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Loans and Deposits held at the end of the year from

Working Capital by Provinces for 1925-26 only.

Population Share

Capital paid up.

Provincial

or

Govern

Members. Societies. Central ment.

Banks.

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1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

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Province.

in
mil-
lions.

United Provinces

45.4 47,00

3,23

3,32

54,39

27

50,04

29,91

Punjab

1,88,16

7

20-7

8,10

43,83

36,10

3,24,11

17,37

3,05,98

1,03,48

9,22.97

72

Burma

11.7

95,98

12,76

10,98

1,32,36

12,55

1,42,89

Central Provinces and Berar

65,52

4,73,04

65

..

13.9

29,20

4,74

26,64

1,92,39

19

1,32,00

47,80

4,32,96

50

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9,92

20

North West Frontier Province..

12,94

4,88

39,10

8

2.3

10

..

1

8

20

..

39

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..

16

11

1,13

5

1,36

1,19

5,87

47

Ajmer-Merwara

..

0.5

5,89

1,00

75

12,04

44

16,22

6,03

42,37

136

Hyderabad Administered Area..

0.1

1,18

1,00

7

..

..

44

8

2,77

44

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Indians Overseas.

NUMBERS.-The total Indian population resident in the countries to which Indians mainly emigrate for purposes of settlement, according to the latest available returns, is as follows:

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Origin of Indian Emigration.-Emi- and consolidated the whole system of control gration is prohibited by the Hindu Shastras, It was itself amended in 1869 and 1870 in imand there is little evidence of any settlement portant respects with the object of preventing of Indians overseas in early times except in epidemics on emigrant vessels and improving Sumatra, Java and Ceylon. Emigration for sanitary conditions in settlements. In 1869 purposes of labour dates from the beginning of emigration was permitted to Grenada, and in the 19th century. From 1800 A. D. onwards 1872 to Surinam. Owing to the removal of Indians crossed the Bay to the Straits Settle- the Straits Settlements from the control of the ments to work on the sugar, spice, tapioca, Government of India in 1867, emigration to and cocoanut plantations of Penang, and this that colony came under all the restrictions intercourse was allowed to continue for long imposed by the Emigration Act and was only without regulation. The first officially re- permitted from the port of Negapatam. Owing corded instance of genuine recruitment for to the injury caused to the agricultural induslabour emigration occurred in 1830, when a tries of the colony, these restrictions. were French merchant, named Joseph Argand, removed in 1872, subject only to magisterial carried some 150 artizans to Bourbon. The control of recruitment in India. In 1870 abolition of slavery in British colonies in 1834 complaints reached the Government of India gave the first great impetus to the movement. of gross abuses in the treatment of emiThe sugar planters of Mauritius at once turned grants in British Guiana. A commission to India as their best recruiting ground, and of enquiry was appointed, and their report between 1834 and 1837 obtained at least 7,000 led to important legislation in the colony recruits from Calcutta. The Government of for the protection of Indian immigrants, India at a very early stage realised the neces- which was subsequently extended to Trinidad.

Owing to similar complaints from Natal and Mauritius, commissions of enquiry were also instituted in both these colonies, and their reports in 1872 brought to light a number of points requiring amendment.

sity of bringing such emigration under regulation. The Law Commission was asked to investigate the case and to make recommend ations for securing the well-being of emigrants. They advised that no legislation was required except in order to prevent undue advantage being taken of the simplicity and ignorance of Recent Legislation. In 1871 a fresh con. emigrants by providing that a magistrate solidating Act was passed (Act VII of 1871) should satisfy himself that all contracts were by which the Acts regulating emigration to entered into freely and understood by them the French Colonies and two amending Acts and in order to secure that sufficient provision to Act XIII of 1864 were incorporated in the

was made for their accommodation and sustenance during the voyage. A copy of every engagement was also to be transmitted to the Government under which the emigrants were to live. These recommendations were embodied in the first Emigration Act (V of 1837), which also provided that contracts should be determinable after 5 years.

History of Emigration.-Under the above Act emigration during 1837 was permitted

general law. The question of revision of the law again came up for consideration in 1882, when several cases of kidnapping and other objectionable practices were reported to the Government of India. The opportunity was taken to depute two officials (Major Pitcher and Mr. Grierson) to ascertain, in the N. W. P. and in Bengal respectively, the way in which the system of recruitment actually worked, the respects in which it was open to improvement, and the attitude of the people towards

to Mauritius, British Guiana and Australia emigration. Their reports were reviewed by (89 men, the first and last direct emigrants the Government of India, and finally in 1883 to Australia). In 1838 emigration was sus- the law was again recast and consolidated by pended owing to agitation in England regarding Act XXI of that year. This Act specifies the abuses to which the system was liable, the countries to which emigration is lawful, and a committee of enquiry reported in 1840 but empowers the Governor General in Council that emigrants were being entrapped by force to add to the list by notification, and also to or fraud, robbed of their wages and treated with prohibit emigration to any of the countries

brutality. In consequence, emigration was prohibited (Act XV of 1842) except to Mauritius, and there control was tightened. In Act XXI of 1844 emigration under still stricter regulation was allowed to Jamaica, British Guiana and Trinidad. Act XIII of 1847 removed the restrictions on emigration to Ceylon. The emancipation of slaves in the French colo

in the list on the ground of epidemic disease and or excessive mortality among emigrants in such country, or on the ground that proper measures have not been taken for the protection of emigrants, or that the agreements made with them in India are not duly enforced. This Act with certain amendments of no importance to the system of indentured emigration re

nies in 1849 gave rise to a system of emigration mained in force until 1908, when a fresh revi

sion of the law was undertaken.

Under the Act of 1908 (XVII of 1908) the countries to which emigration was lawful were the British Colonies of Mauritius, Jamaica,

from French Indian ports to Réunion and Bourbon, which was largely based on crimping in British territory. This practice was checked by Act XXIV of 1852. In 1858 emigration was opened to St. Lucia, and in 1860 to St. Vincent, Natal and St. Kitts. In the latter British Guiana, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Grerada, year a more elaborate Act, based on a conven- St. Vincent, Natal, St. Kitts, Nevis, Fiji, the tion with the French Government was passed Seychelles, the Netherlands Colony of Dutch legalising and regulating emigration to Reunion Guiana and the Danish Colony of St. Croix. Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana. Emigration to St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent, Act XIII of 1864 marks an important stage in St. Kitts, Nevis, the Seychelles and St. Croix the history of emigration, since it elaborated ceased soon after the passing of the Act, the 2, Report on the system of recruiting the countries in which they are settled, but coolies in the North Western Provinces and Oudh for the Colonies, 1883.

demand for fresh labour having died out. Emigration to Natal was discontinued from the 1st July 1911 as the Government of India were satisfied that it was undesirable to continue to send Indian labour to that country. Emigration to the French Colonies of Réunion, Martinique and Guadeloupe had been suspended prior to the passing of the Act of 1908 on account of repeated complaints of the inadequate precautions taken for the proper treatment and repatriation of the immigrants.

The labour laws of the several Colonies provide for the protection and welfare of resident Indian labourers. The Government of India also occasionally depute to the colonies their officers to report on the condition of Indian laboureres. Deputations from India visited Fiji and British Guiana in 1921. In spite of all precautions certain social and moral evils had grown up in connection with the intendentured system of emigration and Indian public opinion has during the last decade been strongly opposed to it. The whole system was exhaustively examined by the Government of India in 1915 in the light of the report received from Messrs. McNeill and Chimanlal, and they arrived at the conclusion that the time has come when contract labour should be abolished. The Secretary of State for India accepted this policy and authorised the Government of India to announce the abolition of the indentured system and the announcement to this effect was made in 1916.

In 1922 a further step forward was taken in Act VII of 1922 which prohibited indentured emigration and all unskilled emigration, except to countries specially approved by the Legislature. Emigration to Ceylon and Malaya was brought under control, and the definition of "Emigrant" was extended to cover all persons "assisted" to depart from India.

References. - The following is a list of the most important reports on questions connected with Indian Emigration that have been published during recent years:

1. Report of the International Commission appointed to enquire into the condition and treatment of British India immigrants in Reunion 1879.

9. Report of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the question of Indian immigration, 1896.

10. Lord Sanderson's Commission's Report on Emigration from India to the Crown Colonies and Protectorates, 1910,

11. Report of the Indian Enquiry Commission South Africa, 1914.

12. Messrs. McNeill and Chimanlal's report on the condition of Indian Emigrants in the four British Colonies: Trinidad, British Guiana or Demerara, Jamaica and Fiji, and in the Dutch Colony of Surinam, 1914-15.

13. Marjoribanks' and Marakkayar's report on Indian labour emigrating to Ceylon and Malaya, 1917.

14. South Africa Asiatic Enquiry Com. mission report, 1921.

15. Report by Right Hon. V. S. Shastri regarding his Dominion tour, 1923.

16. India and the Imperial Conference of 1923 compiled by Director of Public Informa tion, Government of India.

17. Reports on the scheme for Indian emi. gration to British Guiana.

18. Report by Kunwar Maharaj Singh on his deputation to Mauritius, 1925.

19. Annual Report of the Agent of the Government of India in Ceylon, 1925,

20. Annual Report of the Agent of the Govern

ment of India in British Malaya for the year 1925

21. Report by Kunwar Maharaj Singh on his deputation to British Guiana, 1926.

Present Position. -Indian emigration questions have recently taken on a wider aspect. The status of Indians in the Empire generally is one in which the Indian public now take keen interest. It is no longer possible to deal with the treatment of Indian labour apart from other classes of Indian emigrants and tra. vellers. In several colonies and dominions considerable Indian communities have sprung up, which although composed largely of the descendants of indentured labourers, are them. selves free and lawfully domiciled citizens of

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have not yet been placed on a footing of legal, social, political and economic equality with the rest of the population. The issues round which public interest at present centres are three:

(a) Control of emigration.

(b) Rights of Indians to admission to other parts of the Empire.

(c) Rights and disabilities of Indians domiciled overseas.

These questions may be considered separately.

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"10. (1) Emigration, for the purpose of unskilled work, shall not be lawful except to such countries and on such terms and conditions as the Governor-General in Council, by notification in the Gazelle of India, may specify in this behalf.

"(2) No Notification shall be made under sub-section (1) unless it has been laid in draft before both Chambers of the Indian Legislature and has been approved by a resolution of each Chamber, either without modification or addition, or with modifications and additions to which both Chambers agree, but, upon such approval being given, the notification may be Issued in the form in which it has been so approved."

Under this law emigration has been legalized to Ceylon on the following conditions:

(1) The emigrant shall

(a) have been recruited by a person licensed for that purpose by and responsible to an officer (hereinafter called the Emigration Commissioner) appointed by the Government of Ceylon, or (b) have applied direct to the Emigration Commissioner for an assisted passage and have been accepted by him.

(2) The emigrant shall not, before leaving British India, have entered into a contract of service for a period exceeding one month.

(3) Within six months from the issue of this Notification, or within such further period as the Governor General in Council may by notification appoint, the Legislature of Ceylon shall have enacted that any contract of service for a

period exceeding one month entered into by an emigrant shall be void.

(4) No part of the cost of his recruitment, subsistence during transport, or transport shall be recoverable from any emigrant and all expenses in this connection shall be defrayed from a common fund to be raised in such manner and managed by such agency as may appear suitable to the Colonial Government.

(5) The Government of Ceylon shall at any time when so desired by the Governor General in Council admit and give all facilities to an Agent appointed under section 7 of the Act.

(6) Within one year of his arrival in Ceylon any emigrant who has been assisted to emigrate at the cost of the common fund referred to in clause (4) shall, on satisfying the Agent appointed under section 7 of the Act that his return to his home is desirable either on the ground of the state of his health or on the ground that the work which he is required to do is unsuitable to his capacity, or that he has been unjustly treated by his employer, or for any other sufficient reason, be repatriated free of cost to the place of recruitment, and the costs of such repatriation shall be defrayed by the Government of Ceylon or the Ceylon Planters'

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as the Governor-General in Council may by notification appoint, the Legislature of Ceylon shall have enacted that no payment made in India by a recruiter to an emigrant to enable him to pay off debts before emigrating shall be recoverable.

(9) The Government of Ceylon shall furnish such periodical reports and returns as may be required from time to time by the Government of India in respect of the welfare of persons emigrating to Ceylon in accordance with this Notification.

Similar conditions have been imposed in the case of Malaya. Emigration was also permitted to Mauritius for a period of 1 year only with effect from May 1st, 1923, and limited to a number not exceeding 1,500 labourers. The terms were more onerous than in the case of nearer Colonies and the arrangement has now lapsed.

Admission of Indians to Other Parts of the Empire. On the motion of the Government of India this question was discussed at the Imperial War Conferences, 1917 and 1918, and the policy accepted by the self-governing dominions and the British Government was embodied in the following resolutions:

"(1) It is an inherent function of the Governments of the several communities of the British Commonwealth including India, that each should enjoy complete control of the composition of its own population by means of restriction on immigration from any of the other communities.

"(2) British citizens domiciled in any Bri tish country, including India, should be admitted into any other British country for visits, for the purpose of pleasure or commerce, including temporary residence for the purpose of education; such right shall not extend to a visit or temporary residence for labour purposes or to permanent settlement.

"(3) Indians already permanently domiciled in the other British countries should be allowed to bring in their wives and minor children on condition: (a) That not more than one wife and her children shall be admitted for each such Indian; and (b) that each individual so admitted shall be certified by the Government of India as being the lawful wife or child of such Indian."

The first paragraph of this resolution has regularized the various restrictions on immigration which the self-governing dominions have, from time to time, adopted and which, without expressly differentiating against Indians are in practice used in order to check Indian immigration, the objections to which are stated to be not racial or political but economic. Australia prohibits the entry of any person who fails to pass a dictation test of not less than 50 words in any prescribed language. New Zealand prohibits the entry of any person who has not received in advance a permit from the Dominion Government which is refused to any person regarded as unsuitable to settle in the country. South Affrica prohibits the entry of any person deemed by the

Minister of the Interior on economic grounds or on account of his standard or habits of life to be unsuited to the requirements of the

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