, January 8, 1870. "I am directed by the Governor to forward to you, for your information and guidance, the inclosed copy of certain remarks of the Procureur-General respecting the issue of police passes, permits to work, &c., and I am to instruct you to communicate the same to such of the officers of your Department as it may concern.

"The President of the Prison Committees has been requested to instruct the gaolers to forward to the Inspector of their district the police passes of all immigrants whose sentence may exceed one month.

"I have, &c.

(Signed) 'EDWARD NEWTON, Colonial Secretary.”

The effective operation of those parts of the law which contemplate the suppression of vagrancy depends so much upon the proper execution of the police pass system, that it is essential the officers connected with the management of that section, and capecially those charged with the issuing of passes, should make themselves familiar with the spirit as well as with the letter of the law, and should carry it out with energy and judgment; for otherwise the system cannot fail to be the means of fostering the sloth and poverty which it was intended to eradicate.

Unfortunately there have been numerous instances in which these duties have not been performed in a satisfactory manner, though it is believed such cases were in part due to the rapidity with which it was necessary to issue passes at the outset of the scheme, and to the absence of explicit instructions explanatory of the law.

These observations might be brought under the notice of the officers of the Police Department, and their attention invited to the several matters hereunder mentioned, with instructions strictly to follow in future the course indicated:--

Police Pass,

1st. The declaration made by an old immigrant of his place of abode, his occupa- tion, &c., under Article 48 of Ordinance No. 81 of 1887, does not in itself warrant the issue of a pass until the police have perfectly satisfactory proof of the veraity of the declaration; in other words, the statements of the immigrant should in all cases be carefully tested before a pass is issued. If the immigrant allege that he is under verbal engagement no pass should be issued till the employer has satisfactorily certified the fact; if the applicant be a gardener, tilling his own land, a lease or other deed should be produced in support of his statement; or if his occupation, as declared, is that of a licensed trader, the license should be produced, and inquiries made with reference thereto; and so on according to the special circumstances of each particular case, moreover it should be borne in mind that the only object of such an 'investiga- tion is the ascertaining the truth or falsehood of the applicant's statements; thus no notice should be taken (as has been done in some instances) of extraneous points, such as whether the documents produced by the immigrant have been stamped and registered.

2nd. The police pass should be taken out by the immigrant in person, and no intervention by Agents or employers should be allowed.

3rd. Notwithstanding the express terms of Article 54 of the Regulations, to the effoot that jobthen must take out their license before obtaining a police pass, a diversity in practice on this point has been apparent. It is important that there should