Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Volume VII, Number 37, 12 Kepakemapa 1868 — English Column. The Coolie Question. [ARTICLE]

English Column.

The Coolie Question.

The ' Corr»mercial AdTertūcr" oi lasi week. has a lcacier deroted to ihe que?tion o! Bonde<i Laborers, or to be plain*-r. īhe Coolie. nystem of these i»lands. Tbts :s a vjbjecti whieh we have been convmced wouM sooner | or tatcr force itself he(ove ihe puhlie. lt fe ' a <jae«tion whieh Tiialiy atlVct* thp pnneipal manufacturing interes? of ihe eroop. an<l for thi» P3aJon no dout>j. the di*rti?aion has L«een craded by the writers for the pre**; but the time ha« arrived when the mo*t be met and fuHy ventilated. Thc* article in ihe ••Adrcr.iier" is simply ao aimver to one in ihe ' Gazette f f " by whieh the Ministere have ■ e*idetitly sought to mblead foreign com*j rnunitH»i. for reason? bf»st know to them- j selves We endon»e tbe "Adverti»er" aniele umil it proposes to transfer the prosecution of ihe ■ Coo!i»i immigration from thc hands of the Government to ihoae of private partie?. In this we cannot concur, beheving ihat the Coolie system «hould be abolished» and for-; gotten, the sooner the better. We will rteith.; cr propose nor support a compromise with; a ?»ystem whieh tends to degrade a fellowv man. Wt.> liave no sympn»hy with a mea??urf whieh has for iu aim iho classi(ication of His Majesty's subjects : the setting apart one clas.s as lx:tter than another in the eye ot the law. It i.' nur lvlief thut when the isenate of the Unifed States tleclared that the : Coolie system oniy diflered lrom the African Slave Trade, in that it used fraud inhtead of force ti> stvure its object, published uu opinion whieh unbia?ed iiuiividuals muM' endors>e. WY do not charge that this Govcrninent is kuowingly a party to the frand, That deceit has been practised upon the Coolies we need no better evidence than the as!?ertion of the "Gazette," that, during the tirst years o( their bondage they are eontmually seekiug to know the natnre and force of their contracts, and it is our belief that thcy only discontinue their eHbns froin a sense of utter hopelessness of being righted ; yielding in despair to superior lorce and intelligence. The Japanese recently importcd seem to labor under the same ignorance as to the nature ol their contracts, and recently we heard thnt the whole force ■ of Japanese engaged upon a plantation re- ( fused to work, ond suffered imprisonment, on aeeouni ofa misunderstanding as to the tenns of their contracts ; aguin the Board of, Immigratiou uotifed the employers of Japanese that teu dollars, alleged to have been udvanced to them in Japan. should be stoped from their wages, whieh the Japanese deny liaving received. We believe that, fmud was practiced upon both Chinese anil' Japanese. We vvere surprised that the u Gnzette" should have stated that the eoolie was, upon arrival here, upon equal footing with native laborerB, when an act was pass-; ed at the recent session of the Legislative ; Assembly whieh empoweved the Minister of the Interior and Bonrd of Immigratiou to make sueh rules and regulatious as they s might deem best for the proper government ; of imported laborers ; but we are certainly j inore surprised tliat the u Gazetie" should dare to deuy "mMc/'that coolies are brought; here. lf so they have practiced thcgrossest; deceit upon planters whom they agreed to fumish with "coolies," and their agent in China certaiuly advised them of shipment " of 246 eoolies per Ohiliean ship Alberto " and proposed shipment ofmore per 4t 1205c0e. ,, Why not deny that there is a ehinnman on the group ? lt ean be done with equal propriety. It is of no usc for the M Ga2ette" "to beg tho question " by worse than silly demals, let the subject receive the attentiou of the ablest apologists they ean secure, or they 3iand convicted of a grave charge. It is a aouAw of gratification to Americans that the UniteVJ States Minister Hesident has taken an earlk opportunity of declaring, by proclamation r me sentiment ofthe Umted Btates Senate on tms? eoolie question, and «•e trust that he will \veive the syinpathy and support ofhts countrymen itmny endeavor he may make to rid \h est? islands of a system so uttcrly «\t \*krinnce \vith the spirit of tlie age. \