UNDESIRABLE IMMIGRANTS

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIV, Issue 10786, 25 October 1895, Page 4

UNDESIRABLE IMMIGRANTS

The Government has acted wisely, we think, in moving for the reinstatement of the Asiatic Immigration Restriction Bill. The adverse vote in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon does not represent the popular feeling in the country, and we cannot believe that Parliament will persist in destroying the measure. The present opposition is largely due to the Minister's attempt to. accomplish too much, If Mr Reeves had,

contented himself with regulating the admission of Asiatics to the colony he would probably have encountered very little difficulty in placing his Bill upon the Statute Book ; but when he proposed to exclude other undesirable immigrants he opened the floodgates to a torrent of rather frivolous and irrelevant criticism which overwhelmed the sober sense of a House that is ready to seize upon any excuse to shorten its labours. It must be clear to everyone, except perhaps to those people who look upon “ free labour ” as the essence of industrial prosperity, that the paupers and criminals of Europe are just as “ undesirable ” as the ordinary immigrants from China and Japan; but it is easy to find sentimental reasons for making a distinction between the two classes. There is some plausibility, for instance, about Mr Thompson’s contention that a British subject should not be excluded from any part of the British dominions; but it would be far better to meet the objections with reasonable amendments than to abandon the Bill altogether and leave our ports open to an unchecked and unlimited incursion of Asiatics; We hope, therefore, that Mr Reeves will manage to obtain another hearing for his Bill, and that Parliament will see the wisdom of accepting at least that portion of it which is intended to stem the tide of immigration from the East.