CO129-123 - Sir MacDonnell - 1867 [7] — Page 35

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in full possession of all the proceedings taken by Iber Meapoty's ship "Drake", and of the opinion of Her Majesty's Consul at Swatiw

you may be better enabled to prevent the Regulations of your Government being eluded by ill-disposed persons.

10. I feel persuaded also that it is only necessary for the purpose of ensuring a stricter enforcement of the Rules of your Government in the spirit in which they are intended to be administered, to convince Your Excellency that at present they fail in attaining your object. It is almost impossible to deny that however excellent those rules may be on paper, means are nevertheless found successfully and extensively to elude the vigilance of Your Excellency, and enable the Moacas brothers whilst conforming outwardly to your regulations to cause a great many parties kidnapped by fraud and violence, to be passed ostensibly as willing Emigrants.

I might almost say that if it be admitted, I do not see that it can possibly be denied, that vessels are fitted out for the express purpose of kidnapping Chinese laborers with a view to shipping them as Emigrants from Macao, the parties who do so must be supposed to understand their interests sufficiently well to have first ascertained that such kidnapped persons are practically passed as Emigrants despite the existing regulations.