PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
7: 21
Reference -
C.O. 885
21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
168
(b) Upon expiry of the lease of the joint Agency on 31 December, 1913, a piece of land opposite the British Guiana Agency to be leased at a rental estimated at £500, and an expenditure exceeding, probably. £2,000 to be incurred in the erection of barracks and offices. (c) The Assistant Agent at Calcutta to receive a house allowance. (d) A site to be rented for the up-country depôt, the estimated rent being
£250, and the cost of buildings, &c., £500.
(e) The European staff of the Calcutta Agency to be fixed at two Emigration
Agents, and one Assistant Agent.
2. It appears to be uncertain whether any considerable economy will result from these proposals; it is not stated what rent is being paid for the British Guiana depôt, with its limited accommodation.
3.
From the copy of the despatch from the Secretary of State to Mr. Gibbes, Acting Emigration Agent at Calcutta for the two Agencies, I note that a joint report is required upon the arrival of Mr. Marsden in Calcutta in April next.
(a) Paragraph 4. The amalgamation of accounts and of staff from 1st April, 1913, and the possible surrender of the lease of the joint Agency from 30 June, 1913, is suggested.
(b) Paragraph 6. The statistics showing the number of emigrants recruited in the several districts are given in full in the Annual Report of the Protector of Emigrants, Calcutta.
(c) Paragraph 16. Amalgamation of the Madras Agency. Mr. Marsden, in his report (paragraph 14), makes the surprising proposal that recruiting for Fiji should be restricted entirely to the Madras Presi- dency, because Fiji does not object to them, and the other Colonies do not like Madras immigrants. He also states that more of the Central Provinces emigrants would be available for the West Indies, and Fiji would have no longer ground for grievance owing to the Madras Agency being used by other Colonies. occasions referred to this mistaken attitude on the part of the I have on other Emigration Agent at Calcutta, for which there are no grounds.
4. The majority of employers in Fiji prefer the northern Indian recruited from Calcutta, both on account of his better physique, and the difficulty of inter- pretation in respect of the southern Indian recruited at Madras, but, as it was found impossible to obtain from the Calcutta Agency anything like the full number requisitioned, it was found necessary to open a separate Agency at Madras at the cost of this Colony. Our annual requisitions exceed usually those of any other Colony, yet we are frequently unable to obtain from Calcutta as large a number of immigrants as Trinidad does, apparently on the ground that Trinidad does not care for Madras immigrants.
5. The "grievance" referred to was the unauthorised employment of the Madras Agency by Trinidad in 1911 and 1912, without our permission, whereby the despatch of immigrants arranged for by this Colony was delayed.
6. I think it would be well perhaps to represent that Mr. Marsden's view is unfounded (at paragraph 14), and that, upon the two Agencies at Madras and Calcutta being amalgamated, Fiji should receive as large a proportion of immigrants despatched from Calcutta as any other Colony making use of the Agency, in pro- portion to the number requisitioned in each year. It is unfair that Fiji should be at a disadvantage in this respect.
7. The retirement of the present Agent at Madras is, I notice, to be deferred until after the conclusion of the recruiting season, believed to be about the beginning of May. In connection with this decision, I may say that should an additional steamer be arranged for this year it will probably have to obtain its complement from Madras, and the season may not close until August or later. In another month I shall be in a position to speak with more certainty about this.
8. The suggested removal of the depôt at Madras is to be decided upon after the appointment of an Assistant Agent for Madras.
A. R. COATES.
18 February, 1913.
13173
SIR,
169
No. 119.
THE GOVERNMENT EMIGRATION AGENTS AT CALCUTTA to
COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received 19 April, 1913.)
[Answered by Nos. 121 and 143.]
British Guiana Government Emigration Agency,
64, Garden Reach, Calcutta, As instructed in paragraph 3 of your letter, No. 22576, of the 19th Decem-
3rd April, 1913. ber, 1912,* we have the honour to submit the following joint report on the measures which, in our opinion, it is advisable to take in order to give effect to the decision of the Secretary of State that the British Emigration Agencies in Calcutta and Madras shall be amalgamated at an early date. It is necessary, however, to premise at once that with regard to one very important point, viz., the allocation of the officers who are to be appointed to take charge respectively of the work at the new up- country depôt and at Madras, our views are, to our regret, at variance, and that the following report deals consequently only with matters in which we find ourselves in agreement. On the main point of difference we attach subsidiary memoranda. For convenience of reference we propose to take up the remaining points in the order in which they are dealt with in your letter under reply.
2. New premises at Calcutta.—As suggested in paragraph 4 of your letter, the Port Commissioners have been asked whether they would be willing to terminate the present lease of the Trinidad, &c., Agency's premises at No. 21, Garden Reach, at an earlier date than the 31st December next, when it will legally expire. They reply that in view" of the inadequate return they are now getting for the capital expended by them on the purchase of this property they are not prepared to forgo the rent, which the adoption of the proposal would involve." The present Agency will, therefore, remain available for the use of, and its rent will continue to be a charge on, the Colonies concerned till the close of the current year; but if Mr. Gibbes's proposal (vide his letter of the 22nd January, 1913) to lease Mr. Farrington's property at No. 64, Garden Reach, is approved (as we recommend it should be), it will be necessary to commence the lease of the premises not less than three months before the depôt at No. 21 is vacated in order to allow time for clearing and pre- paring the land and erecting the new sheds, hospital, quarters for the staff, &c., &c. It is unavoidable that an overlapping of the two leases should occur, and, on receipt of the Secretary of State's approval, the necessary plans and estimates for the new depôt will be prepared, and a draft lease drawn up without delay. We propose, subject to the Secretary of State's sanction, to arrange for a three years' lease at a monthly rental of £16 13s. 4d. (Rs. 250) with the right reserved to the Emigration Agent to renew it for a further period of one, two, or three years on the same rent on six months' notice to that effect being given at any time during the currency of the original lease. This proviso we hold to be necessary in view of the possibility that the pending construction of new docks in Garden Reach may so raise the value of land in this vicinity as to tempt our landlord to utilise his property to better advantage by cutting it up into small holdings for residential occupation by dock labourers, &c.
We consider that accommodation should be provided in this new depôt for a maximum of 600 emigrants (statute adults), and we estimate the probable cost of erecting the necessary sleeping and feeding sheds, hospital, dispensary, latrines, quarters for staff, &c., at approximately £900 (Rs. 13,500).
3. Locality and Area of new Up-Country Depôt-We are agreed that it is desirable that the new up-country depôt shall be established at Faizabad rather than at Benares, not only because the former is a more convenient centre geographi- cally for purposes of recruiting and supervision, but also because it is climatically a healthier locality. Faizabad was for many years the most important centre of colonial recruiting operations and, although its pre-eminence in this respect has
• No. 91.
↑ No. 107.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.