WILY CHINESE

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 August 1925, Page 7

WILY CHINESE

TRICKING THE CUSTOMS The news contained in a recent cablegram from Port Darwin that there are indications of the existence of a wide-spread conspiracy, tjie object of which is to introduce Chinese into Australia on borrowed certificates is perhaps not altogether surprising, because despite the belief that there is no place like home, the chances are that many Chinamen much prefer Australia or New Zealand to their native country. The Chinaman is consistently referred to as a wily individual, and no doubt he has earned the right to be so described, and as it costs him £lOO to land in New Zealand, the amount of the poll tax, and in addition he has to pay steamer fare, therefore, if he can avoid paying, he can save a substantial sum.

A Customs officer told the Auckland “Star” that he had read the cable from Port Darwin, but it was not clear to him how immigrants could be brought out on borrowed birth certificates, and it was evident that the system of checking the arrivals of Chinese in Australia was very different to that adopted in New Zealand. Apparently what was being done in Australia was the selling of certificates by Chinese, who. had returned to their own country, to others of their race, the purchasers then coming out under the names set out in the birth certificates, just as though the original owners of the certificates were returning. While admitting that most Europeans found it sometimes difficult to tell one Chinaman from another, the

Customs officers in Auckland do not have any trouble on that score, and there is little possibility of a Chinaman landing in Auckland and dodging payn/ent unless lie is smuggled in. Before a Chinaman leaves the Dominion, be it for good or merely on a visit to another country, lie must present himself at the Customs and receive a certificate of registration. Tin’s certificate contains a complete description of him, and in addition liis photograph is attached. Should that certificate ever be presented agaiu by a Chinaman, liis description must correspond exactly to that in the certificate and he must be the living likeness of the photograph. If any doubts are held a few questions about the names of the suburbs, the streets, the various routes to be taken to get from one place to another, are asked, and if the Chinaman has not been here before, he has little chance of standing up to the cross-examination successfully. About three years ago a Chinaman tried to land on a borrowed or purchased certificate, but the test was too much for him, despite his “No savee” to questions which he found unanswerable, and lie was soon on liis way back to liis own country. Smuggling is not unknown in Auckland in this way. The police periodically make inquiries, and on one occasion found more than one market gardener who was raising vegetables, and who had not paid his poll tax. All things considered, the chances of a Chinese immigrant landing in New Zealand' and dodging the Cus.toms are very slight.