No. 48.

Mr. Hall to Mr. Davis.

No. 570.]

Sir: Referring to my Nos. 551, 539, and series relating to the subject of Chinese colonization, I have the honor to transmit herewith an extract and translation of an article upon the subject of Asiatic immigration, as the coolie system is sometimes called, that appeared in the “Diario” of the 20th instant. I doubt not it will be found of interest, especially the statistical part, from which it appears that, since 3d June, 1847, when the first expedition arrived, there have been introduced into the island 109,092 Asiatic colonists, at an average cost to the purchaser of $340 each, representing a disbursement of $37,000,000 and upwards, or $1,500,000 annually.

It would be interesting to know how many of these Asiatics have returned to their country, how many are now living, how many have been [Page 222] subjected to capital punishment in Cuba, how many have died in prisons and chain-gangs, and how many, in their despair, have committed suicide.

The report refers to the great progress the island has made since the introduction of the Asiatics or Chinese, as they are indiscriminately called, and counts upon the same element for its development during the period of its political reconstruction, after peace has been restored.

It further states that the great want of the island is an abundance of hands, of cheap and easy reposition, and no other country except the Celestial Empire can furnish them.

I have, &c.,

HENRY C. HALL,. Vice-Consul General.
[Translation.]

Asiatics.

Extract from an official document, in which are set forth the origin, results, and prospects as regards the Island of Cuba, by the immigration of this class of laborers.

The committee appointed at the meeting of planters, convened on the 16th of last September under the presidency of his excellency the political governor, with the object of discussing various details relating to Asiatic colonization, in connection with the royal order of the 27th last April, it is understood has laid before the council of administration of this province the report drawn up in accordance with the resolutions adopted at the said meeting.

The committee considering that the matter merits the greatest possible promptitude, and deeming it its duty to propagate those ideas which, by reason of their elevated origin, have a greater influence upon public opinion, have deemed it advisable to extract from the official communication with which His Excellency the political governor forwarded to the supreme government, the copy of the proceedings of the committee of planters before referred to, because in it is to be found a compendium of the economical history of labor in this island, a clear statement of the advancement due to Asiatic immigration, analyses the legislation bearing on the subject, and further, because it proposes and examines improvements and reforms which apply to the perfecting of this branch of the administration, and lays down sound principles of government applicable to the reconstruction and reconstitution of the country, which the insurrection has made necessary. In fine, in every portion of the document are found doctrines of order, morality, and justice, which place Asiatic colonization on its proper ground, which is the development of the wealth of the island, without occasioning confusion of any nature, by first accomplishing, collectively, grand agricultural and industrial enterprises, and afterward by individual efforts in their dedication to smaller cultures and industries.

The governor begins by tracing, in broad and truthful lines, what may be called a primitive economical history of the Island of Cuba, and after stating the causes which influenced the wonderful development of its wealth, comes naturally to the period when, in consequence of international treaties, the slave trade was obliged to cease, and at which the decadence of the island would seem to have begun. From this subject the governor passes to treat of the conflict which arose between industry and agriculture, prefacing, as it were, their total ruin from the scarcity of labor, and recalls the various attempts at free labor, and all of which failed because it was impossible to pass at once from slave to free labor, either because the new systems were not sufficiently perfected, or because the country was not yet sufficiently prepared for a radical change in the mode of developing agrarian property. Needing, then, an abundance of labor, cheapness, and an easy replacement of losses which would naturally occur, no country afforded these conditions so well as the Celestial Empire; and twenty-four years ago the first expedition of Chinese arrived at the island, the number soon reaching such proportions as to render it necessary to establish rules for its regulation, as was done by royal order of 22d March, 1854. By this decree colonists were permitted to become domiciled in the country after the expiration of their contracts, and obtain citizenship papers; provided, always, that the requirements of the laws in force were complied with. The greater number have availed themselves of this privilege, adding to the increase in population and wealth of the island by their industry and the families they formed. But on the 7th July, 1860, a new ordnance was published, and although in the preamble admitted that the introduction of Chinese laborers was, of all other experiments [Page 223] of the same nature, the one least objectionable, by the 7th article made it an essential condition and a special clause to be inserted in every contract, that upon the expiration of his term of service, the laborer should not remain in the island unless he made a new contract of the same character, either as apprentice or journeyman, under the responsibility of a master, or as engaged in agriculture, or as a domestic servant guaranteed by a guardian; otherwise, to leave the island at his own expense, and obliged to do so within two months after the expiration of his contract.

His excellency, duly acknowledging this order, nevertheless inquires whether the object of Asiatic colonization was simply to provide labor for agriculture and industry, or should be considered as a creative element, which, in time, would furnish other labors, and eventually cause slavery to disappear. In the first case, the country itself would advance but little, notwithstanding the increase in its production, because its wealth would rest upon an unstable basis, converting colonization into a simulated servitude, which would impress upon it a most unfavorable character, and without doubt has been the cause of the alarming increase of maroonage, because the Chinese, obliged to remain forever in a state of forced labor or leave the country, losing the happy future which he may have anticipated, it is therefore not strange that there is a great tendency to flee from the power of their masters, and endeavor, by surreptitious means, to remain in the island, as an infinite number have already done, in defiance of the provisions of the ordinances and of the subsequent decrees made for their better execution.

The governor therefore finds, First. That the Chinese, whether fugitive or those who have completed their contracts, obtain surreptitiously the necessary police documents, or make new contracts with fictitious masters, who permit them to do as they please. This is essentially immoral and would not occur, nor, perhaps, any other fraud on the government, if those worthy of the favor were liberally allowed to remain in the island, as decreed by the first ordinance of March 22, 1854. If, notwithstanding, they remain, evading all the existing laws, the reform indicated would remove the evils referred to, and would free the government from difficult positions such as the present, in which compliance with the order is, perhaps, more important than the faults committed. Second. From what has been stated, it can he deduced that there results no benefit to agriculture by the seventh article of the ordinance; and noticing a certain inclination on the part of the Chinese to pass to the United States, it would not be surprising if those who have already completed their contracts, and others, as their terms expire, should prefer to emigrate before recontracting; so that if the object of the seventh article was to obtain, by renewals of engagements, an already acclimated force of laborers without expending a second capital in the acquisition, that measure will prove not to yield very satisfactory results. Between the good and the evil which Asiatic immigration may produce, the choice is not doubtful. There will always be time to correct the latter by perfecting the system, and, regarding the former, the benefit is patent when the United States, Peru, the French Antilles, the island of Mauritius, or Reunion, and other nations and colonies, seek in China laborers for their agricultural and industrial undertakings. The Island of Cuba has probably imported the greatest number, and being assuredly the country which has best succeeded in the measure, it is in the condition to perfect the system, and under the imperative necessity of so doing, as slavery cannot be reproduced. For this perfection, but few regulations will suffice, and, in effect, his excellency cites the “Instructions for the application of the ordinance regarding the introduction of Asiatic colonists, their well-behavior and discipline,” approved on the 31st December, 1868, which, from the peculiar condition of the country, have not produced the desired results. His excellency recommends these instructions, and especially articles 62, 63, and 64, referring to the renewal of contracts, which contain all the guarantees to be exacted in such cases. The governor also proceeds to notice the royal order of the 27th April last, which was based upon the reports forwarded on the 27th July and 29th August, 1870, to the supreme government by the superior political government of this island, reports which were warranted by the supreme necessity of the preservation of this province, which is the first duty of the government, under which circumstances the laws in force in normal periods cease to rule, and are replaced by what is called in official language discretionary power and reasons of state. The reports were forwarded when no hopes for a speedy pacification were entertained; but the measure could not have been considered of such great urgency, as not until the 27th of last April did the King issue his decree in the sense proposed, that is, suspending immigration and authorizing the superior civil government to cause all those whose terms had expired and had not renewed their contracts, vagabonds, and disturbers of public order, to leave the island. A short time after the publication of the royal order in this city, His Majesty was pleased to authorize the embarkation of colonists in China during the next monzoon; and as the royal order does not exact or require that the superior government shall cause the immediate departure from the island of the Chinese who have filled their contracts and not made new ones, nor even of vagabonds and disturbers of public order, regarding all of whom the measure could he adopted without the necessity of consulting the supreme government, as this government has always been authorized to take any steps necessary to preserve order and [Page 224] repress vagrancy, whoever may he those who deserve punishment; and as the ordinance of 1860, and the instructions of December 31, 1868, amply provide for cases of expiration of contracts and non-renewal, the royal order is reduced to a simple alteration of a part of the 18th article of the ordinance, in that it provides that vagabond Chinese, and others lacking the necessary means, shall be sent away at the expense of the state. Therefore, if deemed expedient, the superior government may disregard the authority given. His excellency then proceeds to consider the reconstruction and reconstitution of the country. He says it is not sufficient alone to triumph over the armed insurrection, but also necessary to conquer the evil ideas of the enemies of our nationality, dictating with this view all measures which may be necessary to return the country to the prosperity in which it was at the outbreak of the insurrection. Though in July or August of last year, the expulsion of the Chinese freedmen and unrecontracted may have been opportune, convenient, and necessary, now that the situation has so completely changed, the execution of the royal decree might bring the country to an economical crisis.

The insurrection is expiring. No one better knows its exact situation than his excellency the superior political governor; that with a few more efforts it will terminate completely, but the destruction and the losses it has occasioned are not easy of immediate repair. The duty, therefore, of reconstructing and reconstituting the country, and setting it in the way of material and moral progress, which leads to the happiness of a people, counsels the adoption of extraordinary measures, which could not have been foreseen by the laws. The government should, therefore, prepare itself, by profound and thoughtful study and meditation on the past and present, to determine the reforms which must be applied; the laws which shall rule and favor the country in its new career, by providing for its future material and moral needs. Restricting himself to material reforms, the governor shows that upon the conclusion of the insurrection, the scarcity of labor will be greater than ever, because of the great number of men who have perished or been rendered incapable, and from the natural distrust to employ those who have been concerned in the insurrection; and, finally, from the greater advantages which will lead many to dedicate themselves to small city or rural occupations, and which will cause the departure of many laborers from this to other departments of the island. All of these causes, as well as the development of lands which had been abandoned, will produce an excessive demand for labor, and will enhance the rates of wages. The crisis which may arise, being one that intimately affects production, the real wealth of Cuba, will be the more deplorable, as it wall occur at the very moment when resources will be most necessary to the state and country. It is necessary to provide at once against this evil, and it can be avoided by recurrence to measures already well known and accepted, and to which the country has become accustomed by an experience of twenty-four years.

If the development of lands does not vary in its mode of procedure, Asiatic immigration alone can save the country and restore it to its former splendor.

Whilst free labor can find in manufacturing and mercantile pursuits a comfortable recompense, it is not likely that it would engage in the rude and toilsome tasks of agriculture, for the benefit of a third party; because, so long as the individual has the other resource, he will not consent, by the sweat of his brow, to make land productive which does not belong to him. This has been the great obstacle encountered in all the attempts made, and although there may have been more than one instance where profitable results were obtained, the question should not be regarded as decided from exceptional cases, nor should means which experience has proved useful be imperiled and lost.

In order to fully establish this proposition, in addition to the reasons already given, his excellency says that, from the 3d of June, 1847, the date of the arrival of the first expedition of Chinese which was introduced by the royal “Junta de Fomento,” to the present date, there have landed at Havana 109,092 Asiatic colonists, who, at the average price of $340 per contract, represent a total disbursement of $37,081,280, or $1,545,053 yearly. In view of these figures, his excellency exclaims, “And is it possible that within so long a time the country could not discover that it was committing an error in introducing Asiatics? Is it possible that such an immense sum could have been employed inconsiderately by so many proprietors and merchants, intelligent in their respective lines of business? And is not Asiatic colonization sufficiently vouched for, when during the last and present year there have arrived at Havana 2,715 Chinese, whose contracts were immediately transferred, at the price of $400 each, notwithstanding the unhappy state of the island? And, finally, has there not been formed, within a few months, an association of rich planters, with a million of dollars capital, for the sole object of importing Chinese laborers exclusively for their own estates? And does not the Alianza & Co.,” a respectable company, whose members are among the richest planters and capitalists in the island, continue importing Chinese exclusively?”

Against these undeniable proofs of the utility, importance, convenience, and necessity of Asiatic immigration, it can only be objected that the Chinese commit crimes; that they disturb public order; have taken part in the insurrection; that many are [Page 225] vagabonds. All these faults can be corrected according to law by expelling disturbers and vagabonds, severely punishing those who took part in the insurrection; in short, redoubling vigilance over all, but not closing the door to the principal element of production.

The reconstruction and reconstitution of the country, then, must commence with the introduction of the greatest possible number of laborers, endeavoring to have them, upon the conclusion of their contracts, domiciled in the country.

To them, as to other free men, should be extended the same facilities for the acquisition of property, although it be by annual rent in a certain space of land which will bring with it the necessity of forming a family; and when the country is covered with these small proprietors, happy and tranquil as are those in the Vuelta Abajo district, then the domination of Spain in Cuba will be established upon indestructible bases.

He who has a family and property to look out for, will not readily throw himself into the hazards of an insurrection against the constituted government. But it was necessary to begin the execution of the royal order of the 27th of April last, in order to ascertain, so to speak, the condition of the Chinese population of Havana, and from this to deduce approximately the general situation of the island. His excellency, therefore, ordered the arrest of the Asiatics, comprised in article 3 of the royal order, whose police documents were suspicious. About fifteen hundred of the seven thousand Chinese residents in Havana have been arrested, and His Excellency was obliged to suspend the execution of the order, because, judging from the reports of the police that the greater part of those in Havana would be included in the number arrested, there were not sufficient accommodations to hold them. Nor did he think it prudent, such a numerous agglomeration as would have resulted, and also because in view of the service in which the greater part of the Asiatics were engaged, it was deemed proper to take into consideration the inconvenience which might ensue to the public, and, besides, the arrest of so large a number restored the full prestige of the government, which exacts obedience and compliance of its mandates, and the Asiatics would therefore be convinced of the firm determination of the government to make them conform to the laws or leave the island. The Asiatics were carried to the depots assigned them, and the patronos or masters, who had fugitive colonists, convoked to examine and identify any that might belong to them within the space of eight days. At the request of a committee of planters, a meeting under the presidency of his excellency took place on the 16th of September, to discuss various points relating to the important question of Asiatics.

His excellency accompanies a copy of the proceedings, which may be noted as containing the previously formed opinion of his excellency regarding the cardinal point of determining, not on the shipment of all the Chinese, but solely of the vagabonds and turbulent characters—requiring the others to conform to the legal conditions as prescribed in the decree of 7th of July, 1860, and the instructions of December 31, 1868, this last requirement, however, only to be carried into effect after the patronos or masters had identified and recovered their fugitive colonists.

The planters were of opinion that it would be advisable to call into Havana all the Chinese arrested in other portions of the island, in order that the patronos might make the inspection at more length, and that renewals of contracts might he made with more ease. This last measure was so serious, however, that the planters instinctively recognized the difficulties in the way and recommended that precautions he taken, as these Chinese are occupied in agricultural labor, and the damage that might he occasioned to those by whom they are employed would prove considerable.

The governor supports this opinion, and resuming the substance of his conscientious communication is of opinion, respecting the continuation of Asiatic immigration, 1st. That it is useful and of absolute necessity, and the measure which offers least disadvantages. 2d. That the introduction of Chinese should be permitted. 3d. That this introduction be carried on within the precepts of the royal order of the 7th of July, 1860, and of the instructions of December 31, 1868, so long as the reconstruction of the country continues, but as soon as the state of affairs shall permit it, immigration shall continue in the open manner dictated by good principles for creating a positive population, for which end it is indispensable that the Asiatic or any other race that comes to replace or aid them, shall have, after the expiration of his contract, (which comprises a sufficient period to determine whether he be useful or prejudicial to society,) the right to become a citizen, if he be within the conditions necessary to obtain this title.

Regarding the execution of the royal order of 27th April last, the political governor understands, 1st, that vagrants and disturbers of public order, and all whose evil antecedents justify their being qualified as dangerous, be made to leave the island; 2d, that those who voluntarily desire it shall be permitted to renew their contracts, compelling those who refuse to leave the island; 3d, that the renewal of contracts he made with persons of recognized integrity, both for agricultural and industrial tasks, and for domestic duties, as the existing ordinance permits; 4th, that said renewals he made in [Page 226] strict obedience to the dispositions contained in the instructions of December 31, 1868, with special reference to the spirit of articles 46, 47, 48, and 49, as a just guarantee of the rights of the patrons against fugitives, and of articles 62, 63, and 64, as a remedy for the greater part of the abuses which are now the subject of correction; and 5th, that these instructions be newly published, reiterating the necessity for their execution, and presenting the orders necessary to carry into effect the distribution of Asiatics among the patronos or masters with all the requisites prescribed in said instructions.

The political governor upon recommending to his excellency the necessity and convenience of resolving the points submitted to him, and those referred to in the proceedings of the meeting of planters, he cannot refrain from urging on him the importance of hearing the authoritative opinion of those gentlemen, both in reference to the practical application of the said instructions of 31st December, 1868, and the reforms which this requires, and to the report which is prescribed in article 5 of the royal order of 27th April last, in the security that their intelligence and experience will not fail to be useful in determining the resolutions which shall be adopted.

Such is, in extract, the communication of his excellency the political governor. The question of Asiatic colonization is treated in a masterly manner, under all its aspects, and with an abundance of data, reasons and doctrines, which bring to the mind a conviction of the excellence of measures he proposes. This committee hopes that the most excellent administrative council will report favorably upon the petition presented by the political governor, especially now that the entire island, being enlightened by this publication, will recognize the justice with which the government has proceeded, and its interest in the welfare of the country.

THE COMMITTEE.