I draw your attention to this point, in order that the Legislature may make such provision, in accordance with the above instructions, as they may consider to be under the existing circumstances required. I have, &c. (signed) H. Labouchere. P.S.-You will find in the accompanying Parliamentary Paper* the former instruction to the Emigration Agent at Sierra Leone, and various documents throwing light on this service. GRENADA, Vide Parl. Papers, No. 603 of 1850. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable the Lord Stanley, M. P. Sir, I have to request that you will ascertain from Lieutenant Governor Kortright whether he is able to remit funds to liquidate this account, or whether recourse is to he had to the Imperial Guaranteed Loan. No. 4. to Governor I have, &c. (signed) Stanley. Encicsure in No. 4. Encl. in No. 4. Sir, Emigration Office, 18 March 1858. WITH reference to our letter of the 7th December last, and to your answer of the 18th January, we have the honour to state that, upon an examination of the accounts rendered by Mr. Caird, the West Indian Emigration Agent at Calcutta, we find that a sum of 666 l. 4s. 11 d. was expended by him in the season of 1856-57, in despatching the ship "Maidstone," with Coolies, to the Colony of Grenada. 2. This sum is included in the advances made by the East India Company to Mr. Caird, and repaid by us to the Company out of the funds in our hands for the Colonies of British Guiana and Trinidad, subject to an ultimate apportionment of the expenditure among the Colonies concerned. The amount chargeable to Grenada being, however, now ascertained, we have the honour to request that the necessary steps may be taken to provide for the repayment to us of the above amount. 3. As the balance of the Immigration Fund on the 30th of September last amounted to 4277., it is possible that the Colonial Government may be able to pay this small sum without having recourse to the guaranteed loan. If, however, the repayment is long delayed, interest should be charged in favour of the colony of British Guiana, from whose funds the money was virtually advanced in December last. 4. We may add that, as has been usual in the case of British Guiana and Trinidad, we shall forward to Grenada, in explanation of the charge appearing against the colony in our accounts, a statement of the details furnished by Mr. Caird in respect of this expenditure. COPY of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable the Lord Stanley, M P. Sir, No. 5. Right Hon. Lord Stanley, M.P. to Governor Hincks. 26 April 1858. 21 April 1858. Enclosure. GRENADA. I have requested the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury to take steps for raising the portion of the Imperial Guaranteed Loan apportioned to Grenada, amounting to 7,000l. You will inform Lieutenant Governor Kortright that it will not be necessary, should he not already have done so, to remit the sum of 666 l. 4 s. 11 d. to which my Despatch of the 27th ultimo, Grenada, has reference. I have, &c. (signed) Stanley. Encl. in No. 5. Enclosure in No. 5. Sir, Emigration Office, 21 April 1858. WITH reference to our letter of this day's date, reporting the despatch of the ship "Fulwood" for Grenada, we have to request that the Lords of the Treasury may be moved, without delay, to raise the amount of the guaranteed loan appropriated to that Colony, in order to furnish funds for defraying the freight due on that ship, which, with the Indian expenses, will probably amount to upwards of 5,000l. As the "Fulwood" only left Calcutta on the 26th of February, it is not likely that the freight can be claimed in this country until the middle of June. 2. It will be seen by our letter of the 18th of March, written when we had given up all expectation that a coolie ship would be despatched to Grenada, that the sum of 666 l. 4s. 11d. was due to us from that Colony on account of expenses incurred in India in respect of the ship "Maidstone," and advanced virtually from the funds of British Guiana. And we understand that the Colony has been directed to repay us this sum from the Colonial Immigration Fund. 3. Under present circumstances, we would suggest that the Colonial Government should be at once advised, that as money will be raised in England to pay the freight of the "Fulwood," the above debt of 666l. 4s. 11d. will of course be defrayed from the same source, rendering any remittance from the Colony superfluous; and as we perceive that by the terms of the charterparty the freight is payable in cash or approved bills of exchange at the port of disembarkation, it would be desirable to inform the Governor that he is at liberty to draw bills on this Board for the amount due. 4. The share of the guaranteed loan appropriated to Grenada is, we believe, 7,000%.; and if this is the case, it will exceed our present liabilities by about 1,000l. No. 6. Right Hon. Lord Stanley, M.P. to Governor Hincks. 27 April 1858. 16 March 1858. Vide page 55. (No. 8.) Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable the Lord Stanley, M.P. to Governor Hincks. Sir, Downing-street, 27 April 1858. I HAVE to request that you will forward, for the consideration of the Lieutenant Governor of Grenada, copies of the 45th, 46th, and 47th paragraphs of the Land Board letter, enclosed in my Despatch, Barbadoes, No. 8, of the 16th instant. I have, &c. (signed) Stanley. No. 7. (No. 11.) COPY of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable the Lord Stanley, M.P. to Governor Hincks. Sir, Downing-street, 3 May 1858. I TRANSMIT for your information, and in order that it may be communicated Right Hon. to Governor Hincks. Emigration Com to the Lieutenant Governor of Grenada, copy of a report from the Emigration missioners, Commissioners, stating the number of vessels with coolie immigrants which have 21 April 1858. been despatched to the West Indies during the present year. I further enclose copy of a letter from the Acting Emigration Agent at Cal Vide page 150 of Part I, cutta, stating that the ship "Fulwood" had been despatched to Grenada with 6 March 1858, coolie immigrants. I have, &c. Enclosure 3. COPY of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable the Lord Stanley, M.P. to Governor Hincks. Sir, Downing-street, 8 May 1858. WITH reference to my Despatch of the 26th ult, Grenada, No. 6,* I have to acquaint you that the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury will take the necessary steps for raising the sum of 7,000l. on account of that Island, and that in the meantime you may consider yourself authorised, should it be necessary, to draw upon the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners for the amount required to make the payments becoming due on account of immigration. I have, &c. (No. 2.) - No. 9. No. 0. COPY of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart., M. P. Right Hon. to Governor Hincks. Sir, Downing-street, 11 June 1858. I TRANSMIT to you for your information a copy of a letter from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, with the accounts enclosed, so far as they relate to Grenada, submitting the mcde of apportionment between the different West India Colonies concerned, of Mr. Caird's expenditure for coolie emigra ́tion during the seasons of 1855-6 and 1856-7. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart., M. P. Right Hon. to Governor Hincks. Sir, Downing-street, 15 July 1858. On the receipt of your Despatch of the 10th May, Grenada, No. 19, forwarding Lieutenant Governor Kortright's Report on the Blue Book for that Island, for the year 1857, I directed so much of it as had reference to the question of immigration, to be referred to the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, for any observations they might have to make upon it. Sir E. B. Lytton, GRENADA. 7 July 1858. Enclosure. I transmit to you for your information a copy of the answer received from the Commissioners. I have read with much regret the amount of the large mortality which has occurred amongst the immigrants, and I have to request that you will instruct the Officer administering the Government of Grenada, to send home at the end of six months from the arrival of the "Fulwood," (the ship which will have arrived with immigrants from India subsequently to the date of Lieutenant Governor Kortright's Despatch,) the Report on the state of the immigrants suggested by the Commissioners; as I concur with them in opinion that Her Majesty's Government could not allow the immigration to continue if it were to be attended with such a mortality as has occurred amongst the immi. grants brought by the "Maidstone." I request that you will also call the attention of the Officer administering the Government, to the suggestion made by the Commissioners, that an Act should be passed for regulating emigration from Grenada to the neighbouring Colonies. I have, &c. (signed) E. B. Lytton. Encl. in No. 10. Enclosure in No. 10. Sir, Emigration Office, 7 July 1858. 2. Mr. Kortright states that the scarcity of agricultural labour in Grenada is a source of great anxiety to all connected with the progress of the Colony; that the facility with which land may be obtained causes a continual diminution of the population which work for wages; that there is morcover an emigration of labourers to Trinidad, where the wages are nominally higher, but expenses greater; that under these circumstances it will be necessary to look to immigration to maintain the cultivation of the Island, and that the native labourers, so far from regarding the immigrant with jealousy, look upon him as affording them a future means of escape from the necessity of working for hire. The good effect of the immigrans by the "Maidstone" is to be seen, Mr. Kortright says, in the locality where they have principally been placed, by an increase of the crop of 1858, as compared with the crop of 1857. 3. From Mr. Cockburn's report it appears, that of the 283 immigrants who arrived in Grenada in the "Maidstone" on the 1st May 1857, no less than 50, or 173 per cent. had died before the 31st of December following. The deaths are said to have occurred chiefly among those who were landed from the ship in a state of weakness, which is corroborated by the fact that the principal cause assigned in the mortality return, is "debility," and that of the whole number of deaths, 25, or exactly one-half, occurred before the end of the first month, while the deaths in November were four, and in December only two. It is added, that notwithstanding the mortality the average sickness had not been more than usual. There can be no doubt that the planters of Grenada will for their own sakes, if from no higher motive, take all the care in their power of the immigrants; but the rate of mortality after arrival will require to be carefully watched, if immigration into Grenada is to be continued. 4. In regard to the survivors, Mr. Cockburn reports that they are working well, and giving satisfaction to their employers; that their work, though not so vigorous, is neater than that of the native; that the best hands earn 10d. and the others 8d. and 6d a day, and all receive 3 d. an hour for extra work; and that although there have been a few complaints of their conduct, only three were of sufficient magnitude to be taken into court. 5. In regard to the native population Mr. Cockburn confirms Lieutenant Governor Kortright's statement as to their disinclination to labour for wages, their satisfaction at the introduction of coolie labourers, and the extent to which they are becoming owners and le sees of land. With reference to the last point he mentions three estates of 492, 522, and 400 acres respectively, which have been recently taken on lease by persons of this class, and are in a fair way of being made as productive as in former times; and he expresses his conviction that immigation alone can afford assistance to the agricultural interest, and prevent the gradual deterioration of the condition of the Colony. 6. Since Mr. Kortright's Dispatch was written, another coolie ship, the "Fulwood," will have arrived in Grenada with immigrants, and it will be very important to watch the mortality among those landed from her, and to trace it, if possible, to its causes. Essential as immigration must be allowed to be to the Colony, Her Majesty's Government would not be justified in continuing it if generally attended with a mortality like that of the "Maidstone." I would suggest that the Lieutenant Governor's attention, should be par ticularly ticularly directed to this point, and that he should be desired to furnish a report on it at the GRENADA. end of six months from the arrival of the "Fulwood." 7. The only practical question which arises on this Despatch relates to the emigration from Grenada to Trinidad. The Lieutenant Governor reports that the vessels in which this emigration is carried on are very small and inadequate vessels, of from 8 to 15 tons, carrying sometimes 30 or 40 persons; and that he has been repeatedly urged to bring them by proclamation under the Passengers' Act, but that he cannot fairly declare the passage between Grenada and Trinidad to exceed three days. The motive of those who have urged this course was, apparently, to put an obstacle in the way of the emigration to Trinidad; and Mr. Kortright was of course right in not adopting such a measure as a means of restricting the freedom of the labouring class. It is for the planters to offer such terms to the labourers as shall leave them nothing to desire in Trinidad; and it is impossible not to assent to the opinion expressed by Mr. Hincks in his Despatch of 26th of May last, on immigration into Tobago, that it is a wasteful and unwise policy to import labour from India at a heavy expense to the public revenue, while the planters, to avoid the expense of increased wages which would fall on them individually, allow their native population to be withdrawn from them by the higher wages of a neighbouring Colony. But, on the other hand, it is not right that out of an apprehension of appearing to interfere with the rights of the labouring population the passenger traffic should be allowed to be carried on in a manner which the Lieutenant Governor describes, with evident truth, as objectionable on the ground of morality and decency, and attended with imminent risk to the lives of all on board, in the event of bad weather. The remedy is, not to stretch the meaning of the Passengers' Act so as to bring these short voyages within its scope, but to pass a Colonial Act, making such regulations as the circumstances may seem to require, in regard to the numbers to be carried in vessels sailing from Grenada to neighbouring Colonics, the space to be allowed to each, the amount of provisions and water to be put on board, and the survey and approval of the vessel by a competent officer before she sails. The Passengers' Act will suggest the nature of the provisions to be enacted, which should be limited to what can be enforced before the vessel leaves the ports of the Colony; and care should be taken not to impose any restrictions which are not absolutely required, and which would prove an unnecessary obstacle to the free movement of the population. But Mr. Kortright will of course bear in mind, in determining the length of voyage of a passenger ship, and the stores therefore to be put on board, that he should have reference not to average but to maximum No. 11. CUPY of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart., M.P. Right Hon. to Governor Hincks. Sir, Downing-street, 4 September 1858. I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch of the 27th July, Grenada, No. 35, and I have to acquaint you, in reply, that in the event of the resumption of coolie immigration to that Island, Mr. Caird will be instructed to continue to act for it, as Emigration Agent at Calcutta. I have, &c. (signed) E. B. Lytton. Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart., M. P. to Governor Hincks. 4 September 1858. • Page 93. No. 12. (No. 16.) Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart., M.P. Right Hon. Sir, to Governor Hincks. Downing-street, 4 September 1858. Sir E. B. Lytton, I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch of the 10th July, Grenada, 4 September 1858. No. 34, respecting coolie immigration into that Island. I transmit to you a copy of a letter from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, to whom I directed a copy of your Despatch to be referred. With regard to the statement to which you call my attention, that very few of the coolie immigrants who have arrived get the 10 d. a day which is the market rate of wages for the able-bodied labourers, 1 request that you will 26 August 1858. Enclosure. + Page 91. |