Mail writes:—Good news for the soi distant Liberal, but really Communist party of Macao.' The barracoons are to be opened by the old hands, under the name of licensed Hotels; the same brokers are employed to get coolies, and the Agents will pay s0 much per head put on board, as formerly. Although the Government do notaanction any contract, the parties—i. e., the Agent and the coolie, or his attorney, will agree between themselves, and if necessary, the contracts may be registered at the respective Consulates, which will make it Dinding on the arrival of the coolies at their destination. ~The dealers in human flesh say that all difficulties of the new system have been overcome but two, The first is, the space of 8 cubic metres per coolie, which they consider too much for a man, as coolie, on Board, but it isa matter that can be arranged. Theother and last difficulty of the new regulation—that the Governor will send a person in his confidence, the day previous to the departure of any vessel leaving with coolies, to examine them, and that those rouilling to go will be landed—is still considered insurmountable; as no fortuneteller can yet give a satisfactory answer to the parties who are anxious to know who will be the lucky or unlucky person appointed by the Governor to discharge this important duty.
Tecan only predict, without being a prophet, that, unless' Viscount de Sam Januario puts down kidnapping, swindling, cheating and all other crimes connected with the coolie trade with a strong hand, by punishing the Agents, Captains and other Europeans and Chinese who ship unwilling emigrants, not with fines only, dut with long terms of imprisonment, any system of emigration will prove abortive, and vice and immorality will command the day as heretofore.
Besides the evils in connection with the working of the emigration at Macao, what guarantee hare the Portuguese Government, from these Agents, that the coolies will not be sold into slavery at the port of their destination Tu Cuba I know from the regulations of the Island, that those coolies who have worked out their contracts are allowed only 50 days to quit the Island or to enter into a now contract—which is tantamount to slavery for life.
From Peru, according to the terms of the contracts entered into by the Agents in Macao, no coolie can be sent to the Guano pits, but every captain and inter-prefer returning from the latter place describes the shocking miseries of the Chinamen sent to the Guano Islands, with the tacit consent of the Portuguese Consul-General.
The Chuchaeiros, believing in their mas-tors, are spreading the news that one of the Lords of the late Liberal Government is connected with some West India Sugar plantations; and being for that reason jealous of the growth of Cuba as a Sugar producing country, tries his best to stop the importation of workmen into that Island.
It is now a question of the life or death of the coolie trade, the appointment of an employe to examine the coolies; and if the appointment falls on a right man, the 's- slave trade will soon be a thing of the past. I should like to see Mr. P. G. Mesnier appointed to that important position, in order to watch the chuchaeiros' process of silvering the man—which will surely be tried on that respectable gentleman, with little or no prospect of success.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.