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Tue 4 Aug 1885 - The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933)
Page 6 - THE RETURNED ISLANDERS.
THE RETURNED ISLANDERS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE BRISBANE COURIER.
Sir,-In your issue of the 1st instant you
publish the last of your special articles on the
returning of the so-called illegally recruited
islanders. The articles have been read, I know,
with great interest by many colonials, myself!
amongst the number, and the writer has shown
good taste and great observing power in all of
his summing up. Yesterday he gave the soul
of the whole matter, evidently made clear by
his own observation, and unbiased by a planter
or a member of our present Government, or
anyone else. I myself have lived amongst
black races nearly all my life, have wrestled
with stalwart Zulu youths in my youth, have
lived amongst the boys of the South Sea
Islands, and can speak some of their languages,
and so have a good knowledge of dark men, and
ara their recognised friend. The few remarks
I wish to make may therefore be received as
coming from the native side, and not from the
planter? "or the Government. I challenge
the Government to make the following
out. Allow me to go to the some
islands from which the Victoria has just
returned, > and in presence of any amount of
Government officers I will recruit for three
years a large percentage of these " boys " just
returned. Your special in his summing up,
says-The may be doubted if many of them
exactly understood what was being done with
them. This is the point, and the same may
be said of them when they engaged to leave
their homes. They know little of what it was
all about; they engaged with a desire to get to
know, and would, I doubt not, after having
now had a taste of that knowledge, gladly
make themselves more acquainted with planta-
tion life excepting in some instances, where
they may have lost faith in the stability or
value of promises made by their employers
in good faith, rendered abortive by the recent
action of the Government in sending them home.
My challenge may be considered by some persons
as empty boasting, but I assure you. Mr.
Editor, that it is written in no such spirit, but
rather with a view to let my follow colonists be,
if possible, a little more cautious before they
believe. A great deal of the printed evidence
published about this our great scandal, an
absolute personal knowledge is indispensable in
dealing with nearly all coloured races, and
without that criticism is useless ; one thing we
all know, and that is we look differently on,
and act very differently towards all black
races as compared with whites. I may cite as
"an example the history of the commission and
subsequent conduct of the Government itself
towards the returned islanders. Kindness,
doubtless, was designed, and as far as the
members of the commission Were concerned
well carried out; but it was kindness of a
kind, it was feeling of a kind never
shown or felt towards a white man.
It was and is with all of us a kindness or
feeling excited by a sense that the subject is or
was a very much lower one than angels or us.
This is all very well, and sits upon us grace-
fully enough-when not carried to extremes.
A proper sense of justice is right, but a
maudlin sympathy or a sympathetic display for
Exeter Hall opinion is not, I am sure, becoming.
Now the boys" have been sent
home there is a feeling of relief; duty to
them has the Government believes) been done ;
our hon washed in public, and emitted anything
but a pleasant odour; but I doubt that the
Government or any of their officers received a
"Thank you" from any of the islanders, or
are likely to for in all probability many of
them look upon their return as the exercise of
a great power, mysterious and incomprehensible
to them, but one that is liable to act in an
erratic way.
Mention has been made of the missionary
boy Case, and that he went about amongst the
labourers telling them to say three months and
not three "yams." It is quite likely that he did,
and it was reported to me that he was on the
Victoria plantation visiting the New Guinea
men, but I did not object to this.
At my request, when the Hopeful recruits
were landed, Cargo came up to the plantation
with them, and I was rather pleased than otherwise
that they should have an opportunity of
conversing again with him, as at that time he
was the only channel of communication. Cargo
therefore had abundant opportunity to say
what he liked, and I must own there was a sensible
feeling apparent amongst the boys that
they were to be sent home; but that
they were very pleased at the prospect
may be doubted, although they had abundant
reason to be dissatisfied with Queensland,
inasmuch as the death-rate amongst them was
very high, and semvy breaking out must have
made them very miserable. They were not,
however, asked to work, and care was taken to
make them satisfied with their lot; sufficient
time had not, however, elapsed for them to
get over the usual home-sickness, and this,
with the other, causes mentioned, would
naturally make them ready listeners to Cago'a
persuasion. Cargo was a boy in whom I should
be disposed to put little faith ; he so far as I
could see, had no love for the others or desire
for their welfare, but I am inclined to think
bribery would have the effect of getting him
to do whatever the bribery wanted. I think he
felt himself in the hands of his chiefs, which
means fear and obligation, and he would in all
probability make speeches and exact information
favourable to the desires or wishes of
those he wished to please on account of this
fear. i
3rd August I wrote the former port of my
letter before. I saw, or expected to see, your
leader in this morning's issue, and as you
therein treat the matter somewhat from my
standpoint, you may not care to publish this,
t have written with the sole object, as before
said, of getting my fellow-colonists to think
well before coming to a final conclusion in
regard to this matter, and, as an eye-witness, I
may expect to be listened to by those who are
desirous of the truth.
-I am, sir, c,
E. COWLEY..
Late Victoria Plantation, Lower Herbert
River. .
Article identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3445804
Page identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page86335
APA citation
THE RETURNED ISLANDERS. (1885, August 4).The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 6. Retrieved November 25, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3445804
MLA citation
"THE RETURNED ISLANDERS."The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) 4 August 1885: 6. Web. 25 Nov 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3445804>.
Harvard/Australian citation
1885 'THE RETURNED ISLANDERS.',The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), 4 August, p. 6. , viewed 25 Nov 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3445804
Wikipedia citation
{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3445804 |title=THE RETURNED ISLANDERS. |newspaper=[[The Brisbane Courier]] |volume=XL, |issue=8,600 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=4 August 1885 |accessdate=25 November 2025 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}

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