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 -r;^-^' 
 
THE COTTON SUPPLY." 
 
 fl'l -iv-yil 
 
 
 A LETTER 
 
 (O 
 
 JOHN CHEETHAM, ESQ. 
 
 FOESIDENT 07 THE MANCHESTER COTTON-SUPFLT ASSOCIATION. 
 
 BY A FELLOW OF THE 
 
 ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 ROBERT HARDWIOKE, 192, PICCADILLY. 
 
 1861. 
 
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LETTER TO JOHN CHEETHAM, ESQ., 
 
 President of the Manchester Cotton Supple/ Association. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 Among tbo many lessons taught us by the 
 present crisis in the United States, there is none 
 more forcibly brought to our doors than the evil of 
 dependency. Not that I depreciate a mutual depen- 
 dency, but where one country like England depends 
 mainly on another, like America, for her raw pro- 
 duce, great danger must arise to the former from 
 such a condition. And if this is so, which I sup- 
 pose none will deny, has not the time come to put 
 forth our full energies, to prevent the blow ere it 
 falls, to place England in a self-reliant, self-depen- 
 dent position ? The disasters which have come 
 upon the great American republic, clearly point out 
 to us the danger which now exists of our obtaining 
 but a small yearly quantity of cotton, if not of losing 
 our supply altogether from the Southern States; 
 and also the necessity of obtaining from several 
 <>ther sources our cotton and other raw produce. 
 
 11*1 
 
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 . .1 
 
For what is our state in reference to America? 
 We receive in England about 2,523,200 bales of 
 cotton annually; of this, 86 per cent., or 2,133,720 
 bales come from the United States. By their being 
 our principal suppliers, we pay them naturally a 
 fancy price for it. Cotton is to be had at CJ, say 
 7 cents in Florida, whereas similar quality from 
 India may be procured at from 3 to 4 cents ; or, in 
 round numbers we pay the Americans £30,000,000 
 per annum for what we can procure for £20,000,000. 
 From that £30,000,000 the Americans take but 
 about £4,000,000 of cotton manufactures from us. 
 Whereas, paying India £4,000,000 for cotton, she 
 takes from us £12,000,000 in goods and yarns. 
 
 And are there any reasons why we should pro- 
 cure our cotton only from America ? In an early 
 part of this year, the Dailt/ News, in one of its 
 leading articles on this subject, says, " The plain 
 truth is, that affairs in the United States can take 
 no turn which will not leave our chance of cotton 
 supply precarious in the extreme." The quantity 
 of land iit for growing cotton is not larger in 
 America than elsewhere ; indeed, it is smaller. For 
 India has a larger area ; Australia nearly three 
 times ; Africa eight or nine times the area of the 
 cotton-growing states of America. Nor do we 
 want so large a territory. The county of York 
 alone, if it were a cotton-growing country, would 
 supply England with all the cotton she needs. 
 
 Many countries lie open to our enterprise. We 
 
have but to choose, and I doubt not our Anglo- 
 Saxon perseverance will overcome all the difficul- 
 ties which will naturally stand in our way. For 
 beginnings are at all times difficult ; much more so 
 when we have to turn from an already beaten track, 
 and to seek new fields for our energies. 
 
 There are two 'afluences from the revolution in 
 the United States which lie heavy on us: on the 
 one hand, the demand for manufactures is dimi- 
 nished ; and on the other, the consumers of cotton 
 cannot pay extravagantly for the raw material. 
 
 For the tendency is, under such pressure, for the 
 raw material to advance in price. If it continued 
 to do this, which it has been doing for the last few 
 weeks, what would be the consequence but that 
 labour would diminish here, and poverty, famine, 
 and misery would ensue ? Yes, indeed. Sir, — misery 
 would ensue. If half a million of bales were short 
 in Liverpool, 200,(H)0 or 300,000 people would be 
 out of employ. If i million of bales were wanting, 
 hundreds of thousands of human beings would be 
 seen starving. The distress of Coventry would pale 
 beside this ; for such a calamity would be gigantic 
 — not in a manufacturing view only, but even more, 
 in a political and moral one. Does not this prove 
 the necessity for fresh energy ? 
 
 I have said " we have to seek new fields." I 
 should have added such fields lie ready to our hands. 
 The recent experiments in Africa prove that a new 
 field has already been opened in that continent. 
 
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 Trials have already been made, though to a very 
 limited extent ; but nevertheless cotton has been 
 grown in Africa, which, sent to Liverpool, thence 
 re-shipped to Boston, has been there sold for less 
 than it could be supplied (of a similar quality) from 
 the Southern States. Mr. Clegg, of Manchester, in 
 an address recently delivered in the Town Hall of 
 that city, states that he has been for many years in 
 the habit of importing cotton from Africa. When 
 he first commenced he received but 235 lbs. of 
 cotton ; in 1858 he got 219,615 lbs. ; but in 1860 
 417,087 lbs. reached London from the West coast 
 alone. And this cotton he would undertake to sell 
 in Liverpool for 4^d. per pound ; whereas, if slave- 
 grown cotton, though not superior in quality, he 
 could not deliver it for less than 6Jc?. per pound. 
 
 The quantities in which this cotton will be re- 
 ceived, will continue to be very small, so long as 
 the native chiefs are more willing to sell their 
 youth into slavery abroad than to make use of their 
 labour at home. And this they will continue to 
 do, if they are not made to see that the advantages 
 arising from a permanent income are greater than 
 from the small capital obtained from the sale of 
 their subjects. This can only be shown to their 
 half-savage minds, by a comparison between the 
 poverty of their country and the relative prosperity 
 of their neighbours. 
 
 Now, if the escaped slaves and free negroes at 
 present in Canada and the free states of the Ame- 
 
rican Republic, were restored to Africa, not only 
 would tlie cotton manufacturers in Manchester and 
 Liverpool gain advantages by the free labours of 
 the blacks in their own country, but the negroes 
 themselves would obtain a home instead of a tem- 
 porary refuge, and would there find the occupation 
 most fitted for them. 
 
 A Society has been recently formed in the metro- 
 polis, which has, amongst other designs, this : — to 
 give assistance to negroes to regain Africa. For, 
 at this moment there are 45,000 free negroes in 
 Canada, and an immense number scattered through 
 the British islands and West Indies, who are anxious 
 to return to their fatherland ; and it is impossible 
 to say with accuracy the exact number, probably 
 about 260,000 in the Northern states. All these, 
 or most of them, have had experience in the growth 
 of cotton. 
 
 But to these, contrast those exported from Africa 
 — a quantity yearly increasing so far as Cuba is 
 concerned. Hear what Mr. Crawford, Her Britan- 
 nic Majesty's Consul at Havannah, says : "In 1858, 
 17,000 negroes were imported into Cuba. In 1859, 
 about 30,000; and in 1860, between 40,000 and 
 50,000 landed in that island." 
 
 Again, while England reaps advantages from the 
 production of cotton in her own dominions, and 
 benefits the negro race by transporting them to 
 their own country, it is impossible that we should 
 not at the same time see the blow thus aimed at 
 
 \\-. 
 
8 
 
 slavery; for in the words of the African Aid Society, 
 we should be encouraging " the development of the 
 resources of those countries inhabited by the African 
 races generally," and should be causing " African 
 free labour to supersede African slavery and degra- 
 dation," ' 
 
 This plan of restoring the Africans to some part 
 of the coast of Africa, would not be fraught with 
 any danger to the negroes themselves. Lord 
 Stratheden brought lately under the notice of the 
 House of Lords the desirability of appointing a 
 consul at Mozambique; and Mr. Buxton, in a debate 
 in the lower House, on the 26th of February, urged 
 the Government, in concert with that of Portugal, 
 to place stations along the coast of Africa, especially 
 that portion occupied by the King of Dahomey, by 
 means of which no slaves could leave the coast. 
 This has already been done with great success by 
 the French in Senegal; by the English on the 
 Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast; and the 
 Americans in Liberia. What is the consequence 
 of the American protectorate of Liberia? That 
 no slavers dare approach that coast, extending as it 
 does 700 miles. I deny entirely the alleged fact 
 that slaves are sold as openly in Liberia as they 
 are in the United States. In short, in the words 
 of Lord John Russell, " wherever the slave-trade 
 has been put down, honest trade has sprung up ; 
 and Christianity, and civilization, and peace have 
 begun to produce their natural effects. On the 
 
9 
 
 I'll 
 
 other hand, where the King of Dahomey and otiier 
 chiefs continue to gain an unrighteous profit by 
 selling men, wars, and misery, and heathen darkness 
 prevail." 
 
 I say that the results of the occupation by civil- 
 ized nations of the coast of Africa has been bene- 
 ficial. 
 
 Let me add a few words on the way in which 
 these advantages have shown themselves. 
 
 The slave-trade has diminished — for from the 
 135,000 yearly exported out of Africa, from 1835 to 
 1840 — the numbers have fallen off, on the average, 
 to 25,000 or 30,000. The lawful commerce of 
 Africa has, on the contrary, increased to an immense 
 degree. The exports last year from the West 
 Coast of Africa alone amounted to £3,000,000 
 sterling. 
 
 From the Bight of Benin, the exports of palm- 
 oil were valued between £70,000 and £80,000, 
 while twenty years ago (that is when the slave-trade 
 was at that high point I have mentioned above), 
 not a puncheon of palm-oil was exported. 
 
 Besides cotton and palm-oil, ground-nuts are also 
 cultivated, 40,000 tons of them being annually 
 exported ; from these, oil is pressed, either in the 
 country, or more generally in France, their usual 
 market. 
 
 The production of palm-oil and ground-nuts has 
 tended to raise a new industry in Africa, and to 
 create a class of agriculturists, who are beginning 
 
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 to asrrme a position somewhat similar to that of 
 the Yeomei) of England. * 
 
 The Africans engaged in this new branch of 
 labour have begun to form small domestic institu- 
 tions, on English models. They take pride in fur- 
 niture, dress, and in the little accomplishments 
 which English cottagers possess. 
 
 When we see these encouraging indications, what 
 can we say ? If Africa has thus taken such steps 
 onwards since 1840, how will she progress hence- 
 forward ? By all laws her progress will be propor- 
 tionately increased. And in saying this, can we be 
 blind to the efforts of the Church Missionary Society 
 — the active agency of whose noble missionaries 
 will, I believe, continue to effect much good ; and 
 by whose instrumentality in the conversion of 
 natives to Christianity — civilization, as the attendant 
 of Christianity, will overthrow slavery, and open a 
 way to a glorious commerce in cotton and oil. 
 
 There is no doubt that through a joint stock 
 company tracts of land could be purchased (even if 
 free grants were not made), on which cotton might 
 be cultivated in Africa. Free negroes might be 
 imported by the same means from Canada and the 
 United States, to cultivate the soil. There are, as 
 I have said, about 300,000 free negroes in those 
 localities, and they would cultivate all the cotton 
 needed for England. 
 
 An experienced agent residing there would watch 
 and direct the operations, and would himself pur- 
 
Hi 
 
 11 
 
 chase cotton for the association from the negroes, a$i 
 brokers now do in New Orleans, for merchants at 
 home. Many could be found who would accept 
 such a place. Many who would carry American 
 experience into this new field. 
 
 I hope, sir, I have thus proved the necessity of 
 some fresh stimulus to the cotton trade with Africa. 
 — that the first step towards it must be the return 
 of the free negroes from Canada and the United 
 States to their own country, and by this means that 
 slavery may receive its deathblow. ' 
 
 But besides Africa, there are other countries 
 from which we may expect great things. In India 
 there is a great field for cultivation. There are 
 such ample resources there, that, if railways were 
 formed ; if the laws relating to land tenure were 
 improved from their present barbarous condition ; if 
 good harbours vsere made, and it is satisfactory to 
 see the attention of commercial men turning in this 
 direction, triumphant success must result from cul- 
 tivating cotton in India. Great obstacles are in our 
 way against our procuring cotton from thence, 
 amongst these is the want of communication. The 
 raw material can be purchased along the River 
 Godavery at Id. per lb. Colonel Grant says, that 
 cotton from Surat might be laid down in Bombay 
 for 2J(/., if there were good means of transport ; 
 and Dr. White stated that Indian cotton could, on 
 the same terms, be laid down in Liverpool for S^d. 
 or 7 cents, the price, as I have already said, of the 
 
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12 
 
 best cotton on the plantations of Florida, before its 
 shij^ment. ' v 
 
 Let me say a few words more particularly on the 
 Southern Mahratta country, than which a better 
 does not exist for the cultivation of cotton. My 
 information on this point I have gained from a 
 printed letter of Dr. Forbes, whose deep knowledge 
 of the subject must be a guarantee of the facts he 
 adduces. 
 
 At the present time, Coompta is the only harbour 
 for the cotton grown at Dharwar, though they are 
 130 miles distant from each other. The means of 
 transport are most difficult and intricate, and the 
 consequence is, that upon every ton, or 14 cwt. of 
 cotton valued at £20, there is a dead loss of £4. 15s. 
 by the time of its shipment in Bombay. Remem- 
 ber, too, there are no cotton wharfs in Bombay, 
 though they are in the course of erection, at the 
 enormous expense of £800,000. They will not be 
 ready at the earliest before 1865 ; till which time 
 cotton must be put on board by means of small 
 boats. Then, adding £2. 10*. a ton for carriage, it 
 will be seen that £7. 5*. is dissipated between the 
 grower and the consumer. So long as this con- 
 tinues — so long as a grea ^r amount, as often hap- 
 pens, is paid for sending tho cotton than for growing 
 it, neither the powers of India or the Ryot will be 
 - sufficient. One-seventh of the value of American 
 cotton brings it from the planter to the consumer ; 
 it is monstrous, therefore, that nearly four-sevenths 
 
HHFjtf 
 
 18 
 
 should be wasted between the Indian ryot and the 
 English manufacturer. 
 
 Dr. Forbes proposes a remedy which, briefly, is 
 this : — Sedashevaghur should be improved and made 
 into a port. Its situation is favourable for this. 
 As it is only 70 miles from Dharwar, whereas 
 Coompta, as I have said, is nearly double that dis- 
 tance, the carriage to this new harbour would be 
 but £1. 6s. per ton ; and supposing the same 
 charges made for its transport to Liverpool as from 
 Bombay — viz., £2. 10*., it could be laid down in the 
 town for £3. 165., or, if you add 2*. for pressing, 
 £3. 18s , which is about 10s. a ton less than it can be 
 delivered in Bombay under present circumstances. 
 
 As improvements, Dr. Forbes suggests that two 
 piers should be constructed, alongside of which 
 vessels could be brought to load. The expense of 
 one of these would be £40,000, of the other 
 £10,000. The amount expended would be paid back 
 in the following way : — I have already mentioned 
 that it was necessary to put the cotton on board the 
 ships by means of boats. The expense of this has 
 been calculated at about 6s. a ton. If then, a 
 saving in loading of even 6*. per ton were effected 
 by means of these piers, the whole expense, £50,000 
 would be repaid so soon as 300,000 tons or 800,000 
 bales of cotton had been shipped. At the present 
 time 100,000 bales of cotton are exported yearly ; 
 and a considerable trade in sugar and spices and 
 other commodities exists besides, which would 
 
^. 
 
 14 
 
 enable the builders of the piers soon to recover the 
 sum expended on their erection. , 
 
 It is impossible, nor indeed would it be within 
 the scope of this letter, to enter into a discussion 
 on the different public works proposed for India. 
 Some, no doubt, would act directly, others indirectly, 
 in favour of the cotton-trade; while I conceive others 
 would have no effect at all. I do not believe that 
 the introduction of railways would be of material 
 benefit to the cotton-growers, at least in the central 
 districts of India. For further information on this 
 point, I can but refer to the letter before men- 
 tioned, of Dr. Forbes. I hope in a short time to 
 lay before you further plans concerning India and 
 its cotton capabilities, so for the present I shall 
 dismiss the subject. I would, however, say a few 
 words concerning land-tenure in India, to which I 
 have already adverted. 
 
 No language can express what the universal 
 opinion is of the present laws relating to that sub- 
 ject. They are injurious to India, and injurious to 
 Great Britain. They are the result of old traditions ; 
 and similar laws exist in Persia and in Turkey. 
 
 In almost every part of India it is impossible to 
 buy the " fee-simple " of land ; though from the 
 declarations of Lord Stanley, when Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies, it had been hoped that it 
 would be made possible to do so. Had land been 
 sold at only twenty-years' purchase, it would have 
 paid the debt now hanging over India, and filled the 
 exchequer now in so depressed a state. 
 
mm 
 
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 15 
 
 1 believe that natives, as well as Europeans, resi- 
 dents as well as speculators, would have bought 
 land upon those terms, and would thus have pre- 
 vented the most fertile country in the world from 
 lying a barren waste. I hope that the consumers 
 of cotton in England will not forget that it is mainly 
 in their power to prevent a continuance of this : 
 that it is for them to force the Government to 
 change laws deleterious to themselves, and also to 
 the country at large. 
 
 I have said enough to prove how much may be 
 done in India. But it is impossible, in so small 
 limits, to dwell as long as I could wish, on a subject 
 pregnant with the prosperity of millions of people. 
 I trust public opinion may be turned to it, and 
 thereby save us from the blame of having neglected 
 a country, upon which we may at no very distant day, 
 be forced to depend for wealth or even existence. 
 
 But besides Africa and India, there is another 
 cotton-field open to English energy, and that is in 
 Australia. I am not sure whether it is not the most 
 important of them all. 
 
 In the district called Moreton Bay, greater faci- 
 lities are offered than in India for the purchase of 
 land. Even if the Government were not ready to 
 give land to every cultivator who asked for it, they 
 would be, I am given to understand, willing to make 
 a free grant equal to the amount purchased. 
 
 Dr. Hobbs, whose experience in Moreton Bay is 
 well known, has stated, in his answer to a commu- 
 
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 16 
 
 nication from Mr. T. S. Mort of Sydney, that tlie 
 soil and climate of Moreton Bay ** are admirably 
 adapted to the growth of cotton" — from a thousand 
 to twelve hundred pounds of cotton (in the seed) 
 being produced in each acre, according to the soil. 
 He adds, that Sea Island Cotton is that most easily 
 cultivated in all but the clayey soils — in this Sir 
 Charles Nicholson agrees. 
 
 I shall not add all the reasons which exist against 
 the cultivation of cotton in Australia. Of course 
 there are causes which operate injuriously on the 
 cotton crop there, as elsewhere. Amongst them 
 there are two principal ones, both of which are men- 
 tioned in Dr. Hobb*s communication. The one is, 
 the difficulties which exist for the poorer emigrants 
 to purchase small farms ; the other is, the long dis- 
 tance from the Governor of the province, who, 
 ignorant of the necessities or requirements of the 
 district, recommends that but six ships of emigrants 
 should be sent yearly to Moreton Bay. No doubt 
 Coolies would be as willing to immigrate there as 
 to the Mauritius, and thus counterbalance this latter 
 objection. 
 
 Sir George Bowen says that the territory of 
 Queensland is three times as large as the whole of 
 France, and almost all of it is capable of growing 
 cotton. I doubt not but that with adequate ex- 
 ertions, 2,000,000 bags a year may be obtained from 
 that district alone. , ^, ..,1. ..,;. 
 
 By the formation of model farms, of which, one 
 
17 
 
 of 300 acres has already been made, great quantities 
 of the best cotton may be procured. Mr. King 
 informs us that a bale of clean cotton may be ol> 
 tained per acre, each of which is annually producing 
 £30 to £40. Do not these facts convince us of 
 the vast number of districts from which we can 
 obtain new and lasting supplies ? 
 
 Within the last few days, from the report of a 
 deputation to the Brazilian Minister, we have been 
 shown the increased opening in that country. In 
 that empire the black races are free, and have been 
 long so. From a conversation which I have recently 
 had with a native of Brazil, 1 learn the high posi- 
 tion which the coloured races have achieved there. 
 The best lawyers are negroes, and they have proved 
 that three generations of freedom can bring the 
 coloured races almost, if not altogether, to a level 
 with our own more favoured race. 
 
 It is not necessary for me to dilate on Egypt, 
 with the capabilities of which we are so well ac- 
 quainted. I am informed, and am inclined to 
 believe, that a still larger opening is before us than 
 we have yet been prone to allow. 
 
 Nor need I touch on the subject of Paraguay. I 
 am pressing rather for our obtaining cotton from our 
 British dependencies. Hence, however much we 
 may desire the improvement of Paraguay under its 
 present ruler — who seems to seek its internal ame- 
 lioration — and however much we may wish to see 
 our intercourse with that country improved, I cannot 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 do more than add it to the long list of other countries 
 from whom we can obtain the raw produce essential 
 to our requirements. 
 
 In Honduras also, the cotton may be found grow- 
 ing wild, almost equal in quality to the famed Sea 
 Island. Add to this, native labour may be procured, 
 cheap and good ; and from the closeness of that 
 country to the sea-coast, I apprehend emigrants 
 would be willing to settle there, and cultivate the 
 ground. 
 
 Cotton from Nicaragua, is valued in the markets 
 higher than that received from the south of the 
 United States. Besides which, there are two yearly 
 cropsy each averaging 500 lbs. an acre ; whilst in the 
 Southern States, only one crop can be procured of 
 from 260 to 300 lbs. at most. Here (to Nicaragua) 
 it is needful to import coolies, of whose immigration 
 more anon. 
 
 The capabilities of the Feji Islands offer another 
 subject for our consideration. There are most 
 favourable accounts from them. Cotton grows well, 
 and each plant produces three crops a year. The 
 cotton is of the best " New Orleans'* kind. 
 
 Sicily also offers itself to our notice. I merely 
 name it to show how inexhaustible are the resources 
 at our disposal. 
 
 I come now to consider what can be done with 
 the West Indies, and the mainland dependent upon 
 Great Britain. Trollope, in his admirable work 
 entitled " The West Indies, and the Spanish Main," 
 
19 
 
 says, in the words of the planter, " Give me a suffi- 
 cient number of Asiatics, and I will grow you a 
 million hogsheads of sugar." 
 
 I have already attempted to demonstrate, I hope 
 not in vain, that Africans should be restored to 
 Africa, not only from Canada, but from the free 
 States of the American Union. How then can these 
 dependencies of Queen Victoria's crown be culti- 
 vated ? What people can be introduced to do the 
 great amount of work requisite for these Colonies ? 
 It is useless to repeat over and over again that their 
 produce has diminished. 
 
 It has been diminishing ever since the overthrow 
 of slavery, and between 1851 and 1853 the exports, 
 except in rum and cocoa-nuts, have to a great extent 
 decreased. That we may understand properly the 
 present condition of the emigration from China to 
 British Guiana, it will be necessary to go to the root 
 of what is called the Coolie trade, and by doing so, 
 I think the public who are not readers of parlia- 
 mentary blue-books, will see what an immense 
 trade lies open to enterprise, by the introduction of 
 labourers into the West Indies. 
 
 Immigration of the Chinese did not become con- 
 siderable until the year 1846 ; but in 1850 the 
 sugar crop of the Mauritius had increased from 
 60,000 tons, to 150,000 tons. But this emigration, 
 though most necessary to the Chinese themselves, 
 owing to the over-population of their country, has 
 been prevented by one of those obsolete laws which 
 
 IM 
 I 
 
20 
 
 exist in every land. This gave rise to that horrible 
 system of kidnapping, which still exists, though since 
 1859, in a very moderate degree. It is not possible 
 to explain the way in which the kidnapping was 
 managed ; sometimes by sheer brute force ; some- 
 times by means of drugged cakes given by women ; 
 sometimes the victims were seized during intoxica- 
 tion. 
 
 At last things came to such a pitch, that, in the 
 words of Consul Alcock, " no man could leave his 
 own house, in public thoroughfares, and open day, 
 without a danger of being hustled under false pre- 
 tences of debt or delinquency, and carried off a 
 prisoner in the hands of the crimps, to be sold to 
 the purveyors of coolies, and carried off to sea — 
 never more to be heard of." 
 
 Such being the case, the Chinese inhabitants of 
 Canton petitioned the British Consul for his pro- 
 tection and that of his country. — See Appendix A. 
 
 That petition which stated, that kidnapping had 
 been in existence for many years, and had been the 
 means of carrying off from 60,000 to 70,000 persons, 
 is at once acknowledged by proclamations from the 
 allied commanders, Major-General Sir C. I. van 
 Straubenzee, commanding the English troops ; and 
 General d'Aboville, the commander of those of 
 France ; and also from His Excellency Laow, the 
 Governor of Canton. 
 
 This latter proclamation dated 9th of April, 1859, 
 pronounced death against all persons found kid- 
 
21 
 
 napping) a sentence carried into effect shortly after- 
 wards on eighteen offenders. 
 
 It was at this time Sir John Bo wring stated that 
 as the old law forbidding Chinese to leave the 
 country was the ostensible cause of a system of 
 obtaining coolies, radically vicious, so the legaliza- 
 tion of free immigration was calculated to strike at 
 the root of the crimping system. 
 
 But the carrying off of 750 coolies from Whampoa, 
 on the 2l8t of June, 1859, was the origin of the 
 great outburst of feeling which penetrated even the 
 diplomatically dull intellect of the Hon. Frederick 
 W. A. Bruce, our Ambassador in China. In Novem- 
 ber of the same year Mr. J. G. Austen opened 
 an establishment, or Emigration House, for emi- 
 grants to the West-India Islands. This establish- 
 ment received the consent of Lord John Russell. 
 Emigration itself being legalized by Laow, in a 
 proclamation bearing date the 28th of October. 
 
 Great difficulties had to be overcome before this 
 would take with the Chinese, as they were still 
 smarting under the injuries inflicted on them by 
 these forced emigrations. Thanks, however, to the 
 publicity with which Mr. Austin managed it, and 
 to the admirable rules (Appendix B), which he de- 
 vised for the Emigration House, between the estab- 
 lishment in November, and the ensuing March, 
 1850 coolies had left Canton for Demarara. And 
 that such emigration was quite voluntary, will be 
 recognized from the fact of one applicant in three 
 
 i^ 
 
being willing to subscribe to Mr. Austin's terms. 
 (Appendix C). Many complaints have been made 
 against the immorality of the Chinese, when ex- 
 ported, a charge perhaps well founded, when they 
 were unaccompanied by their families. But during 
 the season mentioned, out of the 1,850 quoted, 
 above 1,489 were men, and 259 women, which will 
 greatly diminish the spread of immorality. The 
 character of the Chinese is generally good, an 
 opinion not contradicted by Consul Alcock in a 
 letter to Sir J. Bowring dated September 1st, 
 1852. (Appendix D.) 
 
 Mr. Winchester, Her Britannic Majesty's acting 
 consul in Canton, believes that the emigration is 
 likely to increase, a fact much to be desired by our- 
 selves, as giving fresh blood to the cultivators of 
 land in British Guiana ; and by the Chinese, as 
 clearing the country of an overplus of population. 
 
 Shortly after the establishing of an emigration 
 depot, the French, Spanish, and Americans followed 
 our example. With the first of these, the scheme 
 almost failed, only 54 going to their depot. This 
 is to be partly accounted for, by the fact of the con- 
 tract with the Chinese being for eight years instead 
 of five, as we make it. The Spaniards and Americans 
 both wished to import to Cuba — but both failed, 
 owing to the wonderful want of honour displayed by 
 both these nations ; nor should such a result be 
 deplored on the part of the Chinese, for (if we may 
 rely ou the authority of Mr. Dana, the author of 
 
23 
 
 a book entitled *' To Cuba and Back *') the coolies 
 are no better treated than slaves, receiving no wages, 
 and being unable to leave the country. 
 
 Thus was the intolerable injustice of the forced 
 emigration almost entirely overthrown ; a result 
 mainly due to the energy of Mr. Parkes and Mr. 
 Austin. We trust that the good work begun may 
 be continued, and that under foreign official super- 
 intendence a stimulus may be given to lawful 
 emigration. 
 
 Before going to the West Indies, let me say a 
 word on the subject of Chinese emigration to 
 Australia and California. In both these places, 
 Chinese emigrants are subject to a taxation addi- 
 tional to that borne by other inhabitants, while from 
 Oregon and Washington territory, they are alto- 
 gether excluded by legislation. British Columbia 
 presents a noble contrast to the illiberal and cruel 
 principles which prevail under the sway of the 
 stars and stripes." 
 
 You will have seen from the preceding Appendix, 
 the agreement to be signed between Mr. Austin 
 and the emigrant Chinese. 
 
 That agreement is for five years, dating from his 
 arrival in the colony. Every inducement is offered, 
 and even by the rules of the Emigration House, a 
 certain portion of the wages may be left to be paid 
 monthly to relatives and friends at home. 
 
 Hence, the coolies emigrating to the West-India 
 islands or Demerara, stand in great contrast 
 
 i 
 
24 
 
 with those emigrating to Cubca and the Spanish 
 Main. 
 
 These latter, from the treatment they undergo, 
 gradually sink into mere animals, and their morality 
 becomes brutalized. 
 
 This digression will show the wonderful capacity 
 there exists of obtaining labourers for the great 
 fields of Jamaica and other islands. By these 
 means, districts once cultivated, but now fallen into 
 savage land, may be restored to their pristine fer- 
 tility, and new districts annexed for the agricul- 
 turist and planter. iSTor do I believe would the 
 wages paid diminish eventually the jirofits to .any 
 great degree. I am, in fact, persuaded that free 
 labour will, in the end, prove itself even more 
 valuable than slave labour. 
 
 I do not agree with Mr. Anthony Trollope, who, 
 in the work quoted above, considers that a mixed 
 race is springing up from the whites and blacks, 
 which shall combine the activity of the whites and 
 the powers of endurance of the blacks. I am afraid 
 that this plan, plausible as it may seem, is not 
 feasible, for the mixed race dies out very early. 
 The quadroons are rarely long-lived, indeed few 
 can be found whose age exceeds thirty or forty 
 years. 
 
 It is also hardly likely that a mixed race between 
 the Chinese and the blacks will spring up, because, 
 if the hopes of coolie emigration are realized, whole 
 families of Chinese will arrive in the West Indies, 
 
25 
 
 and few, if any, marriages will take place l)etween 
 them and the blacks. 
 
 Another most important object to be attained is 
 the residence of small landowners on the soil. This 
 can be effectually done by the localization of the 
 emigrant Chinese. 
 
 Many of the largest landowners are, and would 
 be non-residents. This is always the case in colo- 
 nies. I could turn to a score of instances in Canada 
 alone where it is so. But the great prosperity of a 
 country depends upon a just and due admixture of 
 landed gentry and small proprietors. These latter, 
 cultivating their own land, would naturally feel a 
 greater interest in it than as mere tenants ; and 
 would, by copying the proceedings of the greater 
 owners, bring their soil to as perfect a state of cul- 
 tivation as those above them. 
 
 In this way, too, a noble rivalry would spring up 
 productive of mighty advantages to the state. The 
 island of Jamaica is almost large enough to supply 
 England with cotton, as Guiana is able to supply us 
 with sugar; and can you then conceive the vastness 
 and importance of the result if England depended 
 mainly on her colonies for her support and sub- 
 sistence ? 
 
 And what, may I ask, would be the result of all 
 this to the West-India islands? What effect would 
 it have upon the planters there ? I will tell you in 
 a few words. 
 
 The planters are discouraged (for England has 
 
 D 
 
 1 
 
 i \ 
 
 ' i. 
 
26 
 
 done, and, alas ! is doing comparatively nothing for 
 her colonies, as regards their produce and manu- 
 factures), and not only discouraged physically, but 
 also morally. They half wish for the days of slavery 
 again. They half believe our £20,000,000, and our 
 lives of great and good men thrown away — and no 
 wonder. 
 
 If you. Sir, go through their fields and their plan- 
 tations, what do you see ? You see luxuriance run 
 to weed, and everything beautiful to the eye, and 
 good for food, turned into a hopeless waste. And 
 what do you hear ? Nothing, save the complaints 
 of the landowners against their lazy, indolent ser- 
 vants, who will not work even for wages. Nay, the 
 very planters themselves are sunk in a hopeless 
 lethargy, and thus the whole land is given up to 
 idleness and 3loth. 
 
 But now, on the other hand, by carrying out this 
 system of coolie emigration, we should be giving 
 the planters new labourers to till and cultivate their 
 soil, and obliging (by the competition thus forced 
 upon them), the lazy, reckless negroes also to work: 
 so gradually, more and yet more land would be 
 reclaimed, as cultivators and population increased. 
 We should also give them hope and belief in their 
 mother country — faith in the great past, that 
 washed out the stain of slavery, and confidence in 
 themselves, which would arouse them to strive that 
 the future of their land should surpass its former 
 doings. 
 
27 
 
 Is not this an end worth striving for, and in these 
 days (when all men should have an aim to carry out 
 and live for ; and so many are looking around vainly 
 for one), let all who feel the deep and lasting im- 
 portance of this scheme band themselves together, 
 and by united force and perseverance at one time, 
 strike down slavery, and regenerate many of their 
 country's colonies. 
 
 One point more, and I have done. The Ameri- 
 cans taunt us with our destruction of slavery, and 
 say that the islands and possessions once our pride 
 and glory, have by the overthrow of slavery become 
 plague-spots and desolations. 
 
 We cannot answer them, though the admission 
 is most repugnant to our sensibilities. The land 
 is indeed lying in a fallow condition, and the picture 
 they draw is sadly correct. But if by the introduc- 
 tion of the coolies (and the re-working of the soil 
 which would ensue), we restore our dominion to 
 its once-vaunted position, how noble a refutation 
 we could show them. Let us then pursue our 
 onward course in the career of civilization and truth. 
 America and Spain stand nominally beside us — both 
 nations say they are going to do great things ; but 
 as yet their words do not bring the proof of deeds. 
 England alone acts. The world looks on, and sees 
 our little country bravely holding its own in Europe 
 and elsewhere. Even its weakest points, the colo- 
 nies, may by proper means become its strongest 
 supports. A great and noble future lies before us. 
 
28 
 
 May we see tliat the opportunity thus offered us 
 is not slighted, or it may never come within our 
 grasp again ! 
 
 I believe that it is neither the white emancipa- 
 tionist nor the freed black who will become the 
 means of destroying the abomination of slavery. 
 Neither, as I have said, do I place any reliance on 
 the mixed race being efficacious in promoting an 
 object so devoutly to be wished for ; but I do 
 believe that the introduction of Chinese emigrants 
 into the West-India islands and our continental 
 possessions, will enable us, and that soon, to coun- 
 terbalance slave-grown cotton by free labour ; and 
 in this way shall we overcome our dependence on 
 America for her produce, and with God's blessing 
 hand the English name down to posterity as the 
 great liberator and civilizer of the world. 
 
 I have said thus much on the subject, not to 
 bring fresh ideas before the public (for I am not 
 bold enough to think I could do so), but by the 
 laying of it immediately before their eyes, to prove 
 the practicability of these undertakings ; and to 
 give them, by general circulation, fresh force. Also, 
 hoping to obtain from those commercially interested 
 in the matter an answer as to their opinions and 
 feelings upon it, and whether it be not in our power 
 to make a step onward. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, &c. 
 
 A Fellow of the Royal Geographical 
 Society. 
 
29 
 
 APPENDICES. 
 
 I quote these Appendices in ea^temo, as the 
 Public may thereby become acquainted with the 
 feelings of the Chinese, and may understand the 
 means proposed for the abolition of kidnapping. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Petition for protection to Her Britannic Majesty's 
 Consul against kidnapping. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 Tiie duly prepared Petition of the Chinese mer- 
 cantile community at Canton, engaged in business, 
 under the following denominations : — dealers in 
 foreign goods, cotton hongs, cotton yarn hongs, 
 dealers in cotton fabrics, gold shops, silver shops, 
 rice stores, black-tea company, green-tea company, 
 Tsing-yuen tea hongs, Kung-e tea hongs, King-e 
 tea hongs, Hee-jin tea hongs, satin ribbon hongs, 
 raw silk hongs, sandal-wood hongs, silk piece goods 
 hongs, birds'-nest shops, dealers in fish-maw, &c., 
 dyers, lead and tin shops, iron-ware hongs, ratian 
 dealers, i)aper hongs, fur shojis, new clothes shops. 
 
30 
 
 old clothes 8lu>|>8, tea-box makers, matting sliops, 
 linguist guilds. 
 
 Our object in presenting this Petition is to en- 
 treat that you will communicate (with the otlior 
 Consuls) in order that the system of kidnapping 
 which is being carried on by craft and violence, to 
 the great injury of the good and virtuous, may be 
 examined into and repressed ; that the people's 
 existence may thereby be secured, and a great evil 
 be done away with. 
 
 Our province of Kwang-tung has for more than 
 two hundred years had commercial intercourse with 
 your country, l^oth parties have observed good faith, 
 mutual confidence has subsisted, and each and all 
 have enjoyed the advantages accruing. Unex- 
 pectedly the Portuguese have recently built several 
 barracoons at Macao; and, in conjunction with 
 Chinese merchants, whom they protect and screen, 
 they have hired not only steamers and lorchas, in 
 connection with which they make use of your coun- 
 try's name, but also all kinds of river-boats, large and 
 small, all having Portuguese on board, and which 
 anchor at Whampoa and various other places in all 
 parts of the Canton waters, where numerous strata- 
 gems and devices are employed in order to deceive 
 and delude the children of virtuous families, and 
 also the inexperienvcd country louts. These, having 
 been once kidnapped, are seized by violence, or as 
 it is called, " the pigs lia\ing been bought," are 
 taken to the large sea-going vessels, where they are 
 
81 
 
 bound and confined in tlio dark hold, and liuni 
 carried to tlie " \)\'^ ^nild" at Macao. At tlie tinn; 
 of examination and numbering, such of tlie people 
 kidnapped a8 submit, escape ill-u«ag(5 ; vvliile those 
 who refuse to yield, are moat cruelly treated — 
 ]>erhap8 even shot dead : and on witnessing such 
 barbarous atrocities, their only resource is to submit 
 under compulsion — for ah ! who is there that dreads 
 not death ! Tlicy are then taken across the sea 
 and sold as slaves, when they suffer such hardships 
 that not one out of ten thousand lives; while at 
 home their parents, wives, and children, hoping to 
 bo nourished and supported by them, and having no 
 one else to depend on, lament and mourn both 
 morning and evening, not seeing them return. 
 Cases even occur in which they have carried off 
 and sold the sole existing representative of many 
 preceding generations, the support of a mother pre- 
 serving a chaste and virtuous widowhood, on v/hom 
 rested hopes that he would continue the race, and 
 transmit a line of descendants who might continue 
 to offer up incense before the ancestral shrine. The 
 succession thus irremediably cut off (the mother), 
 borne down by grief, puts an end to her existence. 
 Families are scattered, and individuals perish. Alas! 
 the kidnapping of an imlividual entails the extinc- 
 tion of a family ; and as the evil has now been some 
 years in existence, the people carried off must num- 
 ber 60,000 or 70,000. So that the number of 
 families ruined may be said to be 00,000 or 70,000. 
 
32 
 
 At this point of the statement, whose heart is there 
 that is not grieved ? 
 
 Possibly the Portuguese Consul does not take 
 notice or institute examinations because he is not 
 fully acquainted with the evil ; but the Britisli 
 Consul, being right-minded and honest, and cherish- 
 ing in his bosom benevolence and rectitude, will 
 not, we imagine, sit quiet and look on, doing 
 nothing, when informed of such atrocities Every 
 day by which haste is made to deal with the matter, 
 will be saving of some hundreds, whilst the con- 
 sequences of a day's delay will be the destruction 
 of thousands. We therefore make a clear state- 
 ment of the case, and humbly request that you, the 
 honourable Consul, will communicate with the other 
 foreign consuls, in order that with a reverential 
 respect towards high Heaven's love of animate 
 creation, stringent measures may be adopted, and 
 the matter examined into and dealt with. If the 
 good people that have been carried away can be 
 brought back again, and this great evil done away 
 with, our gratitude will be unbounded. We accord- 
 ingly repair to you, the British Consul, and hope 
 that you will grant our request. 
 
 Petition presented Hienfung, 9th year, 3rd moon, 
 3rd day (6th April 1859). 
 
 '*■ 
 
(' ' 11 
 
 33 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Uf. 
 
 Proponed Rules for Emigration House. 
 
 1. Any applicant for admission to the Emigration 
 House, to be fully informed by the Resident Agent, 
 in presence of the Mandarin, of the terms offered, 
 the proposed destination, and rules of the house. 
 
 2. Full particulars as to the sex, name, age, place 
 of birth, &c., must be recorded previous to ad- 
 mission. 
 
 3. Medical inspection must take place before 
 admission. 
 
 4. Emigrants, once registered, must be taken to 
 the bath-room, to be there cleansed, and clothed in 
 the house dress. The old dress must be washed, and 
 put away in a special " old clothes' closet," with the 
 emigrant's number, for re-delivery to him on final' 
 departure from the house. 
 
 5. No emigrant to leave the house, or return 
 thereto, without notice to the door-keeper, who will 
 keep a register of the hour of exit and return. 
 
 6. No emigrant to be absent more than eight or 
 ten hours, without special leave from the Resident 
 Agent, on pain of being arraigned before the Com- 
 missioners as a deserter, or for theft of the house 
 clothes. 
 
 7. Any emigrant, desiring to quit the house, and 
 
 £ 
 
V 
 
 34 
 
 be struck off the register, must intimate the same 
 to the Resident Agent, and shall be allowed to de- 
 part with his own clothes, on re-delivery of those 
 supplied for the use of the dep6t. Should an emi- 
 grant have remained in the Emigration House more 
 than seven days, and be then only induced to change 
 his mind, he will be liable, if not giving satisfactory 
 reasons for a change, to prosecution, before the 
 Commissioners, for obtaining food and lodging under 
 false pretences. 
 
 8. Emigration House to be thoroughly cleansed 
 twice a day ; each emigrant being responsible for 
 the cleanliness of the room, or space allotted to 
 him, whilst such parts as may be considered public, 
 shall be cleansed by the emigrants generally, in rota- 
 tions fixed by the Resident Agent. 
 
 9. Unless by special permission to the contrary, 
 the meals must be taken at the tables specially 
 provided in the public portion of the house, and at 
 such stated periods as the Resident Agent may 
 direct. 
 
 10. The emigrants must all be washed and 
 dressed at eight a.m., and must then assemble for 
 morning inspection. 
 
 11. The diet of each emigrant shall be as fol- 
 lows : — One catty sound rice, four taels fresh pork, 
 or four taels salt iish ; tea and vegetables to the 
 value of twenty cash ; firewood and soap will also 
 be supplied. 
 
 12. Except by special permission of the Re- 
 sident Agent, no lights other than the public ones, 
 
 «■ ' 
 
 ^ f 
 
M 
 
 36 
 
 shall be used in the Emigration House after 
 eight P.M. / { ' 
 
 13. For unruly conduct, or for any breach of the 
 house regulations, the Resident Agent shall be at 
 liberty to order an emigrant to close confinement 
 for any time not exceeding six hours; a special 
 register being kept of all such cases, and a report 
 thereof sent to the Allied Commissioners. 
 
 14. The Resident Agent shall be at liberty to 
 dismiss summarily from the Emigration House, and 
 strike his name off the register; the reasons in- 
 fluencing his conduct being entered in the register, 
 under the head of *' Remarks." No dismissal, how- 
 ever, shall be carried into effect save by day. 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 The undersigned, having now been appointed by 
 his Government to set on foot an Emigration from 
 Kwang-tung to the British West Indies, has deter- 
 mined upon conducting this at Canton, under 
 certain regulations (five in number) which have 
 received the sanction of the Allied Commissioners 
 and his Excellency the Governor of the Province. 
 The Kinlung packhouse in the Je-lung-le street in 
 the Western Suburb, has been engaged by him as 
 an Emigration House for the reception of emigrants, 
 in conformity with the regulations ; and it now re- 
 mains for him to make known to the people full 
 
\ 
 
 86 
 
 particulars of the conditions under which he is pre- 
 pared to engage labourers, and which are contained 
 in the following Articles : — 
 
 ■f ' ■ 
 
 1. There is no slavery where the British flag 
 
 flies ; the law in all British possessions is the same 
 for rich and poor; and all religions are tolerated 
 and respected. The British Government have also 
 appointed Special Magistrates in the West-Indian 
 colonies to look after and protect the strangers who 
 go there to seek employment. 
 
 2. The climate of the British West-Indian 
 colonies is very similar to that of Southern China. 
 The cultivation is chiefly that of the sugar-cane; 
 but rice, cotton, and coffee are also grown there, 
 together with most of the fruits and vegetables 
 produced in China. 
 
 3. The emigrant to the British West Indies 
 will be engaged under contract to serve there for a 
 term of five years, to date from his arrival in the 
 colonies. Should he require it, an advance of wages 
 to the extent of 20 dollars will be made to him, to 
 be repaid by gradual deductions from his wages, 
 after arrival at his destination. He will be provided 
 with a free passage, the cost of which may be esti- 
 mated at 75 dollars. Clothing for the voyage, and 
 of course, food will be supplied gratuitously — and 
 it should be known that the feeding of the emi- 
 grants on their passage is regulated by a special 
 law. The length of the voyage may be estimated 
 as* under 100 days. 
 
II 
 
 37 
 
 4. As the emigrants themselves liave no know- 
 ledge of the price of labour in the British West 
 Indies, a fixed sum of 4 dollars a month is first 
 offered them ; but if, on their arrival in the colony, 
 they prefer to be paid by the day, in the same way 
 as tlie non-contract labourers, they have only to 
 signify tlieir wishes to the magistrate, who will 
 make the necessary alterations in their contract, 
 and see that they are placed on the same footing as 
 to remuneration. They will still, of course, have 
 to serve the stipulated period of five years. Should 
 it happen, however, that any labourer having 
 thus entered into a contract for five years, wishes 
 to cancel it at the close of the first year, or at any 
 otiier subsequent period of his service, either from 
 a desire to return home, or to accept elsewhere 
 any other occupation, he is at liberty to do so on 
 repayment of four-tifths of his passage-money, if 
 he has completed only one year's service, or a less 
 sum, calculated at 15 dollars for every year's service 
 remaining to be fulfilled. In addition to the said 
 wage of 4 dollars a month, food, house, garden- 
 ground, and medical attendance will be provided. 
 A day's labour consists of seven and a half hours' 
 work, and the labourer is at liberty to employ the 
 remaining time in each day in whatever manner he 
 may find profitable to himself. If, instead of taking 
 the monthly wage of 4 dollars, he prefers the daily 
 pay of the non-contract labourers, he will then have 
 to find his own food, but will still be entitled to 
 
38 
 
 house, garden-ground, and medical attendance, free 
 of charge. 
 
 5. Those emigrants who are unable to take their 
 families with them, and wish to provide for their 
 maintenance, may allot to them 1 or 2 dollars out 
 of their monthly wages of 4 dollars, which allot- 
 ment shall be paid monthly to them by the emi- 
 gration at Canton ; the remaining portion of the 
 wage — namely, 2 or 3 dollars, as the case may 
 be, being received by the labourer himself in the 
 colony. On the other hand, those emigrants who 
 wish to be accompanied by their families, may take 
 them with them, free of charge ; and a gift of 20 
 dollars to the wife, and 5 dollars to each child, shall 
 moreover be paid to enable them to provide extra 
 comforts for the passage. The women will be un- 
 fettered by any engagement whatsoever, being 
 entirely free either to work or accept service, or 
 to attend solely to their household duties, as their 
 own wants or inclinations may determine. Fa- 
 milies will in all cases live together, and provision 
 will be made for the gratuitous education of the 
 children. 
 
 6. In order that the emigrants may have the 
 means of constant communication with their fami- 
 lies or friends, their letters may at all times be 
 forwarded, free of expense, through the Govern- 
 ment, from the colonies to Kwang-tung, and through 
 the emigration agent from Kwang-tung to the 
 colonies, by the usual bi-monthly mail steamers. 
 
 *m 
 
{ f 
 
 89 
 
 Remittances of money may also be made iu the 
 same way. 
 
 Dated at Canton, the 6th day of November, 1859. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 Consul Alcock to Sir J. Dow ring. 
 
 (Extract.) 
 
 September 1st, 1852. 
 
 They (the Chinese) are fairly industrious, and can 
 get through a good day's work, not equal to Euro- 
 pean labourers iu temperate climates, but much 
 more than the latter could accomplish under a tro- 
 pical sun. They do not, however, bear being kept 
 very closely to it, or to be driven forward at a faster 
 pace than is habitual to them. Being an agricultural 
 people, field-work finds more favour in their eyes 
 than any other ; but a Chinaman does not bear 
 worrying, and would rather give up the best place 
 in the world, than be subjected to a continued fret. 
 In their own country they require both patience 
 and management in their employers, whether native 
 or foreign, to be well looked after, and firmly but 
 kindly dealt with. They have many good points ; 
 they are good-humoured upon the whole, patient 
 and temperate as a class, yet often hasty in temper, 
 and with strong feelings. If they do not like their 
 work or their employers, they leave their situation 
 at once, however advantageous it may be in other 
 
40 
 
 respects. Living is cheap, and they never care, 
 therefore, to live in a place that does not suit them. 
 If in circumstances where they cannot, or dare not 
 leave, and they are dissatisfied with either tlieir 
 work or their treatment, they are apt to become 
 sulky and very impracticable. They are fond of a 
 sort of gossiping relaxation, and will often leave off 
 for a few minutes in the middle of their work, 
 however well disposed to do it fairly, while they 
 smoke and chatter. Their own people, who may 
 be supposed to know by practical experience, how 
 they may best get a good day's work for their wages, 
 do not attempt to prevent this unless the license is 
 much abused, when a sense of justice among the 
 workmen would not be wanting to give effect to the 
 master's remonstrance, or threat of applying a 
 remedy. 
 
 The Chinese labourers are fond of holidays, and 
 manage, in their own country, to make a good 
 many. They spend much of their fipare time in tea- 
 shops ; and wherever they may be in any number, 
 it would be essential, I conceive, to establish some, 
 where they could resort, drink their national be- 
 verage, gossip away their leisure time, .and get, if 
 desired, their frugal meal of rice and vegetables. 
 They have the great advantage of being a very 
 temperate race ; and, upon the whole, are very 
 easily contented, if well and discreetly treated, with 
 some regard to their national habits and customs. 
 
 ROBERT HARDWICKE, PRINTER, 192, PICCADIl'tV. 
 
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