CO129-134 - Public Offices - 1868 — Page 296

The Daily Press

HONGKONG, MARCH 21ST, 1868.

The Dutch Government requires a searching inspection of each vessel leaving Hongkong for any of its possessions, from its consul here. That gentleman, we believe, has not only to inspect the coolies before they embark, but to inspect them again on board the last t'ing before the ship sails. It is difficult one THE mutiny, or riot, on board the Marie would to suppose for any vessel to leave here Therese is a disagreeable illustration of the for either British or Dutch possessions with difficulties surrounding the dispatch of kidnapped or unwilling emigrants on board. coolies to remote colonies, even when appa- Still, if it were entirely impossible, we should rently conducted under the supervision of not see people making any attempt to kidnap persons acting in an upright manner and with inen, or tempt them on board coolie ships by the best intentions. The regulations of the false representations. It is evident that the Dutch Government, and the watchfulness of regulations can be successfully eluded from the Consul, would, it might be supposed, time to time. Then, again, the recent report preclude the possibility that any Chinese by the Harbour-master says, that the coolie should be seut, engaged as emigrants, except. | ships leaving Hongkong in proper order, with those fully comprehending the nature of their Bo more persons on board than can be legally enterprise, and deliberately anxious to enter accommodated, and with provisions and upon it. Except in rare cases, it is impossible water in proper quantities for those who to believe that coolies are improperly sent actually start from Hongkong, will frequently away; but there was a case at the Police-

c me to an anchor outside Green Island, and court the other day in which two men

receive more emigrants from native vessels. were said to have been beguiled into While it can be to the interests of any persons going on board this very ship, the to evade the law in this way, the regulations Marie Therese, by false representation, must be very defective, in spite of their and now there has been an extensive riot on apparently scrupulous character. board, which cannot but throw the strongest suspicion upon the way in which the emigrants had been recruited. Nothing of this kind which can happen-no amount of criminal conduct on the part of individuals, who may from time to time concern them. selves with coolie emigration-cau alter the fact that coolie emigration is a great idea, capable, legitimately developed, of doing a vast amount of good, of benefitting countless persons, and promoting the general prosperity of splendid, but undeveloped countries; but every scandal which comes to light in con- nection with the subject strengthens the position of those people who think that the whole system ought to be denounced as incompatible with proper regulations, and emigration totally prohibited for the future, The evils which interfere with the legiti- mate development of emigration can only be dealt with effectually by the Governments, interested in its encouragement. The British Government is so scrupulously careful to put checks and difficultios in the way of persons who might have a pecuniary interest in keeping up the supply of coolies, that the emigration is to a great extent paralysed. The planters of the West Indies are not allowed to establish an agency of their own here, for fear they would not be sufficiently careful in accepting emigrants, and the officer who acts indirectly as their agent at Cantou corresponds with a Government department, we believe the Colonial-office, in England.

The way out of the difficulty would appear plain enough, but the expense of carrying out the emigration on a perfectly safe plau might be so great as to neutralise the al- vantages sought by the West Indian planters. No private interests whatever ought to be involved in the arrangements.

The ships which take the coolies ought to be Govern- ment skips, chartered by the Government, and commanded by men of high character. If a satisfactory financial return to the West Indian colonies could be seen, the plan might be to establish an office here under the control of a well paid and trustworthy agent, who might act both for the Dutch and English colonies. So far as the English authorities are concerned, there is of course such an agent at Canton, and no scandal has ever attached to his management of the business that we are aware of. He alone, however, cannot manage the whole of the emigration. There should be an agent here, or, if it be found impracticable to combine the agency of both Dutch and English colonies, there should be two. These gentlemen would be in correspondence with officers in the West Indian colonies, appointed like them- selves by their respective Home Governments, and in this way they would ascertain that the ships arrived in the state in which they left Hongkong. The agents here would sup- ply as many coolies as they could obtain by legitimate means, chartering ships from time to time as a sufficient number of emigrants collected in the depôts on

295