THE COOLIES' DILEMMA.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 302, 18 December 1912, Page 5

THE COOLIES' DILEMMA.

Boxmx> for el dobjujo.

ttte: PERSKIBNT PtTKJABI. Thirty-3Even punjabae, -who left Auckland this morning by *l»e N*vna, en route for Wellington, hzvts had a chequered career since they left their own eunny country. Onginafly they went out to Fiji to -work on the sugar plantations, and they •Xβ among the best workers of the many different castes which.find their way oat to the sugar plantations. White amassing _ experience and money (for *he coolie is a ■thrifty soul) up the Bate, among the tall canes up the Rewa, they heard of far-away Buenos Ayres, where some of their compatriots -were making good nroney, and rising to be people of importance (from tihe coolie point of view). A party of about thirty or loirty made up their mir.de to eeek <hie Eldorado, and if a coolie once gete hie moid set, it is a. matter of come difficulty to tarn hhn from hie object. Tihe .party entered into negotiations -with Mr Humphrey Berkley, and the schooner Chucaaan, welJ known in Auckland, mm chartered to take the Indians to f*r-«way Argentina. Then their trouble began. The Fiji .authorities decided that the schooner -was an inrmigrairt eftip, and as ■such must, according to file legols&ans, carry a doctor. This wae an effectual bar, and wrecked the expedition ac far as the Clansman wae concerned. Then followed a famous law-enH, in -which the coolies sued Mr Berkley for fiie/return of certain moneye. Tfi& finding of the Court was that 'Mr Berkley bad acted as solicitor and not ac broker, and the case wae decided in Wβ fsvonr. £veti this did not deter the ictaeky atnd sUent Punjabi!, who went quietly to work and started to make freab After a good deai of negotaaiion, the well-known firm- of Brown and Jcske ■undertook to finance the expetfitaon, and last week' a party of thH"fcy-eeven. "timeexpired men" eaid good-bye .to their fellow-conntrynten, collected their strange cooking-gofe—they ' have a rooted objection to any- infidel touching their food or their uteneik—and bundled on board the mail boat Maknra, the steerage of "which was given over entirely to, the pilgrims, and the ,white passengers were accommodated elsewhere. Although the Punjabis are British subjects,' they are not, according to Australian and New Zealand laws, allowed to land, and heavy bonds had to be entered into iby their sponsors to guarantee that no stragglera would drop off at way porte. The etranse party arrived at Auckland full of hope, in charge of a member' of the -responsible firm, and. some- difficulty wae '-experienced in finding accommodation for them, as they were forbidden to land. It was' at first proposed to put them; on the Talune, lying out in the harbour, but eventually.the difficulty was got over by putting them on a tug, ana transferrin""them, bag awl baggage, to the Navu£ which wae about to tail for Wellington the port from which departure was to •be taken for the Argentine. Wellwatched by the .Auckland customs authorities, to see that none of them came ashore, the Indians spent the day on board, and left-early thie moraine in continuation of their search, for adventures. When they get to . WelliDifcn, they -arm again be unable to land and arrangements have been made to house them on a hulk in tbp harbour until next w e? k, ..when they wffl-eafl on a Home-going boat, which is caßin ff at the Argentine port. M fe