The Hawaiian gazette., 1875-11-17
sir Arthur Gordon ON Immigration
aud Labor.

Governor Gordon, of Fiji recently addressed
the citizens and planters of that group, ex-
pressing his views on the leading questions Of
domestic policy Aud among others he spoke
of the labor question and the source from
which laborers were obtainable We quote
his remarks in full, as given inthe FIJI Times =:
AN ample ana steady supply OF labor is absolute
ly essential to the colony From whcacc, aud under
what management shall We obtain Il most certainly,
most cheaply, and with the least probability OF
abuseg Tue irst question Is whether the manage
ment OF the Introduction Of Immigrants should be
undertaken Jy the Government exclusively, OF, rs
at present, by private parties am OF opinion that
1t should be undertaken by the Government. The
immigration would be mort systematically carried
on lis initial expenses would be borne by tue colony
and the planter Instead Of being called on now 10
pay a large down Mt once. would have the
amount distributed over period OF years. There
would moreover be an almost absolute guarantee
against abuses. But the question is one ON which
| should wish to have your opinion, aud VIII ask
ron 10 write ave no before you leave the room the
following question, which you viii hnd written on
a sheet ol paper the dOur:-" Is 1t In your
opinion desirable that the Government should under
take the conduct and management Of the immgra
lion of labnrgn Now US to the source from which
labor is to be obtained. Shall We attempt not to
supplant but to supplement Pnlynesian labor 10y
that of Indian Coolies! | think that We shall Go
well to do / have nothing To urge agains Poly
nesan laborers, but Think We must admit that the
SIMPLY OF it Is decreasing and the cost OF II incras
Ing All the evidence | have been able to obtain
tends TO show that this state of things viii continue.
IfQueensland persists in giving higher wages, then
our supply must cease. The Imperial Government
also Is likely 10 insist on measures winch VIII Tcnder
increased expenditure necessary. The supply of
labor be obtained from India Is practically bound
less. The amount Of wages ordinarily given to
Coolies il well known. | bold in my hand some
statistics 10 the probable expense of their intro
duciion here Ny calculations arcs lSs., the
expense for recruiting: los. head per man, for
the agent; passage money, 4l2; cost ui returning
same, IS in all el9 S. deducting from this the
amount of one third, as paid by the Government,
arrive at the fact that, for gig lSs Sd we obtain
COnlie servant for five years with his wages Of 3D..
per day additional, with rations. The West Indian
system of immigmtiun-which works WELLS that
before certain day in the year, each planter sends
Ia q rpQusitiDn 10 the immigration agent stating tue
number Of Coolies he requires for the coming year.
THESE are added up together aud the total they
amount to is sent for from India. The men as they
arrive assigned by lot 10 the applicants so that
there NAV be no complaints Of unfair play. II
number less than that asked for is sent, proper
t1nai diminuiion in tue number allotted is made all
round. An indeniure fee, in some colonies II in
others 60 Is paid by the planter each man ullOt-
ted to him, and like amount in each succeeding
year of the i've for which the Coolie is indenturcd
To him The remainder of the expenses so far as
the planters share oft is concerned UOr the Govern
mcut bears one-third) is betrayed 10y means of an
export duty on produce, which varies every year,
according as the number OF Immigrants sent Tor Is
great or small. II must be remembered when speak
ing this subject that the Indian laborer enters
upon his service for a much longer period than the
Polynesian. He is engaged 10 work upon the estate
for certain five year, together with an additio-
nal five before he is entitled to receive return
passage 10 the place whence he came. Thus it
would be seen q POlynesan would have TO be re-
turned and rc-engiged three times for every one
Indian laborer would be- The expenses of this
might easily be calculated, and the saving soon
rived at. He must, however, candidly point out
that in respect the contract of Indian laborcrs
contrastcd unfavora6ly with those of Polynesia,
that of wages; he saw that i've pence per diem,
with nations, was the least amount they could be
maintained at, aud that without rations they would
cost ten pence per diem.
If we had both systems Of immigration at work
the Government would send for such a number of
POlynesans aud such number Of Indians, as the
planters might respectively ask for. II would de-
pend on themselves which they would have and no
doubt they would ask for that which on the whole
they found most advantageous for them The i'm
mediate question then was, Is it in your opinion
desirable that efforts should be made to effect the
Introduction OF immigration labor from India ~
and to this also would ask you to return an au-
swer."