Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878] FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1892. QUEENSLAND AND KANAKA LABOUR.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4129, 3 June 1892, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878]

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1892. QUEENSLAND AND KANAKA LABOUR.

Being the extended, titie of the Waibarapa Daily, with whioh it is IDBNTIOAI.

In a recent artiole entitled " Black* birding" we alluded to the question of.the employment of coloured labour in Queensland, in both its abstract and practical aspeots. It is now interesting to us to notice in the' Weekly Press an article written byanex-employer of Kanakas,—and wbo it. may be assumed 'has the special knowledge of his subject which personal experience confers, — inasmuch as it in a great measure bears out the sentiments we then expressed, and offers.much.in refutation of the somewhat strongly expressed opinions of those who hold adverse views on the subject and have incontinently rushed them into print, The writer, alter alluding to the planter who first imported Kanaka labour, goes on to say, " but the factor which led to a large influx of kanakas was the establishment of the sugar industry, on its being found impossible to get the field work among the canes done by Europeans at a remunerative price, or oven at all, the work involving toiling under a tropical sun between canes, where no breath of air .can get,, Numbers of Nen Hebrideans, Loyalty Islanders, and others were recruited early in the seventies, or latter end of; the sixties, for this and other tropical labour. In many cases kidnapping, and evils resulting therefrom, such as murders and retaliations were prevalent, though even then Borne' captains were quite free from such practices, but one always hears most about the black sheep. A consequence of these outrages, and the obloquy cast on the Queensland people for coun« tenancing them,was the action of the Government in taking the whole affair in hand, and placing a Government agent oh each.i'vessel in the trade, whose whole business it was to see that men were recruited fairly, and well treated when on board, only nne recruit to each ton of the vessel's capacity to be carried, Even under this system occasional abuses arose through the appointment of unfit men as, agents, who took bribes to shut their eyes, or spent their time afloat in drunkenness, Still, these were the exceptions, and towards the the end of the seventies kidnapping was practically extinct in spito of Btories to the contrary, often started by missionaries on very small grounds," The writer we quote from, although he wishes to say nothing against these gentlemen,many'ofwhom'are self--denying.men, adds; But human nature is weak even among,' the; cleijgy, and as many found, their little theocracies threatened by free and enlightened return labourers, who bud learnt to curse and laugh at the missionary and his religion.; :(lesso|iß derived from their.fellow white workers in Queens, land) it naturally multed that the fewer return labourers therefore the better for the power and influence, So they always opposed the lobor trade, or even any kind of trade in the Islands, no doubt from their point of view rightly." ~,;.:;,.,,,,.. , Another evil, however, arose in Queensland itself. As stated previously the intention in importing these ms) was to employ them in tropical industries. Now, tjie growth of wool could hardly be reckoned as . Isuch,-but the sheepfirmern in_ the : back country saw how willing) and '

r r — , ... i, i , ' -. ,M, 7:W ' I\.! <V\~ ! wiVi-Si\ o bed ion t thesel abbura ra" jreri. and at what a;lowjr|te of wages; thfev.'wotked so.thejlbi'oagh't laVge numbers of tHern tip the country' and;',em|»loyed ihemas shepherds,, a solitary life quite opposed to their habits." "In some places, remarks'the authority whose observations wo reproduce, 'their treatment was good, but on many stations quite the reverse, and tho whip'was in oommon' requisition to enforce orders. The food supplied was also quite unsuitable to a tarian race, being mutton and damper. No wonder many died, especially among the more,.delicate Banks Islanders, It is not necessary to go into particulars of horrors, 'but many instances of brutal treatment could be quoted, The thing is past, let it re.maincbvered.'V :; •.-; • :•

At length Ihe Government again interfered; not actuated by-human motionß,'butyieldlrig'tba cry of theunemployed and labour agitators who complained of the competition of ; black labour. ■-They .passed a bill restricting the employment of Kanakas to the'coast 1 line, and' even there only on tropical industries. -They also appointed inspectors to regularly visit plantations and inquire'into any abuses, and by enquiry among the men themselves find out anycaßes of ill-treatment. This worked very well, and it is certain that in 1879 it was easier to ill-treat white children or women by far than Kanakas,-But the labour agitators were not satisfied, total abolition it must be or nothing; so in the end Sir Samuel Griffith gave way, gaining a lot of kudos among the radicals by his action. Then : wbat happened ? Sugar fell low. im price, while labour became dear, and even unobtainable, Works had to be shut down and plantations abandoned. White engineers, carters, mechanics, and hundreds. who lived by sugar growing fell out of employment, and now in this year of, grace the. very men who abolished Kanaka labour are once more bringing it buok, '■ '■ If the trade is carried on properly, and under.Government regulation, it will, according to this ex-employer of Kanakas conviction, be a grand thing for Northern Queensland, though lie fancies it will not be so easy to obtain labourers, as the race is dying out in most of the islands through infanticide disease and warfare, He thinks our men-of;war..can give a good account of any kidnappers should there be such, which he at the same time looks upon ts absurd; and if the employment of Kanakas'is restricted to the populated coastline, there need be no fear of ill-treatment, as,besides the Inspectors, there are always numbers of ''nigger protectors"—a, common species in our race--who think far more about black people than white, and who snap at the chance of getting an employer of black labour into trouble. .: .-■■'. ■.,■..!> ■:■:-.■

In concluding bis arti'ole tho writer thus sums up:—"The white labourers will not be in any way in» jured by these people, bat on the ennr trary benefited by the revival of the sugar industry. By their wages the shopkeepers will benefit, for their money does not, go in drink,, neither, are they unpaid as folk in this country seem to think. They, are returned to their homes at the end of three years' engagement, or they can Btop if they like, and re-engage,: but it must be with tho Government official so as to prevent abuses.' Finally, let iis see how the thing works before we throw stones or rake up kidnapping stories of twenty or thirty years ago. When I say that I had Kanaka labourers under me for ten years, and also lived among them in their island,- and : have been on reoruiting vessels on their trips, it will be allowed that I know a little about my subject."