CO885-(1-2) — Page 308

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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EMIGRATION FROM CHINA TO THE WEST INDIES.

mation labourers of a better description, and with the certainty of

goes, their being agriculturists, can be obtained in Fokien than in the neigh- bourhood of Canton. I would exclude Singapore and l'enang altogether. The people who go there from China in the annual fleets of junks are generally seafaring men, and of the refuse population; and the probability is, that the colony would have the second refuse, the best people finding employment on the island, or proceeding to Malacca and other places

where they have friends and connexions.

Fourthly. The appointment of an emigration agent, whose business it should be to obtain vessels for the conveyance of emigrants of the proper description, and to procure the necessary supplies at the most economical terms. An establishment somewhat similar to the emigration depôt at Calcutta would be required, but on a less expensive scale. Should this system be adopted, arrangements might be made through Her Majesty's Government for the employment in this service of the vessels engaged in taking convicts to Australia. These might call at Amoy, or else- where, on their return; and having already all the necessary fittings, and the casks and tanks for water, would probably convey emigrants to the West Indies at a cheaper rate than could be obtained by the employment of other vessels.

13. Of these various methods of conducting Chinese emigration, I am not as yet in possession of sufficient information to recommend any one

in preference to the others. I lean to the opinion that the first will be found most convenient and judicious, and that under it a better class of labourers will be obtained than under the second or the third. Any person appointed as emigration agent will necessarily have to get in the first instance through the intervention of such houses as Dent and Co. and others of established reputation; and it would pro- bably be better to allow them to manage the whole affair, and to take upon themselves the responsibility of all the details connected with the question.

14. There can be no doubt as to obtaining any number of labourers that may be required. This country is peopled to excess, and there is a constant struggle to obtain the bare necessaries of life. In spite of the regulations of the Government, by which emigration is strictly prohibited, the Chinese them- selves are anxious to emigrate, and will go anywhere where they have the chance of earning a subsistence. Thousands go to Singapore every year, and are thence gradually spreading over the adjacent countries. The tin mines in the island of Banca are worked entirely by Chinese. In Java there is a population of several hundred thousand; I have been informed that the number amounts to nearly a million, and that the Dutch, in alarmı at their increasing numbers, have recently prohibited their introduction. They have found their way to. Borneo, and have established large communities in some parts of the island. There are great numbers of them in Manilla; and the Spanish Government, with the view to encourage their immigration into the island, have removed several restrictions -that were found injurious. They have found their way also to California, paying their own expenses; and so eager are they to reach this El Dorado that they are willing to encounter the risk of the voyage in their own junks, totally unfitted as these vessels are for the risks attendant on so long an undertaking.

15. With a people so prone to emigration, and with a population in excess of the means of subsistence, there can be no doubt, I think, that any number of labourers may be obtained; and if emigration be once set agoing, there can be little doubt as to a favourable result. I consider the Chinese as being superior to the Bengalees in every point of view with reference to colonization ; and it' hereafter any means should be found to overcome the difficulty which now exists as to the non-emigration of women and families, I am confident that the Chinese will be found the best labourers that have yet been introduced into the West Indies.

16. There are many details with regard to the habits and character of the Chinese to which I do not refer at present, as it would extend this communica- tion to an unnecessary length. I may state, however, that if the colonies decide upon giving a trial to this emigration it will be necessary that they should have a sufficient number of emigrants to form a society of their own. The Chinese are essentially a social and a gregarious people, and must be located in masses

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EMIGRATION FROM CHINA TO THE WEST INDIES. together, and not scattered throughout the colony. They must be kept in the first instance distinct and separate from the Negroes, not only at their work, but also in their dwellings; and if arrangements could be made for locating them in separate villages, it would conduce much to the success of the emigra tion. They are naturally of a cheerful disposition, and gratified with trifles; and whatever promotes good humour among them will tend materially to make them contented and willing labourers.

17. All the information I have received leads me to conclude that Amoy, which is the principal port in the province of Fokien, offers greater facilities for obtaining good labourers than can be procured elsewhere. This is the great scat of emigration influences, and hence the Chinese wander to all parts of the Indian Seas The country between Canton and Amoy is also the principal seat of the sugar cultivation. I purpose going as far as Amoy by the first opportunity that offers; this will not occupy more than two or three weeks; and on my return thence I shall proceed to Singapore and Penang. If the colonies decide upon Chinese emigration, it will be quite unnecessary that I should revisit Calcutta. If information be required as to the probability of obtaining good labourers from the Madras Presidency, this object may be effected in a few weeks.

12. I write to your Excellency at present under some disadvantage, as all my letters and papers are in Hong Kong. The steamer by which I intended to return there, and which ought to have been here yesterday, has been otherwise employed, and I am obliged to send this forward by a sailing boat on the chance of its being in time for the mail.

I have, &c. (Signed) JAMES T. WHITE.

P.S. As far as I am aware, no stipulation has ever been introduced into any of the contracts made with Chinese emigrants securing a return passage at the end of five years, or, if introduced, it has never been claimed by the emigrants, I have ascertained that in all cases where the Chinese emigrants have proved refractory on board ship, as in some recent cases to South America, it has arisen solely from maltreatment by the officers of the ship, or by the want of sufficient and proper food and water for their subsistence.

JAMES T. WHITE.

SIR,

Enclosure 1 in No. 1.

Messrs. SYME MUIR and Co. to JAMES T. WHITE Esq.

Hong Kong, 31st May 1851. REFERRING to the several conversations we have had on the subject of Chinese Coolie labour for the West India Islands, we have the following remarks to offer :-

The experience of eight years residence at Amoy, the principal seaport of the Fokien Province, has satisfied us that the natives of that district are the best adapted for the purpose required, being mostly agriculturists, and, though equally enterprising, much more docile and tractable than those of the Canton province, from whom they differ in every characteristic, and even language.

The excessive population, and their adventurous disposition, led them to emigrate many years ago, and now they are the agriculturists of the Phillippine group and nearly the whole of the Malayan Archipelago, from which places they have carried on an extensive barter trade with Amoy. Latterly they have proceeded as free labourers to Bourbon and to Australia, in both of which places they have been found to answer extremely well. About three years ago a Spanish company induced a body of 800 to go to the Havanna, where it is known they arrived in safety, but of their after fortune no information can be obtained. More recently another Spanish Company engaged 500 to cultivate the island of Batan in the Bushee group; and we learn that, although they have only been there about a year and a half, a great part of the island is already in full production.

We are willing to undertake to furnish as many men as might be required for the West Indies, say adults and boys under ten years of age; latter on the

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