A PROBLEM

Evening Post, Volume C, Issue 58, 6 September 1920, Page 8

A PROBLEM

THE EASTERN MENACE

TRAVELLER'S WARNING

FOOD FOR REFLECTION

An address of great interest on the 1 menace of the coloured races was given before the Orphans CTub on Saturday evening by Mr. E. A. Batt, a Welling- ■ tonian, who. has travelled very considerably in the East, and who has made a special study of this subject. MajorGeneral Sir A. W. Robin, BrigadierGeneral G. S. Richardson, and' members of the Defence League were present by invitation. Although the New Zealanders were a! very much-travelled race, said Mr. Batt, many people had not travelled at all, and, unfortunately, these wern often the people who expressed opinions on sub-/ jects of which, they knew actually nothing. He pointed out that the population of the earth numbered 1,700 millions, of whom 550 millions were white and 1150 millions were coloured. Of the whites 450 millions, or four-fifths of their total, lived in Europe, and the remaining onefifth in the other portions of th© world; and it was for them to hold sway against the coloured peoples, who outnumbered) them by eleven to one. This was a question which very much concerned us, situated as we were in a remote part of the earth. There were 500 millions of yellow people in Asia, almost at our front door. In the matter of reproduction these 1 races were gaining ground. EXPERIENCES ELSEWHERE. No one, said: Mr. Batt, who had seen the conditions of life amongst the yellow races, could view without apprehension their admission into the Dominion. If they came it was necessary that they should live up to our standards, or else we must live down to theirs. It was impossible, also, to compete with these people in "trade or commerce on equal terms, and it never would be possible. He quotedthe experiences of other countries—Natat, South Africa, Mauritius. In the last-named place th« French, who were there in the first instance, imported Hindus and Chinese to till the soil, and now only one-tenth of the population was white—a small group who exercised control—and all the rest were coloured. The same- thing had happened in the Hawaiian Islands, where there were 5000 Japanese to only a very, few whites. Almost all the artisans were coloured! people; and, because in a few years the) Japanese would out-vote the yhites, the islany was governed by commission. In Manila 90 per cent, of the trade " was done by Chinese, and half-breeds. California was now wrestling with the coloured problem. There, the introduction of Japanese labour did not, as it was hoped, lessen the cost of living. There were a hundred thousand Japanese there now, besides Chinese. In South California two Japanese were born to onei white; and in ten years there would be 150,000 American-born Japanese there. The system of evasion of the laws regarding the non-introduction of Japanese women, by means of the "picture) bride" weddings, was enabling this to be done. In California, the Japanese had taken up fruit-growing in a small way, until, in certain classes of fruit, they hadl completely collared the market from the whites.

PURITY THE SOUL OF THE RACE.

There was a tendency to-day to suggest the use of coloured labour, because of th« indstrial troubles. But the example of other countries should not be lost upon-us.. -The purity of "a racenvas the soul of the race; arid onoe the soul was destroyed the body crumbled to dust. If the coloured' races were to come in to New Zealand there would' very soon be a population of mongrels growing up, -who would multiply as time went on. We were inclined to feel secure in the beliafl that such a thing could not happen here, but it might, and we did not want our children, and our children's children, to curse us for our failure to do our duty. People should not think things were all •right, because they were not. Frederickstreet and Haining-sbreet w«re regarded! philosophically as Wellington's Chinai Town,, but, bad as they wene, they were as nothing to what they would become. San Francisco offered an example of this. When the city was burned down the authorities thought they would do away with China Town by insisting that the Chinese should have the same class of residences as the whites; but the reversion to .the old state of affairs had come already; indeed, the condition of things now was woree by far than before the fire. EASTERN DISEASES. The danger of the Eastern diseases was referred to, one of the most menacing being the result of the cultivation of vegetables from a certair manure. There should be a law to prevent this in New Zealand, for it was a very deadly disease, i disease from which he himself had nearly dded in the East. Dr. Newman, had spoken truly in the House of Representatives last week when he had told of the great necessity for a stricter quarantine of persons coining from the East. WHAT IT MEANT. Faced with all these facts, asked Mr. Batt, was New Zealand going to have an adequate defence to back up her protest against such things happening here? This was what it would come to in the end. Nature had, in the first instance, provided natural barriers to keep the races apart, but scientific research and modern invention had removed them. It was now possible to cross the seas at thirty miles an hour. It was therefore necessary that we must build up artificial barriers. As a race we were inclined to trust to luck—but that luck might leave us some day. In Japan the population was increasing enormously. In five years eight millions had been added to her total. Only 9to 10 per cent, of the land of Japan was cultivatable, and in a little while they would have to look elsewhere for room. Japan was to-day devoting half her i-evenue to building up her navy. Mr. Batt had seen her fleet at manoeuvres, and he would never forget it. It was a most impressive sight. He had wished that a few thousands of New Zealand's thinking men had seen it also. JAPAN SEVEN DAYS DISTANT. We looked upon Japan as the " Far East," butit was not the "Far East" now. He had travelled from Sydney to Japan in fourteen days at twelve knots. A fleet of Japanese warships could reach Auckland in seven days; steaming at thirty knots an hour they could get here in four or five days. The Far East was at our front door, and there were between eight and nine hundred millions of Asiatics penned up there waiting to come in. Some other means than a legislative veto was necessary to stop them. The great hope of Japan had been that as the result of the war we would open our gates and let them in. They had made the same appeal to but fruitlessly. THE VEILED THREAT. : Mr. Batt read extracts from Japanese newspapers to show that the aim of the Japanese people was to obtain access to the British dominions. One of these papers openly stated that the agitation against Japan most ce.ose even if Japan had to take up arms against it. Another suggested that the best assurance of the British dominions of protection against

| an enemy was to have a. number of Japanese in their populations, for then Japan would see to their protection. But, said Mr. Batt, behind all their arguments —and this was in the vernacular press—was the covert threat of force. And by air from Kobe, at 100 miles aix hour, we were forty hours distant; at 150 miles'itn hour, twenty-six hours. People. might laugh and say that airmen could get here, but how would they return? Ithad to be remembered that the Japanese., were fatalists, and they would be quite, content to come and bomb, say, Auckland or Sydney, and then drop quietly into the sea. It must also be remembered that the Japanese had advanced posts in the islands they had secured in th«. North Pacific, which brought them appreciably nearer to us, and there were also many uninhabited islands dotting the intervening ocean. Were we going to build up artificial barriers, or were we to be content to go along haphazardly and have our descendants curse us?

There might not be anything to fear from a white enemy for some time to come, but Japan was undoubtedly endeavouring to force her diplomacy upon the nations. In the American elections the Japanese question was the outstanding feature of interest. We would have to face the question with them. It was all very well to place our trust in the British Navy, but we should be prepared to do our own share also. Mr. Batt, in conclusion, said that he was not a prominent man. in the community; he had, however, given much thought and study to this question, and had travelled and Been things; and he hoped that others, with greater weight in their utterances, would take the matter up.