HOPETOWN CHINESE SETTLEMENT. 



By F. 0. Low, (Barrister-at-law). 



Why Started. 



It would appear that in or about the year 1865 there was a large 

 number of Chinese immigrants in this colony who had completed their 

 terms of indenture and were not satisfied to remain on the sugar estates 

 to which they had been indentured and were contemplating emigrating 

 from the colony because of (a) the smallness of the remuneration on the 

 sugar estates, (b) there being no prospects for them to look forward to, 

 (c) the fact that they had become aware that the Chinese in Trinidad who 

 had served their indentures were accumulating wealth by the planting of 

 rice and by engaging in commerce. 



About this time there appeared on the scene a Chinese gentleman of 

 ability, a Mr. 0. Tye Kim (Wu-Tai-Kam) engaged in missionery work 

 among the Chinese here. He was surprised at their indigence as com- 

 pared with others who had emigrated from China and he discovered a 

 widespread dissatisfaction among them regarding their outlook in life 

 and a general desire to emigrate to fairer fields. 



It would have been a disadvantage to the planters if these people 

 had emigrated, on two grounds: (a) They (the planters) would immediately 

 have lost a floating supply of free and trained labour, which on account of 

 there being practically no other channels of employment, could be obtained 

 at a nominal rate, and (b) there were good reasons to fear that news of 

 the general unsatisfactory state of the labour market in this colony would 

 reach China, thereby disastrously affecting emigration therefrom to these 

 shores. 



Under these circumstances it was imperative to devise some means 

 of inducing the Chinese to remain, and as the real ground of dissatisfac- 

 tion was the poor prospect presented to them, a scheme that would hold 

 out better possibilities was obviously necessary. 



Mr. 0. Tye Kim (Wu-Tai-Kam) therefore brought forward a scheme 

 which he stated would at once enure to the benefit of the church and the 

 planters. 



His idea was to create a Christian Chinese settlement where the 

 Chinese might work on independent lines and thus open up an encourag- 

 ing vista to the industrious. Accordingly, he petitione d the Gove rnoi'. 

 Sir Francis Hincks, for a-lree gr ant of Crown land pttTjupn.-mie f'r.^W 

 and also for a small monetary loan in order to found a Christian Settle- 

 ment thereon. This petition was reproduced in extenso in the " Royal 

 Gazette" of the 7th of February, 1865. The Governor was a warm 

 supporter of the scheme and on the 21st of February the Attorney 

 General moved a resolution that the petition be granted and it was 

 carried. 



About 25 settlers were at once taken to the proposed site and by the 

 end of 1865 abont 70 had settled. From this time the settlement pro- 



