HL Deb 03 May 1872 vol 211 cc184-9

Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY

, in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said, that those of their Lordships who had read the Papers which had been presented to Parliament on this subject would agree with him in opinion that legislation had been made imperatively necessary by the circumstances which had arisen in late years. The great extension of communication with the South Sea Islands and their rapid colonization by Europeans had brought about a state of things which did not exist a few years ago. At present there was a great desire that those colonies which were suited to the growth of tropical products should be supplied with labour other than that of Whites, and Polynesian labourers were in great demand for that purpose. This immigration of Polynesian labourers was confined principally to the colony of Queensland and the settlements in the Fiji Islands. The immigration to Queensland had been placed under strict regu- lations by the law of the colony, which provided on the whole in an effective manner for the protection of the labourers who had arrived in the colony. Some doubt had been expressed on that point; but as far as he had been able to learn from various sources, and especially from his noble Friend the Marquess of Normanby, who had lately gone out as Governor, there existed a real desire on the part of the Colonial Legislature to make efficacious provision for the protection of the labourers, and if further legislation should be required no indisposition would be found to pass more effectual and stringent laws. But, of course, the Legislature of Queensland could make regulations only with regard to the labourers who had come to the colony and the vessels which arrived within their ports and came under their own jurisdiction. But a system had grown up of late by which vessels belonging—he was afraid to a great extent—to the subjects of Her Majesty went to the South Sea Islands, decoyed the natives on board, or frequently carried them on board by force, and conveyed them to the settlement in the Fiji Islands, over which the Queensland Legislature had no control whatever, and where no sufficient regulations for the protection of these poor men existed. He would not weary their Lordships with an account of the atrocities committed in the course of this traffic. The masters of vessels who had engaged to procure a certain number of labourers were not likely to be exceedingly scrupulous as to the manner in which those labourers might be obtained: and if their Lordships could conceive how extremely numerous were the persons engaged in this business, how varied their influence, and how many opportunities they had of evading any regulations which Her Majesty's cruisers might attempt to enforce, they would feel no surprise that very great evils had grown up. He could not help referring here to what he might term the crowning atrocity of the murder of Bishop Patteson. He called it "the crowning atrocity," not because he laid such great blame upon the islanders, though they had been guilty of an inhuman and cruel act, by which they had themselves sustained the greatest loss, as on that system of kidnapping which had led to the loss of a valued friend—for the late Bishop had been a valued friend of his—and he could affectionately testify to the value of his services in the sphere to which he was called. Nothing could have been more melancholy. Here was a man who had devoted his whole life to the spread of Christianity and civilization, and to the improvement in every way of the natives of these islands. We had the strongest testimony that the Bishop was universally loved and regarded by the natives with the utmost veneration, and such was the influence which he had acquired over them that whatever he did or recommended was received with implicit trust. When a feeling of trust of that kind was once established in the minds of these uncivilized people, the revulsion was all the greater when they supposed that their trust had been misplaced. The reason why the natives believed that their confidence had been misplaced was this: These atrocious kidnappers actually made use of signals and disguises to induce the natives to think that the Bishop was about to visit them and to make them come on shipboard: but the result of the stratagem was that when they came on board they were seized and carried off to the Fiji Islands: So that when the vessel with the Bishop on board arrived, the natives, under the miserable and melancholy misapprehension that the Bishop was in reality an enemy, took their miserable revenge and took the life of their best friend. The guilt, therefore, rested not so much upon the natives as upon those treacherous traffickers who had brought about such a state of mind in these unhappy people. And here he must say that he regretted what was stated to have been done when the cruiser Rosario visited these Islands. It was necessary that the natives should be made to feel that a civilized country was strong enough to avenge any atrocity committed on its subjects. But the House would agree with him that a power of this kind should be very cautiously and sparingly used, and he was quite sure that those who had read almost the last words of Bishop Patteson himself would especially lament the steps which he was informed had been taken to avenge the murder. He was quite certain that the commander of the Rosario acted in the belief that he was only performing his duty, and he was not, therefore, disposed to east too great blame upon him. Those who were employed at a distance from home, and who had to act often under circumstances of great difficulty, had a heavy responsibility to bear, and we should always be exceedingly careful in finding fault with them: but he was bound to say that in his opinion, if what was stated was correct, the commander of the Rosario had in this matter misapprehended his duty, and in his desire to do what he believed necessary for the protection of the lives of Her Majesty's subjects, and from no spirit of cruelty, had proceeded to measures which might leave an impression upon the minds of the natives which it was most undesirable should be produced. The Bill now before their Lordships would, he hoped, give such power to the cruisers sent to those seas as would to a considerable extent put a stop to kidnapping. At the same time, so vast was the number of these Islands, so large the region over which they extended from east to west, and so great the difficulty of detection, that even with the most active measures and the most efficient laws it would be exceedingly hard to extirpate the practice. The clauses of the Bill had been most carefully framed with a view to the necessary powers, and it was proposed to punish kidnappers in the same manner as under the Slave Trade Acts. With the co-operation of the Australian Colonies, and from the feeling expressed there, we had every reason to expect much good would be done. While the Colonial Government and Legislature would feel that a responsibility rested upon us to do whatever might be necessary, they might be fairly called upon to assist us by their laws and by enforcing the regulations which might be required. There were two or three points in which the Bill might be improved. In the passage of the measure through the other House it was pointed out that it would be very desirable that all those engaged in carrying labourers from those Islands should be licensed to do so under bond, so that no vessels not duly authorized should be allowed to take any part in the traffic. Such a provision would give much greater control over the whole system; and though it was not thought desirable to delay the Bill in the other House until a clause to give effect to that suggestion had been framed, he was happy to say he had been able to draw up a clause to carry out that object. As to the establishment of a Vice Admiralty Court in the Fiji Islands, that involved a question of great difficulty, which, he thought, ought not to be dealt with in this Bill. The establishment of such a Court might involve the assumption of jurisdiction over these Islands. He thought that after this Bill had passed we should be able by communication with the settlers in these Islands to establish a satisfactory and stringent system of punishment for these offenders, and he feared it would prejudice the opportunity of making such arrangements if our proposals were anticipated by statute. Her Majesty's Government had this most important subject at heart, and he sincerely trusted that the measures they were prepared to take would have the effect they desired.

Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a."—(The Earl of Kimberley.)

THE BISHOP OF LICHFIELD

expressed his thanks to Her Majesty's Government for having introduced this measure—and he might be allowed to state that he had considerable knowledge of the subject, because the miserable traffic it was sought to put down commenced under his own observation in 1848. He regarded the Bill as a useful instalment of means for preventing the continuance of this enormous and disgraceful evil. No doubt there might be some difficulty in carrying out a system of repression; especially as the natives, numbering about 1,000,000, were scattered over 500 islands; but he believed a few examples would be very effective in checking the traffic. The only just principle upon which labourers could be engaged for labour in these Islands was that of fair and well understood contracts between the white and coloured men. He thought a system similar to that adopted on the West Coast of Africa might be successful in stopping unlawful traffic. With regard to the unhappy occurrence to which the noble Earl had alluded, and as to which Papers had yet to be laid on the Table, he (the Bishop of Lichfield) visited the island 14 years ago, and, it being the most friendly in the group, it was deemed a convenient stepping-stone to some of the larger and more difficult islands. Bishop Patteson was accordingly accustomed to visit it; and he felt persuaded that his death was the result of some act of aggression by others—whether kidnapping or slaughter. The island was no larger in area than the site of the Houses of Parliament, and there being no shelter upon it the islanders could not possibly have defended themselves against a boat's crew. Why the Rosario went there he could not understand; but on a boat's crew proceeding up a narrow channel, the natives, no doubt thinking their purpose a hostile one, shot at them, and killed one of the crew, whose lives were thus unnecessarily risked. The reprisals thereupon taken were, he supposed, intended for a retaliation of that act; but this was not the way in which the dignity of the Empire or the majesty of the law should be vindicated. Such acts led the natives to regard us, though professing to be Christians, as more barbarous than themselves, and he would express a hope, as the late lamented Bishop had done, that if a missionary lost his life by violence neither the British nor any other Government would carry out any measures of revenge. Missionaries went on their own responsibility, and desired to leave persons guilty of violence towards them to the judgment of God alone.

Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Tuesday next.