CO885-(1-2) — Page 342

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

PERNIC.O.

885

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

16

SIR,

CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO

Enclosure 2 in No. 4.

75, Upper Hill Street, Liverpool, June 2, 1852. THE extraordinary movement in emigration from China to various parts of the British and other Colonial possessions in different parts of the world which is now about to commence, has suggested to me the propriety of addressing you, with a view of calling the attention of your Committee to the same for the purpose hereafter related.

I may state that I have recently returned from China, after an absence of ten years, the greater part of which has been spent at Amoy on the north coast of China, one of the five open ports to British trade, where the firm, of which I am here the representing member, was established in 1847, and during that time I formed an intimate acquaintance of the character and habits of the natives of the Folkien province, of which Amoy is the principal seaport The knowledge so obtained, left a most favourable impression of their adaptability for emigrants to countries of a temperature similar to their own, where field- labour was in request; and at the request of his Excellency Sir George Bonham, Governor of Hong Kong, I furnished Her Majesty's late Government with various particulars regarding them, with the view of their being employed in the British West Indies, con- sequent on which Mr. James T. White, a gentleman from Demerara, was sent out to China by the planters in British Guinna to test the correctness of my remarks, which I believe is fully corroborated by his report.

During the last three months a contract for 8,000 men for the Ilavanna from Amoy has been entered into; and since the arrival of the mail, it has been decided by two private houses here and in London, each to send a vessel direct from Amoy to Demerara and Jamaica with a full complement of apprenticed labourers by way of trial. About ten ships have sailed during the last year for Australia, and two for the Sandwich Islands; and, as in all places where these men lave been tried, they have been found to answer extremely well, it may be naturally concluded that during the present year a considerable increase may be looked for, and any number" of strong, able-bodied young men that may be required can be readily obtained, as the province is over-populated, and the people clamorous for employment.

This novel feature in emigration may be viewed in various lights, but in all with a favourable conclusion. First, in relieving a starving population, and providing them with profitable employment; second, in supplying those countries with labour when it is much required; third, in affording employment for a large amount of British tonnage at a remunerative rate; and fourth, by a full supply of free labour, tending greatly to destroy the slave trade.

With this discursive preface, I now beg respectfully, to solicit, that in the event of your Committee deeming it necessary to appoint an agent or superintendent to see to the com- fort, proper appointment of the vessels to be so employed, the number to be conveyed in each, and the nature and quantity of stores on board, they would consider my firm as candidates for such appointment, grounding their claim on their experience in the trade, of six years, during which the vessels fitted out by them have arrived without one single casualty beyond the ordinary casualties which cannot be provided against, and also from their having been mainly instrumental in bringing it to the notice of Her Majesty's Government.

This letter will be presented by Mr. William Parker Hammond, of the firm of W. P. IIam- mond and Co., our London agents, to whom I beg to refer for information on any subject that I may have left unnoticed.

Trusting that this application will meet with favourable consideration,

Stephen Walcott, Esq., Secretary,

Her Majesty's Land and Emigration"

Commissioners, London.

No. 5.

I have, &c.,

(Signed) J. D. MUIR,

Syme, Muir, and Co., Amoy.

Copy of a LETTER from T. F. ELLIOT Esq. to the Right Hon.

Lord STANLEY.

Downing Street, August 80, 1852.

MY LORD,

I AM directed by Secretary Sir J. Pakington to request that you will ac- quaint the Earl of Malmesbury that some of the colonies having passed laws and provided funds for promoting the immigration of Chinese labourers, he is very desirous of giving effect to the wishes of those colonies.

I am, however, to state, that considering the nature of the object in view, and the difficulties which might arise from carrying out the contemplated

EMIGRATION OF CHINESE COOLIES.

17

emigration from a foreign country, Sir J. Pakington has thought it neces- sary to ascertain what are the views of Lord Malmesbury on the subject,

before finally deciding on the course to be adopted.

With this object am to transmit to you the enclosed copy of a letter from August 4, 1852 the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, which contains a full and clear statement of the case, and of the modes in which the emigration may be conducted.

I am further to request, that you will state to Lord Malmesbury that Sir John Pakington is of opinion that of the different modes suggested by the Com- missioners for effecting this object, that of a Government agency would be the best, and that in the event of his Lordship concurring in this opinion, Sir John Pakington would authorize the Emigration Commissioners to arrange, under his instructions, the necessary details.

I have, &c. (Signed)

Right Hon. Lord Stanley,

&c.

&c.

&c.

No. 6.

T. F. ELLIOT.

Copy of a LETTER from H. U. ADDINGTON Esq. to HERMAN MERIVALE Esq. SIB,

Foreign Office, September 7, 1852. I AM directed by the Earl of Malmesbury to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 31st ultimo respecting the various propositions which have. been made for carrying out and regulating a system of immigration of Chinese labourers into certain of Her Majesty's colonies.

I am to request that you will state to Secretary Sir John Pakington that whilst Lord Malmesbury does not overlook the point, that strictly speaking the emigration of Chinese subjects is a violation of Chinese law, his Lordship does not consider that any practical evil can result from taking measures to regulate and to divert into a useful channel the emigration which already exists in spite of that law. And under this conviction Lord Malmesbury is disposed to concur with Sir John Pakington in the opinion, that of the different modes suggested by the Emigration Commissioners for effecting those objects, the least objectionable may be the appointment of a Government agency.

At the same time Lord Malmesbury would suggest to Sir John Pakington, that it is most desirable that the instructions furnished to the agent selected for this service should distinctly point out to him the necessity of avoiding, as far as may be possible, any open violation of Chinese law, or any needless disregard of the prejudices of the Chinese authorities It is to be remembered, that he is the agent of a Government which has entered into a treaty of friend- ship with that of China, and such being the case, it is his duty to carry into effect the functions with which he is charged in the manner which least likely to raise objections or attract attention on the part of the Chinese authorities.

may

be

I am to request that in laying this letter before Sir John Pakington you will move him to favour Lord Malmesbury with copies of the instructions given to the agent selected for this service, in order that Her Majesty's plenipotentiary in China may be made fully aware of the nature of the appointment.

I am, &c. Herman Merivale, Esq.,

&c.

&c.

(Signed) H. U. ADDINGTON.

C

No. 6

No. 5.