Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1877-03-17
Chinese Coolies in Cuba.

The London Saturday RevieaO, COM
menting upon the report of special
commission appointed to investigate the
condition of Chinese coolies in Cuba,
says:
One sentence in the commissioners re-
port supplies terrible intimation "Of
the more than lao, 900 Chinese who sailed
for Cuba, upward of 10000 died during
the voyages" With a few exceptions
the concurrent testimony of the witnesses
bears evidence to an amount Of suffering
endured on the passage which almost
surpasses belief.
The wretched creatures were confine
in the holds were beaten without mercy,
in some cases even unto death ; were sup
piled with bad food and insufficient
water were shut up in bamboo cages,
or chained to iron posts some were
clicked to death by the Sailors" and
"others on the point of death, but not
dead, were thrown overheard. No won
der, then, that numbers sought relief in
suicide One witness says: " twenty
men" (his fellow passengers) {" cast them
selves overheard ;" " eight jumped over
board" states another and opium lent
its aid to rid some of the sufferers of
their misery.
"On arrival, what happens to the
coolie?" asks the Chinese government.
"On landing" replies Hsieh-Shuang-
chin, 81 four or five foreigners on horse
back, armed with whips, led us like a
herd of cattle to the barracoons to be
sold" These men were then taken to
the market, and were compelled to sub
NIT to treatment which to Cinnamon,
whose sense Of decency is keen, was
peculiarly abhorrent They were obliged
to remove their clothing, so that Their
persons might be examined and theil
prices fixed. "This covered us with
shame" say fifty-two petitioners.
After the evidence brought forward az
to the way in which the coolies are treat
ed during the various stages of then
immigration until they reach the sugar o.
other plantations of the island, the CUES
ton "Do employers treat coolies kind
ly ?" sounds like mockery but it nigh
at least have been supposed that self
interest would have induced the MASTER
to keep the coolies in good bodily health
Even this motive however, seems t.
have been insufficient to work any gOot
for the immigrants. They are underfed
overworked and treated with great bar
barity. Maize and bananas form tn
staple food allotted to them.
Many stated that, contrary to the regu
lations which limit the hours of labor Il
twelve out of the twenty-four, they wer
made to work from four in the mornin!
until midnight. Sunday brought then
no relief, and any attempt to rest wa
punished by merciless fogging. Album
dant evidence is furnished that the mur
der Of coolies was not at all infrequent
and cases of suicide by hanging, b.
jumping into sugar caldrons and by tax
, ing opium, were of common occurrence
These statements appear so incredible
that we naturally turn for their confirm
alton or refutation to the statistics fun
nished by the commissioners, and fro1
} these we learn that out of ia, 081 cooIe
who landed in Cuba during the twent
years ending 1873, So, SOP died in til
island. These figures speak for then
selves. And it cannot be said that il
frmities arising from old age had any
thing to do with this high rate of morta
, ity for, according to the commissioner
= the coolies were all young men.
The fact, therefore remains that durin
n the twenty years above named, nearl
d fifty per centum of the young and natl
rally vigorous Cinnamon who landed
! Cuba succumbed to the effects of I'll
!, cruel treatment to which they were sui
: jected.