ST. VINCENT. In reply, I am directed to remark that it has been usual to make a reference to the Government of India before pronouncing an opinion on Acts of the Colonial Legislatures relating to the emigration of natives of India. But the Act of the Legislature of St. Vincent being based on that under which emigration is at present carried on to Grenada, and the amendments proposed by the Emigration Commissioners tenling to remove the slight differences which exist between the two Acts, the Court will not make any objection to the course proposed to be taken by Lord Stanley. They propose, howev er, to forward a copy of the correspon lence, and of the Act, to the Government of India, and they would wish it to be understood that that Government will be at liberty to suggest any further alterations which they may think desirable; and that it rests with the Government of India to decide whether and when effect is to be given to the Act, so far as relates to the territories under the administration of the East India Company. The Secretary India Board. I have, &c. (signed) J. D. Dickinson. No. 5. The Right Hon. 29 June 1858. * Page 128. 23 June 1858. COPY of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart., M.P. to Governor Hincks. (No. 2.) Sir, Downing-street, 29 June 1858. I HAVE received your Despatch, No. 22,* in which you enclose copy of one from Lieutenant Governor Eyre, reporting the views entertained in the Colony of St. Vincent on the subject of the emigration of captured Africans to the West Indies, and I transmit to you the copy of a letter from the Emigration Commissioners in relation to that subject. I have communicated a copy of Lieutenant Governor Eyre's Despatch to the (signed) Sir, 2. In our report of 17th February last we explained the arrangement which we had concluded with Messrs. Hyde, Hodge & Co. for the conveyance of Africans from Sierra Leone to the West Indies, and we pointed out the proportions in which, supposing the emigration to continue, the several Colonies should participate in it. We likewise proposed that the first ships should be sent to British Guiana, Trinidad, and St. Lucia, as being the Colonies which had shown the strongest desire for immigration. 3. As we have heard of no more captures of slavers there is little probability that the turn of St. Vincent to receive emigrants from Africa will come round at present. Nevertheless it may be as well to communicate to the Governor of Sierra Leone the rate of wages prevailing in St. Vincent, viz., 8 d. a day, with a provision-ground and cottage, and from 10 d. to Is. without, and also to inform him that the Legislature of St. Vincent express their willingness to adopt the arrangement existing in British Guiana and Trinidad, for the payment of a bounty of 5 l. per adult on any person who may be placed on board any of the contractors' ships by authority of the Governors of Sierra Leone or St. Helena. Beyond this no practical step remains to be taken at present. 4. In his Despatch Governor Hincks enters on the question as to the sufficiency of the wages prevailing in St. Vincent; and points out that although there is a great demand for labour in Grenada and St. Vincent, and although the former Colony has imported immigrants at a great expense, there is a constant stream of emigration from those islands to Trinidad. The cause he assumes to be the insufficiency of the wages offered in those islands. It is extremely probable that Mr. Hincks is right. At the same time the question is one in which the Home Government could not interfere, but in which, if an error prevails, it must be left to the self interest of those on the spot to correct it. Herman Merivale, Esq. &c. &c. &c. I have, &c. (signed) T. W. C. Murdoch. (No. 6.) - No. 6. ST. VINCENT. No. 6. The Right Hon. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart, M.P. Sir E. B. Lytton, Sir, to Governor Hincks. Downing-street, 31 July 1858. I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch of the 14th June, St. Vincent, No. 31,* with copy of a Despatch from Lieutenant Governor Eyre, forwarding a copy of a Resolution of the Executive Council of that island, praying for a guarantee to a loan not exceeding 20,000 l. for immigration purposes. I have to acquaint you in reply, that however desirous Her Majesty's (signed) Bart., M.P. to Governor Hincks 31 July 1858. Page 131. (No. 11.) No. 7. No. 7. The Right Hon. COPY of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart., M.P. Bart., M.P., to to Governor Hincks. Downing-street, 12 August 1858. Sir, I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch of the 14th June, St. Vincent, No. 34,† with a Despatch from Lieutenant Governor Eyre, forwarding a proclamation, dated the 2d June, for amending the previous proclamation of the 3d November last, fixing the rates of bounty to be paid on immigrants arriving in that island. I have to convey to you my approval of this proclamation. Governor Hincks. 12 August 1858. + Page 133. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Honourable Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart, M.P. The Right Hon. to Governor Hincks. Sir, Downing-street, 4 September 1858. I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch of the 27th July, St. Vincent, No. 38. transmitting, with other documents, a request from the House of Assembly, that 500 Chinese immigrants may be sent to that island without delay. I request that you will instruct Lieutenant Governor Eyre to inform the Assembly in reply, that I am unable to meet their wishes, as no scheme has been sanctioned by Her Majesty's Government for the introduction of Chinese into the West Indies to be paid for from public funds. I must, moreover, observe, that the cost of introducing 500 Chinese would amount to a sum of not less than 12,500 7., and that the expense of one ship only could be calculated at less than 6,000 l.; whereas it would appear, from Lieutenant Governor Eyre's Despatch, which you have forwarded, that the funds applicable for this service at the end of this year could not exceed 3,635 l. I have, &c. Sir E. B. Lytton, 4 September 1858, Page 136. ST. KITTS. Despatches from the Governor. ST. KITTS. No. 1. Governor Hamilton to the Right Hon. H.Labouchere,M.P. 11 April 1857. Vide Appendix, No. 13, page 324. COPY of a DESPATCH from Governor Hamilton to the Right Honourable Sir, Leeward Islands, Antigua, 11 April 1857. (Received, 2 May 1857.) (Answered, No. 111, 22 July 1857, p. 158.) I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith authenticated printed transcripts of an Act passed by the Legislature of St. Christopher, intituled, "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Rights of liberated Africans,' in the Islands of St. Christopher and Anguilla, and to amend the Laws relating to Aliens.” 2. The accompanying correspondence* will make known to you the circumstances under which I was induced to authorise the Lieutenant Governor to assent to this Act. I have, &c. (signed) K. B. Hamilton. Encl. 1, in No. 1. Sir, (No. 72.) Enclosure 1, in No. 1. St. Christopher, 18 December 1856. 2. This Bill proposes to go further than the suggestions of the Secretary of State in reference to "liberated Africans," transmitted in your Despatch, No. 26 of the 28th of August last, inasmuch as it declares that any person born abroad of a mother being a natural-born subject, as also any woman marrie to a natural born subject, or person naturalised, shall have all the rights and privileges of natural-born subjects; and it further extends to all aliens being subjects of a friendly State, the proprietary rights of natural-born British subjects within this Island and Anguilla, restricting these latter, however, from the enjoyment of certain specified political privileges. 3. In conformity with the Royal instructions, this Bill contains a suspending clause. I HAVE received your Despatch, No. 72 of the 18th instant, enclosing transcript of a Bill passed by the Council and Assembly of St. Christopher, intituled, "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Rights of liberated Africans in the Islands of St. Christopher and Anguilla, and to amend the Laws relating to Aliens." 2. It * Lieutenant Governor Robinson to Governor Hamilton, No. 72, 18 December 1856. Governor Hamilton to Lieutenant Governor Robinson, No. 44, 26 December. Lieutenant Governor Robinson to Governor Hamilton, No. 1, 1 January 1857. Governor Hamilton to Lieutenant Governor Robinson, No. 4, 9 January 1857. Lieutenant Governor Robinson to Governor Hamilton, No. 11, 15 January 1857. Governor Hamilton to Lieutenant Governor Robinson, No. 6, 23 January 1857. 2. It would, I think, be desirable that the two parts of the Bill relating to the rights of liberated Africans, and to the more extensive subject of aliens, should be separated into two Bills, in accordance with the Royal instructions, which in the passing of laws direct that whatever may be requisite upon each different matter, be provided for by a different law. 3. The first three clauses relating to liberated Africans have received the consideration of the Secretary of State in a similar enactment in another Colony, which has been assented to by Her Majesty in Council, and there can be no objection to them with the necessary clause. 4. The remainder of the Bill purports by the marginal reference to be taken for the 7 & 8 Vict. c 66; but the 5th clause goes beyond that statute, in proposing to enact that any alien being the subject of a friendly S'ate, shall and may take and hold by purchase, gift, bequest, representation, or otherwise, to him and his heirs, any real estate, while the Imperial Act allows only the taking and holding by aliens of personal property, except chattels real, and the taking and holding of lands, houses, and tenements, for residence, occupation, business, trade, or manufacture, for a certain period. 5. It is with reference to this part of the Bill that I think it had better be divided into two enactments; for the rights of liberated Africans, about which there is no question, may be postponed, in case Her Majesty's Government shall object to the provisions of the Bill in regard to aliens. It is rightly stated by the Attorney General in his summary, that the 5th clause is taken from an Act recently passed in Nevis, but the subject should be separately submitted for consideration. 6. There is also an inaccuracy in the language of the 5th, 7th, and 8th clauses of the Bill in referring to the time of the passing of the Act, instead of the time when the Act shall come into operation. 7. It is also proper that a Bill enabling aliens to hold any species of personal property should contain a provision that the enactment shall not be deemed to interfere with the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104. His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, I have, &c. Governor in Chief. St. Kitts. Enclosure 3, in No. 1. (No. 1) Sir, St. Christopher, 1 January 1857. I HAVE received your Excellency's Despatch, No. 44 of the 26th ultimo, containing observations upon a Bill lately passed by the Council and Assembly of this Island, intituled, "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Right of liberated Africans in the Islands of St. Christopher and Anguilla, and to amend the Laws relating to Aliens ;" and in reference to the objections raised by your Excellency to this proposed enactment, I have the honour to transmit herewith a report which I have received from the Crown law officer. 2. I am precluded by the rules and practice of the Legislative Houses of this Island from taking any steps for bringing this proposed enactment under their consideration in its present state. I shall, therefore, be glad to receive definite instructions for my guidance, whether I am to assent to or disallow this Bill, as I fail to discover in your Despatch, No. 44, an intimation of the precise course which your Excellency would now wish me to pursue in this respect. His Excellency the Governor in Chief, &c. &c. &c. I have, &c. (signed) Hercules G. R. Robinson. Sir, ST. KITTS. Encl. 3, in No. 1. Enclosure 4, in No. 1. Encl. 4, in No. 1. Antigua, Government House, I HAVE received your Despatch, No. 1, of the 1st instant, with a report of the Crown law officer on the subject of the Bill, intituled, "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Rights of liberated Africans in the Islands of St. Christopher and Angilla, and to amend the Laws relating to Aliens," and informing me that you were precluded, by the rules and regulations of the Legislative Houses, from taking any steps to bring the proposed enactment under their reconsideration. 2. The law officer of the Crown states that the Bill in question embraces but one subjectmatter; but he also states, that while it naturalises liberated Africans and females married to British subjects, it confers on certain aliens privileges far short of naturalisation, which appear to me distinct subjects. It confers on all aliens, subjects of a friendly State, the right to hold, without naturalisation, every description of personal property; and, to prevent misconception, I thought it desirable that there should be an exception in regard to vessels, by an express recognition of the Merchant Shipping Act. ST. KITTS. Encl. 5, in No. 1. 3. By the 25th section of the Royal instructions, the Governor is prohibited from assenting to any Bill for establishing a title in any person to lands, tenements, or real estate, purchased by aliens, antecedent to naturalisation; and this Bill will recognise the title of aliens without naturalisation to land acquired from the passing of this Bill, and antecedent to Her Majesty's assent. The language, therefore, in the 5th, 7th, and 8th clauses, to which I have referred as inaccurate, was proper in the Nevis Act, to which I was authorised to assent without a suspending clause. 4. If, however, you are of opinion that the two measures cannot be disunited, without risking the ultimate failure of both, as intimated by the law officer of the Crown, you have my authority to assent to the Bill, in order that I may refer the same to Her Majesty's Secretary of State. 5. I transmit for your information the copy of the opinion of the Solicitor General of this Island on the measure. I have, &c. (signed) Ker B. Hamilton, &c. Governor in Chief. Enclosure 5, in No. 1. Enel. 6, in No. 1. (No. 11.) Sir, St. Christopher, 15 January 1857. I HAVE received your Excellency's Despatch, No. 4 of the 9th instant, enclosing, for my information, a copy of the opinion of the Solicitor General of Antigua upon the Alien Bill lately passed by the Council and Assembly of this Island, and I have the honour to transmit a further report which I have received from the Crown law officer upon the subject. 2. I do not feel authorised to accord the Executive assent to this proposed enactment without further instructions from your Excellency, as the authority to assent to the Bill conveyed in the 4th paragraph of your Despatch is contingent upon my being " of opinion that the two measures cannot be disunited without risking the ultimate failure of both." 3. I can see no grounds for arriving at such a conclusion; on the contrary, so far as it is possible to form any conjecture as to the course which a new House of Assembly might pursue in a future Session, I am disposed to think that every disposition would be evinced to entertain, at the proper time, any reasonable amendment. 4. But I am advised by the law officer of the Crown that the Bill must, in the first instance, either be assented to or disallowed. If disallowed, I am informed that the House of Assembly would not reconsider the question in the present Session, as they have repeatedly declined entertaining the same measure twice in the same Session; and as prorogation would at present be inconvenient, the measure would probably be shelved until the end of this year, or the commencement of 1858. 5. Under these circumstances, it remains for your Excellency to determine, irrespective of the merits of the objections raised, or the question as to the measure being ultimately passed in another shape or not, whether in the meanwhile the Bill may be assented to for the purpose of being referred to the Secretary of State. 6. It appears to me that neither delay nor inconvenience can result from the adoption of such a course, while on the contrary much good may follow; for if the measure be objected to in its present shape, we shall then be placed in a position, long before the Bill can, under any circumstances, be again brought before the Legislative Houses, to frame a new enactment or enactments in such a manuer as to ensure the approval of Her Majesty's Secretary of State. Antigua, Government House, 23 January 1857. (No. 6.) Sir, I HAVE received your Despatch, No. 11 of the 15th instant, requesting further instructions with reference to the Bill, intituled, "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Right of liberated Africans in the Islands of St. Christopher and Anguilla, and to amend the Laws relating to Aliens," in which you state you had, been informed that, if the Bill were disallowed, the House of Assembly would not re-consider the subject in the present session, and that as a prorogation would be inconvenient, the measure would probably be shelved until the end of this year or the commencement of 1858. 2. Under these circumstances, I authorise you to assent to the Bill. 3. It is to be regretted that any rules should prevail with the Assembly by which important measures may be indefinitely postponed; and I may express the hope that a rule so di advantageous to the progress of public business may be hereafter modified. 4. I cannot, however, in reference to future legislation, consider the existence of rule as authorising a departure from a Royal instruction. any such I have, &c. (signed) Ker B. Hamilton, Governor in Chief. |