The Sydney Herald on this day republished a piece from The London Journal of Commerce on the indentured labourers from India in Mauritius and British Guiana. Most of the labourers had left from Calcutta.
Though the practice was criticised by some as a reinvention of slavery, the report justifies the practice, claiming that many labourers were happy with their new lives.
“Lord Brougham denounced it as the revival of the slave trade under a new phase...,” the report begins. But, “owing solely to this supply the Mauritius has, alone of all the British sugar colonies, been able to increase its exports. ...these migrants have been well treated, well fed, and well paid, in the Mauritius.
“In December last, a number of Coolies returned from the Mauritius to Calcutta, after a service of six years. They brought with them considerable sums of money...and reported favourably of the climate of the island, and of the treatment they experienced.”
However, there were many accounts to the contrary that spoke of hard labour and extremely exploitative work conditions.