66.
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inspected the building purchased for the agency by Mr. Austin in 1859, but though well situated at the time, it is now useless, as the Consulate and Foreign settlement have since been removed a distance of five miles from that locality to lands granted by the Chinese Government immediately opposite to the town of Swatow. The premises are now in the market for sale, and will not fetch a fifth of their original cost.
67. Mr. Caine, the Consul, thinks that a fair trial was never given to Swatow, as the Agency was only open for one season when 354 Emigrants, of whom ten were women and members of families, were collected and sent down to Hong Kong for embarkation for the West Indies. After the close of the Agency, Mr. Caine received many applications from parties, some with families, wishing to emigrate.
68. To be successful the Emigration should be continuous, and Mr. Caine is of opinion that the allotment system, judiciously applied, would be a great inducement to the young male members of families to emigrate; and that receiving small-footed women would gradually lead to family Emigration. I forward a copy of a letter addressed by him to Mr. Maxwell in 1862, expressive of his views on these points, which are in no way changed (See Appendix No. 11).
69. Mr. Caine laid great stress on Emigration being carried on, if on Chinese territory, in the immediate vicinity and under the control of the Consul, as being the best means of impressing the natives with confidence, and in this I fully concur. Swatow unfortunately had been, for several years before the establishment of a Consulate there in 1860, the scene of serious atrocities in the kidnapping of natives by crimps from Macao, and a strong feeling of hostility amongst the people existed against all Emigration. Foreigners were not safe at any distance from the European settlement; and it was not till 1861 that the mob became quieted by familiarity with the sight of foreigners, and things assumed a more favorable aspect.
70. In the immediate vicinity of the Consulate and Foreign settlements, the natives, being accustomed to the presence of Foreigners, are becoming reconciled to them; but still every attempt at further progress inland is mistrusted and resisted.
71. So late as the year 1865, Mr. Caine, who is technically held to reside at Ch'ao-Chow-fu the principal city of the District, about 35 miles inland from Swatow, was obliged to be escorted into that place by a strong Chinese guard, but was treated with contumely and violence during his stay. In July 1866 the visit was again repeated under better circumstances.
72. With this evidence before me I cannot for one moment imagine that a Recruiting Agency could, as I have before stated, be established in the interior with any safety or chance of success, at all events not for some years to come.
ΑΜΟΥ.
73. Amoy is an Island of about 40 miles in circumference, on the seaboard of the Fuhkien Province, and fourteen hours by steamer from Swatow.
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There are 136 villages on it besides the town of Amoy. The population is said to be 400,000; the masses are very poor, and hundreds emigrate annually to California, Straits, and Cochin-China.
74. There is at present no Emigration Agency at Amoy. The last Emigrants sent away from this place to Demerara and Trinidad were in the season of 1865-66. These people were collected and despatched by Mr. Boyd, of the mercantile firm of Boyd & Co. Free Emigration still continues, and is said to amount annually to above 8,000.
75. Mr. Boyd is of opinion that a Sub-Agency at Amoy could supply annually to the West India Colonies at least one thousand Emigrants, but he spoke discouragingly of family or female Emigration; of the numbers collected in 1865 and 1866 thirteen only were females.
76. I am of opinion that no Mercantile firm should be wholly relied on for the collection and dispatching of Emigrants. It is an anxious duty, requiring some experience, occupying much time and attention, and altogether quite out of the line of their business. They would probably regard the passengers as so much live freight. I attribute the unsatisfactory emigration to the West Indies from this place in 1865-66 to these circumstances.
FOOCHOW.
77. I visited also Foochow, the capital of the Province of Fu-Kien, about three days by steamer from Hong Kong. It is situated forty miles from the mouth of the river Min. Vessels of any draft cannot approach nearer than the Pagoda Anchorage, ten miles from the City. The native population of Foochow has been estimated at 600,000. In traversing the streets of the City, its inhabitants appeared much of the same class as I had seen in all the other cities of China that I visited.
78. I was informed by the Revd. Robert Maclay, D. D., of the American Church Mission, that an attempt had been made some years back to establish an Emigration Agency at Foochow, but the lower orders evinced such determined resistance to it that it was given up, and nothing of the sort has been since attempted. Time and want will no doubt create a change in the popular feeling.
79. It is hardly necessary that I should offer my opinion on the eligibility of Chinese as a laboring and agricultural population, and one which should be imported into the island, as experience has already satisfied the Government and Planters on the point; but I will merely say that no one visiting China, and witnessing the industry and continuous labor of every kind that is going on around him, however he moves, be it in Town or Country, can be otherwise than favorably impressed with the fitness of the Chinese for meeting the demand for labor elsewhere.
80. At Penang and Singapore, I was first struck with the physical strength and industry of the Chinese, having availed myself of the stay of the steamer at those places on my passage to China, to visit the parts of these Towns occupied exclusively by them; and my visits to Hong Kong, Canton, Macao,
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66.
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inspected the building purchased for the agency by Mr. Austin in 1859, but though well situated at the time, it is now useless, as the Con- sulate and Foreign settlement have since been removed a distance of five miles from that locality to lands granted by the Chinese Government im- mediately opposite to the town of Swatow. The premises are now in the market for sale, and will not fetch a fifth of their original cost.
67. Mr. Caine, the Consul, thinks that a fair trial was never given to Swatow, as the Agency was only open for one season when 354 Emigrants, of whom ten were women and members of families, were collected and sent down to Hong Kong for embarkation for the West Indies. After the close of the Agency, Mr. Caine received many applications from parties, some with fami- lies, wishing to emigrate.
68. To be successful the Emigration should be continuous, and Mr. Caine is of opinion that the allotment system, judiciously applied, would be a great inducement to the young male members of families to emigrate; and that receiving small-footed women would gradually lead to family Emigration. I forward a copy of a letter addressed by him to Mr. Maxwell in 1862, expressive of his views on these points, which are in no way changed (See Appendix No. 11).
69. Mr. Caine laid great stress on Emigration being carried on, if on Chinese territory, in the immediate vicinity and under the control of the Consul, as being the best means of impressing the natives with confidence, and in this I fully concur. Swatow unfortunately had been, for several years before the establishment of a Consulate there in 1860, the scene of serious atrocities in the kidnapping of natives by crimps from Macao, and a strong feeling of hostility amongst the people existed against all Emigra- tion. Foreigners were not safe at any distance from the European settlement; and it was not till 1861 that the mob became quieted by familiarity with the sight of foreigners, and things assumed a more favorable aspect.
70. In the immediate vicinity of the Consulate and Foreign settlements, the natives, being accustomed to the presence of Foreigners, are becoming re- conciled to them; but still every attempt at further progress inland is mistrusted and resisted.
71. So late as the year 1865, Mr. Caine, who is technically held to re- side at Ch'ao-Chow-fu the principal city of the District, about 35 miles inland from Swatow, was obliged to be escorted into that place by a strong Chinese guard, but was treated with contumely and violence during his stay. In July 1866 the visit was again repeated under better circumstances.
72. With this evidence before me I cannot for one moment imagine that a Recruiting Agency could, as I have before stated, be established in the interior with any safety or chance of success, at all events not for some years to come.
ΑΜΟΥ.
73. Amoy is an Island of about 40 miles in circumference, on the sea- board of the Fuhkien Province, and fourteen hours by steamer from Swatow.
( 13 )
There are 136 villages on it besides the town of Amoy. The population is said to be 400,000; the masses are very poor, and hundreds emigrate an- nually to California, Straits, and Cochin-China.
74. There is at present no Emigration Agency at Amoy. The last Emi- grants sent away from this place to Demerara and Trinidad were in the season of 1865-66. These people were collected and despatched by Mr. Boyd, of the mercantile firm of Boyd & Co. Free Emigration still continues, and is said to amount annually to above 8,000.
75. Mr. Boyd is of opinion that a Sub-Agency at Amoy could supply annually to the West India Colonies at least one thousand Emigrants, but he spoke discouragingly of family or female Emigration; of the numbers collected in 1865 and 1866 thirteen only were females.
76. I am of opinion that no Mercantile firm should be wholly relied on for the collection and dispatching of Emigrants. It is an anxious duty, re- quiring some experience, occupying much time and attention, and altogether quite out of the line of their business. They would probably regard the passengers as so much live freight. I attribute the unsatisfactory emigration to the West Indies from this place in 1865-66 to these circumstances.
FOOCHOW.
77. I visited also Foochow, the capital of the Province of Fu-Kien, about three days by steamer from Hong Kong. It is situated forty miles from the mouth of the river Min. Vessels of any draft cannot approach nearer than the Pagoda Anchorage, ten miles from the City. The native population of Foochow has been estimated at 600,000. In traversing the streets of the City, its inhabitants appeared much of the same class as I had seen in all the other cities of China that I visited.
78 I was informed by the Revd. Robert Maclay, D. D., of the American Church Mission, that an attempt had been made some years back to establish an Emigration Agency at Foochow, but the lower orders evinced such determined resistance to it that it was given up, and nothing of the sort has been since at- tempted. Time and want will no doubt create a change in the popular feeling.
79. It is hardly necessary that I should offer my opinion on the eligibility of Chinese as a laboring and agricultural population, and one which should be imported into the island, as experience has already satisfied the Government and Planters on the point; but I will merely say that no one visiting China, and witnessing the industry and continuous labor of every kind that is going on around him, however he moves, be it in Town or Country, can be other- wise than favorably impressed with the fitness of the Chinese for meeting the demand for labor elsewhere.
80. At Penang and Singapore, I was first struck with the physical strength and industry of the Chinese, having availed myself of the stay of the steamer at those places on my passage to China, to visit the parts of these Towns occupied exclusively by them; and my visits to Hong Kong, Canton, Macao,
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