ALLEGED SLAVERY IN THE SOUTH SEAS.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 4, Issue 169, 23 October 1880, Page 3

ALLEGED SLAVERY IN THE SOUTH SEAS.

[Aw Zealand Wtcktg .V««e,] : intelligence has reached Sart Fran- ! Cisco 1 hat Henry Freeman, agent of the I Hawaiian OnvcrniiNinc, lies been arrested I at the instance of tile British Commissioner at Honolulu, on the charge of being en- I gaged in the slave trade in the South Sens. The report slates that the Hono- ! lulu authorities had entered into hail j at gS0,00(l, ami that Mr. Freeman was ' released oil the bond. There are said to he fo.ir ves-o s I in hunting up. natives in the South Sens am) covrykig them to work on the Hawaiian plantations. The Storm Bird and tl\e tlawt.i.i' are owned by the Sandwich Island, Qu\- ' erument, the IIa;;a:'d is engaged for a California!! interested in the sugar business, and the. Ro.raaro is chartered by a firm at Honolulu, TJio. South Sea islanders, whuu th.n.y arrive at Hojiohihi, j ftie described as pitiable ojt'jfftts, and; from ' r.ll accounts there is wffienjjg ihi«l | mortality nuipiig th.em, during tlje. voyage, au.d before hocomo acclimatised to Havvaii $o Ipss by death i,-s very large. | In ajicdheccolumn appears.a paragraph | amongst t,hp. San,' Francisco mail items to, the. ofs)ct| that a. cortain Mr. Freeman hud, been in-rested, at the instance of the British ! Conimjssioner at Honolulu, on a charge 1 of being: engaged' in shivery amongst the. • inlands of the South Pnoifio. On Saturday; ln«t Mr. George B, Holland, well-Juiowh ' in .this city in connection vyith, thfi South,' S;ca trade;, called upop, u.,s, and, stated, that.' he lindj hpen for ten, engaged as labour agent, for the .'Hawaiian Government, and;has, therefore, a very good, idea as to, the t,reatmen,t, the. ji/\tivos receive from. thp. tjmo they go, on hoard ' the \os4pl until, tjlieii; arrival, at Honolulu. Kioh, ageiiji iB by the Board, of of Hawaii, the President ofr whicli, is the. Hon. Saruuel W''d,er, Mjinistor of tho. Interior, and are • supplied, M(fyh wrtttou institutions, a copy of which Mr. Holland produced, as to the manner inwhioh tho natives aro to bo treated. Tflte. instructions ai;e very ex-' plieit. Thji natives oh coming on board . the vossols aro given n new unit id' olothes (men, woriH'n, and children), and tho vessels urn fitted wi'Ji.cse.ry comfort' and ennveuienoc. Thu llttiug out of those vessels is dono under ti)p eyes of the Board of Emigration at, Honolulu. There is a printed form of. agreement between the natives and the Hawaiian Government, which is filled in and signed by tho Government agent and the native*,,

And wirnossed by the capt.iin of the vessel. The agreement states thai the natives me to be employed under the direction of the Board of Emigration at Hawaii, aud paid at, the rate of five, six, and seven dollui-s | .per month. The agreement is for throe i years, and the natives receive a free ! passage to Honolulu, ami on their term i of service expiring are given a free passage back to their homes They are granted all the rights of citizenship, and the children are educated at the public schools. They are not to labour on Sundays, er on any recognised Government holiday. In sickness they receive medical attendance and medicines free. The natives are solely under the control of the Board of Emigration, who see that ! they are properly clothed, fed, and treated, and that thev receive their wages for which ! they agreed. If any complaint of ill- usage is ma le, the Board holds an inquiry, and if it is proved that the planter has been guilty of any breach of the agreeuion', i the native is at once removed from his employ. Tho instructions to the agents , by the Governm mt state that no promises j are be held out to the natives to induce j them to go to Honolulu. "Theyeomol | to work, aud will be expected to faith- | fully fulfil their part of the agreement, J ! as the Government will fulfil theirs," is j | tho rule of the Government. Tin- vessels used in the trade all belong to the Hawaiian Government, none being chartered. The vessels leave Honolulu, ami the lnbour has been generally got, nt the Gilbert I j Islands (in tho Kiugsinill Group), but j (ho -vessels are now being sent to the Solomon Islands aud New Hebrides,, the natives from those islands being found stronger and able to do better than any I of the natives of the other islands. Mr. Holland most emphatically asserts that the natives are most humanely treated. | and that the mortality is very small, ! those dying being generally old and infirm people whose relations had agreed to go to Hawaii, and would rather run tho risk of dying on tho voyage, than 1 remaining behind aud ported from them.