359 



limit, would place all poor countries at the mercy of 

 the rich possibly depopulate many. 



I have repeatedly in the course of this review had 

 occasion to dwell on the fact that the natives of India 

 are in a state of infancy, and consequently in 

 need of protection, not in the sense in which that 

 term is opposed to free trade-, but in the sense 

 in which the Law applies it to persons under age. 

 In the present condition of things, however strict 

 emigration Rules and Regulations may be framed, it 

 is wholly impossible for Government to provide 

 against poor people being enticed from their 

 homes under delusions, the falsity of which cannot 

 he made apparent until the victims are beyond seas, 

 and the reach of help. I have no hesitation in saying 

 that many if not all the evils above commented on 

 in regard to Coolie immigration to Assam, exist, 

 though possibly iu a milder form, in the present 

 system of emigration to British and foreign 

 colonies. The Government of India has no in- 

 formation of the emigrants, after they leave the shores 

 of India, neither en route to their destination, nor 

 when they reach it; and there is too much reason to 

 believe that, in some instances, the mortality on the 

 voyage is excessive, and that the climate, and the 

 work the coolies are put to, causes a very large 

 proportion to be 'expended.'* In these circum- 



* The climate of the French Colony of Re -union is considered fatal 

 to Africans, aud Dr. Mouat, an advocate for emigration both 



