HC Deb 11 August 1871 vol 208 cc1473-9
MR. P. A. TAYLOR

said, he rose to call attention to the evils attending the traffic in South Sea Islanders, and to move an Address for Papers on the subject. His object was to obtain from the Government an acknowledgment of their due sense of the weight and importance of the matter, and a declaration of their intention to deal with the evils complained of. About ten years ago the colony of Queensland, being desirous of obtaining more and cheaper labour than it possessed within itself, established a system under which they were able to procure a large number of South Sea Islanders, but it was attended with such terrible results that an Act was passed in the colony subjecting the traffic to certain restrictions. That Act provided that there should be a real contract between the employers and these islanders, that a certain rate of wages should be paid them, that sufficient and wholesome food should be given them, and that after a fixed period of service those labourers should be sent home to their several islands. That contract, however, turned out to be a mere nominal one, and the law had since then been practically evaded, the result being the infliction of much cruelty and suffering upon those unfortunate islanders who were the victims of this infamous traffic. The profits of this traffic were immense. The islanders were semi-barbarians—were ignorant of the language of the colonists, and were thus rendered easy victims to the cupidity of their employers. The Natives of the South Sea Islands were often kidnapped and placed on board the ship in waiting upon the falsest pretences. Advantage was taken of the quarrels of the chiefs in order to procure this labour, and ill treatment followed the natural resentment of the Natives. In many cases they resorted to the most terrible acts of vengeance, and the crews of two vessels were murdered by them. Hitherto the case had rested on the evidence of the missionaries on the one hand, and of the planters on the other; but Captain Palmer, of Her Majesty's ship Rosario, which had been sent to cruise amongst the islands with a view of checking any abuses connected with this traffic, now gave strong testimony of its evils, and of the want of accommodation on board the vessels engaged in it. Captain Palmer gave a graphic description of a schooner he had captured with above 100 of these islanders on board, employed to convey them to Queensland; he stated that it closely resembled one of the old African slave ships that were connected with the horrors of the Middle Passage. He found the poor islanders in a dreadful condition, being stark naked, crowded on board, and without even the accommodation of a mat to sleep upon. And yet that vessel had been inspected by the Government officer at Queensland. Notwithstanding all his exertions, Captain Palmer failed in obtaining the condemnation of the vessel. It was asserted in defence of this system of traffic that it was intended to civilize and improve the condition of the islanders by bringing them into contact with a civilized people, but they really came into contact with the scum and offscourings of civilization; and according to the statements of competent witnesses, they learned more harm than good by contact with the whites, and often became great rogues and thieves. He was glad to find that Lord Kimberley, in the despatch of March last to the Governors of the Australian colonies, called attention to the evils of the traffic. Lord Kimberley said the crimes thus committed chiefly by persons proceeding from Australian ports were calculated to bring discredit upon the British name. This was quite true. They were continually remonstrating with the Spaniards and Portuguese, and it was disgraceful that such a traffic should be thrown into our teeth by way of answer. Even in Queensland the treatment of these immigrants was unsatisfactory. But what was still worse in connection with this traffic was that under the Queensland licences those South Sea men were often taken to the Fiji Islands, in which, said Captain Palmer, there was no organized Government, and no law to restrain the trade, and which were the resort of every variety of villain from the neighbouring colonies. There these men were subjected to greater cruelties. There had been proposals for a British protectorate of the Fiji Islands, or of a joint protectorate with America. Something, at all events, should be done under the responsibility of the British Government. The Rev. Mr. Sunderland, agent of the London Mission Society, gave a most harrowing account of the way those islanders were treated in Queensland. He (Mr. P. A. Taylor) regretted that at that period of the Session he was unable to go into greater detail. In his opinion, this importation of free labour, as it was called, was certain to produce demoralization; but, if carried on at all, it should be under the most stringent regulations. Lord Kimberley had issued, in March last, a Circular to the Governors of the Australian colonies, intimating that it had been proposed to introduce into Parliament a Bill declaring the kidnapping of Natives to be felony, and asking whether the colonies would be prepared to bear the expenses of the consequent proceedings. They must wait for the results of this Circular. Meanwhile, in moving for Papers, he should be glad to receive an assurance from the Government that they would do what they could to check the evils complained of.

MR. R. N. FOWLER

, in seconding the Motion, said, he thought the House ought to feel indebted to the hon. Member for bringing forward this most important subject. He hoped that the hon. Gentleman would early next Session enter more at large into the question, when it could be fully discussed. He believed that many horrible atrocities were perpetrated in connection with this traffic, under the auspices of one of the colonies of which Englishmen were most proud; and it was disgraceful to this country that they should be allowed to continue unchecked. Before he sat down he must be allowed to express his deep sense of the loss that all, whether in the House or out of it, who took an interest in this and similar questions, had sustained in the death announced that morning of the Member for East Surrey (Mr. Charles Buxton). It would ill-become him to speak of the abilities and labours of his Friend in a general sense, but in referring to those subjects in which Mr. Buxton took a deep and hereditary interest, and with which his name would be inseparably connected, he hoped the House would excuse him if he expressed his heartfelt sense of the loss they had sustained. The name of Buxton was associated with the extinction of slavery and the suppression of any traffic savouring of the slave trade, not only in the person of his lamented Friend, but in that of his illustrious father; and he would venture to express the earnest hope that the day would never come when that House would not number among its Members men who would pursue the same career of philanthropy which was pursued with such zeal and singlehearted devotedness by his lamented Friend.

Amendment proposed, To leave out from the word "That" to the end of the Question, in order to add the words "an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, that She will be graciously pleased to give directions that there be laid before this House, Papers relating to the traffic in the South Sea Islanders,"—(Mr. Taylor,) —instead thereof.

Question proposed, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Question."

SIR CHARLES WINGFIELD

said, that the excesses committed in this traffic had been condemned by the Bishop and the Attorney General of New South Wales, and by the officers of Her Majesty's vessels; and Lord Clarendon had declared that the immigration amounted to a practical slave trade, carried on by British speculators for the benefit of British settlers in the Fiji Islands. But he (Sir Charles Wingfield) thought that the conduct of the Queensland Government was not above suspicion; it seemed ready to accept every sort of denial or excuse that was offered them by the owners and captains of the vessels accused of kidnapping. The case of the Latona was a conspicuous example of this. He thought that Captain Palmer deserved the greatest praise for his generous efforts and for the vigorous action he had taken to put down the atrocities of this traffic; and it was equally gratifying to observe that there was no lukewarmness on the part of either the Foreign or the Colonial Office. He was satisfied that there was an earnest intention on the part of the Government to deal with the subject, and he therefore cheerfully left it in their hands.

SIR JOHN HAY

said, that he feared the worst features of the old coolie and East Coast of Africa traffic were revived in the South Sea Islands by Europeans—he would not call them Englishmen; and it was highly discreditable to this country that stringent measures were not taken by our Government to put a stop to this atrocious system. Humanity called for such interference. He would venture to think that in this instance policy and justice went hand in hand; for it was for our advantage that the colonies should afford a market for our own surplus labour, and it was disadvantageous both to the colony and this country that the labour market in Queensland should be supplied by the wicked kidnapping of these unhappy islanders in order to compete with English or colonial labour.

MR. KNATCHBULL-HUGESSEN

said, that he could not say the few words he had to say on this subject without first endorsing entirely the expressions of regret that had fallen from his hon. Friend opposite at the loss which the House, and he would say the country, had sustained by the death of Mr. Charles Buxton. He had enjoyed the pleasure of the friendship of Mr. Buxton, and he believed that his private worth was equal to his public services; and those who engaged in philanthropic pursuits would be long before they forgot that in all such pursuits they never failed to receive the hearty sympathy and assistance of Charles Buxton. As to the question itself, the remarks which he should make upon it would be but few, because he felt that a debate upon it at the present moment would be somewhat premature. He must, at the same time, admit that the hon. Member for Leicester (Mr. P. A. Taylor) was quite right in bringing it under the notice of the House, and in inviting public attention to it, for it was a subject in which not only he but the Government took a deep interest. Full justice could not, however, be done to it on the occasion, and it was, in his opinion, most desirable that at an early period next Session it should be fully discussed, by which time also further Papers upon the subject would have been presented. He should have rested satisfied with these observations were it not for the attack which had been made on the colony of Queensland. Now it was quite possible that a fair and beneficial traffic might be conducted between the islanders and colonies, and that, at the same time, abuses might exist calling for interference. A well-regulated system of imported labour benefited both the colonies and the Natives imported, who were thus brought under civilizing and humanizing influences, and taught habits of industry and providence. Hon. Members must not fall into the error of checking a useful and a wholesome system because of abuses which might be remedied. He learnt from the Blue Book that every effort was being made by the authorities in Queensland to conduct the system of the importation of labour into the colony in a fair and legitimate manner. It was only very recently that an arrangement had been made that an agent should accompany the vessels engaged in it, on the back voyage as well as on their first importation, with the view of preventing the possibility of abuses, and he was informed that many of the islanders whose term of labour had expired had expressed a wish to be re-engaged to serve in the colonies. The subject, it was clear, was one which must be dealt with with caution, and, following the example of the hon. Member for Leicester, he would not enter into an examination of the various cases mentioned in the Blue Book. There were, undoubtedly, horrors depicted, from which the mind of any Christian or civilized man must shrink; but no advantage would, he thought, result from a reference to individual instances on the present occasion. He could only say on the part of the Government that they took the greatest interest in the question, and England had in times past spoken such brave words, done such great deeds, and endured such heavy sacrifices, in order to put down slavery, that the very stones would cry out against them if they continued unmoved witnesses of such atrocities as those to which the hon. Gentleman had alluded. Animated by such feelings the Government would use every effort to put an end to a state of things which was a disgrace to Christianity and to civilization. They would do their utmost to prevent abuses; but if the trade could not be carried on in a fair and legitimate manner, then perish the trade, and in acting upon that view the Government would, he felt sure, be supported by public opinion.

MR. KINNAIRD

said, it was somewhat extraordinary to him, who had never had the honour of occupying a seat on the Treasury bench, to see in what a calm judicial sort of way subjects such as that before the House were treated by Members of the Government. His hon. Friend who had just sat down had, indeed, indulged in eloquent denunciations of the system of which his hon. Friend the Member for Leicester (Mr. P. A. Taylor) complained; but what was required was a plain, straightforward course of policy for the purpose of putting an end to it. Reference had been made in the course of the discussion to Mr. Buxton, whose loss hon. Members generally so much deplored; but the name of Lord Clarendon should not be forgotten in dealing with the question, nor that of Lord Palmerston, who had a real horror of slavery, in whatever shape or place it appeared, and who, after Wilberforce, had done more than any other man to give his opinions with respect to it due effect. He deprecated our being parties to the encouragement of slavery on the East Coast of Africa. The speech of his hon. Friend the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies would go to the justification of virtual slavery in Queensland. [Mr. KNATCHBULL-HUGESSEN: No, no!] What was taking place there was like the beginning of African slavery; and they must take care that the same results did not occur. He (Mr. Kinnaird) was happy to find from the despatches of Lord Kimberley that the subject was being taken up by the Government—he thought the despatches were better than the speeches of his hon. Friend — but at the same time the matter required to be closely watched, for while they gave utterance to sound principles, they were sometimes apt to be lax in insisting on their being carried out in practice.

Motion, by leave, withdrawn.