§ MR. MACNEILLI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the attention of Lord Salisbury, in his capacity of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has been directed to the following passage in the Chilian Times of the 7th December, 1889, the only English Paper printed in Chili, and reproduced in the Freeman's Journal of the 28th January, 1890:
We regret to say that the Government agents are making things very unpleasant with regard to British immigrants. The old frauds with respect to the value of money and the rates of wages are being perpetrated again, with the result that a considerable number of British immigrants are dependent upon the charity of their countrymen for support. All applicants are strongly recommended to come out, no matter what their trade may he or whether they have a trade or not, and they are assured that work at fabulously high wages awaits them on arrival…As an instance of the sufferings to which British immigrants are exposed, we may mention that a meeting, at which the British Minister presided, was held at Santiago last Saturday evening to establish a fund for the relief of distressed immigrants.And whether the Government will take any measures in the future to check frauds on the part of emigration agents and to relieve the distress of the dupes of these agents?
§ SIR J. FERGUSSONThe particular statements mentioned in the question have not been reported to the Foreign Office, but a Report on emigration to Chili has been received from Her Majesty's Minister at Santiago, and is being printed for Parliament, and will be communicated to the Emigrant Inquiry Office. It is stated in that Report that certain emigrants from this country had found difficulty in obtaining employment, and that the Chilian Government had assisted them in doing so. The attention which has been attracted to the subject may serve as a caution to intending emigrants, but Her Majesty's Government cannot undertake responsibility for the acts of agents who are not under their control.