Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session of the Thirty-ninth Congress
Mr. Hovey to Mr. Seward.
Sir: The coolie trade has undoubtedly been the cause of great human suffering in South America. I do not know that our government could do more than has already been done by the acts of Congress on this subject. American-built bottoms with American crews are engaged in this trade under the flags of other countries. Probably an act of Congress withdrawing from such persons their privileges as citizens of the United States might aid in suppressing the evil. I herewith transmit two original Chinese letters, with their respective translations, which will show some of the evils growing out of the coolie trade.
I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,
Hon William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
[Translation.]
To the North American Commander:
Being one and all of us agreed as to the necessity of ameliorating our condition, we have resolved upon presenting this memorial before the government of the United States, to enlist their sympathy and aid in alleviating our miseries and sufferings.
[Page 654]The Chinese are contracted in the Portuguese island of Macao, to be brought as emigrants to Peru, in South America, and to be considered as coolies, or free workmen or laborers, the following conditions being stipulated in the contract, viz: the contract to be binding for eight years; they are to be maintained and lodged and clothed, when necessary, and are also to receive proper medical attendance in case of sickness, and are generally to be well cared for. Instead of which they are the victims of a most lamentable deception. To many, on the expiration of their stipulated time, their liberty is refused them. The greater number, instead of being well fed, are left with hunger, receiving only ten ounces of rice per diem, and, when ill, instead of receiving proper treatment, are made to work as usual, from five o’clock in the morning till seven at night, without being even questioned or examined as to the truth of their complaints; but they are driven from their beds by the cruel lash; and the Chinese, who are by nature of a weakly constitution, are rendered still more delicate by this excessive hard Work, and become ultimately entirely prostrated; others take refuge from their sufferings in committing suicide.
It is horrible to think of the barbarous manner in which the overseers and major-domos beat the Chinese for the most insignificant faults, often without any cause whatsoever; and it is to be remembered that there is no law which sanctions this system; nor is it licit to have on each estate a regular prison, as is the case on all the estates here.
If, as it generally happens, a fourth part or more of each lot that is shipped at Macao dies on the passage, when on shore an equal number is lost, some from suicide and others from absolute prostration and unfitness for work; these are to be found in large numbers begging in the public streets for a piece of bread on which to subsist. The authorities of this country have never attempted to remedy these evils, and it is we who suffer.
The patrons, instead of looking after and taking care of their colonists, leave them in a state of complete abandonment—some without shoes, some not sufficiently clothed, none with a proper allowance of food, some consumptive, some lame, some crippled, and others in like states of suffering and neglect.
Even those Chinese who live in the principal cities are but little better off being constantly hooted at and subjected to all classes of insults in the streets; and we have always one great complaint, that we are not entitled to the rights of a citizen, as, for example, in the public amusements we are mobbed and hooted at, and sometimes even stoned back to our houses; and it often happens that a party of ruffians, under pretext of looking for runaway Chinamen, penetrate into our houses and avail themselves of the opportunity thus afforded to rob us, in spite of the resistance we make—and all this for want of proper rules and regulations for the guidance of the patrons and Chinese, mutually in their respective duties towards each other. We are of opinion that a great deal of the disorder and trouble that thus arises before the local authorities is to be attributed to the want of proper and efficient interpreters on both sides.
With these motives, we are obliged to and do protest against the immigration of coolies to this republic, unless the government of Peru modify in some manner this traffic, and recognize the modifications made in the new laws of our empire with respect to this immigration, for the future.
[Translation.]
Dear Friend and Countryman, Alo: Being desirous that you should interest yourself in the Asiatics who have unfortunately and by trickery been brought to Peru, and have up to this date and through this deception suffered the greatest calamities, as will be specified in this document, which will be signed by various Chinese, in their own justification and to serve as a guarantee, and in order to render the same valid for presentation before the government of the United States, for the purpose of soliciting said government to identify itself with the interests of the Chinese who have already come and are still coming to this republic, and to use its utmost endeavors to put a stop to these abuses which have been and are still committed against them, which are as follows:
We, the Asiatics, when embarking in China, compromise ourselves with the captain for our passage to Peru only, where we are to find a patron who will employ us and will pay to the captain who brought us our passage money, deducting said amount from our earnings afterwards; but, on arriving at Peru, we find ourselves fraudulently made slaves for any number of years that the captain who brought us may choose, it being supposed that we are contracted for. After being deceived in this manner by the captains of the ships, we find ourselves obliged to work indefinitely as slaves, under the pretext of the supposed contracts that are made between the patrons who take us from the ships and the consignees of said ships, which contracts are made binding on us by the signature of a Chinese who accepts it for each of us. Signing at the foot of these contracts the name of each one of the Asiatics [Page 655] he has brought, which is a criminal falsehood he commits, forging in this way the signatures of each and all the Asiatics, thereby forcing us to fulfil an agreement or contract neither made nor agreed to by us in. any shape or way. These false contracts are generally obligatory for eight years, during which we are subjected by our patrons to all sorts of abuses, principally flagellation (declared criminal by the law) and scarcity of necessary food, and even this of bad quality; and when a Chinese finds the time specified in the false contract has expired, he is still forcibly retained under some pretext or other. In this way there are Chinese who have served fifteen or sixteen years, and who still remain slaves; from which it results that an immense number of Asiatics, in despair, commit suicide, unless, as too often is the case, they die of their many sufferings from extreme illness.
The aliment which is commonly given is one pound of Indian corn ground and one cup of raw beans per man per day, their only drink being water, of which they can take whatever they require. The clothing generally consists of a sort of sack or shirt with holes to pass the head and arms through, and tied round the waist with a piece of rope—without shoes of any description. The bed is formed of some thin canes tied together to form a sort of mat.
When the colonists fall ill and can no longer work, in place of giving them medicine and curing them, the only remedy applied is the lash; and should this not succeed in making them do the work they are unable to do, they are at once put into the prison; and should one of their countrymen take them anything to eat or drink, he is at once beaten.
When prisoners they receive nothing but urine to drink when they are thirsty, and even when not thirsty they are constantly and forcibly made to swallow the same. Where the poor Chinese suffer the greatest abuse is most undoubtedly on the large estates, as there there is no justice to punish the owners for their horrible and criminal abuse of the Asiatic, and the Chinese is never heard by the authorities against his patron, as said patron possesses great influence from the high social position he occupies, so that the colonists are reduced to absolute slavery without remedy.
This is the truest and most exact description that can be given of events that actually occur. We, Chinese by birth, guarantee the truth of what is here set forth, and do trust that you, our countryman, will use your utmost endeavors to alleviate the sufferings and slavery at present experienced by a great number of our countrymen, and in this way we comply with an act of humanity and fulfil a task agreeable to all who take an interest in this affair, which is in our opinion one of great importance And we are persuaded that this statement, signed by a multitude of Asiatics, will move the philanthropy, so characteristic of the United States government, in our favor, and will be the means of inciting it to do what may seem best towards alleviating the lamentable situation of our compatriots.