COMMITTEE. (Hansard, 7 May 1872)

THE EARL OF CARNARVON

said, that having been unfortunately absent from illness on the occasion of the second reading, he would beg permission to make a few observations now. He quite approved of the principle of the Bill; but he thought there had been great exaggeration in the stories of the kidnapping and treatment of the natives of the South Pacific. He thought there was a great distinction to be drawn between the natives of some of the islands—such as the Fijis and others, where, from the powerlessness of the Government, abuses very probably took place—and the natives of the Pacific Islands who were removed to Queensland. He was informed by persons of property and authority that in regard to the latter, in the great majority of cases, they went there of their own accord; that they were free to return after having served for the time stipulated in their indentures; and that during their stay they were much morally benefited, and, in some degree, civilized. At the same time, it might, no doubt, be desirable that the arrangements of the service should be supervised by the English Government, in order to make sure that it was carried on in a proper manner. He understood that the main difficulty with regard to these islanders was their feebleness of constitution, so that they readily succumbed to any attack of disease. On one other point, he desired to say a word. In the debate that took place upon the second reading of the Bill reference 369 was made to the murder of Bishop Patteson, and the noble Earl the Secretary for the Colonies was understood to have expressed himself in terms condemnatory of the proceedings that had since taken place. Now, all the facts attending the attack upon the ship were not yet known; but he believed that when the captain of the English vessel had proceeded to the island for the purpose of inquiry into the murder of the Bishop, he was fired at, and one of the crew was either killed or wounded, and therefore the captain assumed the aggressive. It certainly was not clear to him that the captain was wrong in so doing. It was at least a remarkable fact that many years before any question arose as to this illicit deportation of South Sea Islanders, one of the attendants of Bishop Patteson was murdered by the natives of this very island, in the self-same spot and under the eyes of the Bishop. It was anyhow clear from this that these natives were, apart from any sense of wrong done to them for the kidnapping of their own people, a barbarous and savage race. In the same discussion a right rev. Prelate (the Bishop of Lichfield) expressed an opinion that no retribution should be exacted for the murder of Bishop Patteson, but that it should be left to God to punish the offence, and that that would have been the feeling of Bishop Patteson. Such a sentiment might be very becoming in the mouth of a Christian Bishop; but the judgment by which the action of the State should be guided was very different, and he should be extremely sorry to see it accepted without some protest from that House. No one could entertain a higher opinion than himself of the late Bishop Patteson, who, he believed, fell a martyr in the cause of Christianity; but murder required punishment, and he did not think it well that in such a case the State should do nothing, but leave the matter to the vengeance of God.

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY

said, the noble Earl (the Earl of Carnarvon) had referred to a great number of subjects, into which he (the Earl of Kimberly) hoped the House would not expect him to follow, inasmuch as they really had no particular connection with the subject before their Lordships. The Commission on the subject of Coolie labourers 370 in British Guiana had carried on inquiries at the expense of its colony. It did not seem to him unreasonable that the colonies should bear the expense of such inquiries. Perhaps, in the case of Queensland, there might have been an apprehension that the inquiry would extend to matters which did not directly concern that colony; and on that ground objection was raised to the whole of the expense falling on the colony. It was said that the Imperial Government ought to have been more active in endeavouring to check this traffic. But to do so would be impossible without sending out such a fleet of cruisers as their Lordships probably never contemplated. These islands extended over thousands of miles of sea, and were hundreds—probably thousands—in number; and it would be quite impossible to keep an efficient police over such a network of islands, reefs, creeks, and harbours. The Government had, however, been endeavouring to do their best to meet the difficulties, and he hoped that with regard to some of these islands a tolerably good watch would be kept up. It had been resolved to reinforce the Australian Squadron, and to give instructions that steamers should visit the islands from time to time in order to prevent abuses. The best mode of preventing the evils which existed would, however, be found in making effective regulations with regard to these islanders when they arrived at their destination. He was, he might add, unable to agree to one suggestion which had been made, to the effect that those immigrants who might not have thoroughly comprehended the contract into which they had entered should be entitled to have that contract made void, and to be taken back to the place whence they came. There were two or three objections to the adoption of such a course. Who was to provide the funds for this purpose? If the immigrants were landed in Queensland, it was not a subject for Imperial but colonial legislation.