QUEENSLAND SLAVE TRADE.

Otago Witness, Issue 893, 9 January 1869, Page 7

QUEENSLAND SLAVE TRADE.

The deliberate attempt to establish a Slave Trade ill the in-erest of Queensland is, to say the least of it, an unparalleled piece of impudence. No one ' can contemplate such a fact without being lost in astonishment. After every nation in Europe has given up this unholy bvsiness, one of the youngest colonies of the very Empire which led the way in extinguishing slavery has presumed to revive it. England in 1834 — France in 1841— Sweden in 184V — Denmark in 1846 — Holland in 1860 — and Spain, ye may ad d, in 1868— solemnly renounced the traffic in human beings. The civilised world may be said to have condemned i f with one voice. f.n the face of so decided a line of action on this subject, it is not easy to conceive any European community attempting to reverse the righteous judgment pronounced by the great tribunals J of modern times. Few European communities would now venture to incur the great national disgrace of dealing with men and women as merchandise. The civil war of America is the last and the most emphatic protest against ' the consummation of all villanies.' Are we to believe that so much blood has been shed in vain ? It seems indeed that all the efforis of those who have striven against slavery both in past times and in the present, have gone for nothing beyond the extinction of the evil within certain territorial limits. The eloquence of the just, from Wilberforce to Wendell Phillips, has failed _to render the revival of slavery a moral impossibility. The narratives of the Queensland slave trade which have lately reached us, present a mournful subject for contempla'ion. They show too clearly that at the bidding of self-interest the -monstrous guilt of slavery and the slave trade will be readily incurred by our fellow-colonists — by men who are la' ouring with us in the establishment of a new England in the Southern seas. The villainy is perpetrated in a disguise which can impose on no one. It may be true that the islanders are not forcibly carried away from their homes, and it may also be true that their employers enter into •written contracts with them for their labour. These precautions are of course adopted for the purpose of rebutting the charge which was evidently anticipated from the first. But they are false pretences on the face of them. To say that the islanders are not forcibly dragged from their homes is only another way of saying that they are enticed from them ; and to say that written contracts are entered into is simply to suggest that the fraud is carried out with all the formulas of the law. We are asked to believe that the islanders are introduced into Queensland as assisted emigrants, in much the same manner that emigrants are introduced from the mother country. We are told that they leave their native islands by their -own desire, with a full knowledge of the condi'ions on which their removal is effected, and with a feverish impatience to share in the delights of civilised life. We are also told that their passage is made as pleasant as possible ; and that on their arrival at the plantations in Queensland, they are presented with a suit of clothes, supplied with ample rations, and rendered happy with £4 a year. If these representations were literally true, there would still be much to say against the establishment of such a practice. For if the practice were not slavery itself, it would certainly promise to end in slavery. If the employment of the wretched Polynesians were sanctioned by public opinion, vested interests would grow up which sooner or later would claim a righ" to their labour, would neglect the performance of inconvenient conditions, and would finally encourage the commission of those brutalities which are traditionally associated with the slave trade. This is one objection. Ano her of no less importance is, that the colonists of Australia are not disposed to sanction the wholesale substitution of Polynesian for European labour, in any part of the Australian continent. It is not proved that the climate of Queensland is unsuited for Europeans ; and until it is proved, the European colonists of Australia are bound to protest against a system which can only serve the interests of monopoly. Mr Inolis, whose letter we publish, urges an objection on commercial grounds which also demands the consideration of Australians. He points out that the commercial future of the islands requires the maintenance of the aboriginal population on its native soil. There can be little doubt that his argument on this subject is' correct. Tropical islands are all very well in poetry and watercolour, but they offer no prospect of permanent settlement to Europeans. When their native inhabitauts disappear, their place will no be supplied by European colonists. Desolation will le the ultimate result. i Taking the most favourable view of,

this matter, it is in our opinion utterly indefensible. But there is every reason to believe that'the favourable representations made by its advocates are not based on facts. Accounts have appeared in print, from, which only one conclusion can "be drawn. The natives are systematically kidnapped in the, first instance. Their residence in Queensland is consequently compulsory ; and aa they were never accustomed to regular labour, it is fair to suppose that the imposition of regular labour must be nothing more nor less than modified torture. _ Originally imported by the sugar-growing interest, there is now a keen competition for their labour between that and the wool-growing interest. Squatters find that Polynesian shepherd? are quite aa good as European shepherds, and at the same time considerably cheaper. The former can be got for £W or £12 a year, while the latter demand £40. The planters, who require a larger amount of labour than the squatters, offer less wages — as little as £3 to £5 a year — while the labour itself is much harder than that of shepherding. This is a state of things which illustrates the dangers of the case. The leading interests of the country have already committed themselves to a branch of enterprise which looks remarkably like the initiation of a regular slave trade. Their profits.! depend largely on the rate of , wages j which, with Europeans, is very high, i They have succeeded in introducing a I system which offers all the advantages of slavery without its stigma or its shame, and which — if not immediately suppressed — will rapidly grow too powerful for suppression except by violent means. It can hardly be supposed that either the Government or the people of Queensland sanctions this system. "What their views on the matter may be, it is not necessary to enquire. It seems to us that all the colonies of Australia, and that of New Zealand also, are called upon to interfere. All are implicated. To watch in silence the growth of slavery is to become accomplices in the crime, by all the principles of law and morals. Nor are we of Otago so far removed from the sphere of this iniquity as might be imagined. The planters of Fiji, among whom, are some of our own settlers, are in want of cheap and slavish labour, and have begun to look in the same direction for it as the planters of Queensland have done. We believe that the public opinion of this Province would be readily and unmistakeably on tho su v ject, were any expression of it invited. In Sydney and Melbourne, the subject has attracted a great deal of attention, and it is high time that some was paid to it here. The Presbyterian Mission is in danger of finding much of its good work neutralised by the action of the slave traders. It should not be left to struggle unaided against enemies so crafty, and so powerful in their craft.

A private letter quoted by the Geelono; Advertiser states that His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh intends spending from a fortnight to tftree weeks in Victoria, upon the occasion of his next visit to the Australian colonies.

Tasmania is in a deplorable state from drought, little rain having fallen during the last six months. In some districts wheat has been cut down for hay, and the farmers declare that they will be satisfied if they get enough grain to serve for seed next season. The depreciation in stock, also, is very considerable.

The decision of the Court appointed to inquire into the cause of the loss of the schooner Tyne, lately wrecked off the entrance to Wellington harbour, is as follows : — That the vessel was lost through missing stays ; that she was unnecessarily close to the starboard shore ; but that no particular blame attached to the caotain.

The Cape route agitation is progressing. At a meeting of the Pro <nsional Committee of the British and Australian Steam Navigation Company, held in Melbourne, on the 22nd ult., the originator of the scheme, Mr BurstalL says the Argus, explained that he had compared the rate of the expenses with those of the West India Mail Company, and had them checked by people acquainted with the working of various other companies, and then, after, adding ten per cent., he found that with a very moderate amount of passenger and cargo traffio, and with a very large allowance for tear and wear, the company's profit would be 10£ per cent, par annum, not calculating on the subsidy which would be received for carrying the mails, and also what might be expected for Government emigrants. The provisions, &c, for passengers were calculated on the same scale as in the Peninsular and Oriental Company, the West India Company, and others of the best-found lines. A resolution was passed appointing a subcommittee to act in conjunction with Mr BurstalL and Mr G. S. Lang was appointed secretary. It was remarked that half the money required to be subscribed m the colony was already promised, and that public opinion and the press -were becoming so favourable to the fortnightly mail coming by the Cape, and so rendering more extensive immigration possible, that every confidence might be felt that the scheme would very soon be completed*