Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 1888. PM THE CHINESE QUESTION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXII, Issue 173, 25 July 1888, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 1888. PM THE CHINESE QUESTION.

It- is evident from the articles and letters whioh appear in the leading English journals received by the San Francisco mail, that the question of i hinese immigration to Australia and the means proposed to check it, were exoiting a good deal of attention in the old country. Among other contributions there is in the latest number of " The Times" a communication from the correspondent of that journal in British Columbia, the faots Btated in whioh will possess considerable interest for our readers. From this we learn that in February, 1884, the Legislature of the Province of British Columbia passed an Act " to regulate the Chinese population " of that country, the preamble of which was as f ollowb :—

"Whereas the incoming of Chinese to British Columbia largely exceeds that of any other class of immigrant, and the population so introduoed< are fast becoming superior in number to our own race ; are not dispose! to be governed by our laws ; are dissimilar in habits and occupations from our people; evade the payment of taxes justly due to the Government; are governed by pestilential habits ; are useless in instances of emergency ; habitually desecrate graveyards by the removal of bodies therefrom ; and generally the laws governing the whites are found to be inapplicable to Chinese, and suoh Chinese ! ara inolined to habits subversive of the comfort and well-being of the community. l ' From this it might be surmised that the provisions of the Act were not likely to be favorable to those it was to afleet, but the severity of them has never been approached in degree by any Australian legislation. For instance the word "Chinese" is defined to include any person of Chinese race, upon all of whom is levied an annual tax of ten dollars, and with a certificate stating that the amount had been paid they must be provided at all times and places whenever it is demanded. Dißtraint is permitted for the amount of the tax and costs on the goods of any Chinese not producing a certificate, or on goods in aay premises for the time being in his occupation, and for the purposes of this section premises are to be deemed in his ooonpation if it be shown that he habitually frequents them with tbe consent of their owners (which would include.* public boeae, hotel, or restaurant), or that he has parsed a night or slept there within a week of he levy. Cbineee are not to be allowed to pas* any toll gate until they haye produced their oarfcificates, a provision which would render it impossible for th'm to enter the province by land at all, inasmuch as they must go at least as far as a district town before they oan find anyone to take the fee and grant them a certificate. An ndditional o&rtifioata costing 15 dollarn ia to be takan out by ony Chinesa desiring to work ia mi&es ; the disinfcrmenfc of dead Chinese is prohibited, as is also tbe consumption of opium, except for medical purposes. Then conies the most drastic and un-English of all the provisiona of this measure. Section 28 rnns as follows: — " For the purpose of &ny proceedings taken under the provisions of the Act the harden shall be on tbe defendant; of proving- that he is exempt front tbe operation of any of its provisions, and it eh nil not be neosasary it any information, summons, or coavicioo, or other dooutnent, to et»fca or negative any exception in, or exemption under, this Aoc or in contemplation of law." Saotion 20 provides that no conviction of a Chinese is to be quashed for want of form, nor fthall it be removed by writ of certiorari or reviewed in any manner whatever save by speoUl appeal, involving the deposit of 100 dollars for security of costs.

Thia is pretty severe, and as the correspondent says, if hard words or oppressive laws could drive the Chinese out of British Columbia they would all have disappeared from the province within, a year of the date in which the Act came into force: But they are still existing there, and "lo I they have smashed and pulverized the Act so that erven the Legislature which passed it shrink from instructing their law officers to defeod it before the Privy Council. The Act, in fact, is dead, slain by a gentlenkn named Wing Chong, a general merchant of the city of Victoria, British Columbia." And this is how ths feat was accomplished. In June 1886 an Inspector under th» Act swore an information against Wing Chong to the effect that he had applied to him for ten dollars for a, license which Wing Ohong I flatly refused to pay. Wing 1 Chong took care to secure t*he services of counsel of eminence, and the ground taken up on his behalf was that the Aot was unconstitutional and void. The magistrate of course, could not consider this argument and he fined the defendant 20 dollars and costs. Wiiig Chong thereupon applied for a writ of oertiorari and in July 1885 the case came on for argument before Mr Justice Crease of the Supreme Court;, Tba defendant's grounds were of the broadest oharaoter, namely, " (1) That the Aot was ultra vires of the local Legislature as being an interference with the rights of an alien ; (2) that it was an interference with trade and commerce ; (3) that it was an infraction of the existing treaties between the Imperial Government and China ; (4) that, as the taxation imposed by it was unequal, it was unconstitutional," Mr Justice Crease decided in Wing Chong's favor, and ordered tbe repayment of the fine and costs, gad in giving judgment he commented in uevere terms on the eharaoter of the Aot, the provisions of which, he said, " reverse all the old law of England, and one of the most cherished and priceless safe guards of the freedom from oppression won for us by our forefathera-^thjit no one shall be deemed guilty until be has been proved bo." He went on to say that tha Aot bo bristled with arbitrary, exceptional,- and penal consequences that it was invidious to single oat particular ones for comment, and he concluded by declaring the Act ultra vires, an interference with trade and commerce, and a bedaub of. Imperial treaties.

The prosecuting Inspector then went a etsp farther, and by direction of the Brii^h Coluintiiao Government pressured a petition of appeal to the Privy Ooancil from the decision of the Jadge, This roused all the energies of "Wing Ohong, who buckled on his armour for a tougher fight than any be had yet bad, and made preparations for being adequately represented before Her Majf.sty in Council, But the appeal was never prosecuted, tbe reason, it is presumed, beiog that tho Chineeo Minister in fyoudon had in the interval had his attention called to an Aot what Mr Justjos Greaae deocribod bs " a bill of indictment ngniDst the race," Tho correspondent refers to tho Bill recently imrodaced into the New Souoh Wales Parliament, and says of io and the British Columbia Act: — "They &ra breaches of oar treaties with China; if wo wish to alter these treaties in any respect there in ons way, and one only, of doing so, namely, by negotiation between the two parties to thurn."

Ab confirmation of bis view that this is a matter which should ba arranged between tho British and Chinese Goveori moots we would call the attention of our readers to a short extract we have made, and whioh appeara on oar fourth page, from a. laading ar tide whioh appeared in "The Times" of the 14th of June, It appears t« as, and rnuab do 30 to all thinking people, that it is a highly significant fact that auoh a paragraph should form" the conclusion to a leader in the leading En glinh journal on " The European Sitnation," We have more than once pointed oat in other words than those used by "The Times" the serious reaults that might ncorue to Great Britain's Indian Empire if '- a State bo capable" as China "of affeoling Imperial interest* were to be estranged by reason of measures called for by the colonies," and it is evident from fche exti-Aot we give that the gravity of the situation is giving rise to some nntaflinesa at Homo, Xha colonies have notnrftlly enough determined tbat they will to the utmost of their ability, prevent »a i&v«Bioa by hordes of Chinese, and this is folly recognised and the sentiment thoroughly appreciated by tbe Imperial Government, to whom the matter should be left to negotiate with China whose Goverumeut, ac pointed out in an article by

the Marquis Tsenff, which appeared ia the Asiatic Quarterly Review some eighteen months ago, are by no means anxious to encourage the emigration of its subjects, it being "untrue, as is popularly believed in Europe, that China is usador the neceseity of finding an outlet abroad for a surplus population." "China," he says " ha& room and to spare for her teeming popular tions, but she wants a proper organisation for its equable distribution. " Under [suoh circumstances there Bhould bo no insnperable difficulty in the way of the two Governments arriving at a mutually satisfactory understanding.

From private advices received by tbe Premier, as stated by him in the House laef. night, it appears that it is unlikely that the ! American Sen&te will acr^o to the removal of the duty on wool. This will be n grievous disappointment to the Australian wool growers, and indeed to the colonie? generally, as the beneficial effeot produced upon them oonld not fail to be very grer.t. We oau, however, look forward with hope to the future, ac the shrewd Americans appear to be gradually opening their eyea Jto the folly of standing in their own way in tbe matter of obtaining comfortable clothing at moderate rates.

At the R.M. Court yesterday Mr Harley, on behalf of Frederick Garard, against whom a married woman's protection order was issued, a week or ten days ago on the application of his wife, applied to have the order annulled. After hearing further evidence His Worship granted the application.

A mistake occurred in our report of the Magistrate's Court proceedings yesterday. The ease reported as " Wilkins and Field v. Whiting " should have been " Wilkius ani Field v. Whitney."

Ctclists are remindeS'that entries for the sports on the first Monday in AugUßt close this evening.

It is rumored that two local reoidents, one a competent musical conduo:or, aod the other a very efficient stago manager, are making arrangements with n number of amateurs for puiting on >he stage in a manner thai has nos yet been attempted in N'teoi, G-il erfc aad Sullivan's famous opera (> H.M.S. Pinafore." Thero ia plenty of fc.lent in the place if only properly orgat ised and directed and thero is no reason whatever why the talked of ventare should not prove a gratifying succese.

The Secretary of the Prince Albert Football Club has received a telegram from the Wellington Union Club stating that it will be impossible to send their team next Saturday, but they will endeavor to play here next month. This is a great disappointment to the Prince Alberts, who had gone to some little expense in making the neoessary arrangements. However, it seema that it cannot be helped, and it is to be hoped that a well fought game later in the season will make up for the present disappointment,

The Concert asd Christmas Tree in the Wood Schoolroom on Monday evening passed off very suooessf ally, and despite the mb,or unfavorable etate of the weather, the room was crowded. The tree was a great attraction, being loaded with useful things of all kinds, the tickets all wont off, r»nd, indeed, dozens more could have bpen disposed of hud they been. obtainable. Th» various items on tbe programme were exceedingly well rendered, and, judging from tha applause, were appreciated by all. A good «app«r was handed round afterwards ; And on thin occasion, as before, the school teachers bave good reason to be proud of the success of their pleasant gathering on Monday evening. The half-yearly meeting of the City Rifles was held last evening, when there was a fair attendance of members, Captain Rowlings in the chair. The balance sheet, showing the company to be in a sound financial condition, was read and adopted. After some discussion with regard to the money prizes in connection with, the Belt competitions, it waa decided to vote the same amount as last year for range prizes, and, in addition, t® gira three prizes for the best aggregate off the gun. The company intend taking advantage of the holiday on. Monday Aug. 6th to have a day's shooting, and commence their class firing. To add interest to the competition it was resolved to give a sum of £3 to be divided into prizes. The matter of obtaining leggings for the corps was brought up and a committee appointed to inquire into cost, &c. The Committee of the Nelson Volunteer Fire Brigade Reading Room desire to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of a parcel of books from Mr W. Darby, a quantity of late illustrated papers from Dr Coleman, and a file of the Nelson Evening Ma.ii< daily received from the proprietors of the latter.

Lettbbs froaa correspondents «re crowded out of to d&y'is issue. 11 Buohu-Paiba." — Quick, complete cure, all annoying Kidney, Bladder arid Urinary Diseases. At Druggists. Kempthorne, Pro&ser & Co. Agents, Christohuroh. • Rooaff on Rats." — Clears out rats, mice roaches, flies, ants, bed-bugs, beetles, insects, skunks, jack-rabbits, sparrow*, gophers. At' Chemists and Druggists.

A GOOD HOUSEWIFE. The good housewife, when she is giving her house its spring renovating, shoald bear in mind that the dear inmates of her house are more precious than many houses, and that their systems need cleansing by purifying the bleod, regulating the stomach and bowels to prevent and cure the diseases

arisiag from spring malaria and miasma, and she must know that there is nothing that will do it bo perfectly and surely as Dr. Scale's American Hop Bitters, the purest and best of medicines. " Concord N. H. Patriot. "