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furnished by the Protector in compliance with the request made at the last meeting of this Committee, the Committee is of opinion that such amalga mation will be most detrimental to the interests of this Colony; and it is further of opinion that the Colony would be best served by having its own Agency at Calcutta independent of all other Colonies.

(b) "This Committee, after considering the despatch, No. 99, of the 26th March, 1907, of the Secretary of State, does not see its way to depart in any particular from the terms of the resolution passed at their meeting held on the 10th January, with regard to having a separate Agency for this Colony. The Committee further expresses its regret that the opinions so strongly and repeatedly urged by it should be treated with so little considera- tion, and be practically ignored.

"

That this Committee further desires to invite attention to the report of the Protector of Immigrants, dated the 5th November, 1906, and to the returns which were at that time before the Committee (M.P. 6210/06).” The Resolution was seconded by Mr. Henderson and agreed to.

12706

No. 23.

BRITISH GUIANA,

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.

(Received 18 April, 1911.)

[Answered by No: 27.]

"9

3. The Immigration Agent-General doubts whether the wording of the Immi- gration Ordinance, 1891 (No. 18 of 1891) can be changed without defeating the object for which section 121 of that Ordinance was inserted. the law requires the police, when there is any doubt as to the identity of the immi- He points out that grant, to take him before the Immigration Agent-General or the nearest Immigra- tion Agent for indentification, and that this is the course followed.

4.

The effect of an amendment of the law as proposed might result in causing police constables to hesitate in arresting immigrants who are unable to produce evidence that they are at liberty to go wherever they please, and thus greater facilities would be afforded to indolent immigrants to evade the fulfilment of their obligations to their employers.

5. There is really, so far as British Guiana is concerned, no necessity to alter the law, because there is no excuse for any unindentured or creole-born East Indian adult being without the means of establishing his identity. Every East Indian other than an indentured immigrant can obtain from the Immigration Agent- General a document which will secure him from arrest on suspicion of being a deserter, while any indentured immigrant who is entitled to leave of absence from his estate can obtain a pass from his employer. It may, of course, happen that an East Indian may omit to obtain the necessary document, or, having obtained it, neglect to carry it with him, but then he has only himself to blame, and he would not be the only person who has suffered through a treacherous memory.

6. The Commissioners, I may point out, express their conviction that the police exercise the powers entrusted to them with care and discretion, and that is the I am sure, in this Colony. In all the circumstances I shall be glad to be advised whether the Bill should be proceeded with.

I have, &c.,

case,

SIR,

(Confidential.)

Government House, Georgetown, Demerara,

REFERRING to paragraph 5 of my Confidential despatch, of the 6th December

24th March, 1911. last,* dealing with the recommendations made by the Committee on Emigration from India to the Crown Colonies and Protectorates, I have the honour to transmit printed copies of a draft Billt which has been prepared by the Attorney General with a view to limit the power to arrest East Indian immigrants without warrant.

2. The members of the Executive Council, before whom the Bill has been brought, are not convinced as to the necessity for an alteration of the law. The Attorney General writes with respect to the Bill as follows:—

64

Draft Bill herewith, but I doubt if the difference is worth legislating about. The Bill shows the exact alterations made to comply with what the Commissioners recommend in paragraph 231 of their report.

The word reasonable is inserted before 'cause,' but the alteration is purely nominal, as no policeman would admit he had ever stopped an immi- grant unless he had reasonable cause to do so. that he cannot now arrest a man for mere absence. He must have reasonable The only real difference is cause to suspect that he is a deserter. A deserter under the Ordinance is a man who has been absent from the estate for seven days (section 122). A man who has been away a day or two is not a deserter; he does not become a deserter till he has been away at least seven days. The effect of the altera- tion is that no policeman can stop a man till he has been absent seven days from his plantation. How he is to know that I cannot say, but under the Bill he must have reasonable cause to suspect that the man has been absent from his estate for at least seven days before he stops him. the suggestion as to intention to desert, as it is impossible to say what a have omitted man intends to do until he has done some overt act. policeman, on stopping a man who has been away, say, three days from his I do not see how a estate, could say he reasonably suspected he intended to stay away another four days. fancy the Commissioners did not grasp the technical meaning of deserter' under section 122 of the Ordinance, and have confused deserter in that sense with deserter in the popular sense of a man who deserts or goes away from his work or estate. without deserting it.”

A man may intend to leave the estate

No. 12.

† Not reprinted.

3014

(No. 90.)

SIR,

No. 24. FIJI.

F. M. HODGSON.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR. [Copy to India Office, 5th March, 1912. L.F.] [Ansicered by No. 32.]

Downing Street, 4 May, 1911.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Major's despatch, No. 277, of 23rd December last,* on the subject of the report of the Committee on Emigration from India to the Crown Colonies and Protectorates, and of Mr. Hutson's despatch, No. 17 of 17th January,† forwarding the reports on Polynesian and Indian immigra- tion for the year 1909.

2. Mr. Major states that the Agent-General for Immigration does not think that the Indian labourers would be benefited by the adoption of provisions similar to those which exist in Trinidad, whereby a labourer who is shown by the books of the estate to have earned a certain sum is entitled to a certificate of exemption from labour before the date on which his indenture would otherwise expire; and I am content to leave the decision on this point to your discretion.

3.

I approve the proposal made in paragraph 6 of Mr. Major's despatch to limit the period of extension of indentures to the period of unlawful absence or desertion, and that for which imprisonment only is actually undergone for any offence, omitting all reference to the period lost in connexion with the proceedings before the Court; but I also desire that the law should be amended so as to allow magistrates discretion in every case whether they will so extend the time or not.

4. I approve the proposed amendment giving the Agent-General power to defend an immigrant, and, although I note Mr. Major's arguments to the contrary, I share the opinion of the Agent General that the provision for reindenture of labourers should be altogether repealed, say, from the 1st April next.

5. I approve the proposal that the Governor should be empowered to prescribe by regulation what provision employers should make for the education of the children of their indentured coolies, but whether such provision should take the form of a

• No. 16.

† 6005: not printed.

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

C.O.

Reference :-

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21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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