§ SIR W. WEDDERBURN (Banffshire)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India whether the attention of the Secretary of State for India has been drawn to a recent Judgment delivered by Justices Prinsep and Trevelyan, of the Calcutta High Court, in the case of George Murray, manager of a tea garden at Rangamati, who appealed against the decision of the Deputy Commissioner of Jalpaiguri, convicting him under Sections 341 and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code, and sentencing him to one mouth simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs.500; whether the Secretary of State has observed that the Judges, in upholding: the conviction, remarked that the evidence shows that particularly the coolies employed on this tea garden were 21 always in a state of durance; when off work they were kept within a guarded enclosure, and even when they were at work on the tea garden they were watched by guards, that the manager dealt with his labourers in such a manner as completely to deprive them of any freedom of action, and thus practically reduce them for the term of their engagements to a state of slavery, that Mr. Murray had the assistance of the police, and that the circumstances of this case go to show the necessity for efficient inspection of the gardens; and whether, looking to the state of affairs disclosed by this Judgment, the Secretary of State will order a full and independent inquiry into the present condition of the coolies in Assam, and the working of the system under which their labour is obtained for the planters?
*MR. G. RUSSELL(1 and 2.) Yes, Sir. The attention of the Secretary of State has been drawn to the report of the Judgment referred to in the question, which relates to a garden situated not in Assam, but in the Dooars, where the Inland Emigration Acts are not in force. Full provision is made by these Acts for the efficient inspection of tea gardens and for the lodgment of complaints by coolies in districts where they are in operation. (3.) The condition of the coolies in Assam has recently been the subject of a protracted investigation by the Government of India; and certain Amendments of the Inland Emigration Act have consequently been passed by the Legislative Council. The general result of the investigation has, however, been to show that the condition of the labourers on tea gardens is superior to that of the masses in the districts from which they emigrate. It does not appear to the Secretary of State that it is necessary at present to have another inquiry; but the attention of the Government will be called, in reference to this case, to the necessity of enforcing a thoroughly efficient inspection. If any breach of the law is committed by interference with the liberty of the coolies, either in Assam or elsewhere, the offender, as shown by the result of the ease referred to in my hon. Friend's question, is liable to conviction and punishment.
§ SIR J. GORSTWill the hon. Gentleman have any objection to lay on the Table the recent correspondence 22 about the Assam Tea Gardens and the alterations in the laws regulating them made in consequence of it?