MAURITIUS. "Joker," and the cook had just fallen, a corpse, overboard. Of what avail, moreover, could the captain's and four men's interference be, in the midst of upwards of 100 insurgents, intoxicated with slaughter and formidably armed? Finding himself unable to lend assistance, and fully convinced of any endeavour to that effect being quite useless, he was compelled to row back and escape from the brisk fire of musketry directed against his boat by the engagés of the "Joker." Captain Martin and Captain Asp had for a moment thought of arming a couple of boutres, and endeavouring to regain possession of the vessel now occupied by the revolted engagés; but the Queen and Sidi Bonna opposed this attempt, under pretence that they could not allow any demonstration to take place against a vessel of which from that moment they instituted themselves the masters. 5. Retreat became now the most prudent measure to be had recourse to. The situation was fraught with danger; they were too weak for a struggle against a population of barbarians, ready for every extremity to assuage their thirst for blood, and satisfy their passion for pillage. The captain of the "Joker," with the remainder of his crew, and the missionaries who were at the Bay of Baly, embarked on board the "Frederick and Amelia," which forthwith set sail for Nossi Bé. During her voyage she fell in with the "Giraffe," a Government transport vessel, bound to Mayotta. Captain Martin, who went on board of the said vessel, met there the Commandant Supérieur of Mayotta and its dependencies; he gave to that functionary a detailed account of all that had taken place in the Bay of Baly. 6. After having collected with the most scrupulous attention all the information that was given to him on so horrid a disaster, the Commandant expressed his regret at being unable to send immediately a ship of war to Baly, having none of which he was prepared to dispose at that time. Captain Martin, after having left the "Giraffe," returned on board of his own vessel "Frederick and Amelia," which continued her voyage to Nossi Bé, where she landed on the 7th April last, the reverend fathers the missionaries, Captain Asp, and nine men of the "Joker's" crew. Encl. 3, in No. 6. Enclosure 3, in No. 6. LOOKING at the terms of the bond, I have great doubts whether it covers the offence with which Captain Asp is charged, the forfeiture therein provided being applied merely to cases of contravention of the "regulations," and the general words in the concluding paragraph being, in my opinion, meant only to apply to these cases. 2. The case, however, comes under the 3rd section of the 5th Geo. 4, c. 113, as extended by 6 & 7, c. 98, s. 1, under which statutes Captain Asp is liable, in a penalty of 100 l. for each slave purchased by him, or which he has "procured, counselled, aided, or abetted" in purchasing. 3. Accordingly, if Captain Asp shall return to Mauritius, I think an investigation should be commenced for having him tried under the statements referred to. There may be some difficulty as to the jurisdiction of any court here to entertain the case; but, without prejudging the case, as it may appear after investigation, I think, that the Supreme Court will be able to entertain it as representing the Court of Admiralty. (signed) W. G. Dickson, Encl. 4, in No. 6. Enclosure 4, in No. 6. KNOW all men by these presents, that I, Charles Augustus Asp, at present residing in the Town of Port Louis, in the Island of Mauritius, mariner, Master and Commander of the British barque called the "Joker," of the burthen of 136 tons, or thereabouts, am myself, and for the owners or owner of the said barque" Joker" held and firmly bound unto the Government of the Island of Mauritius, in the penal sum of 50. sterling, of lawful money of Great Britain, to be paid to the said Government of Mauritius, their attorney, agents, successors, or assigns, for which payment to be truly and faithfully made, I, for and on my own behalf and on behalf of the owners or owner of the said vessel, bind myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators firmly by these presents, this 20th day of August, in the year of our Lord, 1856. Whereas, by regulations published in the Mauritius Government Gazette, of the 24th May 1851, and entitled" Regulations for the conduct of immigration from Madagascar, it is stipulated and required that the master of every ship conveying or destined to convey immigrants from Madagascar to Mauritius, shall execute a bond binding himself and his owners in a penal sum not exceeding 50 l. sterling, to conform to the several conditions in the said regulations provided; and whereas the said Charles Augustus Asp is destined to convey from Madagascar to Mauritius a certain number of Malgassy immigrants not exceeding one for every two tons register, when bullocks are carried in the hold, or one for every ton register when the vessel carries no bullocks, provided that a sufficient space for one half of the immigrants to be in is reserved below the deck to the Port of Mauritius. And And whereas the said Charles Augustus Asp hath agreed to execute the bond required by the said regulations for the due performance of the conditions, provisions and restrictions therein contained. And whereas the said Charles Augustus Asp do and shall, well and truly in all things abide by, observe and keep all and singular the conditions, provisions and restrictions, which on the part and the behalf of the said owner or owners are or ought to be observed by and kept, and which are compromised and mentioned in the said regulations as aforesaid according to the true intent and meaning of the said regulations. And if the said Charles Augustus Asp do and shall immediately or as soon as possible after the arrival of the said vessel at the Port of Mauritius, deliver or cause to be delivered over to the protector of immigrants or other properly authorised public officers, the immigrants destined for the said port, then this obligation to be void and of no effect, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue. Signed and delivered at Port Louis in the presence of MAURITIUS. - No. 7. (No. 152.) COPY of a DESPATCH from Governor Higginson to the Right Honourable Sir, Mauritius, 12 August 1857. I BEG leave to recommend for confirmation the accompanying Ordinance, No. 22* of 1857, passed by the Legislative Council and myself, intituled, "To amend the Law relative to the engaging of newly arrived Immigrants." 2. I also submit for your information a copy of a correspondence that passed between the Colonial Government and the Chamber of Agriculture on the subject. 3. The Articles of Ordinance 15 of 1854, repealed by the new law, were found in practice to be open to some objections, which it is hoped that the provisions of that now enacted will obviate. These, as regards payment in full of all expenses of introduction, and the right of the party paying them, to claim from Government, in the event of immigrants so engaged not serving him for the full term of industrial residence, the amount of all stamp duty that may be levied on the subsequent engagements of such immigrants, are similar to the provisions contained in Ordinance 12 of 1855. 4. Under the Articles of Ordinance 15 of 1854, now repealed, parties were entitled to engage immigrants in excess of the annual quota assigned to them, by paying an extra tax of 3 l., in addition to the ordinary tax of 2 l. levied on each triennial engagement, aggregating 5 l. This amount being frequently less than the entire cost of introduction, and moreover, a bond at months' date being accepted by Government in lieu of cash, the gain to parties engaging labourers on such terms was stated by the Protector to have aggravated the evils arising from an increasing competition for men at the immigration depôt; whilst the delay allowed for payment of the extra tax caused a similar delay in the importation of fresh men, in lieu of those so taken. No. 7. Governor Higginson to the Right Hon. H. Labouchere, M.P. 12 August 1857. 5. The proposal of the Chamber of Agriculture, that the first employer of the immigrant so engaged should be entitled to receive from the person engaging him, on the expiration of his first three years' contract of service, two-fifths of the expense originally paid by him (the first employer), I considered to be inadmissible, for the reasons that induced me to reject an application from the same body, for the introduction of a similar clause into Ordinance 12 of 1855, and which I explained in submitting that Ordinance for confirmation. MAURITIUS. Encl. 1, in No. 7. Sir, Enclosure 1, in No. 7. Colonial Secretary's Office, 15 November 1856. 1. IN communicating the accompanying Memorandum, drawn up by the Protector of Immigrants, to the Chamber of Agriculture, for the expression of its opinion on the suggestions therein contained, I have the honour to intimate to you that his Excellency the Governor concurs in the main proposition involved, viz., to repeal Articles 6 and 7 of Ordinance No. 15 of 1854, and, in lieu thereof, to apply the provisions of Ordinance No. 12 of 1855 to the introduction of all labourers that may be required by planters in excess of the annual quota assigned to each of the number introduced at Government expense. 2. At the period of the late Ordinance being enacted, the effect of the previous Ordinance upon its beneficial operation was apprehended; but it was deemed advisable to test the combined working of the two before repealing the above-cited Articles of Ordinance No. 15 of 1854; and, according to the information now furnished, the trial has not been successful. 3. Of the increased demand for labour there can be no doubt. It is, indeed, the natural consequence of the industrial progress which the Colony is so rapidly making; but, for the reasons assigned in the Memorandum, the rush to the depôt to recruit on the arrival of every emigrant ship can scarcely be taken as an accurate criterion of the extent of this increase; for, although it may be quite true that emergencies not unfrequently occur, when additional hands become so indispensable for an estate, that the cost of obtaining them is but a secondary consideration, it is no less true that planters endeavour to procure men on the least onerous terms available. Hence the system of recruitement at the depôt, and even on board of vessels before the emigrants are landed, and the fierce competition there, which often leads to scenes and transactions little creditable to the parties engaged in them, and which, the Chamber will no doubt agree, that it is exceedingly desirable to see repressed. 4. It appears to his Excellency that by the measure now proposed, employers generally would be placed at once on a more healthy and a more equitable footing, and that the existing temptation to the unfair advantage taken by the less scrupulous would cease, whilst the certainty of obtaining labour would be greater for those who are able and willing to pay the full cost of its introduction. 5. In reference to the expediency of sending recruiters to India, the planter's own experience will form his best guide. Such misconduct and disappointments as are pointed out by the Protector will, no doubt, sometimes occur; but his Excellency apprehends that if intelligent and trustworthy agents be selected, their assistance in procuring labourers will always be found more or less valuable. The President of the Chamber of Agriculture. I have, &c. F. Dowland, Encl. 2, in No. 7. Enclosure 2, in No. 7. To the Honourable H. Sandwith, Colonial Secretary. Sir, Port Louis, 24 June 1857. 1. WITH reference to a communication from your predecessor, under date the 15th November last, and to the draft of Ordinance for "Amending the Law relative to the engaging of newly-arrived Immigrants," published in the Government Gazette of the 6th instant, I am directed to transmit to you, for the consideration of his Excellency the Governor in Council, the enclosed report, prepared by a committee of the Chamber of Agriculture, and unanimously adopted at the last meeting of the Chamber. 2. It would be superfluous for me to attempt, either to express in stronger terms the sense entertained by the Chamber of the intentions of his Excellency in bringing forward this Ordinance, or to demonstrate more clearly the necessity of considerably modifying it in order that it may produce the good effects which he contemplates as likely to result from it, and prevent the injustice involved in the entire insufficiency of the means which have been suggested to him for indemnifying the planter for the new and heavy charges which the draft of Ordinance proposes to lay upon him. 3. Nevertheless, I am desired to beg his Excellency in Council to give his favourable attention to the following further considerations: 4. It appeared to the Chamber that the suggestions of the Protector of Immigrants proceed upon a radically erroneous principle, and one which cannot be for a moment entertained by any one looking to the interests of all classes in the Colony, to the wants of the English consumers, and to the often-expressed ideas and desires of the superior authorities, both here and at home. 5. In the opinion of that officer it would appear to be wisdom and good policy not to facilitate the supply of the real and legitimate demand for labour, but to invent means, by fresh taxes and additional expenses, to create an artificial and oppressive restriction to the demand, and deter employers from resorting to the depôt. Such an attempt, as reason would presume, experience has proved, can only augment the "fierce competition" and the irregularities which exist there; but nevertheless, while an infallible means of extracting more money from the planter has been suggested to his Excellency, any provision for practically assuring him either the benefit of the labour he will be called on to pay for, or failing that, even a reasonable partial indemnity for his outlay, has been neglected. 6. His Excellency has too often proved, and the most recently received Despatches from the Secretary of State too clearly declare, the desire of allowing to the planter every legitimate facility for maintaining and increasing the produce of the island for it to be requisite to do more than point out this tendency to strangle the demand for labour at the depôt, and augment the real want of it on the estates; and the Chamber relies on his Excellency making such modifications in the proposed Ordinance, as, while securing all due freedom to the immigrant, will augment the nun ber of labourers, and at the same time indemnify the planter, for the instant, heavy, and otherwise unfair burden, which, as it at present stands, the draft would subject him to. 7. It is absolutely certain that the Government, unless by a different practice and regulations than those now enforced, and without a degree of perpetual surveillance and vexatious interference which are not to be desired, would not, and could not, collect from the immigrants, when once discharged and dispersed, any thing like a sum sufficient to compensate or reimburse the planter for his outlay. 8. I am desired therefore particularly to solicit his Excellency's consideration of the regulations suggested by the Chamber to meet this fair requirement. They appear to be simple, practical, and just to both sides. Looking to the spirit and letter of the fundamental Ordinance relating to immigrants, prepared by the Secretary of State himself, and to the declaration of principles laid down by the Despatches which accompanied it, the Chamber cannot entertain a doubt of the propriety of every immigrant lawfully introduced, either at the cost of the Colony or of individuals, being held bound at the time of his discharge to make good, either through the means of a subsequent employer, or in the manner otherwise enjoined by the Secretary of State, a portion of the cost of introduction proportioned to the unexpired term of industrial residence. 9. I am further desired respectfully to urge upon his Excellency the suggestion that all sums paid in virtue of this projected Ordinance should at once, and by a provision in the law itself, and without any new vote pro re natâ being necessary, be at once applied to the introduction of additional immigrants, and that the proper officer be instructed to forward the demand for such additional immigrants, monthly or quarterly, as the fund accumulates. 10. In conclusion, the Chamber prays his Excellency to refrain from making the proposed change in the law of 1854, unless either by the means suggested by the Chamber, or by others which niay be devised, more fitting, but equally efficacious and practicable, full assurance is had on these two points; viz. 1o. That the additional tax proposed to be laid on the agricultural interest shall be immediately applied to the purpose of augmenting the supply of labour, as was nominally set forth by the existing law, but which has been put in practicce too tardily, when acted upon at all; and, 2o. That the individual planter contributing to that fund shall be assured of receiving the full advantage from his outlay, or of being reimbursed in due proportion. MAURITIUS. REPORT of the Immigration Committee of the Chamber of Agriculture upon a Communication from Government, dated the 15th November last, for the purpose of obtaining the Opinion of the Chamber upon a proposition emauating from the Protector of Immigrants relative to Ordinances Nos. 15 of 1854, and 12 of 1855. Gentlemen, 1. THE suspension of Indian immigration having led to the withdrawal from the order of the day of your Chamber of all questions of detail or of organisation connected with such immigration, it is only upon the receipt of intelligence of a more satisfactory nature from India that the proposition of the Protector of Immigrants has again been brought to the notice of your Committee. MAURITIUS. 2. Now that the unfortunate circumstance that caused this long delay appears under an aspect less menacing for the Colony, it becomes our duty to reply as soon as possible to his Excellency the Governor's request, and to thank him for this new mark of goodwill, and confidence in the Chamber of Agriculture. 3. Your Committee has consequently read and examined, with the attention they merit, the proposition of the Protector of Immigrants and the letter of the Honourable the Colo nial Secretary, and compared them with the Ordinances to which they refer. 4. The Government having set aside the incidental suggestion relative to the sending parties to recruit in India, the proposition of the Protector of Immigrants is reduced to the question of replacing Articles 6 and 7 of Ordinance No. 15 of 1854 by Ordinance No. 12 of 1855, or, more correctly, by Articles 4 and 5 of this latter Ordinance, which articles alone seem to be truly applicable to the end proposed. 5. This end appears to be, in particular, the greater equalisation of chances between planters, by raising to the real price of the introduction of the immigrants the amount of sur-tax to be paid by a planter taking more men than the proportional number to which he is entitled under existing regulations, and thereby to diminish the motives that lead to undue and prejudicial competition at the immigration depôt. 6. By the law of 1854, every one obtaining the services of more immigrants than the number he is entitled to, is only bound to pay, over and above the usual stamp tax, the sum of 3 l. extra tax, which sum should be employed in bringing down an additional number of immigrants upon sufficient security. The planter is allowed a delay of six months for payment of the tax, which amounts to 21. for three years. 7. According to the law of 1855, every one taking advantage of the right of bringing down immigrants for himself, is bound to pay the whole of the passage-money, and other expenses attendant upon the proportion of women that ought to accompany these immigranis. 8. It is the difference between these two dispositions of the law that constitutes, in the opinion of the Protector and of the Government, an unjust preference in favour of a party taking extra men under Ordinance No. 15 of 1854; and, as a consequence thereof, an encouragement to seek to secure men from amongst those already in the Colony, and to seduce them by gratifications of all sorts, to the detriment of those persons who have not received their regular contingent, and who cannot hope to see them replaced by the sur-tax of 37., as that sum alone will not cover the expense of the introduction of another man. 9. As to what concerns the preference given to new over old immigrants, it is necessary to observe that it is not even apparent. The most certain proof of this that can be adduced, is, that not one of these latter remains unemployed. Planters prefer them, not only because there is no tax to pay for men of more than five years' standing, but also, and especially, because these latter, like men of three years' standing, more than compensate by the superiority of their labour for the difference that may exist between the rate of their wages and that of the wages of newly-arrived immigrants; which difference, moreover, is reduced to nothing from the very first day, by the gratifications of all kinds spoken of by the Protector, added to the expenses incurred in sending recruiting sirdars to India, especially when the sur-tax of 37. is addel to the stamp-tax of 27.; since the sums above, with interest for three years, and the losses resulting from permanent absences and deaths, are equivalent to more than one dollar per month, the usual amount of difference between the new and old immigrants. wages of 10. This argument may therefore be set aside, for the truth is, that if newly-arrived immigrants are eagerly sought after, it is because there are not a sufficient number of old immigrant labourers. 11. As to the real difference resulting from the dispositions of the two laws above recited, your Committee is sensible that it is of some importance; however, it does not seem to be so considerable as the Government seems to believe it to he, nor of such general importance. 12. In fact, in the case of the Ordinance of 1854, the planter pays altogether to the treasury 51. for each new immigrant he engages over and above his proper contingent. 13. In the case of the Ordinance of 1855, he would pay (if this Ordinance had not been, in fact, a dead letter to the present time) about 87., that is to say, 61. for the mean calculation of men for these latter years, and 27. for the proportion of women. But in case where he should only profit of three-fifths of the period of industrial residence for these immigrants, that is to say, in case they should not re-engage with him, he would be reimbursed by Government a sum varying from 30 s. to 60s.; 30s. if these men re-engaged with one other person for the two remaining years, that is 17. for the first year, and 10s. for the second; 40s. if they pass these two years with two different employers, each paying 17.; and lastly, 50s. or 60s. if they were to compound for one or two years of service. 14. The |