28
formally took steps to organize and control the trade. Henceforth it was to be a government-sponsored operation supervised by the commission itself.
In October a prospectus was distributed advertising the new policy. It made specific efforts to differentiate the new programme from the previous illegal trade. According to the prospectus, the trade was to provide labour for the West Indies and work for the poor of China. It was not to be considered slavery. The rights of those recruited would be guaranteed by the British government and families were welcome to come along. In fact, in addition to promising education for dependents, the flyer outlined contracts of five years with pay set at four dollars a month. The contract could be broken after a year though four-fifths of the price of passage had to be repaid. As an additional incentive a twenty dollar advance was offered. Happily for those interested in recruiting coolies, Lao Ch'ung-kuang, the acting Governor-General who had replaced Po-Kuei, agreed to endorse the plan and to supply a mandarin to work with John Austin, the British recruitment official. By the late autumn the French had made similar arrangements.
63
Every effort was made to disassociate the now official coolie recruitment from the previous illegal trade. Because the coolie ships had often sat off the coast near Whampoa full of men usually presumed to be prisoners, the new system established land-based recruitment houses in Canton. Parkes, the dominant commissioner, also worked with the local gentry and elders to gain their co-operation. And, as mentioned above, with the co-operation of the provincial officials, each emigration office, French and British, had Chinese officials assigned to work with it.
The allied commissioners were taking no chances with a potential uprising stemming from "misunderstandings associated with the trade. Coolie inspectors were assigned to interview the recruited labourers. The inspectors had the right to interview the men at any time and, if necessary to close down the offending establishment. No corporal punishment was to be allowed. The inspectors were to be present whenever contracts were signed and inspection officers were required to visit the emigration houses daily.
67
28
formally took steps to organize and control the trade. Henceforth it was to be a government-sponsored operation supervised by the commission
itself.
In October a prospectus was distributed advertising the new policy. It made specific efforts to differentiate the new programme from the previous illegal trade. According to the prospectus, the trade was to provide labour for the West Indies and work for the poor of China. It was not to be considered slavery. The rights of those recruited would be guaranteed by the British government and families were welcome to come along. In fact, in addition to promising education for dependents, the flyer outlined contracts of five years with pay set at four dollars a month. The contract could be broken after a year though four-fifths of the price of passage had to be repaid. As an additional incentive a twenty dollar advance was offered. Happily for those interested in recruiting coolies, Lao Ch'ung-kuang, the acting Governor-General who had replaced Po-Kuei, agreed to endorse the plan and to supply a mandarin to work with John Austin, the British recruitment official." By the late autumn the French had made similar arrangements.
63
Every effort was made to disassociate the now official coolie recruitment from the previous illegal trade. Because the coolie ships had often sat off the coast near Whampoa full of men usually presumed to be prisoners, the new system established land-based recruitment houses in Canton. Parkes, the dominant commissioner, also worked with the local gentry and elders to gain their co-operation. And, as mentioned above, with the co-operation of the provincial officials, each emigration office, French and British, had had Chinese officials assigned to work with it.
The allied commissioners were taking no chances with a potential uprising stemming from "misunderstandings associated with the trade. Coolie inspectors were assigned to interview the recruited labourers. The inspectors had the right to interview the men at any time and, if necessary to close down the offending establishment. No corporal punishment was to be allowed. The inspectors were to be present whenever contracts were signed and inspection officers were required to visit the emigration houses daily."
67
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.