CO885-(23-24) — Page 568

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

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followed by the name and address of the defendant. Mr. Wright being anxious to get employment abroad, thinking there was a greater opening for him, wrote for particulars, and got a batch of pamphlets, which I have here. He read them, and He then he told me that he believed them, or otherwise he would not have gone. got from the defendant this yellow document, and on the yellow document are the words, Work found for all by the State Labour Bureau." He called at the defendant's office upon that, being impressed by these facts, and paid £1 deposit, and again after a certain time he called, and again on the second occasion he saw the defendant and paid £6 more. Apparently, having read, as he says, this advertise- ment, he probably read this sort of notice on page 8 of one of the documents, which Mr. Raeburn has called my attention to. The best chances of employment are, of course, for those who can speak some Spanish and are farm labourers, dairymen, or stockmen of practical experience; but mechanics are in fair demand, especially in the building and allied trades. Clerks, shop assistants, and others in search of office work, &c., are strongly advised not to emigrate unless they can count before- He probably, upon reading that, hand on a good chance of immediate employment." had some little doubt in his mind, so he asked the defendant about it. The defendant said he had sent hundreds to the Argentine, but had had no complaints. That was reassuring, at any rate, if it was true, and Mr. Wright would appreciate it. He also called his attention to the fact about the Spanish, that those who could speak Spanish had the best chance of employment. He spoke about that, and Mr. Hetherington assured him that Spanish was spoken, but was not absolutely essential. Those were the assurances given to Mr. Wright, and upon the strength of that he paid his other When he got there he £6, and sailed for Buenos Ayres, arriving there in October. went to the Immigrants' Hotel, and then on to the Employment Bureau. He says he went there every day, sometimes twice, and not getting employment in his own particular business, he offered to accept employment of any kind, and further than that, findng that he could get no work, he personally tried to obtain employment; but there was no work for him, and after 21 days, having gone to the Consul he was sent home again.

Now, Mr. Raeburn complains that 21 days is scarcely a reasonable time; it seems to me an extremely reasonable time. If a man finds, after being there 21 days, having been told originally that work would be found for him by the State, and at the end of 21 days having no money in his pocket he is no nearer employment than when he first arrived there, it seems to me it is an entirely reasonable time, and more than a reasonable time, in fact. Now that is the story told by Mr. Wright, and it is corroborated by eight or nine others, all of whom were skilled in some particular branch of work. Some of these men interviewed Mr. Hetherington, and were assured that the Argentine Government would find employment for them.

Now, that being so, what is the defendant's answer? The defendant's answer shortly is this: I had no idea I was an offender; that is his position. Let me see if that can be so. In April, 1912, the Emigrants' Information Office issued a warning in poster form, which had the good effect of lessening complaints. I have no proof that Mr. Hetherington got that warning except what I will allude to in a moment. In September, 1912, because complaints were still coming in, another warning was circulated, and after that complaints ceased; but in December, 1912, Mr. Malcolm Jones, who is a clerk in the Emigrants' Office, and Mr. Macnaghten, who is the Chief Clerk in the same Department, and, I understand, Chairman of the Emigration Committee, went to the Strand.

Mr. COMYNS CARR : That was in January, 1913, you will remember, Sir. The MAGISTRATE: Yes. It was in December that Mr. Jones received that docu- ment from South America; that was so. It was in December, the month before, that he had received a document from South America, which was really the reason why in January, 1913, he went with Mr. Macnaghten to the defendant's office. He saw the defendant; he had taken with him the petition. I do not know that it was clear whether he showed the petition to Mr. Hetherington, but at all events he told the defendant that he had received a petition from 34 immigrants in the Argentine, that these men were suffering great hardships there, and that he, the defendant, was mentioned as the chief offender. He told him of this, and he asked him, and ‚Mr. Macnaghten did too, not to continue booking these people under these circumstances. What was the reply of the defendant? The defendant said if he did not book them someone else would, and he further added that he could not do anything more than show the warnings. He said he had had warnings at that time. If he had had the warnings, they must have been the warnings either of the previous April or of the

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previous September; therefore, he had it brought to his knowledge at that time that there were warnings being issued. It is suggested that Mr. Hetherington thought that Mr. Jones and Mr. Macnaghten were a rival firm. One cannot for a single moment think there was any foundation for that suggestion, because he himself spoke of the pamphlet which had been issued by the Emigrants' Information Office, and said he could not send it as he did the others because it cost 2d. That shows that he knew at once the official position in which these gentlemen stood.

Mr. RAEBURN: He explained that to us here that that was the reason why he did not send it.

The MAGISTRATE: Because it cost 2d. He alluded to their pamphlet and he said, "I could not afford to send their pamphlet because it cost 2d.'

Mr. RAEBURN: That is hardly so, but I do not want to interrupt.

The MAGISTRATE: He also said that he thought it ought to have been sent on to them.

Now what other rival firm in the world would ever ask him to send on men from himself to them? That it was quite clear he knew that they held an official position I have not the smallest doubt in the world.

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Now just one word with regard to that pamphlet which is issued by the Emigra- tion Office. It is quite true that it does contain a summary of the Immigration Law, which does say, to have employment found and to be sent to any part of the "Republic free of expense "; it mentions that. It is somewhat unfortunate I am glad to hear the issue is not going to be continued but on the other hand it must be remembered, immediately afterwards, at page 39, there are very clear warnings in this pamphlet. It cannot be too clearly pointed out that this country is not one "for British emigrants in speculative search of employment, the labour element being almost exclusively composed of Italians and Spaniards." Then, again, it goes on to say: Persons arriving in the Argentine, especially clerks and unskilled labourers, without a competent knowledge of Spanish or with insufficient funds, are likely to find themselves in a serious position, and intending emigrants are strongly advised to communicate with this office before booking their passages." The Emi- gration Office gives their advice free; it exists for the very purpose of protecting these men and assisting them in every possible way and it tells them to apply there. it says: "Summary. From the above account it will be gathered that the Argentine Republic possesses no attractions to the ordinary British emigrant who possesses neither any capital nor skill in some special trade which may be wanted." Those are very clear warnings to anybody intending to emigrate, that at least, he must have certain qualifications, and further suggests to them that if they have any doubt upon any particular point, if they apply to this Government Department, then they will at once receive the information which they want.

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Then

Mr. Hetherington spoke of the warnings and said that he could not do anything more than show the warnings.

Neither Mr. Jones nor Mr. Macnaghten saw any warnings hung up in the office, and he said he did not ask for any to be hung up.

This interview, they say, was an interview which was intended to be of a friendly nature. They did not go there for the sake of bullying him or anything of that kind, but they felt it was very desirable that a person in his position, who probably had a very large business, should be informed clearly so that he could take advantage of it without any proceedings being taken against him, that he should be warned of the position and warned about it. Perhaps the word "warning" was never used, but it was quite clear what their object was. It was as clear as it could possibly be, and the complaint that no letters of warning were sent afterwards seems to me to be utterly fallacious. Gentlemen who go in this way in a friendly, kindly sort of way do not think it is necessary to do that; they think, if you do not take our hint spoken as clearly as a hint can possibly be given, then probably nothing we can do or send you will be of any good to you, especially having regard to your attitude, which certainly was not sympathetic when we approached you.

If I do not book them, someone else will," is not the attitude likely to induce people afterwards to take any further steps or do more than they did.

To say,

The defendant denies that there was this complaint about the 34 people mentioned to him; he says they did not ask him not to book more people to the Argentine, but he does admit that he understood and realised what Mr. Jones was saying to him was a complaint, but he says he was not going to stop till he had a direct complaint. That was his statement in the box: I was not going to stop till I had a direct complaint. What more direct complaint could he expect than these persons coming down occupying an official position, which I am satisfied he knew?

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