4^3 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



a Koyal commission of inquiry in 1870. The appointment of the 

 commission followed a series of charges made by a certain Mr. Des 

 Voeux, a magistrate in the colony, in a letter to Earl Granville, at 

 that time Secretary of State for the Colonies. 



The commission visited the colony and conducted a most search- 

 ing inquiry. Hundreds of witnesses were examined, and the com- 

 missioners visited several estates, without giving any warning of 

 their intentions, and questioned many of the coolies as to their treat- 

 ment. Mr. Des Voeux entirely failed to substantiate his charges; and 

 Sir Clinton Murdoch, the chairman of the emigration board — a per- 

 manent department of the Colonial Office — in referring to the report 

 of the commission in a blue book issued in 1872, said: "It may, 

 I think, be considered that the report of the commissioners is gen- 

 erally satisfactory, both as regards the magistracy, the planters, and 

 the immigrants. Many defects in the system and mode of working 

 it are no doubt pointed out, but they are defects caused by errors 

 of judgment, by insufficiency of the law, or by want of foresight, 

 not by intentional neglect or indifference to the well-being of the 

 people, still less by oppression or cruelty. The vindication of the 

 magistracy and of the medical officers appears to be complete, and 

 the fair dealing and kindness of the managers toward the immi- 

 grants is acknowledged." 



The laws have been amended, the Government inspection has 

 been made more complete, and to-day it is impossible that any abuse 

 of power on the part of the planters can pass unnoticed. 



To give an instance of the effectiveness of the Government super- 

 vision — each estate is compelled by law to keep pay lists according to a 

 form specified by the immigration department, in which the name 

 of each indentured immigrant must be entered with a record of each 

 separate day's work during the five years of the indenture. Thus, if 

 the pay list shows that in a certain week a man worked only two days 

 out of the legal five, it must also show the reason why he did not work 

 on the other three days. It may have been that the man was in the 

 hospital, in which case the letter " II " must appear opposite his 

 name for those days; or he may have been granted leave of absence, 

 when the letter " L " would account for him. These pay lists are in- 

 spected by a Government officer twice a month, and any faults dis- 

 closed by the examination become the subject of a severe reprimand 

 from the agent general, followed in the case of persistent neglect 

 by the cutting off of the supply of coolies. 



So minute are the records of the immigration department that 

 were an application made to the agent general for information re- 

 garding some particular indentured coolie, that official could without 

 difficulty supply the name of the man's father and mother, his caste, 



