In the natural course of the development of Queensland, it so happened that two new industries required the services of labourers capable of working under tropical conditions on land and sea. On the one hand, there were the sugar planters, who needed gangs of cheap labourers possessing some knowledge of the principles and practice of agriculture. On the other hand, there were the " fishers " of pearl-shell and becbe de mer, whose requirements were more complex, and necessitated the grading of their hands according to their skill in diving, their capacity for handling boats, and their
slaving and kidnapping. This is emphatically denied by Sir Charles Cowper, Agent-General for New South Wales, in The Times of i8th December, 1871. Sir Charles shows that Captain Palmer's case is based on his seizure, at Fiji, of the 44-ton ship "Daphne," owned in Victoria, licensed by the Queensland Government to carry fifty-eight islanders, which was claimed by Captain Palmer as a prize and sent to Sydney, New South Wales,
for condemnation. Palmer's action was disapproved by his superior officer, Commodore Lambert, and his claim was rejected by the Court, on the evidence, whereupon he
accused, among others, the Governor and Chief Justice of New South Wales, of partiality to slavers. Sir Charles remarks on " Captain Palmer's inability to understand what legal evidence was.")
"Labour Trade in the Western Pacific." New South Wales Blue Book, 1881. (Articles
by Baron Miklouho Maclay and others on Kidnapping and Slavery in Western Pacific,
Statistics of Vessels employed, etc., etc.)
J. Langdon Parsons, M.P., Minister for Education, South Australia. The Sugar Industry in the Mackay District . . . and the Advantages of Coolie Labour for the Northern Territory. Adelaide, Govt. Printer, 1883.
A. Mackenzie Cameron. On the Most Suitable Labour for Sugar Cultivation in
Northern Queensland. Prize Essay, N.Q.P. & A. Ass. Townsville, 1883. (Argues that
island labour is the only labour suitable for the industry.)
A. J. Duffield. What I know of the Labour Traffic, a Lecture, Brisbane, 1884. (The
author, for the purpose of obtaining evidence against coloured labour, took service as
Government agent on the Recruiter " Heath." He insists that it was a mere pretence
that the islanders understood their contracts, alleges corruption of Government agents
and argues that no recruiting vessel could make the trade pay without a " side line "
of " trade" in worthless goods. Further alleges that " man-hunting " is an instinct
which, if uncontrolled, will inevitably be indulged in ; that Government interference
is harmful whenever it is not evaded, and that there is great mortality among labourers
on Queensland plantations. Regards Indian coolie labour as the solution of the
question.)
J. Y. Walker in History of Bundaberg. Sydney and Bundaberg, 1890. " The Sugar
Industry, which includes a Practical View of the Kanaka Question, submitted to the
People and Parliament of Queensland by the Bundaberg Planters Association." (Argues
in favour of island labour as the most suitable.)
W. T. Wawn. The South Sea Islanders and the Queensland Labour Trade J A Record
of Voyages and Experiences in the Western Pacific (1875-91), by William T. Wawn, Master
Mariner. London, Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1893.
Rev. Alex. C. Smith, Convener of the Queensland Presbyterian Foreign Missions
Committee. The Kanaka Labour Question, with Special Reference to Missionary Efforts
in the Plantations of Queensland. Brisbane, Alex. Muir & Morcom, 1892. (Derides
alleged high death-rate on plantations and claims that Christianising and civilising
influences are brought to bear on the labourers.)
The Sugaf Question in Queensland. A series of Papers published (in the interest of
planters) by Watson & Ferguson, Brisbane, 1901. (Includes an article by The Times
correspondent on the conditions attending small white holdings side by side with
plantations employing island labour.)
Mackay Federal Tariff Committee. Report to Brisbane Chambers of Manufacturers,
I7th September, 1900. (Claims that " Kanaka " labour is indispensable, but admits
that it should be restricted to agriculture.)
The Sugar Industry t The Voice of Queensland Agricultural Societies. Brisbane, 1901.
(Unanimous condemnation of proposed abolition of island labour.)
"The Sugar Industry: Conditions in Northern Queensland." Reprint of Articles in Rockhampton Daily Record, January, 1905. (Argues that island labourers form an insignificant proportion of total population and that, while they give employment to a large number of whites, their expulsion would ruin the industry.)
Labour in Cane-fields Conference. Townsville, February, 1907
