APRIL 13, 1908

p. 1

C.P.R. HAS STOPPED CARRYING HINDUS
----------------Trouble in Landing Coolies in British Columbia Too
Great to Make Traffic Profitable – Seeking
Transportation
Montreal, April 13 – (Special) – While Mr. W. L. Mackenzie King, Deputy
Minister of Labor, is agitating in London for a restriction of the emigration of
coolies form India to Canada, the Canadian Pacific Railway has put a stop to
the exodus, for the time being at least, by refusing to accept them as
passengers for British Columbia ports.
It is reported here that this step on the part of the railway company followed
recent lights in the British Columbia courts in which both the province of
British Columbia and the federal authorities sought unsuccessfully to prevent
the landing of large numbers of Hindus. Following the judgement of the courts
that the old federal order in Council aimed to shut out the Hindus was not
legal another was passed in which the defect was remedied.
It was about this time that the Canadian Pacific issued instructions that no
more Hindus were to be accepted as passengers because of the difficulty
experienced in landing them. Since that time no Hindus have been brought
from the Orient. Several hundred who were at Hongkong ready to embark for
Vancouver are presumably seeking to arrange transportation by some other
line of steamships.