The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-27 00:00:00

hail lost the mum) .of skate, and did not work more than
they thought tit, which, in l,oita of fact, was was
to the cultivation of soil so truitfui,-.and of so.txlcusill
a colonv,
Mr. VERNON SMITH said the Hon. Gentleman
had introduced various topics-into the debate, hut kel'su
not stated which way he intended to vote: He (Mf;
Smith) did not intznd to follow him, but he thought:the
Report to which the Lou. Member alluded would 'ne".,l
furnish the Noble Lord good pound for legislation. 'lie
(Mr. Vernon Smith) would support the Bill, be'
cause he thought it required every exertion on their Psetl,
to procure for their possessions a sufficient supplY.
labour. At the same time, he would not do so if l'ef
thought it interfered with the comforts or happincol,
any individual ; and he thought that everything whLe•
had occurred since 1840, made it more perilous to Ps'
the Bill now than at that time.
Sir A. GRANT rose to do an act of-justice to the
Noble Lord, the Secretary for the Colonies. Ile (Sir4%4
I,
Grant) formed one of a deputation to' the Noble "1
horn the great body of the West Indian proprietors,'
calling upon the Noble Lord to sanction the appoltitn'en
of a Committee to inquire into the state of the West 10;
dies ; and the Noble Lord consented to the appointwee
of that Committee with considerable reltukanco. Wh°
the Report of the evidence taken before that Comnlilt—
was published, it would afford a complete refutation t"
the assertion of the Hon. Member for Lambe:h, that
West Indian proprietor could not do justice to an el'anr
' cipated slave.. .

Mr. HALVES explained. • „
Mr. BINGHAM BARING complained that the n°,:s
Member for Lambeth was too apt to impute unworttle.
motives to those who differed from-him in opinion.
(Mr. Bingham Baring) had on a former occasion re:
luctantly voted against permitting those persons to 01-
grate, and he had been induced to do so because dle
Hon. Member for Beverley had given it as the via°
.of the Court of Directors, that some delay was neces;
sary in order to institute an inquiry before legislate''
on the subject. He agreed with the Hon. Gent 1001;
that unless security was taken that all the abuses wh'el
had been complained of should be put down, dist !II
would be improper to permit the immigration of 1-11 t
Coolies into the Mauritius ; but he contended till
by the precaution's adopted, a proper administradt,.e
of justice in the Mauritius was secured, and 40
recurrence of abuses rendered impossible.
system of contract and bounty had been ")'",
away with, and the labourer on his landing i,n4lif
island was free to engage with any master he liken:
a man were a bad master he would get no SlaVeLf
(Hear, hear, from Mr. Hawes.) The Hon. Meril-n;
was very willing to take advantage of an inadver°4-
word. Under the former system those bondmen
slaves ; under the present .systene however, they wei?
free labourers. The Magistrates in the Mauritius "e„,
impartial, and the comfort of the labourers would be s:t
cured. It was not the object of the Indian Governin,:,
to encourage emigration from India to the Maurin%
and whenever wages in India should be higher dig,
they were in the Mauritius that emigration would 111'
turally cease. rat
Mr. MANGLES had been anxious to hear by w
argument the Hon. Member for Lambeth would 01)11/
that which all political economists allowed to be %r
right of every man, namely, the right to take his lab'r-d
to the dearest market.—(Hear, hear. He had not Won
a single argument from the Hon. Member
ej
that subject, the lion. Member having confin
himself solely to mere as .ertions.—(llear,
In denying to the planters the. right of seeking.,e
labour elsewhere . than in the colonies, they were (10)1,1
the planters less than justice. It was unjust to exPlo
them to the competition of slave labour, and to fret
them the means of procuring an adequate supply "f to
labour. It was also unjust to the Coolies to reftls!',.he
allow them to seek employment in the colonies.
Coolies had bt en improved by has ieg been in the 119
ritius ; they had become more muscular and benll,ics
their moral faculties had been also improved, and %la'
had become a prudent and a saving race of men ; nt
e,9
of them had remitted money to India, and all of that
had become possessors of some property. He ne•th
knew an instance of a Hill Coolie being dissatisfied 0,/,
his condition after he arrived at the Mauritius. 'Le
thought it right that the natives of India shout`
i
allowed to choose what employment they pleased, ;In"
go where they pleased in search of it. ss?
Mr. HOGG.—The Hon. Gentleman opposlte to
menced his address by saying that he was a frien.und
free trade ; but he (Mr. Hogg) was not so much a fre
to free trade as the Hon. Member, who would carry_,'
to the extent of exporting his fellow-creatures.—(C heel;
If the motion of his Hon. Friend, the Member fsr ,
beth, were carried, and the objectionable clause were tad
punged, the measures of the Noble Lord (Stanley)w°l„,,
still be in absolute operation, and the legislative
ceedings which followed the Order of Council, issued ;tut
wards the end of last year, he rendered nugatory-. .ecet
the discussions which had taken pla'se upon this still.),
in both Houses of Parliament, after the interest
re
had been excited in the public mind out of doors, h
contend that the Noble Lord was bound to take the 01"_„
nion of the House before he introduced any eas urevunptv:
the subject. The Government were bound to
Proce-sed
"recurrence of the frightful scenes which had
adoptedlndia. He ecoucrosme
Se a mease
the public to expect. He was sorry to opP°
n con'
pdlaiffiteleredntthfartontihtt‘hlalto‘mol?ica:tiiii‘eii: ,
re
supported by so many, in whose ucts he ge .Ynsise
currei! ; but he was not to be blamed for the into
ency of the Government. He had ever
n shown any ru
confidence by his votes in the general policy of the
Lord; the late Secretary for the Colonies, but, where t"
great cause of humanity was at stake, he felt bound !,,(1
say, that he had always felt the greatest confidence
that Noble Lortl.7-(llear.) Every one admitted the
"
tiheasdhl:dd.
evils and abuses had existed in India ; there was ne "'5;
pute on that point. The very hesitation shown 2,
legislating on the subject, was an admission that abbe
had existed. The Hon. Member then referred to
evidence taken before the Committee, with respect to
injuries inflicted upon the Hill Coolies, and the gen° ,4
results of the system. How was it that they never lie°'"?
of the Coolies in the Mauritius renewing the contrac.l,l
Why that fact itself was the most powerful against;.
system.--(Hear, hear.) With respect to those wl" to
turned to India, they were picked men who were rented
induce others to go to the Mauritius. He adnd!t
:r,,
that the provisions proposed by the Noble Lori o:ea
calculated to remove many of the evils which had
in the passage as well as in the Manris
There was not. one word in the instructions of the ld
Lord relating to the lodging of the Coolies. He wel:t
suggest the establishment.of district hospitals for 9,lei,
reception a: d fOr their medical assistance in the stye
nesses incident to a new and unwholesome climate• if
was not opposed to free emigration ; on the contra' it
any plan of voluntary emigration could be devi: hot
should have' his most cordiel support. He knew $
the population of India would be benefited by su'elJ
relief ; but be was convinced that under the pi-or dr
plan free emigration would not be sufficient fo;- P.
pose. Besides, he was greatly dissatisfied with the
visions made for the return of the Coolies to their 4)„e
country ; nor were the precautions taken to guard 7•
natives against the impositions of crimps by any* to
sufficient. They ought to be fully apprised byrio
Government authorities, before their departure ;At
India, o: the conditions upon which they were auyos
to leave their country. It would amount to
entire prohibition of the emigration, if the Inch p
Were compelled to take their families with them• for
would be much better to make some arrangement'
the transmission of part of their earnings for the sull,"0
of their families, the latter remaining at home. He °t'
also recommend that besides a careful survey of the no
to be employed in the transport of labourers t°
Mauritius, it should be made peremptory that the pasZe
should be limited to the time of the monsoons. lot
Hon. Gentleman apologised- to the House for hnvi•
taken up so much of its time in the discussion (10‘:
subject in which few would feel so strong 0
interest as he did. He hoped that "ijle
our motives in promofng the abolition of Ace-
African slave-trade were misrepresented and misli!"-to
stood by other nations, the House would do nothine
give a colour to the assertion that we were keeping sly"
in our own possessions. -
Lord STANLEY - hl - )I,v yon

4.4orci _ would not reply to the 1
attack of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman upon 1"131,;.0
a spirit of equal bitterness. There could be no quoyi
that, after the passing of the Slave Emancipation nil"ar
1835, great numb( rs of Coolies were induced, by ftA
lint reixesenialions, to enter into con:racts for 111-10
with planters in the Mauritius. The abuses .wfre're
flagrant, that, in 1838, a law was passed absolutely 0
venting the emigration of native Indian labourers,.,- of
Coolies and others, under any contracts. The eb..i',o3i•
the present
mbt,Brtaoinl lstswe.eausrHteo,eanytiootdhteiefryisa•
amgthateaitliAims
tcet:tpitloeeraflelalcoltvwp•ortio.?;ori;
gt
thetl e'
bition, because he thought that it was against trri-X
principle of freedom that the natives of India shouror
shut up. within the imits of their own peninsula,lig",4
citified front intercourse with the rest of the
Having all the information from India which eeui"t'eti
procured, there was no inconsistency, that inforei.se
being fully matured,. in adopting in 1842 that•li°,l4s-
which he did not think there was sufficient gm"--ed,
introduce before. So far as the passage was coneerflip
the Hon. Gentleman did not make any objection.' ice
(Lord Stanley) did not take up the subject for. the-ti,.
of the Mauritius, although he knew that the 3hr•
ritius would suffer if it ).ad not a sufficient sulrof
of labour; but he did so. because he knew
while the Mauritius would be benefited, no /Rite,.
would be done to any one.—(Hear, hear.) The j11,,f
Gentleman, the Member for Lambeth, compl4int'—a
the deception practised upon the people of Indis'je
the manner in which they were induced to embark. ••,‘,
thought he would be able to show that all th 7..
grip ‘ alleys were toeoved. The system of kidnapet4',
as it was called, took place in consequoice of 1"11,'.„,
persons paying for entrapping the labourers and ieu!Oti;
advances to the Coolies, which was the main stay
trade. But the system of advances etas proll"1,
by the present proposition. The Hon. Gentleman
complained that the Hill Cooies were intoxicated Op
iwprisened. The n:thst effectual means were taken, )
Prevent such practic: s by the present Bill. The 11`,
60
Gent!, man also oej( cti d that persons (-yen, tak'l,ll,,,e
board while the vessel was (Nano. d.,wa the river. ,
did the present Bill propose to creal ith that evil?
if the (;:,ptain of the vess( took nnv I,erson bl:Vso
whom he oeght not, he forfeited his whole fr"g„.ll„ar:
that he had now no inducement to take any -,ere
on board.—(Hear.) When it was said the contracts
unfavourable, what was the contrast betw.een 11,./.
systems ? confining the labourer to his own teouis
tory, and not allowing him the liber of sPntilleba
emigration, he was able to earn only 4! ICs: a Y,
being allowed to emigrate he could obtain 361.
loss
year, so that-the real hardship and cruelty of
was in not giving him that liberty.-.—(llear, heari)i
The
Coolies
2.(111'g t
—t„n or 1q
was the vietv also taken f the (natter by. the
ritius went there • noa as free men, tree to ityo
stop as they pleased ; but if they returned with "