THE IMMIGRATION ORDINANCE. 343 



spoken in the island, they could neither understand them nor 

 make themselves understood. The Coolies, who had been landed 

 in the interval, soon availed themselves of the bad example set to 

 them, and of the laxity of the law. The contracts made were 

 broken, first by the indentured labourer, and most willingly 

 afterwards by their employers, who could in no wise consider 

 themselves bound when the immigrant had freed himself from 

 all obligations. Lord Harris having fully treated this subject in 

 his correspondence with Lord Grey, I prefer giving his opinions 

 in his own words to offering mine on the matter : — 



"My desire has been impartially to study the interest of 

 both parties, at the same time never to lose sight of the fact 

 that the Coolies were placed here under peculiar circumstances, 

 as utter strangers in a foreign land, and therefore requiring the 

 zealous and increasing care of Government ; that they are also 

 far from being the best class of the Indian labouring population, 

 are naturally dissolute and depraved in their habits if left to 

 themselves, and much inclined to fall into habits of drinking 

 and of wandering idly about the country, and therefore require 

 the close supervision of Government, in order to correct, if 

 possible — but, at all events, to prevent — any evident cases of 

 vagabondage and licentiousness/'' (Lord Harris to Mr. Glad- 

 stone, July, 1846.) 



"After having given my best consideration to the sub- "\ 

 ject, it appears to me that, in the first place, the immigrants I 

 must pass through an initiatory process ; they are not, neither / 

 Africans nor Coolies, fit to be placed in a position which the j S 

 labourers of civilised countries may at once occupy. They / 

 must be treated like children — and wayward ones, too — the [ 

 former, from the utterly savage state in which they arrive ; the J 

 latter, from their habits and religion/'' (Lord Harris to Earl 

 Grey, 1848.) 



Lord Harris, therefore, had, with the aid of Major Fagan, 

 the Coolie magistrate, prepared a code of regulations, which was 

 published in 1846. A great outcry was raised here and in 

 Great Britain against these regulations, some of which, on the 

 assumption of his lordship himself, were " stringent/' These 

 regulations were disallowed by the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies, Lord Grey, not only because, in his lordship's opinion, 

 " they had no legal validity/'' but also on the strong and not 



