The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1892-06-18
INQUIRY INTO THE cooLIe TRADE.
To Suppress Abuses Inflicted upon Chi
senose in Asian Lands and Waters.

To Suppress Abuses Inflicted upon Chi
snese in Asian Lands and Waters.
The British Government a while
ago appointed a commission to in
quire into the question of Chinese
immigration in Singapore and the
Straits Settlement and to recon.
mend the best means of preventing
abuses from the contract labor trif
fic from China. In 1890 the whole
number Of Chinese who arrived al
Singapore was 127,936.
w. Dame, who lived for fifteen
years among the tobacco planta.
tions east of Sumatra, has recently
had a paper in Das Ausland, in
which he tells about the Chinese
contract labor employed in the to-
bacco fields of Sumaira. He gives
a bad character to these immi-
rants. Many of them in China, he
says, were robbers, murderers and
beggars. Often they leave home
on account of the crimes they have
committed. Some have told him
that they left home because they
had stolen money from their par
ents and dared not return.
The Sumatra planters keep emil
grant brokers in Annoy, Swatow
and Hongkong to hire laborers for
them. These agents tell very glow
ing stories of the money to be made
in Sumatra. AS soon az they have
got together a few hundred people
they put them aboard a steamer
bound for Sumatra or Singapore.
Formerly all these emigrants were
compelled to go by way of Singa-
pore, bu: now a few steamers travel
directly to the plantations of the big
Island. On board ship the people
live between decks. Eight hundred
to a thousand coolies are often
packed together on one of these
coast steamers. They have no bed
ding or other material to make them
comfortable. Every man carries
along mat, on which he lies at
night, and little block of wood on
which to rest his head. They are
fed entirely on rice and salt fish,
and not few who in China were
extremely poor think they fare
finely on these vessels. If, however,
the rice is cooked too long or too
short a time, the unruly element
among them is likely to stir up a
riot, in which case water is played on
them through a hose, which quickly
reduces them to order, for there is
nothing a Chinese hates worse than
to be doused with cold water.
When the coolies arrive in Singa-
pore they are taken in charge by
British officials, who photograph
them, ascertain their height and
weight and ask them whether they
have willingly left China. Under
the influence of the labor-brokers
their answer is almost invariably
YES" Not few of them, however,
have been induced to go on board
by false pretenses. All of them go
out under the impression that they
are going to get rich. Mr.. Dame
mentions case where the parents
of two brothers, who were at work in
Sumatra, forwarded documents to
Singapore showing that the broth
ers had been induced to contract
their labor for term of years under
false pretenses. The brothers were
accordingly released and, much to
their Joy, were taken home to China
free of cost.
Not one emigrant in a hundred
paysthe expenses of the outward
journey. He agrees to have his
money deducted from his wages,
andsas the wages are very small, it
takes him a long time to pay the
$40 or $50 that it costs him to get
to his new field of labor.
Many of the coolies were married
men, and many leave their wives at
home telling them that as soon as
they become rich they will either
send for them or return to China.
It not infrequently happens, how
ever, that the emigrants after a few
years in Sumatra, forget all about
their wives, marry in their new
homes, and having accumulated a
little money in field labor, settle
down in the coast towns to carry
on some small business.
Curious Information About Japan.
II am Just from Japan," said