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Brief exposure of the deplorable condition of the Hill Coolies,
in British Guiana and Mauritius, and of the nefarious means by which they were induced to resort to these Colonies
"Under the colour of a Bill for protecting the Indian labourers, it is
proposed to legalize the importation of them into the colonies." ******
"Hundreds of thousands of poor helpless women and children are now to
be abandoned to want, that the growth of sugar in the West Indies may not languish."
It is in vain to shut our eyes to the calamities which impend on India. It was
in this manner that the Slave-trade crept in, under the shadow of Parliamentary
regulation; a race was then begun between abuses and legislation, in which legislation
was always found to be in the rear. AND SO IT WILL BE WITH THE COOLEY TRADE.
We must tread the same circle; and, after years of the most poignant misery,
come to the same result, that in the case of the new, as of the old, trade,
THE ONLY PATH OF SAFETY LIES IN ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION." Friend of India,
Calcutta, 3rd Aug., 1839.
LONDON: HARVEY AND DARTON, GRACECHURCH STREET. BALL, ARNOLD AND CO., 31,
PATERNOSTER ROW; HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY; AND AT THE OFFICE OF THE
BRITISH AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, 27, NEW BROAD STREET. The Pamphlet
This pamphlet was drafted by the British Foreign and Anti-Slavery Society
in response to Lord John Russell's announcement that his cabinet was considering
that the ban on the import of Indian laborers to Mauritius be lifted. In an
attempt to dissuade this action, the pamphlet describes John Scoble's account
about the abuses directed towards Indians uncovered during his trip to the West
Indies for the Central Emancipation Committee. The pamphlet, written in February
1840, also attempted to display the Mauritian planter's circumvention of Crown
directives concerning the importation of slaves and Indian laborers. Although
Russell met with a delegation of the abolitionists, he confirmed that the government
would proceed with its intention of reopening the exportation of Indian laborers.
With a few exceptions, the exportation of indentured Indian labour to various
British colonies lasted until January 1, 1920, when the last indentured Indians
in Fiji were released from their contracts. Transportation of indentured Indians
to Guyana (then British Guiana) ended in 1917.
The pamphlet was originally printed by Johnston and Barrett, Printers, 13 Mark
Lane, London.
A BRIEF EXPOSURE, &c.
In sending the following statement to the press, my single object was to fill
up the hiatus left in the papers recently presented to the House of Commons
respecting the Hill Coolies in British Guiana, in return to an address moved
by Mr. WILLIAM GLADSTONE on the 18th of February last. It appeared to me desirable
that the country should know that a large fund of information respecting the
general treatment of the Coolies in that colony existed besides the very partial,
and, I have no hesitation in saying, because I am personally familiar with the
facts, most unfair representations made to the Home Government on the whole
subject.
Before I visited Guiana in the early part of the year, 1839, the system of
concealment was adopted with admirable success: when, however, concealment was
no longer possible, palliation and apology were resorted to; and to me, were
it not a source of deep sorrow that the exposure of the hardships and sufferings
of the wretched Coolies were treated with lightness, and that an attempt was
made thereby to impose on the British public, it would be infinitely amusing
to observe the attempts of Governor Light, to account for his own ignorance
of the facts brought to light, the studied silence of his magistracy, and the
conduct of the parties implicated in the guilty transactions to which reference
is made. The ridiculous attempt of his Excellency to fasten unworthy motives
on me, in the part I felt it to be my duty to take in the affair. I pass by
as unworthy of observation. However much it may please the planters, it cannot
injure me.
It was not my intention to have added my name to the statement, now given to
the public - not judging it to be necessary; but having submitted it to the
perusal of some friends after it was in type, they suggested the propriety of
my doing so, and this must be my apology for the form in which it appears.
JOHN SCOBLE 1.ORIGIN OF THE COOLIE SLAVE TRADE: On the 4th January 1836, JOHN GLADSTONE, ESQ., addressed a letter to Messrs.
GILLANDERS, ARBUTHNOT & Co., of Calcutta, in which he says: "You will
probably be aware that we are very particularly situated with our negro apprentices
in the West Indies, and that it is matter of doubt and uncertainty, how far
they may be induced to continue their services on the plantations after their
apprenticeship expires in 1840.
This, to us, is a subject of great moment and deep interest in the colonies
of Demerara and Jamaica. We are, therefore, most desirous to obtain and introduce
labourers from other quarters, and particularly from climates similar in their
nature." After giving a most glowing account of the colony -- the lightness
of the labour required, and the repose enjoyed by the people - their "schools
on each estate for the education of children; and the instruction of their parents
in the knowledge of their religious duties" - (there are no schools on
Vreed-en-Hoop, or Vriedestein!!) he sums up all by observing, "it may
be fairly said they pass their time agreeably and happily." Full of fears, however,
for the future, he adds, "It is of great importance to us to endeavor to provide
a portion of other labourers, whom we might use as a set-off, and, when the
time for it comes, make us, as far as possible, independent of our negro population."
He then gives an order for 100 Coolies - "young, active, able-bodied people,"
to be bound to labour "for a period not less than five years, or more than seven
years," the wages not to "exceed four dollars per month," to provide themselves!
To which communication Messrs. GILLANDERS & Co., gave the following "encouraging"
reply, on the 6th June, 1836; "within the last two years, upwards of 2000 natives
have been sent from this to the Mauritius, by several parties here, under contracts
of engagements for five years. The contracts, we believe, are all of a similar
nature; and we enclose a copy of one, under which we have sent 700 or 800 men
to the Mauritius; and we are not aware that any greater difficulty would present
itself in sending men to the West Indies, the Natives being perfectly
ignorant of the place they agree to go to, or the length of the voyage they
are undertaking." They then go on to state that the men selected for
Mauritius, have "hardly any ideas beyond those of supplying the wants of nature;"
and, therefore, we suppose, more likely to become the dupes of the cunning knaves
who would entrap them into engagements, of the nature of which, they would be
entirely ignorant. The "Dhangurs," they add, in a subsequent part of their letter,
"are always spoken of as more akin to the monkey than the man. They have no
religion, no education, and, in their present state, no wants, beyond eating,
drinking and sleeping; and to procure which, they are willing to labour." Fit
subjects, truly, to be made slaves, and to cultivate the estates of JOHN
GLADSTONE, ESQ., in Demerara! Now what reply was made to the proposition
of GILLANDERS AND Co.?
Did the wealthy planter express his indignation that the Indian labourers
were to be spirited away from their native land, under the idea that they were
going to the "Company's Rabustie," to be engaged in gardening?" Did he
express his disgust that his agents should select such ignorant and wretched
creatures as the Dhangurs to practice deceit upon? No! On the 10th March, 1837,
he and his friend, JOHN MOSS, Esq., of Liverpool, gave Messrs. GILLANDERS
& Co. to understand, that in the following May, they intended to forward
the good ship "Hesperus to take Coolies to Demerara," to the number of 150,
and that should they have children to take with them, fifteen or twenty may
be sent in addition. "In Demerara," Mr. GLADSTONE adds, "the females
are employed in the field as well as the men; and if the female Coolies will
engage to work there, a larger proportion may be sent, say two women to three
men, or, if desired, equal numbers; but if they will not engage to work there,
then the proportion sent to the Isle of France, of one female to nine or ten
men, for cooking and washing, is enough!" It is enough to give these quotations
to show the origin of the Coolie slave-trade: and all we need add, is, that
"ANDREW COLVILLE, Esq., ("a near connexion of Lord AUCKLAND'S")
and Messrs. DAVIDSONS, BARKLEY & Co. of London," joined their friend
Mr. GLADSTONE in a similar commission to Messrs. GILLANDERS & Co.
2. PROCEEDINGS OF THE GOVERNMENT. It became necessary, in consequence of the state of the law in British Guiana,
which restricted contracts for labour to three years duration, that Mr. GLADSTONE
and his friends should be accommodated with an Order in Council to sanction
their contracts for a period of five years, commencing on the arrival of the
Coolies in Demerara. This was complaisantly granted them by LORD GLENELG,
with the concurrence of Sir JOHN HOBHOUSE, and, of course the whole of
her Majesty's then ministry. Under date of the 20th May, 1837, Mr. GLADSTONE
writes GILLANDERS & Co. "I have now made the necessary arrangements with
the colonial department, and an Order in Council corresponding with them will
be immediately published." He then increases the order for Coolies from 150
to 200, (stating the tonnage of the "Hesperus" to be 334,) but he adds, "If
that number should be considered too many, do not reduce it under 150," and
remember, "one-third for the Messrs. MOSS, two-thirds for me." The Order
in Council was of the most objectionable kind. It gave a carte blanche to every
villain in British Guiana, and every scoundrel in India to kidnap and inveigle
into contracts for labour for five years, in a distant part of the world, the
ignorant and inoffensive Hindoo!
3. THE DISCOVERY. The Order in Council was issued the 12th of July, 1837; but it was not until
the 3rd of January, 1838, that the public in this country became aware of its
existence, when it was denounced in the British Emancipator as
giving birth to a new slave- trade. In May, intelligence was received through
the medium of the Calcutta papers of the most painful nature, detailing the
infamous conduct of the "Chokedars who were put on guard over
the Coolies, shipped for Demerara on board the Hesperus." One
man died "in consequence of his having been kept below;" and "the Coolies,"
it is added, were made to pay by the Chokedars, for the privilege of coming
on deck! The same papers state that "the agent for shipping these poor
unfortunate people has stated that he is authorized to ship TEN THOUSAND!"
Private letters also corroborated the fact, that the Coolies "had to be forced
on board" the Hesperus - that "the hatches were bolted down," and that one man
died from suffocation." It is stated also in the same communication that the
Whitby found difficulty in inducing the natives to go, and that force
was required to accomplish the object." These statements are made on
the authority of the Rev. Mr. BOAZ, a Missionary in Calcutta. It was subsequently
discovered that the trade of kidnapping Coolies had been extensively carried
on, and that prison depôts had been established in the villages near Calcutta
for the security of the wretched creatures, where they were most infamously
treated, and guarded with the utmost jealousy and care, to prevent their escape,
until the Mauritian and Demerara slavers were ready for their reception! A full
account of the discovery of the kidnappers, their modes of procuring Coolie
labourers, and their places of retreat was inserted in the Asiatic Journal
of Calcutta, 5th of July, 1838, copied from the authenticated report
of Sergeant FLOYD to the magistrates. It further appears, that through
the exertions of a Mr. DIAS, a magistrate, twenty of the kidnappers were
punished, and one hundred and twenty-five Coolies released from
their grasp, who were described as "highly delighted" with their
deliverance; and "as each group left the office, they gave three or four hearty
cheers, and showered down blessings on the magistrate's head." Ought not the
agents who employed these execrable kidnappers to have been punished? They most
righteously deserved to have been placed by the side of the villains they employed.
4. ARRIVAL OF THE COOLIES IN BRITISH GUIANA. According to the official account, the number of Coolies shipped from Calcutta,
per Hesperus, was 155 men, five women, and ten children, in all
170 persons for Messrs. GLADSTONE and MOSS; per Whitby,
they were shipped, 250 men, seven women, and ten children, in all 267 persons,
to the care of JAMES MATTHEWS, Esq., attorney to ANDREW COLVILLE,
Esq., and JOHN CAMERON, Esq., agent to Messrs. GILLANDERS & Co.,
of Calcutta. The Coolies consigned to Mr. CAMERON, were disposed of to
Messrs. DAVIDSONS, BARKLEY & Co., and to JAMES BLAIR, Esq. The
mortality on board the Hesperus, during her voyage, was fourteen,
of which number two are represented to have been drowned (suicides?) The mortality
on board the Whitby, amounted to four. There were consequently
landed from both vessels 419 Coolies, which were distributed in the following
manner, viz.:-
In all 407 persons, according to the official returns of the special magistrates,
printed by order of the House of Commons, 21st of February, 1840, No. 77, pp.
51, 52. This will show a difference in the numbers landed and located upon the
estates, of twelve Coolies, the cause of which cannot be gathered from the papers.
It is of importance, that this point should be cleared up.
5. CONDITION OF THE COOLIES AFTER ARRIVAL.
On the 30th of August, 1838, GOVERNOR LIGHT, having just made the tour
of the colony, writes to LORD GLENELG , as follows: - "From the reports
I have received, and from my personal observation, the Coolies appear satisfied
with their position, and have not disappointed their employers." In another
dispatch, dated the 19th of November, 1838, his Excellency states, that "the
general good health of the emigrants from India, is equal to that
of any other labourer in this colony," the Creole Negro, of course not excepted;
and in this view the assistant Colonial Secretary, Mr. WOLSELEY, concurs,
for he appends to his general report on the state of the immigrants, "The Coolies
have acclimatized well, and have suffered no disadvantage
by emigrating to this colony." At a still later period, the 11th of January,
1839, Governor LIGHT, in a dispatch to LORD GLENELG, observes,
"If my information be correct, the Hill Coolies were accustomed to a marshy
soil, to very low wages, and precarious scanty food, and though on limited wages,
in comparison with the free labourer, yet are as carefully protected
from oppression, and their complaints redressed as speedily, as
those of other labourers!" He adds, "the Coolies on Mr. GLADSTONE'S property,
are a fine healthy body of men; they are beginning to marry or co-habit with
the negresses, and take pride in their dress; the few words of English they
know, added to signs common to all, prove that `Sahib' was good to them."
On the 30th day of January, 1839, Mr. Special Justice COLEMAN inspected
the Coolies on plantation Vriedestein, the property of JOHN GLADSTONE,
Esq.,; and gives a most favourable report of their condition. The labour required
of them, only two-thirds of that expected from the late apprentices; and that
"always of the lightest work going on." Their allowances, as per contract. To
be sure, their houses were "not in good repair," but that is a matter of little
importance in a colony where the climate is so "genial!" and where Governor
LIGHT firmly believed they had "more means of enjoyment than in their
own country." Vreed-en-Hoop, another property of Mr. GLADSTONE'S, was
visited by Mr. Special Justice DELAFONS, on the 20th February, 1839;
who reports, that the Coolies were "cheerful and contented;" but, unlike their
brethren on Vriedestein, they were compelled to perform the same description
of labour as the negro gang, and had one and a-half-guilder stopped out of their
wages monthly, to be paid on their completing their servitude, as per agreement.
The deaths on Vriedestein, in eight months, two males; on the
sick list ten: and on Vreed-en-Hoop, in nine months, four males;
on the sick list four.
On the 31st January, 1839, Mr. Special Justice COLEMAN inspected the
Coolies on Belle-Vue, the property of Mr. COLVILLE, and
reports that they were "lodged in a large logie built purposely for them," and
were not required, or expected, to perform more than "two-thirds of the tariff
of labour for seven hours and a-half." He states the number of deaths in eight
months, to have been nine males, and one female child; on the sick list twenty.
Mr. Special Justice MURE reports, the Coolies on Anna Regina, belonging
to the Messrs. MOSS, to be "very cheerful and contented," and that only
one death had occurred in eight months. Mr. Special Justice ROSE reports,
that the Coolies on Waterloo, the property of JAMES BLAIR, Esq., "are
apparently quite satisfied," and that during a period of eight months, there
had been four deaths, and fifteen were on the sick list. On plantation Highbury,
belonging to Messrs. DAVIDSONS & Co., visited by Mr. Special Justice
MACLEOD, on the 31st of January, 1839, he reports, the Coolies "cheerful
and contented," and the number of deaths fifteen males, and two females, with
from ten to fifteen on the sick list. It thus appears, that the morality during
a period of rather more than eight months after arrival, on 419 Coolies had
been thirty-eight, viz., thirty-five males and three females, and that seventy
were usually on the sick list.
Up to this period, there was not a whisper to be heard in the colony of the
ill-treatment of the Coolies, although it must have been known to the special
justices of the various districts in which the Coolies were located, that they
were frequently in the habit of running away from the estates, on the ground
of alleged ill-treatment and anxiety to return to their native land. It was
known, that a large number had fled from Belle-Vue, and were found
on plantation Herstelling, on the opposite side of the river,
where they declared that, in consequence of the severity of the treatment they
had endured from their manager, Mr. YOUNG, who accompanied them from
India, they would rather die than go back, and it was only when the promise
was given that the individual complained of should be discharged, that they
returned to the estate. It is known also, that many fled at different times
from plantation Vreed-en-Hoop, and that two "Jummun and Pulton,
who left on the 11th of October, 1838," were never afterwards discovered. The
bodies of two strange men were discovered about that time at Mahaica dead, in
the bush; no doubt they were the missing Coolies; and the female child, about
ten years old, who was reported dead in Mr. Special Justice COLEMAN'S
report, perished from the dreadful effects resulting from the forcible violation
of her person. An account of these things, and much more, that might be mentioned,
is carefully excluded from the reports; but we must not anticipate.
The real condition of the Coolies was brought to light, in consequence of
a paragraph which appeared in the columns of the British Emancipator of the
9th Jan., 1839, which had reached the colony. JAMES MATTHEWS, Esq.,
after allowing three weeks to elapse to put his house in order, requested the
Governor to appoint a commission of inquiry into the condition of the Coolies
on Belle-Vue, with the view of proving that the statements in the Emancipator
were false and scandalous. It was to have been a very snug affair, but Mr. SCOBLE,
being at that time in the colony, and having been privately informed of the
intended investigation, determined to be present at the proceedings. The evidence
taken by the Commissioners, though of the most partial and limited nature, established
the general accuracy of the report which had been made, and was the means of
bringing to light the hidden horrors of the system which had been pursued on
Belle-Vue. To detail the whole of the iniquities practiced on the wretched Coolies
on that estate would fill a volume. It will be sufficient, to say that the general
manager of the estate, Mr. RUSSELL, SHARLIEB, the manager of the Coolies,
and Dr. NIMMO, a relation of Mr. GLADSTONE, the medical man of
the estate, as well as of Vriedestein and Vreed-en-Hoop, were all indicted and
convicted of brutal assaults, before the Inferior Criminal Court of British
Guiana, and either fined or imprisoned! One incident however connected with
the sick-house on Belle-Vue must not be omitted; it is taken from an account
given by an eye-witness of the melancholy scene. "The spectacle," he writes,
"presented to the observer, in the sick-house was heart-rending! The house itself
was wretchedly filthy, the persons and the clothes of the patients were filthy
also; the poor sufferers had no mats nor mattresses to lie on; a dirty blanket
was laid under them and their clothes wrapped together formed a kind of
a pillow.
In one room where there were raised boards for the accommodation of seven
persons only, eleven were confined -- four of them lying on the floor. The squalid
wretchedness of their appearance, their emaciated forms, and their intense sufferings
from disease and sores, were enough to make the heart bleed! In the second room
were found a worse class of patients. The scene in this chamber beggars description;
out of the five confined there, two were dead, and one of the remaining three
cannot long survive; should the others ultimately recover, it will be by a miracle
-- their bones appeared ready to protrude through their skins! (these three
died shortly after.) When the magistrate inquired by signs of the miserable
creature who appeared to be near death, what food he was allowed -- he pulled
out some hard brown biscuit from under his head, and exhibited it!! The Coolies
confined in other apartments appeared in the same state as those confined in
the first chamber; in one of them was a man whose limbs have become contracted
by disease since he came to the estate. In fact, you may suppose, that it must
have been misery in perfection to have drawn from Mr. WOLSELEY this observation:--
"I never saw such a dreadful scene of misery in my life as is now to be
seen in the sick-house. I have been in a great many hospitals on various estates
for the last twenty years; but I never saw such a melancholy scene!!
But lest it should be suspected that the description is overwrought, attention
is called to the remarks of Sir M. MCTURK, one of the Commissioners appointed
by the Court of Policy, to visit the estates on which the Coolies were placed,
and to report thereon. In his place in the Court of Policy, he said, "He would
now say that, before that inquiry, it had often been his lot to witness scenes
of distress, of acute bodily suffering, and deep affliction; but such unalleviated
wretchedness, such hopeless misery as he beheld in that hospital, never before
had he seen, nor could he have imagined that it existed in this colony. The
Coolies in it were not suffering merely from sores; they had mortified
ulcers, their flesh rotting on their bones, their toes dropping off. Some of
them were in a dangerous state from fever, and all were in the utmost despondency."
And this appalling statement was corroborated by the Commissioners in their
official report. On Belle-Vue, they say, "twenty have died from
diseases contracted in the colony, and twenty-nine are now in a wretched state
from ulcers, many of whom, in all probability, will die; and should they survive,
they will (some of them) be rendered unfit to support themselves, from
the loss of their toes, and part of their feet -- the sick-house presents a
spectacle pitiable to behold. These poor people are in a state of great
misery, and from whatever cause it may have sprung, the effects are so
appalling, that humanity calls loudly for the interference of the executive."
The consequence of this appeal was, after considerable opposition from Mr. MATTHEWS,
the attorney of the estate, and Dr. NIMMO, the medical attendant, they
were removed to the colonial hospital, and placed under the humane care, and
skilful treatment of Dr. SMITH, the physician of the establishment.
It is to be regretted that Mr. COLVILLE, to whom the government imparted
the information relative to the treatment of the Coolies on his estate, instead
of expressing his warm indignation against the brutal system of oppression practised
there by his agents, should have sought to extenuate, if not to justify, their
criminal deeds. (Vide Par. Pap. No. 463, p.98) But that gentleman should
be told that when his portion of the Coolies arrived in Demerara, there was
no building prepared for their reception; that the sick-house was emptied of
its patients, to make room for them; and that in four rooms in that sick-house,
the whole eighty-two Coolies were thrust, men, women, and children, without
regard to delicacy or decency, together; and kept in that loathsome den for
nearly three months, before a shed could be erected for their shelter! And let
that gentleman be told also, that the whip, the bamboo, and the dungeon, were
constantly resorted to, to compel labour or to gratify revenge. And further,
he should know that the schoolmaster BERKLEY, who first hinted the cruelties
that were practiced on miserable Coolies, after having his stock wantonly killed,
has been driven from the estate, without payment of the miserable sum due to
him for salary; and is now the victim of a most bitter persecution on the part
of every manager in the district! Happily, however, for the cause of humanity,
and probably, for the interests of Mr. COLVILLE, the atrocious conduct of his
agents has been partly made known; but who shall say that similar atrocities
may not again be perpetrated? There are not always to be found in the colony,
men who have the courage to expose and denounce the evils which exist. The last
report of the special magistrate, dated 1st November, 1839, states the mortality
to have been, up to that period, twenty-two males, besides the murdered girl!
Let us now take a glance at Vreed-en-Hoop, the property of Mr.
GLADSTONE. We find, that in consequence of a communication made to the
Governor that the Coolies on that estate were ill-treated, an inquiry was ordered
into the circumstances. The result of the first inquiry is summed up by Mr.
YOUNG, the Government Secretary, in a letter, addressed, by order of his Excellency,
to JAMES STUART, Esq., the attorney to the property; and is as follows:--
Government Secretary's Office, 2nd May, 1839
.
A report having reached the Governor that the Coolies of
Vreed-en- Hoop had been flogged, and that two of them, in consequence of ill-treatment,
had fled from the estate, and had since perished in the neighbourhood of Mahaica,
his Excellency directed a court of inquiry, consisting of three stipendiary magistrates,
to be assembled for the purpose of ascertaining the truth of the report. I am
now directed to recapitulate to you the facts elicited by the investigation; to
inform you of the ultimate measures which have been determined on; and to suggest
to you such a course of proceeding, on your part, towards the individuals whose
conduct is implicated in these transactions, as, in his Excellency's opinion,
humanity towards the Coolies, and a due regard of the reputation of the colony
at large, render just and necessary.
As you were yourself present at the court of inquiry, it is not, perhaps, necessary
to set forth in detail the whole of the evidence, (of which, however, you may
obtain a perusal at this office, should you desire it); in the margin will be
found the names of the witnesses who speak to the facts which I am now to recapitulate.
"The Coolies were locked up in the sick-house; saw them the day after they
were flogged; their backs were swollen; they were in the sick-house for two
days after the flogging." -- Will. Clay.
"When they run away and are stubborn, they get two or three lickings; they
are flogged with a cat-o'-nine-tails; they were tied with a rope round the post,
and were licked on the bare back." -- Alexander.
"They appeared to me as severely punished as my matties were, during the apprenticeship;
when flogged, they were flogged with a cat, the same as was formerly in use;
they brought all from the sick house together, and took them to the negro-yard
to be flogged; they were tied to a post." -- Rose.
"The Coolies were locked up in the sick house, and next morning they were flogged
with a cat-o'-nine-tails; the manager was in the house, and they flogged the
people under his house; they were tied to the post of the gallery of the manager's
house; I cannot tell how many licks; he gave them enough. I saw blood. When
they were flogged at manager's house, they rubbed salt pickle on their backs."--
Elizabeth Caesar.
"I think two of the Coolies were brought into the hospital to have their backs
dressed; I rubbed them with camphor and high wines; the backs were bruised.
The first time seven Coolies were locked up; the second, six Coolies."-- Betsey
Ann, Sick Nurse.
"Their hands were tied behind their backs; they were beaten with a rope; ten
times they lick them; heard them complain to manager; Mr. Jacobs lick Modun
every day. When licked, they put the breast to the post with hands stretched
out; some tie the hands before, some behind. Coolies run away because they are
licked." -- Narrain.
His Excellency desires me to observe, that although some of the other witnesses,
as well as those whose names are mentioned in the margin, in other parts of
their evidence, give a description, perhaps, somewhat less revolting than that
contained in the foregoing extracts, yet the fact of flogging and confinement
having been inflicted is proved beyond all dispute.
The minutes of the court have been referred to Stipendiary Justice Coleman
(who was not on the commission of inquiry) in a letter, of which I annex a copy,
and you will perceive that he has been instructed to adjudicate upon the cases,
or to refer them, for trial, before the Supreme Court of Criminal Justice, as
may be most consistent with his own judgement, and the laws in force.
His Honour the Sheriff of Berbice, who is acquainted with the Hindostanee language,
has been summoned from Berbice, in order to assist in interpreting the complaints
of the Coolies, and for the purpose of conveying to them an explanation of the
punishment which Captain Coleman is enabled, by law, to award against any one
who shall, in future, at any time, commit similar outrages on their persons.
His Excellency confidently expects your entire concurrence in the above measures,
for the punishment of the wrongs these strangers have hiterto sustained; and,
under this expectation, I am to suggest to you, that, although a legal tribunal
can visit Mr. Sanderson and Mr. Jacobs (either or both, as the evidence may
appear to the court to justify such a sentence) with punishment for what the
Coolies of Vreed-en-Hoop have, hitherto, wrongly suffered, yet, that the most
efficient protection, for the future, can best be afforded, by your dismissal
of Messrs. Sanderson and Jacobs.
Mr. Sanderson, as the resident manager, either did know, or ought to have known
of these transactions; under the most charitable supposition, his ignorance
must be esteemed highly culpable.
Of Mr. Jacobs' unfitness to retain any authority over the Coolies of Vreed-en-Hoop,
there cannot be a doubt; and it is reported that, pending the investigation,
he brutally assaulted one of them, and that he is, at this moment, on his trial,
before Stipendiary Magistrate Mure, for the offence. It has also been reported
to the Governor, that the wages due to the Coolies, are paid to the interpreter
Jacobs, on their behalf, a practice which his Excellency considers may have
been a source of discontent. I have, &c.,
(Signed) H.E.F. YOUNG, To this communication, the attorney sent a scornful reply, and refused to
accede to his Excellency's request. The investigation, however, led to the trial
and conviction of JACOBS for assault on the persons of five Coolies,
and the sentence of the court, was a fine of £20 sterling, and one month's imprisonment
in George-town Jail. Subsequently to this, JACOBS was again tried for
another assault on a Coolie, and fined 30 shillings by the Court. A third assault
was proved against him, and a fine of forty shillings inflicted. These convictions
were deemed sufficient by those who originated the proceedings, and to establish
the fact, that as part of the regular discipline of the estate, the wretched
Coolies were most cruelly whipped and injured. But this was only part of the
system: JACOBS was also proved to have mulcted the Coolies of their money,
which the wretched creatures paid to him instead of a threatened beating. A
list of thirty-one cases is given in the report of the Commissioners, who were
thus robbed of their hard earned money to the extent of 28½ dollars at various
times. The amount of punishment inflicted on the Coolies first and last, must
have been enormous, and yet because there was no legal evidence to prove that
SANDERSON, the general manager of the estate, had personally directed
the flogging, either in the house or in the field, he was retained in his situation.
To suppose that for twelve months, these things could have occurred under his
own eye, and he not know it, must be to disqualify him for the situation he
holds, and ought of itself to have been a sufficient reason for his immediate
dismissal from office. But he is too good a manager, in the colonial sense of
the term, to be lost, so he still represents his wealthy master on plantation
Vreed- en-Hoop. And now what does Mr. GLADSTONE do, when put in possession
of the documents, forwarded to him by the government, containing the melancholy
details referred to? Why, like Mr. COLVILLE, he has not one word of commiseration
to expend on the Coolies; but a great deal of indignation against Messrs. SCOBLE
and ANSTIE, to whom reference no doubt is made, in the following passage:
-- "The people continued cheerful and contented; but evil disposed persons
have recently gone among them, and have endeavoured to create a bad and dissatisfied
feeling, in which they have partially succeeded, as it is at present too generally
the case in England, where similar effects are produced by the Chartists
and others, among the lower classes."-- (Vide letter
dated 3rd August, 1839.) Perhaps, as the letter which contains this paragraph,
was addressed to the Marquess of NORMANBY, and to his noble colleague
in office, Lord JOHN RUSSELL; so that Mr. SCOBLE, and his friend, Mr.
ANSTIE, find themselves in grand company indeed, and, of course, will
thank Mr. GLADSTONE for the honour done them!
The number reported dead on Vreed-en-Hoop, on the 1st of November,
1839, was nine, and two absent, who, no doubt, perished in the bush at Mahaica,
eleven in all; and thirteen were then on the sick list. The general treatment
of the Coolies on Vriedestein, has been the same as on Vreed-en-Hoop,
and the mortality greater, in proportion to the number settled there, viz.:
eight males, to the 1st of November, 1839, when there were five on the sick
list. The original number placed the two estates, the latter end of May, 1838,
was 104, and the mortality has been nineteen in a period of eighteen months,
in addition to the fourteen who perished on the voyage from Calcutta, and who
formed part of the original number of 170 shipped on the joint account of Messrs.
GLADSTONE and MOSS.
In reviewing the foregoing facts, one cannot fail being struck, first, by the
circumstance, that so much oppression, cruelty, and misery, should have escaped
the attention of managers, attorneys, magistrates, and even the executive itself,
for nearly twelve-months; and that it should have been left to a visitor to
the colony, to expose successfully the horrid truths which are now submitted
to public attention; secondly, that these things should have occurred on the
estates of two men of princely wealth, who affirm that they gave their agents
the most positive instructions -- that the Coolies entrusted to them should
be treated with the greatest imaginable tenderness and care! Thirdly, that when
the facts of the inhuman treatment of the Coolie labourers are brought to the
knowledge of these gentlemen, they either affect to palliate or deny them, or
to justify their agents; and to characterise those who have been providentially
the means of dragging the offenders to justice, as among the most infamous men;
and, fourthly, that they should have had the audacity to appeal to the Government
of this country, to allow them, and others like them, to introduce, ad
libitum, as many thousands of the natives of Hindostan, as will enable
them effectually to coerce the labour of the negro freemen, and still further,
to enrich themselves at the expense of the liberty and happiness of mankind!
On plantation Highbury, notwithstanding the favourable reports
of the treatment of the Coolies there, the mortality has been very great, viz.
seventeen males and one female, and twelve reported on the sick list, the 1st
of November, 1839. From this estate, as well as those already mentioned, the
Coolies have repeatedly run away. On one occasion, sometime in April or May
last year, upwards of twenty of them cut their way, due east, for many miles
through the bush, in the hope of reaching Bengal! When in the presence of those
they know to be their friends, and really interested in their welfare, they
give full vent to their feelings, and exhibit their real sentiments, and with
tears and clasped hands, and in broken English, entreat to be sent back to their
native country and to their kindred from whom they have been wantonly separated.
On plantation Anna Regina, the deaths have been two; and on plantation
Waterloo, five are reported dead, and three on the sick list, on the 1st of
November, 1839. Thus, then, it appears from official documents, that out of
the 437 Coolies shipped at Calcutta, eighteen died on the voyage to Demerara;
and that out of the 419 settled on the various estates referred to in May, 1838,
sixty-four have died from various diseases, two have perished in the bush, and
one has been murdered; making a total of sixty-seven deaths in eighteen months,
being about one-sixth of the whole! It may be added that there is no legal provision
made for the restoration of such of the Coolies as may survive the period of
their Indentures to India!
6. MEASURES OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT: 7.IMMIGRATION SCHEME: Their object was, not merely to draw labourers from the smaller West India
colonies, and from Europe, but principally from Africa and Hindostan. Hence
they had actually provided for the support of a resident agent in Calcutta,
and for another on the western coast of Africa! This scheme was recommended
to the acceptance of the Home Government, with all the zeal of a partizan by
the executive; but it did not meet with the anticipated success. Lord NORMANBY,
in a dispatch, dated 15th August, 1839, which did him honour, conveyed the intelligence
to the colony, that her Majesty had been pleased to disallow the immigration
ordinance, and, in reference to that part of it which proposed to import Africans
and Hill Coolies, observes:-- “With regard to the introduction of labourers
from India, more than enough has already passed to render her Majesty's
government decidedly hostile to every such project, and the laws now in force
in different presidencies would effectually prevent the execution of this part
of the scheme. We are not less opposed to the plan of recruiting the
negro population of the West India colonies from Africa. No precaution
which has been, or which could be devised would prevent such a measure from
giving a stimulus to the internal slave-trade on that continent, or from bringing
discredit on the sincerity of the efforts made by this nation for the suppression
of that system of guilt and misery." On what grounds then, we ask, does
the government now propose to relax the prohibition on the export of Coolies
in the case of Mauritius? Are the planters of that colony more worthy of the
confidence than those of Guiana? Are they more honourable and humane? We assert
not: then why the preference?
8. SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENTS OF THE PLANTERS. In consequence of their exertions and misrepresentations, there is the most
imminent danger at the present moment, that the Coolie slave-trade will be revived,
and that the measures for which the abolitionists of this country have striven
so long, and so zealously, will give place to others of the most objectionable
kind. Already has it been announced in parliament, by LORD JOHN> RUSSELL,
that the restriction imposed on the exportation of Hill Coolies, so far as they
relate to Mauritius, are to be abandoned, and the intimation has been received
with unbounded joy by the felon-planters of that colony. In the papers, which
have just been printed by order of the House of Commons, we learn by a letter,
dated Mauritius, the 11th of June, 1839, that the planters "yesterday received
the gratifying intelligence, that SIR WILLIAM NICOLAY submitted a despatch
to the Council here, by which it appears that the ministry apprise him of a
bill which would be laid before Parliament, authorising the introduction of
Coolies, and permitting them to engage for FIVE YEARS. "This intelligence,"
it is added, "has spread universal joy throughout the colony, and `nous sommes
saurés,' escapes the lips of the least sanguine!" Whatever might have been the
intention of the ministers of the Crown, they were not able, during the last
session, to carry such a measure, neither the house nor the country would have
permitted such an iniquitous scheme to be carried into effect. One fact is clear,
however, that the admirable Order in Council of the 7th of September, 1838,
regulating contracts in the Crown colonies, and which limited their duration
to one year, and provided that where the labourers had been "induced
to enter into the same by ANY FRAUD, MISAPPREHENSION, MISREPRESENTATION,
OR CONCEALMENT," the same should be void; and which further required, that
all contracts, to be valid, must henceforth be made, not at Calcutta and elsewhere,
but in the colonies to which the labourers might resort, in the presence of
the proper authorities, and under the forms therein set forth, was to be set
aside in Mauritius, within a few months after it had gone into effect! And now
what the Government dared not, or could not do last session, they propose to
do this: Lord JOHN RUSSELL, will relax the restrictions on this infamous
traffic in the persons of men, and throw open India, once more, to the Mauritians,
who have ever shown themselves as destitute of every human sympathy, as they
have proved themselves regardless of all laws human and divine!
In the papers which have been recently laid before parliament, which embrace
but a very small part of the proceedings relative to the Hill Coolies in Mauritius,
and are consequently extremely defective in the information they contain, will
be found enough to convince the most sceptical of the inhumanity and wickedness
of the doings of the Mauritian planters. The whole system has been characterized
by the grossest fraud and cruelty, and has been sustained by the most infamous
tyranny and oppression. How were the Coolies in Mauritius obtained previously
to the restrictions being laid on? Mr. F.R. PRINSEP, secretary to the
government of India, in an official report on the subject, states: "The methods
adopted for procuring labourers to engage for service in colonies and places
beyond sea, are productive of serious frauds, and have led to much oppression,
and," he further observes, "the system is a source of injury and abuse, rather
than of benefit to the labourers, in the form in which it is at present carried
on." The governor, Sir WILLIAM NICOLAY, in referring to the same subject
in a despatch to Lord GLENELG, dated 21st May, 1839, observes, "That
very nefarious practices have been resorted to, in many instances,
in order to procure labourers for embarkation for this island, is beyond all
doubt," and Mr. Special Justice ANDERSON asserts in one of his letters
to the governor, that "many of them have actually been KIDNAPPED from
their own country, which," he adds, "they have ALL been induced to leave, under
circumstances of GROSS FRAUDS." To go into the history of all those "frauds,"
would be to detail circumstances, second only in atrocity to those connected
with the African slave-trade. The fact is established beyond dispute, that multitudes
have been kidnapped -- forced into prison-depôts until the Mauritian slavers
were ready to receive them-hurried on board-put under hatches and guards-robbed
and pillaged of the advances made to them by the Maurtian agents in Calcutta
-- shipped in large numbers on board vessels, without the requisite accommodation,
food, or medical attendance- brought under the most fraudulent contracts to
labour for years on scanty wages, and scanty fare-separated from their families
and from their homes-compelled to perform the hardest agricultural labour known,
at the discretion of their masters and without the protection of an upright,
impartial, and efficient magistracy.
It is difficult to ascertain when the first shipment of Coolies to Mauritius
took place, or the exact number of them which has been, at various periods introduced.
It appears that from the 1st of August, 1834, to the 24th October, 1838, there
were received from Calcutta 13,243 Coolies, viz., 12,994 men; 198 women; and
fifty-one children. From the 1st June, 1837, to the 22nd June, 1838, there were
shipped from Cochin 308 Coolies, supposed to be all males. From
the 1st June 1837, to 24th June, 1838, there were shipped from Pondicherry
5058 Coolies, supposed to be all males. From the 1st June, 1837, to the 25th
August, 1838, there were shipped from Rajahmundy 441 Coolies,
viz., 434 men and seven women; making a total of 19,050 -- viz., 18,794 men,
205 women, and fifty-one children. But it is quite clear, from the petition
addressed to her Majesty by the planters and others, dated 18th May, 1839, that
a much larger number of Coolies had been introduced. The 100 persons who signed
that document state, that within the "last four years" they had "caused to be
brought from British India upwards of 20,000 native Indian labourers." It is
stated, by some parties, that the whole number introduced cannot be much short
of 30,000!
With respect to the mortality which has occurred since the arrival of the Indians
at Mauritius, the statements are various. It is, however, admitted by the Governor,
to have been great, and to have been "the source of deep regret" to him. In
a despatch, dated 31st Dec., 1838, the Colonial Secretary (Mr. Dick) thus writes:--
"The mortality which has prevailed among the Indian labourers, as well
on their voyage as after their arrival here, and more particularly on
some estates and establishments, has been the source of deep regret to his Excellency.
Mr. Special Justice Anderson, states the mortality of the Coolies in Port Louis,
to amount to eight or nine per cent., per annum! This would be equal to the
destruction of the whole number of Coolies introduced every twelve years!!
Out of the 19,050 Coolies introduced, of which we have any account in the papers
before me, only 205 were women! It is easy to conceive, that, from this frightful
disparity of the sexes, the most horrible and revolting depravity and demoralization
must necessarily ensue; and that such large masses of ignorant and degraded
beings must carry with them a most corrupting influence on others.
As to the general treatment of the Coolies in Mauritius, but one opinion can
be entertained by the friends of humanity. Independently of the evidence derived
from private sources, on which implicit reliance can be placed, which represents
the state of the Coolies as deplorably wretched, and their hardships and sufferings
even greater than those endured, by the negroes when slaves, the fact of their
having become the prey of the MAURITIAN PLANTERS would be sufficient
to justify the worst apprehensions that could be entertained on that point.
One honest functionary in Mauritius, Mr. Special Justice ANDERSON, has
spoken out upon this point in opposition to those who would have us believe
that the Coolies in that colony are treated with "humanity and kindness;" and,
we have no doubt, in opposition to his own interests and personal ease and comfort.
In his letters to Governor NICOLAY, dated the 19th and 30th of November,
1839, he states, that those whom he had examined in Port Louis, were "overworked,"
were subjected to severe "personal chastisement," were without proper shelter
and "lodging accommodation," were deprived of necessary medical attendance and
care when suffering from disease, and in other ways seriously injured and abused,
insomuch that he says, "it is a source of astonishment to me, that any body
of freemen, whatever may have been their former condition, should have borne,
with the patience and forbearance which the Indian labourers at Port Louis have
displayed, the bitter disappointment which must have attended their introduction
into this island," and, he adds, "to induce them to come here, their
ignorance is worked upon in India by the most false and deceitful representations,
and the robbery and pillage which has been practised on them at Calcutta, would
scarcely be credited, if the fact was not established by the most convincing
testimony. They reach this colony after having been robbed of six months pay,
which is advanced, (or said to be advanced,) in India; and when here, their
comfort is in every way neglected, while they are compelled by the engagements
to which their own ignorance, or the avarice of others have bound them, to toil
during five years for a recompense bearing no proportion to the work to which
they are subjected, when compared with the common estimation of the value of
labour in this colony, or to the sum which they would earn if they had the free
disposal of their own time."
In view of these facts the writer of this article would, earnestly call on
every philanthropist in the kingdom, to use his utmost exertions and influence,
in public and in private, to prevent the relaxation of the restrictions to which
reference has been made; and to urge on the government the paramount importance
of maintaining, in all its integrity, the Order in Council of the 7th September,
1838; and to demand that all the fraudulent contracts into which the Coolies
have been induced to enter, whether in Mauritius or Guiana, shall be immediately
cancelled, and the unfortunate victims of cupidity be permitted to return home.
And that the parties whether in India, who have been guilty of entrapping them
into fraudulent contracts, or in the colonies, who have injured and oppressed
them, shall be brought to condign punishment. This would be a useful lesson
to the planters. It would teach them to husband their own resources, and would
procure for the emancipated negroes the consideration and care which are their
due, for so long as the planters in the British Colonies can calculate upon
the cultivation of their estates by the introduction of adult labourers, they
will be as careless of the general welfare of their peasantry, in future, as
they have been reckless of the lives of their slaves in times past.
Note.-The Parliamentary Papers which should
be consulted on the subject, treated of in the foregoing statement, are as follows,
viz., No. 180, 2nd March, 1838; No. 232, in continuation; No. 463, 1839. Hill
Coolies in British Guiana, No. 77, 1840, in continuation, and No. 58, 1840,
Mauritius; and to the information contained in these documents should be added,
that which may be found in the columns of the British Emancipator, from the
29th May to the 2nd October, 1839, and in Number 4, of the British and Foreign
Anti-Slavery Reporter, dated 26th February, 1840.
P.S. Whilst the foregoing statement was passing through the press,
the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-slavery Society presented a Memorial
to Lord JOHN RUSSELL on the subject to which it refers. The deputation who presented
the Memorial to his Lordship, were as follows, viz.:-Sir CHARLES STYLE, Bart.,
M.P.; DANIEL O'CONNELL, Esq., M.P.; EDWARD BAINES, Esq., M.P.; Dr. HODGKIN,
and Messrs. W. BALL, G. STACEY, H. TUCKETT, D. TURNBULL, C.F. BROWN, J. BEAUMONT,
R. RUSSELL, C. PHIPPS, JOHN SCOBLE, and J.H. TREDGOLD. In the interview had
with his Lordship, it was understood that the government would persevere in
their intention of relaxing the restrictions on the exportation of Coolies to
Mauritius within certain limits. This is deeply to be regretted; let but the
friends of humanity, however, be on the alert, and the design may yet be defeated.
The following is a copy of the Memorial presented:--
To the Right Honorable Lord JOHN RUSSELL, M.P.,
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies.
MY LORD,
THE COMMITTEE of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, have
learnt with deepest regret, that it is your Lordship's intention to recommend
to the Queen in Council, to relax the existing restrictions upon the exportation
of Hill Coolies from Hindostan, so far as they affect Mauritius, and that initiative
measures have already been introduced to the attention of the House of Commons
for the accomplishment of that purpose.
In approaching your Lordship, for the purpose of respectfully submitting to
your Lordship's consideration, the reasons which induced them to give to the
contemplated measure, their most earnest and determined opposition, the Committee
beg to assure your Lordship, that they are governed only by a sincere desire
to secure the native Inhabitants of the East from injustice and oppression,
and the recently emancipated Negroes in Mauritius, the full enjoyment of that
liberty which has been obtained for them at so costly a sacrifice to the British
nation.
1. The Committee would remind your Lordship of the fact, that the Mauritian
Planters have always been conspicuous for their daring violation of the laws
under which they are placed; for their disloyalty to the Crown of these realms;
and for their unwearied opposition to the humane measures of the Home Government,
intended for the benefit and protection of their late bondsmen, as a decisive
proof that no confidence can be placed in their good faith and honour, and that
no substantial justice can be obtained at their hands for the Asiatic Labourer,
or the emancipated Negro; and they are further confirmed in this view of the
case by the notorious fact, that for the most part, the Authorities in Mauritius
are influenced by the predominant party there, which is known to be hostile
to British Laws and to British Rule, and to be violently opposed to the full
and fair development of the great measure of freedom lately bestowed on the
Negroes.
2. The opposition to the facts which have come to their knowledge, the Committee
can place no reliance whatever on the general statements put forth by interested
parties, representing the Coolies at present in Mauritius, as happy in their
condition, and as having no wish to change it. Independently of other evidence,
in their opinion, it is impossible to conceive, that these wretched persons
can be contented with their lot, when it is remembered that large numbers of
them were conveyed to Mauritius, under the most fraudulent pretences;-without
regard to the equality of sexes, to the separation of families to their social
elevation, or to their moral welfare, and forcibly brought under contracts for
labour, for long periods of time at the smallest rate of wages. And in their
judgement also, it would be contrary to the universal experience of mankind,
to believe that they can be happy, when it is known, that the parties who introduced
them into that colony, were influenced only by the sordid purposes of gain,
and by the avowed intention of coercing the labour, and of keeping down the
wages of the Negroes in a state of freedom.
3. As the Committee would earnestly deprecate the further introduction of Hill
Coolies into any of the emancipated colonies, as fraught with the most injurious
consequences morally as well as otherwise, to the existing labouring population,
and as, therefore, calculated immeasurably to impede their advance in civilization
and religion; they would respectfully submit to your Lordship that, on this
ground also, the Mauritian planters are least of all fit to be entrusted with
the care of the ignorant and degraded natives of Hindostan, inasmuch as they
have shown themselves not only utterly regardless of, but entirely opposed to
the education of their late slaves in morals and religion.
4. The Committee are firmly persuaded that the proposed measure, instead of
inducing the Mauritian planters to act upon just and equal laws, and to depend
on the exercise of humane treatment and good faith towards their present labourers,
for the cultivation of their estates, will cause them to rely on unjust and
adventitious expedients for the accomplishment of their objects, and will have
the effect of reviving the traffic in the persons of men which no enactments
in this country, however humanely intended, can prevent, or even control. It
appears also to the Committee, that the necessary consequence of the relaxation
of the restrictions on the exportation of Coolies to Mauritius, must lead to
a similar measure in favour of British Guiana and Trinidad; an event, which
they would greatly deplore, as fatal to the interests of humanity and destructive
of the hopes they have cherished in connection with the freedom of the slave.
5. The pretence that the natives of India would be benefited by the proposed
measure, the Committee venture respectfully to deny. In order effectually to
relieve the suffering and oppressed Hindoos, they humbly conceive a series of
enlightened, humane, and comprehensive laws must be substituted for those which
exist; and the present system of mis-government be entirely abandoned. All partial
expedients to relieve the misery which so extensively prevails in that vast
country, can, in their judgement, only have the effect of retarding the introduction
of those searching reforms which the exigencies of the people, and the prosperity
and security of the empire so immediately and peremptorily require.
6. The distance of Mauritius from the controlling power of the home government,
and the consequent difficulty and delay in obtaining information relative to
the evils which exist in that colony, and of applying early and efficient remedies
to them, has been felt by your lordship's predecessors in office; whilst the
signal success of the Mauritian planters, in carrying on their nefarious schemes
in frustrating the measure of government, and in displacing its officers and
in obtaining an immense sum of money as compensation for slaves which had been
feloniously introduced, by means the most fraudulent, fully justify, in the
opinion of the Committee, the alarm they feel as to the consequences which will
result from the projected measure.
7. For these reasons the Committee earnestly entreat your Lordship, and your
Lordship's colleagues in office, not to advise her Majesty, to sanction the
relaxation of the restrictions referred to, but to maintain them inviolate;
and to order such measures to be immediately taken, as shall restore to their
families and to their homes, those wretched Coolies who have been fraudulently
introduced into Mauritius, and are held to service contrary to the Order in
Council of the 7th September, 1828.
(Signed W. BALL, British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, JOHNSTON & BARRETT, Printers, 13, Mark Lane.
Dear Sirs,
I met with an accident here about three weeks ago, which confined me to the
house, from which I am now recovering, and hope in a few days to be able to
return to Edinburgh; this will account to you for using my son's pen for writing
in place of my own.
I observe by a letter which he received a few days ago from Mr. Arbuthnot,
that he was sending a considerable number of a certain class of Bengalees, to
be employed as labourers, to the Mauritius. You will probably be aware that
we are very particularly situated with our Negro apprentices in the West Indies,
and that it is a matter of doubt and uncertainty how far they may be induced
to continue their services on the plantations after their apprenticeship expires
in 1840. This to us is a subject of great moment and deep interest in the colonies
of Demerara and Jamaica. We are therefore most desirous to obtain and introduce
labourers from other quarters, and particularly from climates something similar
in their nature. Our plantation labour in the field is very light; much of it,
particularly in Demerara, is done by task-work, which for the day is usually
completed by two o'clock in the afternoon, giving to the people all the rest
of the day to themselves.
They are furnished with comfortable dwellings and abundance of food; plantations,
the produce of the colony, being the most common, and preferred generally by
them; but they have also occasionally rice, Indian corn, meal, ship's biscuits,
and a regular supply of salt cod-fish, as well as the power of fishing for themselves
in the trenches. They have likewise an annual allowance of clothing sufficient
and suitable for the climate; there are schools on each estate for the education
of the children, and the instruction of their parents in the knowledge of religious
duties.
Their houses are comfortable, and it may be fairly said they pass their time
agreeably and happily. Marriages are encouraged, and when improper conduct on
the part of the people takes place, there are public stipendiary magistrates
who take cognizance of such, and judge between them and their employers. They
have regular medical attendance whenever they are indisposed, at the expense
of their employers. I have been particular in describing the present situation
and occupation of our people, to which I ought to add, that their employment
in the field is clearing the land with the hoe, and, where required, planting
fresh canes. In the works a portion are occupied in making sugar, and in the
distilleries, in which they relieve each other, which makes their labour light.
It is of great importance to us to endeavour to provide a portion of other labourers,
whom we might use as a set-off, and, when the time for it comes, make us, as
far as it is possible, independent of our negro population; and it has occurred
to us that a moderate number of Bengalees, such as you were sending to the Isle
of France, might be very suitable for our purpose; and on this subject I am
now desirous to obtain all the information you can possibly give me. The number
I should think of taking and sending by one vessel direct from Calcutta to Demerara
would be about 100; they ought to be young, active, able-bodied people. It would
be desirable that a portion of them, at least one-half, should be married, and
their wives disposed to work in the field as well as they themselves.
We should require to bind them for a period not less than five years or more
than seven years. They would be provided with comfortable dwellings, food, and
medical assistance; they would also, if required, be provided with clothing,
or wages to provide themselves, which, for the able-bodied, would not exceed
four dollars per month, and in that proportion for females and their children
as they grow up; a free passage would be given to them to Demerara, where they
would be divided, and 20 to 30 placed on one plantation. I do not know whether
the class referred to are likely to be of a particular caste, and under the
influence of certain religious feelings, and also restricted to any particular
kind of food; if so, we must endeavor to provide for them accordingly. You will
particularly oblige me by giving me, on receipt, all the information you possibly
can on this interesting subject; for, should it be of an encouraging character,
I should immediately engage for one of our ships to go to Calcutta, and take
a limited number to Demerara, and from thence return here. On all other subjects
I refer you to letters from the house; and always am,
Since writing so far it has occurred to me, that in bringing Lascars from
India security is required that they shall be returned to the country. I do
not know whether this would extend to any particular caste being brought to
the West Indies, or whether it is applicable in the instance you have mentioned
of those sent to the Mauritius. Several importations from the Madeiras and Azores
have taken place into Demerara, and so far with good effects on the minds of
the blacks.
SOURCE: Parliamentary Papers, LII No. 180, 1837-38. MF41.413-414.
Dear Sir,
We beg to acknowledge your letter of the 4th January, referring to your desire
to procure natives from this part of the world to work upon your estates in
the West Indies, and in some degree render you independent of the Negro population
at the termination of the present system; and it is with regret that at the
time the letter under reply was written you were suffering from an accident,
the effects of which, however, we hope ere this are entirely gone.
Within the last two years upwards of 2,000 natives have been sent from this
to the Mauritius, by several parties here, under contracts of engagement for
five years. The contracts, we believe, are all of a similar nature; and we enclose
copy of one, under which we have sent 700 or 800 men to the Mauritius; and we
are not aware that any greater difficulty would present itself in sending men
to the West Indies, the natives being perfectly ignorant of the place they agree
to go to, or the length of the voyage they are undertaking. The tribe that is
found to suit best in the Mauritius is from the hills to the north of Calcutta,
and the men of which are all well-limbed and active, without prejudices of any
kind, and hardly any ideas beyond those of supplying the wants of nature, arising
it would appear, however, more from want of opportunity than from any natural
deficiency, of which there is no indication in their countenance, which is often
one of intelligence. They are also very docile and easily managed, and appear
to have no local ties, nor any objection to leave their country.
In the event of your determining to introduce these people in the West Indies
and sending a ship for them, a contract such as the one enclosed, if approved
of, or modified or enlarged as you may think necessary, may be entered into
with any number of men you would wish us to procure, and this contract upon
landing the men in the West Indies and being registered at the Police-office,
would, we conclude, give your managers sufficient power to insist upon their
performing any reasonable task they may be set to. Such has been the case in
the Mauritius, and in one or two instances where the men have been idle or lazy,
they have been punished by the competent authority. It would perhaps avoid after-discussion
were the currency in which the men will be paid, and its equivalent value with
the rupee, stated in the contract. The best period for procuring and shipping
the men is in our cold season, between the months of November and April, and
the instruction to procure the men should precede the ship about two months,
to give time to collect them; we should of course not be able to find a cargo
for the ship, but some morghy rice might be sent, which with a little care would
keep for three years.
The security taken by government here upon taking natives to England is to
protect the East India Company from loss in the event of natives being left
in England without the means of subsistence or of finding their way back, in
which case the Company are bound to provide for them until a passage to India
can be procured, but no guarantee is required upon sending men elsewhere; as
however the colonial government will probably make the importer enter into an
agreement that these men shall be no burden to the colony, a provision is made
in the contract to withhold so much of their allowances as will pay their passage
back, should it be found necessary to discharge them before their period of
service has expired.
We fear we should not find so many as half of the number provided with wives;
as, however, our friends at the Isle of France have always discouraged the men
being so accompanied, we are not very well able to say how far the women might
be induced to go.
Our letters from the Isle of France speak very favourably of the men hitherto
sent, many of whom our friends write to us have their task completed by two
o'clock, and go home, leaving the Negroes in the field.
We are not aware that we can say any more on this subject, unless we add, that
in inducing these men to leave their country, we firmly believe we are breaking
no ties of kindred, or in any way acting a cruel part.
The Hill tribes, known by the name of Dhangurs, are looked down upon by the
more cunning natives of the plains, and they are always spoken of as more akin
to the monkey than the man. They have no religion, no education, and, in their
present state, no wants beyond eating, drinking, and sleeping; and to procure
which they are willing to labour. In sending men to such a distance, it would
of course be necessary to be more particular in selecting them, and some little
expense would be incurred, as also some trouble; but to aid any object of interest
to you, we should willingly give our best exertions in any manner likely to
be of service.
P.S.-- You will observe, upon reading over the form of our contract,
that it is registered in our Police-office, and authenticated by one of the
magistrates, in whose presence the document is signed, after the nature of it
has been explained to the parties in their own language.
(signed) G., A.& Co.
SOURCE: Parliamentary Papers, LII No.232, 1837-38. MF41.413-14
Between the undersigned _______________ acting on behalf of _____________
of Mauritius, and the natives whose names are hereunto affixed, the following
agreement has been entered into by the several parties binding themselves to
the observance of the conditions thereof:
1. The natives agree to proceed to the Isle of France, to work as labourers
there, upon a sugar estate, the property of _________________ and to remain
there, if required, for the time of five years.
2. The passage of the natives to the Mauritius shall be paid by ______________who
shall also provide a passage again to this country, at the end of five years,
for each native who may then wish to return; but if any individual, from any
cause, should be discharged or leave the employment of before the expiration
of five years, such individual shall have no claim on him for a passage.
3. The pay of the natives shall be fixed at the rate of five rupees per month
for each man. The labour required from them will be that of digging holes, weeding
canes, working in the sugar-house, repairing roads and bridges, or otherwise
making themselves useful, according to their ability, as may order them; the
quantity of daily labour required from each to be fixed by the manager of the
property; the pay of one sirdar shall be fixed at seven rupees per month, and
that of one mate six rupeess, and boys at three rupees per month.
4. As _________________ must be responsible to government that the nativess
shall not be a burden to the colony, in the event of their being discharged
or leaving their employments, one rupee per month shall be retained from the
pay of each individual, until there shall be a sufficient sum to provide a passage
for each to Calcutta; should no such contingency take place, the money shall
be restored at the end of five years.
5. In addition to the pay as above fixed, food and clothing shall be supplied
to each as follows -- Fourteen chettacks of rice (about 2lbs.), two ditto of
dholl*, two ounces of salt, and some oil and tamarind, daily; and annually for
each, clothing as follows; two dhooties, two blankets, one jacket, and one cap.
6. Each individual shall receive six months pay in advance, for which he shall
give an acknowledgement here; their pay to commence from the date of their going
on board the ship.
7. The nature of this agreement (which shall be registered at the police)
is such, that each native is individually responsible for the observance of
its conditions by every one whose mark it bears; and it is further agreed, that
while in hospital, from sickness or any other cause, the pay is stopped during
such time.
* Something like dried split peas
SOURCE: Parliamentary Papers, LII No. 180, 1837-38. MF41.413-14
I SEE the British public has been deceived with the idea that the Coolies are
doing "well;" such is not the fact; the poor friendless creatures are miserably
treated, at least I can speak confidently of plantation Bellvue. On this estate
they have made two attempts to escape, as they say, to go to Calcutta. In the
first, 22 succeeded by night to cross the river, landing on the opposite shore;
they attempted to explore the woods, but after undergoing much fatigue and hunger,
they were retaken at the back of plantation Herstelling, and conveyed again
to the estate. In the last attempt they were discovered by the watch of the
night, and driven back. I saw a gang of them last week in custody of the police,
who were taking them to the public buildings; their offence I did not learn.
I inquired of Mr. Berkeley, who is a teacher on the place, respecting food;
he said they had enough of rice, and I think "fat" or lard. Deaths, he said,
more than ten have died on this place, Bellevue, and the manager (Russell) refuses
to give a rag of clothes to bury them in. I had one of these Coolies in my own
place, who is capable of saying a few words in English; he told me, "Russell
no good; Coolie sick salt, salt no more." He was all but naked; and a friend
present gave him a few old raiments, which seemed highly to please him. They
are paid here with the Company's rupees, five rupees a month. Is not this scandalous?
They have been offered by the merchants two bits a piece for them. I do not
believe they can get its value in the colony. Ought not the planters to be compelled
to give their value in Demerara silver currency? I have also heard that two
from Gladstone's estate escaped through the bush, and were captured by Captain
Falant, at Fort Island, in the Essequibo River, and brought back to the plantation.
Surely these things are far frombeing "well;" the one alluded to above told
me, "Calcutta better."
SOURCE: Parliamentary Papers, XXXIX NO. 463, 1839. MF42.266-67
My dear Sir,
I have to acknowledge the receipt of the papers relating to the state of the
coolies on Bellevue estate, which I have read with attention.
In the absence of that further information which may be expected by the next
packet, I do not feel competent to form a decided opinion upon the medical treatment
of the patients; but I understand, from a gentleman who has recently arrived
from the colony, and who was there during the investigation of the 9th March,
that Dr. Nimmo complains of the evil effects of an order issued by the late
Governor, Sir J.C. Smith, declaring that, according to the construction of the
Abolition Act, neither the manager nor the medical attendant on an estate were
at liberty to confine the sick to the wards of the hospital. The consequences
of this are stated to be the absence of everything like hospital regulations,
and great difficulty in inducing the sick to follow out any regular course of
treatment, either in point of medicine, food, or regimen; and, if this be so,
I am glad to learn that the poor people have been removed to the public hospital
in George Town, where, I presume, they will be subject to proper hospital regulations.
I have learnt farther, from the same gentleman, that the assault of which I
regret to find Dr. Nimmo guilty, arose from this state of things: I am told
that, upon visiting the estate, he met one of the patients to whose sores he
had applied a certain dressing. Upon examining him he found that not only had
he left the hospital in disregard of his advice, but he had removed the medical
dressing, and had applied one of his own. In his irritation Dr. Nimmo, very
improperly, no doubt, struck him a single blow with his riding cane, and desired
him to go back to the hospital, and have his wound properly dressed.
With respect to the more serious assaults by the interpreter, I regret both
that this should have happened, and that the necessity for his services should
have saved the individual from part of the punishment awarded to him; but I
cannot omit to observe, with reference to the memorandum dated 14th May 1839,
and signed H.E.F. Young, that the declaration of the interpreter there referred
to was made by him in a private examination, when anxious to bring forward everything
that might extenuate his offence, and justify his release from confinement;
that he was wholly silent upon this point when confronted with Mr. Russell on
his trial; and that upon the trial his want of veracity was proved by his denial
of having confessed to Mr. Russell that he had beaten the coolie. When I oppose
to this declaration, so made by the interpreter, the denial upon oath, by Mr.
Russell, of his having ever authorized him to beat the coolies, I cannot consider
the interpreter entitled to much credit.
With respect to any suspicion which may exist of want of care on the part of
the manager, it should not be forgotten that the extreme jealousy exercised
against everything like restraint or coercion of the people, by the manager
of an estate, would render it difficult, or rather impossible, for him to enforce
that cleanliness and early attention to the extraction of the chigoes, which,
if it had been adopted, would have prevented the bad sores, with which so many
of the coolies have been unhappily afflicted.
I take the liberty to enclose extracts from my letters to my agent, containing
the instructions which I have from time to time given regarding the coolies.
If you will be kind enough to take the trouble to read them, I hope you will
consider that I have not been deficient in taking precautionary measures for
their proper care and comfort; though I sincerely lament the extent of the mortality
and sickness, from whatever causes they may prove, upon a minute and careful
investigation, to have arisen.
SOURCE: Parliamentary Papers, XXXIX, NO. 463, 1839. MF42.266-67
This reference from Colvile refers to the Chartist movement which demanded
universal male suffrage, ballot voting, annual parliaments and equal representation,
and an end to property requirements for members of Parliament. In 1838, with
the publication of the People's Charter, this movement had considerable strength
among the working class throughout Great Britain. The connection between chartists
and abolitionists varied between antagonism and support. On occasion, chartists
had disrupted anti-slavery meetings to bring awareness to their issues. Anti-slavery
movements were seen to be strongest among the middle class, and chartists voiced
the opinion that the abolitionists cared more for the black slave than the working
poor in Britain. However, while some antagonism existed, both movements shared
a similar philosophy, and both causes shared members. For instance, Joseph Sturge,
one of the founders of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, was also
involved with the Chartist movement.
Lord Broughton served as president of the board of control for India from 1835
to 1841 and again from 1846 to 1852. During the early establishment of the indenture
system Sir Hobhouse was not opposed to the scheme, and had replied to Gladestone
that the Indian Government would not interfere with his plans. A member of the Whig party, John Russell had become head of the Colonial Office
in September 1839 from Lord Normanby. He believed that while the export of labour
to British Guiana had been a failure, sufficiently stringent regulations should
protect Indians going to Mauritius under a one year contract of indenture. This
belief was based on the opinion that coolies travelling to Mauritius would receive
higher wages and better conditions than what were available in India.
- MDCCCXL
ABOUT THIS WORK
London, 28th February, 1840.
*********************************
Males
Females
Vreed-en-Hoop (John Gladstone, Esq.)
65
5
Vriedestein - - Ditto
31
0
Anna Regina, (Messrs. Moss,)
46
3
Belle Vue, (A. Colville, Esq.)
79
3
Waterloo, (James Blair, Esq.)
47
0
Highbury, (Messrs. Davidsons & Co.)
117
11
385
22
James Stuart, Esq., Government Secretary.
Attorney of Plantation Vreed-en-Hoop.
In consequence of the facts brought to light in early part of the year 1838,
as to the true character of the Order in Council of the 12th July, 1837, and
the public indignation felt at the proceedings of the planters, in Mauritius
and elsewhere, and their agents, and kidnappers in India, the Government declared
its intention on the 20th July, of that year, to rescind the obnoxious Order
in Council; and Sir John Hobhouse stated, in the course of last session of Parliament,
that not only had Her Majesty's ministers put an end to the traffic in Coolies,
but that the Governor-General of India had anticipated them, and had issued
a prohibition against the further exportation of Hill Coolies. The humanity
and justice of these measures were not less honourable to the Government than
they were satisfactory to the public.
Notwithstanding the Order in Council of the 12th July, 1837, admitting the introduction
into British Guiana of Hill Coolies, under indentures of five years, had been
rescinded, the proprietary body in the early part of last year, obtained a vote
by means of the financial representatives of the colony, seconded by the zealous
exertions of the governor, of the enormous sum of £400,000 sterling, to be devoted
exclusively to the increase of their stock of labourers; and, subsequently,
passed an ordinance, similar to the Colonial Passengers' Bill, now under the
consideration of the House of Commons, with the view of securing the concurrence
of the Home Government, in their gigantic immigration scheme.
The restless activity of this powerful body, supported as it is by a corrupt
and venal press, in the colonies, and by a well-paid band of agents in this
country, was never more manifest than at the present moment, or directed to
more unworthy objects. Convicted again, and again, of the grossest mis-statements
respecting the conduct of the free negros -- the state of the crops -- and the
general prosperity of the colonies, they continue to assert the absolute ruin
of these possessions of the Crown, and call upon the Government to give them
laws to coerce labour under a state of freedom, and to place the administration
of the laws entirely in their own hands by the removal of the Stipendiary Magistrates;
and to allow them to import, to an unlimited extent, and under contracts of
service for five years, the natives of India, that they may be able to reduce
the wages of their late slaves to the minimum point, and thus force them, once
more, under their cruel and despotic sway.
Chairman of the Committee.
27, New Broad Street, 28th February, 1840.
Appendix 1
Copy of letter from John Gladstone, Esq. to Messrs. Gillanders,
Arbuthnot & Co.
Liverpool, 4 January 1836
Dear Sirs, yours truly
John Gladstone.
Appendix 2
Copy of letter from Messrs. Gillanders, Arbuthnot & Co. to
John Gladstone, Esq.
Calcutta, 6 June 1836.
We are, &c.
Gillanders, Arbuthnot & Co.
Appendix 3
Copy Form of Contract
Appendix 4
From the British Emancipator of the 9 January 1839
Appendix 5
Copy of Letter from Andrew Colvile, Esq., to the Right
Honourable Henry Labouchere.
9, Fenchurch-buildings, 29 July 1839.
I have, &c.
(signed) A. Colvile.
Appendix 6
Chartists and Abolitionists
Appendix 7
Sir John Cam Hobhouse
Lord John Russell