The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1868.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 172, 23 July 1868, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1868.

If we were to state that slavery, in one of its worst forms, exists in full force within the "boundaries of the British Empire, nay, within a fow days' sail of this port, we are certain that the assertion would Ye received with no inconsiderable hesitancy aad amazement. And yet the statement, startling as it may be, is not the less a veracious one, and the slavery to which we allude is not the political slavery of a nation, but actual personal and bodily slavery, as hideous as ever disgraced Louisiana or Tennessee.

It seems that under British law it is permissible for a Queensland cotton planter to dispatch a ship to a group of islands inhabited by ignorant savages, to kiduap or ensnare any number of the natives, to bring them to a strange land, hundreds of miles away, to a strange people, whose language is unknown to them, to make them toil for years without auy remuneration, to starve them, to keep them without the clothing necessary even for decency, aud afterwards abandon them to the charity of the public.

There may be, and probabiy are, many honorable men who would scorn to take advantage of the helpless condition of the poor Coolies and South Sea Islanders who have been brought to Queensland, and who treat them well in all respects ; but still, when the use of coolie labor can be so abused and made the source of such unchristian tyranny, it is better that it should be forbidden altogether.

If the men immigrated voluntarily, without any previous engagement, there would be no legitimate objection to their going to Queensland ; on the contrary, they would unquestionably prove a valuable acquisition because ofthe great cheapness of their labor. It is the mode of obtaining possession of these poor creatures, and their fettered condition whilst in the colony, that are equally repugnant to humanity aud sound policy. If it be indeed true that neither cotton planting nor sugar growing can be profitably carried on by European labor exclusively, and that it is absolutely necessary for the development of these industries tbat they should be supplemented by the labor of South Sea Islanders, surely there could be no difficulty in framing regulations for their importation, which would put an effectual stop to the abuses which evidently exist under the present system. It would not be asking too much of the Queensland Government, if they were requested, in the name of our common humanity, to devise some means of watching over the interests of the coolies, and protecting them from illtreatmenfc and neglect, such as if we may trust the reports which continually appear in the Australian papers, they have undeniably experienced for some time past. Some short time ago tbere appeared in the Victorian papers an account of the sufferings endured by several of these unfortunate beings who were wandering about Gladstone to the great uneasiness of its inhabitants. They were almost destitute of clothing, and actually perishing by starvation, to the extremity thafc they were endeavoring to sustain life by devouring whatever garbage they could pick up in the streets. They had been working for some employer who was either

unable or unwilling to support them, the dietary scale by which they were to bo rationed being so entirely ignor ed that for two days twelve of them had to live upon a single pumpkin ! Very naturally they declined to be starved, and they made their way to the nearest town, a seaport, in the hope that by some means or other they might obtain a passage home to their native -islands. They could speak but few words of English, and wero therefore unable to explain their wants, or detail their sufferings, until the police arrested them and procured an interpreter, when the whole story of their sufferings became known. The magistrate had no means of sending the poor creatures out of the country ; they did not seem disposed to hring their employer to account for his cruelty ; and^ but for the humane interposition of certain individuals, who gave them employment and proper food, they would have been imprisoned until somo means of transporting them home could be devised.

If this state of things is not quite as bad and as indefensible as what is called slavery, we cannot find any other parallel for it. Indeed we believe it to be far worse than negro servitude in every thing save its duration, for when the South American planters had slaves, they bought them at great cost, they were extremely valuable chattels, and it was the masters' direct interest to take all possible care of them. Consequently, as a general rule, the slaves were well fed, well clad, but moderately worked, and properly tended when ill.

That such proceedings as those to which we have alluded are permitted by the local Government to take place in Queensland, is disgraceful to any civilised country, and we regret to add that a foul stain attaches at the present moment to the youngest Australian colony, not only through the treatment to which the coolies have been exposed, but also with reference to the cruel and inhuman manner in which it allows its aboriginal natives to be shot down like so many kangaroos or native dogs, a practice which, it "is notorious, is resorted to by the settlers in the interior, very frequently even without the pretext ofthe slightest provocation.