, 1888-07-25
Demerara Items.
(JrOm the ArgOSy.)

The Planters Association aud cOionists:
in general Saving the Portuguese section
OF the inhabitants)are probably not aware
that in the 0 Portuguese of Saturday LAST
"a weekly newspaper published i'll George
town, there was d most violent and vicious
attack upon the COolie system of this CO.
lOuy, in which the condition of the East
India immigrant was described in lam
guage that might we'll create Mortified
establishment in the minds of those who
taxi it to be true. 1t may be said that
the best way to treat virulence of this
kind is with silent contempt; but the
paper in question, although not read by
the bulk OF English cOlOnistS, finds its way
to other countries, where it's sentiments
may gather fictitious importance by trans
ference into more important newspapers,
and thereafter be translated into English
and published as the opinion of a Journal
printed in HE home of the c0Olie immigrant.
For this reason we do NOT hesitate to cali
attention to the article and to give our
readers Il few specimens of its contents.
The writer begins by reference to the re-
cent dispute over alleged shOrt-prices
on u few East Coast estates, and then
launches forth :-''The coolie during the
"tlme Of his lndanture is II veritable slave,
''many times more unhappy than the
AdAllIh wv III NHOSC ldNOul ICt
''England has groaned 50 much. Poor
'reprObateS Of civiliSatiOn. sad waits OF
'%'fortune. No one defends them either in
''the press or i'll the legislature. The law
(which rules them is the absolute will Of
''the manager, the caprice Of the 0verseer
'their wages are what they choose to pay,
Sand Tor the greater part afford only IL
'dISmal bare subsistence living in iufec-
'ted ranges, without COnvenienCeS with
"out sufficient nOuriS hment {; and when
"they must 90 to the estates hospital, so.
"neglected there, that they only meet with
"relief in DEATH" Before the Sugar. plan
tcrS, Doctors, Legislators aud Officials
read these extracts, they must have been
Ill ignorance Of he grOSSneSS of their |iniQui-
ty towards the immigrants and, now,
they may find it very difficult to recog-
Mise themselves i'll the guiSe in which they
are here represented. 1t would be impos-
sible to imagine a case in which, actual
facts have been more completely ignored
to make way for statements which are
altogether false and apparently malicious.
The writer of the article, a Portuguese,
long resident In this colony, must be
aware that under our immigration SyStemg
the immigrants are hedged around. with
legal protection of a special nature which,
Is not granted to other members Of the
community. They are guaranteed house
room, doctors attendance, hospital accom-
mediation and a weekly allowance of wa
ges far beyond what they ever earned in
India, and sufficient to enable them, to-
save considerable sums of money, which
have placed them, far and away, tho lead.
ing depOsitorS in the COlony's Savings
Banks. A more contented body of pre-
dial labOurers, taking them as a whole,
are not to be found in any part OF the.
world and when, as will occasionally
happen, a few of them here and there
quarrel with the overseers over the rate,
of wages, it is invariably found upon. in
~vestigation, that the dispute has been. de-
vised, and the trouble fomented, by some
mischievous rascal, generally a discharged
driver or some coOlie parson. But we
need not go SO far from the 0 Portuguese
to find another illustration of the genial
nature of our immigration laws. At one
time one of the cOlony's sources of labour
supply was Madeira, whence came many
hard working, earnest, penurious peasants,
who took the colony'S shilling and engag-
ed themselves to work on the estates.