"CHINESE CHEAP LABOUR."

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15923, 8 May 1912, Page 7

"CHINESE CHEAP LABOUR."

THE DANGER IN CHRISTCHURCH-

FURNITURE-MAKERS AND RETAILEItS. Christchurch furniture-makers and retailers arc not yet repeating the pensive remark of the immortal Bill Nye, ’‘‘ We are ruined by Chinese cheap labour,” but at the same time they are neglecting ,no precautions. , United action lias not been agreed. on, possibly because the retailer may not see eye to eye with the manufacturer on the subject at the start, but the rumour of a Chinese furnithre factory is giving them much uneasiness. Mr J 7 Cameron, the . anti-Chinese apostle, had a few more words to say on the' subject yesterday. He remarked that the evils of Chinese labour were not confined to the fruit or the furniture trade; the Chinaman could work longer hours for less pay, and could evade the labour laws every time. The Asiatic professed, to know nothing about them, and did not attempt to observe them, and to that extent Chinamen were :.a menace to any industry. Frankly, Mr Cameron said, liis was a race argument, not' a commercial one. He did not belong to a stonethrowing league. The Anti-Chinese League was constitutionally formed, and by educating public opinion - it would' attain its ends in a proper manner. ■

Reverting to the question of Chinese in the furniture trade, Mr Cameron said that some retailers might imagine that they would be benefited by cheap Chinese labour, but they forgot that an article turned out cheaply by a Chinaman would be retailed bv him, and the shopkeeper would be “ left.” The occasion was one for united action by manufacturers, workers and retailers. They should band together to frame amendments of the Factories Act that would put the Chinaman, on the same mark as the European. There was a popular misconception that any legislation affecting a Chinaman required the Royal assent. This was absurd. The labour laws governing Chinese workmen raised no international question, and could bo nut into effect immediately. The Hon J. A. Millar bad bad legislative proposals ready some time ago, but regarded it as useless to launch them before a House that contained so many oro-Chinese members.

Mr D. Palmer, chairman of the committee which is endeavouring to persuade the' Minister to take action with regard to the matter, told a reporter that he was for some years a member of one of the largest furniture trades in Perth, where lie had witnessed the way in which the Chinese had crept into the furniture trade industry and revolutionised it. In about three years, Mr Palmer stated, between 200 and 300 cabinetmakers in Perth had been replaced by Asiatic' labourers. The white worker could not compete with the Chinese, as they could not be placed on equal terms. The main feature of the whole trouble was that the individual worker could not be induced to take action in the matter. The Asiatics increased in numbers at a great rate wherever they could get a footing, and always congregated in Chinese “ dens,” localities which soon became notorious for their filthiness. Mr Palmer stated that his - factory in Perth bad been reduced from one of the largest in the city to one carrying a mere, handful of men, through the introduction of Chinese labourers into tho town. ,

“Tho whole trouble,” said the speaker, ‘‘ is that you cannot get at the individual worker. That is. whore the Factory Act is set at nought. It is indeed useless, as far ns the Chinese are concerned, no matter how many inspectors are employed, to maintain the law. The rapid growth of .the Chinese in Perth, and the way in which they cut out the white workers, were the reasons for the drastic legislation put on the Statute Book in Western Australia in 1901. And when tho legislation did come it was too late, as some halfdozen Chinese factories had been rggis-

tered under the Act, and their employees could be multiplied indefinitely.'’ In New Zealand, Mr Palmer went on to say, there were as yet no Chinese factories, and if the public and the Government tould be induced to take tlio matter up in time, similar legislation to that in Western Australia could bo introduced in time to prevent the opening of any factories. The main clauses in the Western Australian statutes dealing with Asiatics provided that after a certain date no further Chinese or Asiatics could be registered as factory owners or employers, and that no Chinese or Asiatics could work before 8 a,.m. or after 5 p.m. at their trade. Mr Palmer said that if the Chinese once got a footing in Christchurch in the furniture trade it would mean that several hundreds of workers would be thrown out of employment. The whole matter resolved itself into one of workmanship versus Chinese tactics. No matter how up-to-date the appliances in furniture factories were, Alley could not hope to compete with yellow labour. Tit was the duty of every citizen, concluded Mr Palmer, to try to prevent what might be a very serious check to the dominion’s industrial'progress. the introduction of the Chinese into the furniture trade.