PROTECTION FOR THE ABORIGINES. (BY THE AUCKLAND " STAR'S " CORRESPONDENT. )

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 72, 18 October 1884, Page 4

PROTECTION FOR THE ABORIGINES. (BY THE AUCKLAND " STAR'S " CORRESPONDENT. )

Toowoomba (Queensland), August 12, 1884. The present Ministry must be credited with making a resolute attempt to protect the coloured labourers employed in and ofi the shores of the colony. I have already described what they are doing in the case of the South Sea Islanders, and propose now to give some account of the course they are pursuing with regard to the employment of natives of Australia and New Guinea in the pearl and b6"ch-de-mer fisheries in the northern waters. An Act was passed in 1881 for the regulation of these fisheries, but its provisions having been found insufficient for the purpose, the new bill now before the Legislature is to supplement and amend it. One of the chief purposes of the new measure is to prevent kidnapping. All native labourers are to be on the ship's articles like the seamen forming the crew ; they are to be engaged by the master alone, and in the presence of the shipping-master of the nearest port; the agreement they enter into is to be clearly set forth, wages stated, provision scale supplied, &c. ; they are to be discharged and paid their wages also in the presence of a shipping - master. These are some of the provisions of the " Native Labourers' Protection Bill," the penalties attached to which are certainly heavy, viz., forfeiture of the ship transgressing, and the infliction of a fine not exceeding £500. This ought to make masters and owners careful how they offend. That some such law was demanded has been proved by ample evidence. I will give some edifying quotations from the Premier's speech made when the new bill was in Committee. They show enough of the kidnapping system till lately in practice in Northern Queensland. A report made to the Colonial Treasurer in 1882 states that two cutters, tenders of certain fish ing smacks " left this port (Cooktown) for Townsville to obtain ' boys,' and returned, one on the 28th ultimo, and the other on the Ist instant, with eighteen natives of both sexes, varying in ages from 9 to 40 years, and procured, I have reason to believe, under very suspicious circumstances, at Hinchinbrook and Dunk Islands, and in the vicinity of the Johnstone River. Having entered upon a compact to 'recruit' in company, upon arrival here they drafted these ' boys ' and gins after the manner of sheep, each captain taking nine of mixed sexes, and without the least reference to the inclinations or feelings induced by the filial or friendly instincts of the parties concerned, some of whom I know manifested a strong aversion to being separated." Amongst those who fell to the lot of one of the captains was "a girl 11 or 12 years old, a mere child comparatively, who must have received shameful treatment on the voyage between Hinchibrook and here." The girl was afterwards taken charge of by the police. Another report dated May last, also from Cooktown, speaks of a certain captain who "Shipped seventeen aboriginals on the 22nd January, 1882, here ; eight at Cardwell, on the 29th March, 1882 ; and three more at this port three days subsequently—all natives of Palm, Hinchinbrook, and Dunk Islands. Twenty-five of these boys he discharged here in the presence of the shipping-master, on the 9th January, 1883, and reported three as having died at New Guinea. On the 22nd January, 1883, he again appears on the record of the shipping office. On that date he shipped twelve originals, and on the 9th February following he shipped seventeen— all natives of Hinchinbrook, Dunk, and Fitzroy Islands, and Liverpool Creek. In June of that year he reported two as having deserted ; on the 26th March of this year he discharged twenty-five at the shipping office here ; reported two as having died at New Guinea, which leaves one ' boy ' unaccounted for, and neither from the shippingmaster, nor the records of his office can I find a clue as to what became of him." Then, as master of another ship :— " On the 21st April last he shipped eleven aboriginal natives of Dunk Island. The • boys ' in each case have been engaged for one year, at 10s per calendar month, 'to procure be*che-de-mer on the coast of Queensland or Now Guinea, or the islands adjacent thereto, ' and at the termination of their engagement •to be returned free of cost to their native places,' which latter condition, I believe, has invariably been carried out, unless where many of the ' boys ' preferred re-ship-ping." A third report, dated from Thursday Island, 12th June, 1884, states : "At present any man, white or black, can go over to the coast and secure a number of natives by means of a bag or two of flour. The men come willingly enough, as they are in a state of semi-starvation, but invariably decamp on the first opportunity, and kill the men in charge of the boat if they cannot otherwise effect their object. They are brought here to be engaged, and, there being no provision in the fisheries Act for their being signed in presence of the shipping-master, they sign agreements under the Masters and Servants Act, before the storekeeper or one of his clerks. It is impossible for these natives to understand the nature of the agreements they make, and on that ground I have always refused to enforce them, or to allow the police to be used for that purpose. The majority of the shelters have long since seen the folly of engaging these men, and it is only thes mall blche de-mer fishers who contfniie to employ them. The matter has

assumed such serious proportions that I respectfully submit the engagement of aboriginals from the mainland should be absolutely prohibited." I daresay I shall by this time be thought to have written enough about the treatment of coloured labourers in this colony, and so will make but one further remark in connection therowith. When in the future the subject of the contact of white men with inferior races comes to be adequately dealt with, the public records of Queenslani will furnish some choice morsels of evidence. What is being done towards the destruction of those pests which cause so much loss and annoyance to the agriculturist may be seen from the report of the Chief Inspector of Stock just made public. During 1883 it appears that 361,450 kangaroos and wallaroos were destroyed, and the same fate overtook 683,554 wallabis and paddymelons, at a cost of £24,550. So that it costs on an average about fivepence halfpenny to get rid of each animal. Between 1877 and 31sfc December the number of marsupials destroyed was as follows :— Kangaroos and walloroos, 1,957,528; wallabis and paddymelons, 1,831,361, at a total cost of £90,190. As to dingoes, there exists some difference of opinion in the country districts. Some hold that they kill the marsupials, but it is reported that a large majority are in favour of the extermination of the dingo. The same report from which the above facts are taken gives the number of sheep in the colony, and Borne data by which it is j possible to estimate the extent of the ravages of the drought in the country districts. At the end of last year there were 11,230,720 sheep in Queensland ; the increase during the year being set down at 83G,202. Now, as at the end of 1882 sheep were reported to be coming into the colony by tens of thousands, the increase was expected to be much greater than it turns out to be. But by the end of last December the drought had not done its worst, and for months afterwards death was rife among the flocks. It was, of course, the same with the cattle, the number of which at the close of 1883 is estimated to have been 4,250,000 ; that is, a loss during the year of 80,000. The want of rain, and consequent lack of feed, are of course answerable for this bad luck. A curious disease has attacked a flock of 8,000 young wethers belonging to a squatter resident at Toowoomba. They were travelling from Cecil Plains, and on July 4th, the complaint in question, called catarrh or catarrhal fever, manifested itself. It appears to be not unknown, but is recognised as one which caused trouble some years ago. The condition of the diseased animals is thus described : — The poor creatures stand holding their heads as high as possible, gasping for breath, and fall dead in all directions. On openingthem, all the organs are found to be healty except the respiratory passages, which in many cases have turned quite green. Stringent measures were at once taken, the flock was quarantined, and its destruction proceeded with; Nearly 3,000 died from the complaint, the animals dropping off at the rate of 200 a day. The rest have presumably been slaughtered. The road travelled by the sheep has also been quarantined, and one flock which crossed it has been isolated. The battle of the Land Bill has begun in the Queensland Parliament. Mr Dutton, Minister of Lands, introduced' the bill on August sth in a speech which occupied three hours in its delivery. After this long effort, which is described as having been tediou3 towards the finish, the debate was adjourned for a week. It is likely to last some time. Sir Thomas Mcllwraith, late Premier of the colony, will be back again from Britain in a few days, and arrangements are being made to give him something like a public reception. Apropos of this gentleman, I attach a quotation from a New Zealand letter to the Brisbane "Courier," dated "Auckland, July 25th." Speaking of Sir Julius Vogel, the writer says : — " He is acknowledged to possess statesmanlike attributes, snared, perhaps, by no other living colonial politician in such a marked degree, if one excepts the ex-Premier of your colony, Sir Thomas Mcllwraith." Some Auckland people will smile at this extravagant commendation of the astute Hebrew As to his oompeer in high, statesmanlike qualities, the colony expressed a very decided opinion about him and his policy, and hi. tail, at the general election a few months ago.