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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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Reference :-

C.O.885

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21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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be sure to attribute the cause of the woman's leaving her home to my influence, no matter how little truth there may in the allegation."

We are

16. Many of the male emigrants, although married, will not take their wives with them to the Colonies, and such deficiencies require to be made up. at present paying almost double the commission for recruiting a woman, as for a man, say £5 against £3, and if the proportion of women is to be raised, expenses will further rise with the change.

17. We think the proposal of sending over time-expired emigrants from the Colonies to act as recruiters is well worthy of a trial, provided that the Protector of Emigrants is authorised to give them licences on arrival, on the Agent's application.

At present no licence is issued by the Protector of Emigrants unless he is fur- nished with a satisfactory character certificate from the magistrate of the district of which the intending recruiter is a native, or where he is well-known, and success in obtaining these certificates depends very largely on the good terms intending recruiters happen to be on with the police. When Natal sent over similar people for this purpose in 1911 licences were unobtainable.

If this experiment is made, it might be considered whether those who are married might not bring their wives over with them, to act as female recruiters.

18. Chapter V. of the Indian Emigration Act, 1908 (XXII. of 1908), which deals with " recruiters," will require amendment if it should be decided to bring over time-expired emigrants for recruiting purposes, and the Colonial Office will no doubt arrange with the India Office for this to be done.

19. We are not hopeful of much good coming from such an experiment unless payment is made by results, and, in fact, all over the world where recruitment in any form takes place this principle is acknowledged, as those entrusted with the actual recruitment, and who, in the first instance, come in contact with the recruited, will not exert themselves to the same extent if receiving only a salary as they would otherwise. The Indian, especially, is a person who works harder if his income is dependant on his exertions.

To put recruiters on salaries with a small bonus per head, as suggested by the Commissioners (with all due respect to those gentlemen), would only result in our being flooded with undesirables--the class of people the Colonies do not want.

The emigrants whom the Colonies require, and whom the Commissioners say should be sent to them, require searching for, entailing considerable hard work, and success cannot be achieved unless the men who are doing this work are compensated according to their individual results.

20. Return immigrants from Trinidad, British Guiana, and Fiji to be recruited, those from Natal and Surinam to be rejected, is duly noted.

The practice followed in the reindenture of return emigrants is, first of all, to see that they are fit for another term of indenture; and, secondly, that on their return from the Colony they brought a fair remittance with them, thus indicating that they have been industrious while in the Colony, and not come back as paupers.

It occasionally happens that on the reindenture of a indenture of a number of fresh emigrants, in which cases the strictness of his exami- return" depends the nation might be slightly relaxed; but "returns from Natal and Surinam are rarely taken.

*

21. Ankylostomiasis is being dealt with in a separate letter.

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that the examination for the Colonies is very much more minute, intimate, and particular than that which is used for inland labour. No one is allowed to leave who will not be worth his money, so far as we can tell. On the other hand, the supply of extra good specimens of the coolie class is limited, and the average of a whole shipment must be considerably below the highest standard shipped, so long as the *present system is in being. Recruitment is only allowed amongst certain classes, and of these only a few can be induced to leave their homes for a long journey to, to them, an unkown land. If better specimens are wanted rejections must be more numerous, and consequently the expense must be higher, and, moreover, a longer time must be spent in looking for them. Many of the better-made men belong to castes which cannot be recruited, and find their way into the army and the police. No man or woman passes me unless I think that he [or she] has the work in him or her.

The Commissioners speak deprecatingly of a man sent out with a broken wrist. That man was a particularly strong coolie. His arm had been broken in childhood. He had a deformed, but very strong and thoroughly useful, hand, and at that time was most anxious to show his work. He was given a kodali and showed me person- ally how he could use it; moreover, his hands showed that he was accustomed to work. That man was as able to work as any coolie sent. Whether he changed his mind afterwards I cannot say. I can only repeat that the examination is most thorough, and very few undesirables, if any, can pass the examination. On the other hand, there is sure to be some malingering in the Colony.

A

As regards examination for ankylostomiasis, coolies will simply not stand the more rigorous methods of search and treatment in the depôt, though no doubt an examination of the fæces for ova might be instituted as a routine at little cost. very large proportion will be found to be infected, but without symptoms.

Yours sincerely,

31098

SIR,

(No. 341.)

No. 145. TRINIDAD.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR. [Copy to India Office, 1 October, 1913. L.F.]

C. STEVENS.

Downing Street, 22nd September, 1913. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 100, of the 17th March,* and to inform you that His Majesty will not be advised to exercise his power of disallowance with respect to Ordinance No. 2 of 1913 of the Legislature of Trinidad, entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Immigration Ordi- nance No. 161, and the Immigration Ordinance, 1912 (No, 56).”

2. Section 11 of this Ordinance provides that an apprentice convicted of wil- fully neglecting or refusing to conform to the terms of his apprenticeship, or of quitting his master's service without the leave of such master, may be ordered by the Magistrate to be sent to a reformatory school. I am inclined to doubt whether it is a sound policy to send a boy to a reformatory for the offence of breaking an apprenticeship. The section as it stands at present does not give the Magistrate the option of sending the boy back to his master with a caution of some kind, or of sending him to an industrial school. I should be glad if you would consider whether this section of the Ordinance might not be amended on some convenient occasion.

I have, &c.,

I have, &c.,

A. MARSDEN, Government Emigration Agent

for Trinidad, &c.

Enclosure in No. 144.

31098

L. HARCOURT.

Colonel C. R. STEVENS, M.D., I.M.S., CONSULTING SURGEON to TRINIDAD EMIGRATION AGENCY, to MR. MARSDEN.

DEAR MR. MARSDEN,

8, Middleton Street, Calcutta, 2nd September, 1913. REFERRING to the question of medical examination of coolies before their departure for the Colonies, I think that it would be very hard, without the expendi- ture of a great deal more money, to improve on the present system. The coolies are most minutely examined, both as regards soundness of organs and as regards their physique and ability to do hard work. I have had many coolies to examine for labour in the tea districts, &c., in many different stations, and I can definitely say

No. 146. TRINIDAD.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR. [Copy to India Office, 1 October, 1913. L.F.]

(Confidential.)

SIR,

Downing Street, 22nd September, 1913. WITH reference to my Confidential despatch of the 8th August,† I have the honour to transmit to you the accompanying copy of correspondencet with the India

• 10786: not printed.

† No. 133.

↑ Nos. 137 and 139.