0:06

this is

1:07

answers

1:26

uh Yama good afternoon and welcome to the National Library of Australia I'm Dr Shirlene Robinson director of curatorial

1:34

and collection research I'd like to begin by acknowledging Australia's First Peoples as the

1:40

traditional onion owners and custodians of this land and give my respect to Elders past and present and through them

1:47

to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples thank you for attending this event coming to you from

1:53

nunawal and nambry Country this afternoon's presentation consent on

1:58

trial the fascinating case of the Maria Luz incident at 1872 is Dr Bill

2:05

mihalopoulos a 2021 National Library of Australia fellow our distinguished

2:10

fellowships program supports researchers to make intensive use of the national library's rich and buried collection

2:17

through residencies of three months National Library of Australia fellowships are made possible through

2:23

generous philanthropic support and Dr mihalopoulos's scholarship is supported by the Harold S Williams trust for Japan

2:30

studies Dr mihalopoulos received a PhD in history from New York University and

2:36

is currently lecturer in Asian Pacific studies at the University of Central Lancashire

2:42

in 1872 the jet the fledging Japanese government found itself embroiled in an

2:48

international incident when asked to arbitrate on whether 230 Chinese indentured people on board the Peruvian

2:55

bark Maria Lewis were free laborers or slaves matters became even more challenging for the Japanese government

3:01

when it was accused of tolerating domestic slavery in the institution of licensed prostitution

3:07

in this presentation Dr Bill mihalopoulos investigates how Japan responded to these challenges that

3:14

crystallized around this so-called incident and uses it to investigate the rare moment when consent in contract a

3:21

fundamental concept that defines the modern world was introduced and modeled in Japan so if you could please join me

3:28

in welcoming him to the stage today [Applause]

3:38

uh hello everyone uh thank you for taking time to be here today uh today um before I begin I'd like to

3:45

acknowledge Australia's First Nations people the first Australians as the traditional owners and custodians of

3:51

this land and give respect to the elders past and present and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and torrents

3:58

straight island people um so I first came across the Mario lads

4:07

um incident uh when many moons ago when the dinosaurs were roaming the earth when I was an undergraduate and it was

4:13

through um Japanese feminist historians work on licensed prostitution and they saw the

4:21

Murray laws incident as a failed attempt at bringing fundamental reform to a long

4:28

tradition of licensed prostitution in Japan and it's been something that has sort of

4:34

been working through through various stages and I'd like to thank the Harold S

4:40

Williams trust for allowing me to have this time to think about it and share

4:46

with you the frustrations and rabbit holes have gone through in the last month

4:52

now normally when we when we talk about the Murray laws incident it we tend to

4:57

do focus on issues of whether it's slavery or not however I'm I take a

5:04

slightly different direction and I see the Murray Love's incident as an encounter with one of the unresolved

5:12

dilemmas within liberalism which is the contradiction between the commitment to

5:17

Liberty of persons with a commitment to the liberty of Contracting work relations and what that basically means

5:24

is uh in liberalism we believe that individuals should be free and we also

5:29

believe that individuals should be free to enter into work contracts but once you intend to work contracts there's all

5:36

these kinds of restrictions on what you can do and you can't do and a good case in point is at the moment if you try and

5:42

be very critical of your employer you most likely end up um

5:47

being fired because it's seen as against their interest

5:54

so fascinating is that

6:00

the proceedings were conducted primarily in English despite the judge and the

6:05

defendants and the litigants or not speaking English and that the

6:11

two trials were overseen by the Japanese foreign Ministry and not the Japanese

6:16

Justice minister so let me just start with

6:23

um oops

6:34

it's not working guys so here we go all right so um let me just start with giving a bit

6:39

of background um on the 11th of July 1872 the Murray Lads

6:45

hobbled into Yokohama port for repairs and it was an event produced by Chance

6:51

the captain of The Vessel um Ricardo Herrera reported to the

6:56

custom officers that the Murray loves Luz carried 230 free immigrants in

7:02

passage for peruse and allow me at this moment to thank Mr

7:08

for allowing me to use this wonderful photograph of one of the few representations I've seen of actual

7:15

Chinese laborers indent on a ship this is not herrera's first commission

7:22

to transport a human Consignment from Macau to Peru a lieutenant of the Peruvian Navy

7:29

Herrera had spent the last five and a half years in command of a so-called

7:34

Coulee vessels with Peruvian government sanction and when we talk about Peru what a Cooley ship or vessel means it's

7:42

ships um specially decked out in the hold to carry large numbers of

7:50

laborers in and also to be able to Shackle them when necessary

7:55

by his own admission he had shipped some 3 000 Chinese laborers to Peru and it

8:01

was common practice for captains of ships uh cooler ships to buy the services of Chinese laborers on private

8:08

speculation over the course of his six voyages Herrera returned to Peru with 130

8:15

Chinese men boys and girls allegedly recruited to work on his family estate

8:21

as laborers or servants his commission with the Murray lose was no different

8:27

and while Maude in Macau hadera negotiated uh service contracts

8:33

for 12 boys and girls under 15 years of age to work as house servants

8:38

now the key dilemmas of the Murray Luz incident is

8:45

um who has jurisdiction over a vessel that has short sought

8:51

shelter in a foreign Port because of bad weather or mishap at sea

8:57

and this was that this ambiguity and can be traced back to

9:03

efforts to prohibit slavery and the U.S position and the U.S

9:09

antagonism with uh Britain over where these lines of jurisdictions lay

9:15

from 1815 the position of the United States determined to protect of the United States

9:20

determined to protect its sovereignty by remaining outside International Trade treated regime set up by Britain against

9:28

slave trading was that vessels flying in the American flag came under jurisdiction of American law

9:35

the property and relations of persons and board vessels fell outside local

9:41

National laws in contrast the British position was

9:46

that while the law of Nations gave stricken vessels exemption from local laws it did not confer immunity

9:54

if a legal act such as the transport of slaves was committed in British

10:00

Waters then the extent of the immunity Phil to local courts to investigate and

10:07

adjudicate so there's a a conflict here of who's in charge when these when you

10:13

have a vessel that comes into port in distress and which laws apply the second

10:21

complexity to this case is the legal standing of the Chinese laborers the

10:27

laborers on board the Murray Luz occupied the in-between space of being

10:32

both passenger and the freight Herrera was commissioned to transport to Peru

10:38

the third added layer of complexity was a lack of universal legal consensus over

10:44

what constituted freedom especially when it came to indented labor contracts from 1841 to 1917 Great

10:54

Britain had created a massive system of laws and local audience audience audiences that facilitated the

11:01

conveyance of indentured labor officially revert referred to as voluntary and spontaneous free

11:07

immigration the United States however demicated the legal boundary between voluntary labor

11:13

and slavery differently in 1862

11:18

the U.S Congress introduced prohibiting um

11:23

American citizens citizens from procuring and transporting Chinese indentured laborers because it subjected

11:31

them to oppressive work conditions that are mounted in their words to slavery

11:36

so what fascinates me about the Murray lose incident is that it offers one of these

11:43

rare moments in history when we see these fundamental concepts such as consent freedom and slavery made and

11:50

refashioned in front of our eyes [Applause] all right

11:56

now the application of law does not happen in a vacuum to be effective law

12:02

must be seen as expressing the facts of the world judgment legal judgment also involves

12:08

interpretation interpretation based on precedence accumulated in past cases

12:15

this was especially true for the two hearings that generated the drama of the Murray Laz incident

12:20

most of the foreign diplomatic Community residing in Japan believe the Japanese

12:25

government lacked the authority to intervene in events that occurred on board the foreign vessel

12:31

to quite diplomatic agitation the Japanese foreign Ministry ensured the

12:37

provisional hearing and subsequent two civil suits are here to establish Western legal norms

12:43

legal arguments in both hearings were made by qualified British barristers

12:49

moreover in the Civil hearings civil hearing both barristers adhered to

12:55

the mid-century British common law understanding of service contracts as

13:00

embodying voluntary and consenting labor and it's to this understanding now I want to turn to

13:06

British Notions of indentured labor migration as pre-immigration

13:12

crystallized around a social imaginary that constructed freedom narrowly to the

13:19

anti-slavery prohibition of ownership in persons crucially anti-slavery rhetoric

13:25

resonated with contemporary British economic debates by the time of the passing of the

13:30

slavery abolition Act of 1833 slavery was equated with despotism and

13:36

economic autocracy free trade was equated with voluntarism and consenting

13:42

labor in the process the material valid value attached to people accumulated and

13:50

attached to people transported to the Colonial plantations in the Atlantic and

13:56

Indian oceans also mutated those who were transported now no longer

14:02

were defined as property for agriculture and domestic work but were reconceived

14:07

as an item of exchange this thing called Labor whose value was determined by the

14:13

forces of supply and demand the first migration of in the first migration of contract labor uh was the

14:22

transportation of Indian laborers to the British Plantation colony of Mauritius

14:27

in 1834. and it also this system also

14:33

provided the prototype for the practice to be replicated elsewhere individual Indian workers were recruited

14:41

in the native domicile and transported to Plantation colonies for a three to

14:46

five year term of service the move from slavery to indentured labor contracts followed a

14:53

well-established judicial template from the 1800s English law framed the

14:58

performance of manual labor as a contractual economic relationship which

15:03

simultaneously defined the work relationship between manual worker and employer

15:09

as the performance of service via pre-capitalist Master servant laws

15:16

the master servant laws were very specific that only apply to manual laborers

15:21

laborers who relied on wage work for survival their use of indentured labor to replace

15:27

slave labor coincided with the profession proliferation of almost 2 000 Master

15:34

servant statutes and ordinance in more than a thousand British colonies including the one that now we're

15:41

standing on as indane as indentured labor came under master servant laws working work

15:48

relationship work relations were not based on any formal conditions of contractual equality

15:54

for the indentured labor the freedom was very narrow it was no more than the choice to become a law-abiding price

16:01

taker for their labor getting paid a wage however meant concern consenting to serve another

16:09

Master servant laws gave him gave the employer command over the indentured laborer while simultaneously granting

16:18

um the employer the freedom to draw up existing Colonial laws and regulations

16:24

to compel work excuse me the Liberty given to the employer

16:30

included melting out corporal punishment levying fines for forfeiture of wages and in

16:37

extreme instances calling on local magistrates to enforce imprisonment

16:44

if work quotas were not met the initial challenge for the British government in enabling and facilitating

16:51

the transport of indentured labors was how to keep it unsullied from the

16:57

horrors of the middle passage this was a multi-layered problem first plantations still follow the same

17:04

production procedures that existed during slavery conditions second the plantation continued to be

17:10

organized around the same division of labor as slavery where people of color did

17:15

hard physical work and Caucasians managed third there were no Provisions for

17:21

enforcement of contractual arrangements to prevent abuse the concepts of good faith

17:28

and mutual trust essential to the criteria of consenting contract were not

17:34

um statutory elements thus leaving enlisted labor is open to abuse

17:40

the British government's response to this problem was technical administrative rather than trying to

17:46

establish new rights for workers government tinkering became began in

17:51

1842 when the Recruitment and transportation of Indian indented laborers came under government control

17:57

to prevent irregularities that could be misconstrued construed as slavery

18:03

the markers of slavery were high mortality rates at sea speculative labor Ventures that

18:10

auctioned human Freight in public marketplaces and the physical abuse

18:16

melted out by plantation owners

18:22

before long a sprawling bureaucratic system developed across the colonial British

18:29

colonial office land and immigration commission and various colonial governments

18:34

detailed regulations were incrementally applied to cover all aspects of

18:39

recruitment passes sorry aspects of recruitment passage and return of the indentured

18:46

laborers key to this system was official scrutiny

18:51

of the conditions of contract which involved confirmation by both parties that they were clear about the terms of

18:58

Engagement in front of a salaried British official

19:03

by the 1850s British public opinion was trumpeting indented labor as spreading

19:10

the virtues of Free Labor of the three labor time wage system across the span of the world

19:16

to the offering of regular wages it was asserted created the conditions of Liberation and betterment to the peoples

19:23

of Asia caught in a state of poverty and destitution British legislators bureaucrats and

19:30

publicists were convinced that any system of contracted labor applied to

19:36

the new part of the world without the same level of oversight and regulation would degenerate into spec into a

19:44

speculative Venture and easily lapse into a trade characterized by fraud and

19:49

kidnapping now Britain was not the only country to experiment with indentured labor

19:56

migration Peru 2 turned to immigration labor to replace slavery when South China emerged

20:03

as a major trading hub for Global labor in the 1840s from 1849 to 1874 an

20:13

estimated 92 000 Chinese laborers were transported to Peru by Spanish-speaking

20:19

agents moreover from 1857 Macau became the

20:25

major and vocation hub for contracted for Chinese labor earmarked to work in

20:31

Peru foreign both Britain and Peru benefited

20:38

benefited greatly from the global indentured labor system promoted and

20:43

encouraged by both sets of government however by 1854 the British public was

20:50

condemning the labor trade operating from Macau to Peru as a new form of

20:55

slavery it's it is important to note that the British censure did not deal with the issue of indentured labor migration per

21:03

se but rather the weight of condemnation fell on the fact that the regulatory

21:09

mechanisms um were not fit for purpose to deal with the endemic cruelty that defined the

21:17

Macau Peru trade in Chinese labor uh the the next

21:22

um uh event that sort of causes this issue to intensify was in 1859 when the

21:31

British officials in China adopted a policy of active intervention in labor

21:38

trade occurring at Chinese ports the change in policy was driven by British geopolitical concerns that linked the

21:46

protection of British gains in China to the survival of the Qing emperor empire

21:51

after the end of the second Opium War which was fought between 1856 and 1860.

21:58

at the same time Macau became the major labor trading Hub in China

22:03

private European labor agents based in Macau sub subcontracted recruitment to local

22:11

Chinese brokers the local Brokers worked on commission and often resorted to

22:16

crimping which was kidnapping trickery intimidation and violence to supply

22:21

able-bodied men to the barracunes and Macau a practice that successive British consuls identified as subject to penalty

22:30

under the slave trade Acts the local Brokers were particularly

22:35

active in the Guangdong Province which fed the anti-forign agitation and unrest in the trading Port City

22:42

of Canton British officials in London and China fear that the disorder and unrest

22:48

generated by the unregulated trade in Chinese labor coupled with the volatile

22:54

situation in Guangdong Province would jeopardize the gain secured by British interests by treaties

23:01

to offset this Danger the British established a system of immigration regulation with the consent

23:08

of other European consulates residents in Canton widely known as the Canton system

23:16

um government registered immigration houses um acted as Clearing Houses for Chinese

23:22

laborers wanting to work abroad before any potential migrant was giving a certificate to travel

23:29

from Canton British and Chinese officials would scrutinize the willingness of prospective migrants

23:37

to work under contract to ensure that the parties themselves really consent to

23:43

the agree to the arrangement at the same time the British ligation in

23:48

Kang Tong identified labor immigration from Macau as illegal and as a form of

23:54

slave trade disguised as free immigration despite British diplomatic pressure the

24:00

trade in Chinese labor became mancow's main source of Revenue by 1861 Macau was

24:07

the primary departure port for Chinese manual laborers Bound for Spanish Cuba and Peru

24:14

under contract successive Colonial Governors began introducing regulations that dovetailed

24:20

with the procedures established by the British British in Hong Kong and Canton

24:26

to to escape further International sensor despite the best efforts of the Macau

24:32

authorities however Portuguese settlements labor trade to Latin America remain notorious as a new

24:39

form of slave trade in the British imaginary a primary reason for this was the wide

24:45

dissemination of public bulletins of the personal observations by British diplomats

24:51

and medical officers and judges stationed in China that asserted that the labor trade from Macau to Peru was a

24:59

form of slavery Run for the benefit of a few foreign Spanish-speaking labor agents

25:05

the reports constituted an expose on the corruption and slap dash

25:11

enforcements of regulation in Macau due to the vested public and private interests

25:17

the reports narrated how vulnerable Chinese men were deceived or kidnapped by local crimps transported to Macau

25:24

where upon their herded into grimy barricoons under armed guard

25:30

threatened by foreign immigration agents and made to sign contracts they could not read or understand and bundled on

25:38

board ships against their will details coming from from Peru were also

25:44

disapproving local press articles and intelligence sent back by British consuls

25:51

told of Chinese laborers brought and sold into public auctions to life completely at the Mast the immersive

25:58

Masters beyond the restraints of laws Masters who ill-fed them

26:04

can find them can find them sorry

26:10

oh [Applause] I am so sorry [Applause]

26:17

uh confine them to barracks and arm guards we're not working and who branded them with irons in the same fashion

26:24

as slaves

26:30

it was these types of reports that inflamed British passions leading to

26:36

public cause for the government to use its power to suppress this Infamous

26:42

trade in China trafficking in Chinese people the British government's position was

26:47

that it had no authority to stop ships sailing from Macau to Peru

26:52

Britain was unable to make the abolition sorry Britain was able to make the abolition of slavery into an

26:59

international agenda by bi-national treaties with other countries including

27:04

Portugal these treaties gave the British royal Navy the right to intervene if a ship

27:10

was suspected of being a slave trader however as such by national treaties did

27:16

not exist in the case of the so-called curly immigration

27:21

um regulation was a matter for local National laws and not international law

27:28

consequently the British government's position was that it had no right of interference except to give friendly

27:34

advice to other governments as it thinks fit and it was this British friendly

27:39

advice that shaped Japan's response to the Murray laws incident

27:50

the Murray laws incident was under Charter to the labor agent Nicholas

27:56

tanker Amero who had a very Infamous reputation as being one of the major

28:01

traders in Chinese labor to Cuba and Peru

28:06

and he had consigned Herrera to transport a cargo of contract laborers

28:12

and on completion of the journey Herrera was to receive 14 pounds for every

28:17

contracted laborer who survived the journey and if all everyone survived was a total

28:23

of more than three thousand pounds however if her data was unable to

28:28

complete his commission he was liable for a thousand pounds for breach of contract according to the terms of

28:35

agreement uh the Murray loses Consignment was to

28:41

238 indentured Chinese laborers by the time it reached Yokohama it was 230

28:48

. um seven people had died by jumping aboard committing suicide and one person had succumbed to illness

28:55

and and this also drates on these ships was quite significant

29:00

on the 9th of June 1872 the Murray laws encountered the severe

29:05

storm in open water that left it without foremasts and a damaged main mast

29:11

three weeks later on the 11th of July the vessel limped into Yokohama port and

29:16

moored a half a mile away from Shore for repairs and away from all other ships

29:22

anchored there too um it kept a distance from all other

29:27

vessels and none of the Chinese men were allowed to alight despite herrera's best laid plans events

29:35

took an unexpected turn in the early morning of the 13th of July

29:40

the crew of the English warship are in Duke rescued a man floating alongside the

29:46

flagship in an exhausted and drowning state the rescued man indicated he had jumped

29:52

overboard from the murielas anchored some 500 meters away he also claimed

29:57

that his countrymen had been in track kidnapped and put on board the Murray Luz against their will

30:03

the next day the captain of the Iron Duke placed the man in care of Russell Robertson the British Consulate Yokohama

30:11

Robson Robertson Julie handed the man over to the local Japanese officials the

30:16

Japanese authorities summoned Herrera who immediately demanded the Chinese man be returned to

30:23

his charge the Japanese authorities agreed but not before gaining assurances from Herrera

30:30

that the mayor would not be subjected to any punishment and at this point the Japanese authorities considered the matter closed

30:38

but concerns about the well-being of the Chinese men on board the Murray Lads refused to go away

30:44

on the 20th of July another man jumped overboard and was rescued by the Iron

30:50

Duke and asked for protection and not to be sent back to the Murray laws

30:58

um the captain of the Iron Duke decided against transferring the second man to

31:03

the to the Japanese Authority instead he had the ship officers do a whip around

31:10

amongst themselves collect some money and then they set him on Shore at Liberty

31:17

a few days later said Edmund Hornby the chief judge of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan who was in circuit

31:24

in Yokohama contacted the Diplomatic attache of the British ligation Watson on the

31:32

circumstances of the second rescued man and several other Chinese men who had

31:37

swung to shore from the Murray Luz hornberry reported that Herrera had led

31:43

an armed crew to shore forcibly recaptured all the men and returned them to ship under arm guard

31:51

hornsby's interest in the events unfolding around the vessel were not arbitrary his first post was it was as

31:58

commissioner of a mixed British and American commission between 1853 and 1855 established to settle outstanding

32:06

individual claims between Britain and the United States one of the cases Hornby was asked to

32:13

arbitrate was acclaimed by American slave owners for compensation for slaves liberated by British officials on board

32:20

the U.S Merchant vessel Enterprise The Vessel was active in the U.S

32:26

Antebellum domestic slaves trade where Surplus slaves from markets in the

32:31

upper South was sold and transported to plantation owners in the Deep South

32:37

the case of the Enterprise shared many similarities with the legal issues crystallizing around the ill treatment

32:44

of the Chinese men on board the Murray Luz

32:49

Hornby and Watson paid a visit to the Japanese foreign minister soyjima tanaomi to discuss the treatment of the

32:57

Chinese men on the Murray loves a few days later they found him in an agitated State at

33:03

The Audacity Of Herrera to lead a crew of armed men on Japanese soil with no

33:08

regard for Japanese sovereignty sovereignty Hornby took the opportunity to convey to

33:13

sujima that Japan had the right to intervene in the matter Peru was a non-treaty nation and that's

33:20

the matter fell under Japanese jurisdiction and could be dealt under local law

33:25

it would be naive to inscribe hornsby's actions solely to altruism he saw the marila's incident

33:32

uh that marilla's case as a as an opportunity to curtail the trade in Chinese labor from Macau to Peru by

33:40

inserting English practices within the new league new hybrid legal system taking form in the Yokohama foreign

33:48

settlement sorry Jim is decision to intervene in the murders case also was heavily

33:54

influenced by the American lawyer Erasmus person Smith uh who was a diplomatic advisor to the

34:00

fund Ministry from 1871 to 76. Smith advocated Japanese jurisdiction of

34:06

the Marine loves incident as a way of Defending asserting and expanding the

34:11

national sovereignty of Japan which dovetailed with sojima's natural National rights diplomacy that

34:18

characterized his tenure as foreign minister Smith had prior experience in dealing with the

34:25

issue of the so-called curly question before taking up his post in Tokyo when he was U.S commissioner for immigration

34:33

in 1864. during his tenure as immigration commissioner Smith continued to align

34:40

immigration policy with the anti-cooley act of 1862 passed

34:48

by a designed to prevent American plantation owners from replacing American African-American slaves with

34:56

unfree contract labor from China what's important to note is that while Hornby and Smith both experience legal

35:03

experts prescribed the need for Japanese intervention they embodied two

35:08

incompatible legal approaches to the issue of consent voluntary labor labor

35:13

migration regulation and what constituted freedom hornby's lingo legal template was a

35:19

utilitarian approach to the admin administration of law that typified English judicial process

35:26

the regulation of indented labor was a technical matter this gives me the right balance between

35:32

control and freedom freedoms benefits over harm a good regulation ensure that the

35:38

contractual Arrangement embodied consent while simultaneously creating the optimum balance between the material

35:44

needs of the laborer and the demands for labor by the capitalist planter

35:49

Smith on the on the other hand personified a rights basis rights based approach

35:55

its position was that the workers rights to quit was was a non-negotiable principle freedom

36:01

and could not be discounted or compromised no matter what the objective

36:08

so after that so Jim was granted authority

36:13

to form an ad hoc Court to look into the matter and he appointed

36:20

um the assistant Council of Canada prefecture oyataku to form the court and inquire to

36:29

the matter under his guidance

36:34

right so the polymer investigation followed the

36:40

um well-established legal tenets of 19th century mixed commissions

36:46

and the mixed commissions were based on British prize law the rules and regulations of these commissions

36:53

protected property rights over slaves and ships and allowed slave traffickers

36:58

of the defense of challenging the legitimacy of legal proceedings and as we shall see the Murray Laz hearing

37:05

followed suit initially the the hearing focused on the Chinese laborers who had jumped ship

37:12

the first to be deposed was more Hing the first Chinese labor rescued by the

37:18

crew of The Iron Duke he was deposed on the 7th of August

37:26

um in his deposition Mohan claimed that he was

37:31

that he was forced into the Murray Laz lying off Macau where he was locked up and very badly treated

37:38

uh by the captain and had his Q cut off his punishment he jumped when the

37:44

vest vessel anchored in Yokohama as he did not wash to die did not wish to die

37:49

on The Vessel and made the effort to escape Moore also stated that he was made to sign a contact contract under

37:56

duress he only came to understand that the terms of the contract were for eight

38:02

years of service to far off Peru after the vessel left Macau

38:10

was also invited to give a deposition on the same day in his statement Herrera denied the

38:16

charge of Cruelty he confirmed that mohing was a passenger on the ship but

38:21

at the same time mohing was also Freight in transit and a unit of profit

38:26

he admitted to cutting mohing's cue and putting him and several other men in irons while in um well anchored at

38:34

Yokohama but the intentions of his actions were to secure the conditions of his contract with tanko admiro and

38:41

devoid of malice if he did not prevent the Chinese laborers from escaping on the voyage he stood to lose lose passage

38:48

money and the expense of their sustenance during the voyage

38:55

uh the investigation reconvened in from the 19th to 24th of August this time the

39:02

inquiry was more formal and held in the presence of other foreign consulates

39:07

um Herrera in turned employed Frederick Dickerson an English Barrister as his

39:13

legal counsel John Davidson Davidson another English Barrister represented the Chinese

39:19

laborers and his fees were paid by the local Chinese Merchants Association

39:25

on the 22nd of August or ordered all male Chinese passengers to be brought to

39:31

shore under the protection of the Japanese Authority while the captain was under arraignment and now this is the

39:37

most controversial part of the incident and we have to remember that um these people are in the in between

39:45

space of being passengers and also cargo and the seizure of cargo is a very um

39:53

it's a trigger point in a lot of these um Colonial interactions and you has to be remembered that the reason the first

39:59

Opium War uh started was because the Chinese authorities confiscated the

40:06

cargo of British and American subjects

40:15

all right um the re the um the reason why the um the

40:22

main reason why the Chinese passengers were brought to shore well there's two reasons one was that they feared that uh Herrera would leave

40:29

um in the middle of the night before the trial was over and the second was because the Yokohama Chinese Merchant

40:35

Association had petitioned the Japanese authorities to extend the scope of the inquiry to include all Chinese laborers

40:43

on board the Murray Lads to give them the opportunity to request protection

40:49

the court the court interpreted the appeal

40:56

as equivalent to a writ of habeas corpus in British law namely a legal request to

41:03

investigate by what right was the liberty of men on board the Murray Luz

41:08

curtailed with Japanese curtailed within Japanese Waters

41:14

now Dickens argument for herrera's defense was conveniently summarized in a letter to the editor of the English

41:21

language Japanese weekly mail which by all suspicions probably was written by

41:27

Dickens himself namely that Japan did not have the authority to seize the Murray Lars nor

41:32

to transport the Chinese laborers I'm sure and that such actions

41:37

were tantamount to the total confiscation of the ship and cargo

41:43

on the 30th of August 1872 Oya formally announced his findings or he declared

41:49

the charges against Herrera for the abuse and forceful Restraint of of the

41:55

Chinese men was fully were fully sustained yet as often happened in mixed

42:02

commissions has always happened to make commissions escaped punishment the cost and delay

42:08

caused by enforced stay in Yokohama Harbor was considered at punishment

42:13

while expediently exempting Japan from any claims for compensation for expenses

42:19

occurred because of the delay Herrera was permitted to depart with his vessel

42:25

along with any of the Chinese men who still sought to work in Peru and because

42:31

and um no none of them of the men or miners um was willing to do that and

42:38

unsurprisingly Herrera was reluctant to continue his journey without the chap the Chinese laborers and miners on board

42:45

and he stalked um civil action

42:54

the Civil tribe was held almost a month later from 1872 from 18 to 27th of September

43:02

and considered considered of two suits the first was fired by Herrera as an

43:08

agent of tanco admiral and requested the court to enforce indented contracts of

43:14

230 Chinese laborers and have them return to the vessel the second suit was by Herrera against

43:21

the 13 miners also for breach of contract now the

43:28

Davidson's defense for the Chinese laborers was that [Music]

43:34

um that these contracts were not signed in good faith or Mutual trust but under

43:40

forward and duress were unlawful under British common law and it was impossible and highly

43:46

dangerous for the men to continue their journey to Peru and therefore they should be made invalid

43:52

Dickens countered Davidson's argument that the contracts were void and illegal

43:57

under common law but uh by arguing that indentured contracts the

44:03

Chinese men traveled on were not prohibited by existing Japanese law he pointed to the fact that the terms of

44:10

service of female performers which we usually call Geisha and licensed prostitutes strictly enforced by the

44:18

Japanese government were no different from the contracts signed by the Chinese laborers

44:24

Dickens note has noted the basis for licensed prostitution was equivalent

44:30

to a civil contract for the um

44:41

sorry for the duration of six to eight years which gave the brothel owner not only

44:46

the authority to order women to perform service but power on all aspects of their life

44:53

moreover the brothel owner had the power to sell the contract to a third party

44:58

uh Dickens concluded the indented contracts the licensed prostitutes and Chinese laborers traveling to Peru were

45:04

one of the same both sets of contracts were for duration of eight years

45:10

transferable gave the employer the right to enforce performance and to punish any

45:15

breaches and often were entered into with minors incapable incapable of

45:21

giving consent to them despite Dickens Ingenuity the court dismissed both suits the court

45:29

um the court found the contractual Arrangements invalid and enforceable

45:34

due to procedural reasons and on principles of laws I'm just going to skip that for a second because I'm

45:41

running out of time now this is um taken at the yoshiwara at the turn about

45:47

1990 and what we're seeing is actually a practice called where

45:55

um on the on the on the ground floor of these um uh license brothels you have

46:01

lattice square and and where people peer in and and sort of look at the women who

46:08

are there and sort of make their choice now by 1890 the Yoshua had fallen under

46:15

hard times it wasn't as glamorous as it had been and it was it was a very poignitation of its heyday

46:23

uh of the 1800s where we see all these colorful um costumes been worn uh they're all

46:30

practicing certain kind of calligraphy or artistic um a skill and the whole point about going

46:37

to the pleasure quarter was entertainment entertainment could be not just sexual encounters but good food

46:42

good discussion oops witty witty repartee repete with the women dance

46:49

music Etc and what we what we are seeing here is

46:55

um the yoshiware at its sort of height where it was much more commercially viable and the center of communiculture

47:02

in Tokyo right

47:09

so more or less the um so what happens is

47:16

the oil finds um against

47:21

um Herrera so in the wake of that judgment Herrero deserted ship and fled

47:26

to Hong Kong with the female minor in tow the Chinese laborers returned to

47:32

China and the Murray Lads was broken up to pay outstanding debts

47:37

now the Japanese officials within the foreign Ministry and Ministry of Justice were uneasy about the the Judgment

47:45

handed down by Oya Japanese licensed prostitution was organized around debt bondage where

47:52

destitute household heads used male and female used female dependents

47:59

as collateral to borrow money from brothel owners in return the brothel owners gained legal and economic

48:05

entitlement over the female dependent the distinctive feature of the system of

48:11

debt bondage was that although the debtor was the household debt a household head sorry the debt

48:17

relationship was between the brothel owner and the female dependent

48:22

um sorry Japanese authorities feared the ruling would leave Japan

48:29

um open to claims for liability from the Peruvian government if contracts binding

48:35

young women to serve in tea houses and license brothels continued to be enforce

48:41

in response the um the Council of state issued the edict

48:47

for the release of female Pro performers and prostitutes the shogi kahore

48:52

the shogi kahore kehode annulled all apprenticeships and agricultural laborers

48:58

indented to service for seven years or longer so young men young boys were also indented

49:04

but tended to be either in labor or other forms such as being an acrobat or

49:10

traveling performer the old ordinance also stipulated that

49:16

all license prostitutions bound to affixed terms of servants were therefore released and the courts

49:22

would not entertain suits by brothel owners on their debts

49:28

the shogi kahore edict is best understood in tandem with the ordinance issued on the 9th October by the

49:35

ministry of Justice known as the ordinance for the release of oxen horses

49:44

foreign and this is Infamous amongst Japanese feminists as just showing how

49:50

what uh Japanese men thought of women as being known out but horses and oxen

49:57

now what is really interesting is Article 2 of the ordinance which you can see above

50:04

the legal premise premise of the audience is highly instructive the release of licensed prostitutes from

50:11

any outstanding loans acknowledge that the existing service type contracts treated the women as chattel

50:19

the analogy to BEAST's burden is also highly significant first it established

50:24

a clear legal distinction between property in person and property in beasts and things that wasn't found in

50:31

Japanese law second the ordinance introduced the notion of consent into the workings of

50:37

contract the audience directives were clear one did not experience compensation from

50:43

Beasts of Burden for not carrying out service because they lacked the capacity to consent to the work they asked to

50:49

perform likewise one cannot expect licensed prostitutes to be liable for

50:54

any outstanding debt as the contracts were made without acknowledge consent

50:59

existing licensed prostitute contracts when valid because contractual Arrangements did not embody consent

51:08

the hasted discharge of the licensed prostitute opened up opened Pandora's box of practical problems for Japanese

51:13

legislators the most pressing was how to translate the regulations into practice the

51:19

different branches of the merger government offered competing Solutions the minister of the left

51:26

the legislative branch interpreted the ordinances as issuing the closure of

51:31

licensed prostitution as an occupation and identified the welfare and support

51:37

of the release women as the most pressing issue operating on the assumption that the

51:42

women employed as licensed prostitutes came from destitute families the minister of the left advised the

51:48

government was morally obliged to offer some form of poor relief to the women for taking away the immediate livelihood

51:56

the minister of the right concurred and proposed the constructions of orphanages for children and young women now left

52:03

without means in contrast

52:08

the ministry of Justice determined the ordinance Place prostitution Beyond any kind of government intervention the edit

52:14

for the release of female performers and prostitutes gave gave them the freedom to carry out the

52:21

trade without restrictions or movement of place of abode the position of the Ministry of Finance

52:26

differed again the ministry the finance ministry believed the decree gave the

52:31

women the right to enter or leave prostitution as their own at their own volition nothing more

52:38

it was the Minister of Finance proposal that prevailed by the early months of 1873

52:45

a system a room rental licensing system had was

52:50

in was beginning to be implemented in Tokyo and other cities and towns in Japan

52:56

under this system the price prostitute was a licensed independent contractor

53:02

who entered a contract with a room letting service also known as a licensed

53:07

brothel to to work as a prostitute the advance of a loan by brothel owner

53:14

was to be repaid either by the woman herself or her guarantor which in most cases was her immediate family

53:22

highlighting the importance of consent in the terms of service the finance ministry maintained that the woman chose

53:28

to work as licensed prostitute the finance ministry effective effect

53:35

proposal effectively transformed licensed prostitution to two different types of contractual Arrangements based

53:42

on the specific and narrower understanding of consent and Choice One a service contract between women and a

53:48

brothel owner which outline the agreed upon services to provide to be provided

53:54

and the terms they were to be carried out and two

53:59

the option for the women to enter a separate loan contract with the brothel

54:05

owner which would enable her to cover the initial costs required for her work

54:11

by going into debt so the replacement let me just summarize where I'm at at the moment where my

54:19

uh where I sit at the moment the replacement of slavery with indentured labor has long been held as a

54:25

transitionary point of reference for Global capitalist development for the development of non-western countries the

54:31

institutionalization of Free Labor also doubled to signify an important moment in the modernization process

54:38

the instance when arbitrary pre-modern forms of service based on status and customary rights were replaced by

54:45

market-based contractualism guaranteed by the rule of law however in the case of British

54:51

indentured contracts and the room rental system implemented in Japan after 1873

54:57

that argument is too simplistic the British slave revolution abolition

55:02

act May formally may have formally freed individuals from bondage but it did not

55:08

address the material working conditions of an agricultural system that required unremitting physical labor

55:15

the indented contracts gave individual Asian laborers a legal personality and

55:20

the freedom to enter in in a private contract of employment but it left the terms of work undefined

55:27

the judicial template that defined the employment relationship between the indented laborer and the employer were

55:33

British pre-capitalist master and service laws adjusted to meet the change in colonial contingencies for the

55:40

recruitment of Plantation labor the room rental contractual agreements

55:46

were very similar to the indented server contracts used by the British to displaced indentured laborers across the

55:52

globe at an industrial scale

56:03

[Applause] it too was based on a narrow idea of

56:08

freedom that that defined the work relationship as the performance of service Japanese authorities too turned

56:15

to a precapitalist legal form to solve the problem of how to inform enforce performance of service in room rental

56:22

contractual agreements and that was debt bondage the room rental service contract created

56:28

the conditions for a female to be formally free to enter and nullify her service contract at any time

56:34

the woman's loan contract with the brothel owner however gave the owner recourse to the full pair of law to

56:41

enforce her service contract Japanese law made a distinction between what it saw as labor hide out of service

56:47

and labor that was owed service contracts with voluntary contact contracts which gave the right for women

56:54

to hire the property embedded in their person in this instance the attributes

56:59

and the capacities of certain parts of a body to the brother owner for a period of time for agreed compensation

57:07

owed labor on the other hand was the property of the brothel owner and gave him

57:13

the right to use the woman's body with or without her consent thank you

57:18

sorry it took so long

57:24

thank you so much Dr milopoulos um we do have time for a quick question we do

57:29

have a microphone if anyone does have a question that they would like to ask we will be able to make that available so

57:36

if you do have a question pop your hand up I think there's somebody down the front that might have one

57:54

thanks Bill that was really interesting presentation I just I actually have a couple of questions if that's all right

58:00

no it's not at all um just to sort of finish off the story and forgive me if I missed something but

58:06

when the Chinese labors were released for example well no the first question

58:11

is how many were women and what happened to them there was one woman okay it was a it was a

58:17

we don't know her age it's anywhere between 6 and 13 and unfortunate and she was kept in the protection of Herrera

58:25

and he actually absconded with her in time okay but did but I think you said some

58:31

of them made it back to Hong Kong um Herrera went back to Hong Kong with the young woman into it okay he left

58:39

once he lost uh the court case he just absconded and the other but the other laborers who

58:45

were released so all release went back to China and they have protection of any kind and that's the whole thing and the

58:54

Chinese government did not recognize officially recognize immigration so there was no

59:01

protection from the Chinese government for these laborers and this was something that the British were Keen to

59:07

try and do right okay and my other question is that the images you showed were so interesting yes they look like

59:15

Prince I think they all wouldn't print yes but they're all in American collections yes so how did that happen

59:21

was that because of this well what what happened was in the 18 after the Meiji restoration the Japanese

59:29

sort of went on a you know the West is best boom and um they were basically

59:34

just selling all these things because they thought they didn't have any value and so American Merchants were buying

59:40

them up in heaps and because most of these American Merchants from the East Coast most of them have ended up either

59:47

in Boston the met or in Washington

59:53

laughs I think you know a huge interest in the topic and I think a lot of questions

59:59

that people could ask so um I I would just ask for a quick Round of Applause if we could for a really interesting

1:00:04

talk and um if you'll just indulge me a couple of quick plugs before we do leave

1:00:12

um I hope that you'll be able to join us for our next Fellowship lecture by Dr Ann Pender and this will take place next

1:00:17

Thursday oh sorry this Thursday at 12 30 p.m and you can see our what's on page

1:00:23

for more information on that and our website is the place where you'll be able to find recordings of um very

1:00:29

interesting and diverse recent talks and performances from our fellows which are

1:00:34

also available on our YouTube channel uh if you'd like to know more about our formed collections please do search the

1:00:40

guide to our collections on our website and thank you for attending and thank you once again to Dr Mia Lopez for a

1:00:46

fascinating presentation thank you

English (auto-generated)

Join Dr Bill Mihalopoulos as he presents his 2021 National Library Fellowship research into how Japan responded to the Maria Luz Incident of 1872. In 1872, the fledgling Japanese government found itself embroiled in an international incident when asked to arbitrate whether 230 Chinese indentured 'coolies' on board the Peruvian bark Maria Luz, harboured in the foreign settlement port of Yokohama for repairs, were free laborers or slaves. Matters became even more challenging for the Japanese government when it was accused of tolerating domestic slavery in the institution of licensed prostitution. In this presentation Dr Bill Mihalopoulos investigates how Japan responded to these challenges that crystallised around the so-called Maria Luz Incident, and uses the incident to investigate the rare moment when consent in contract – a fundamental concept that defines the modern world – was introduced and modelled in Japan.  Dr Bill Mihalopoulos is a 2021 National Library of Australia Fellow supported by the Harold S. Williams Trust for Japan Studies.

About Dr Bill Mihalopoulos

Dr Bill Mihalopoulos received a PhD in history from New York University. He is currently a lecturer in Asian Pacific Studies at the University of Central Lancashire.