THE CHINESE QUESTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9001, 14 March 1888, Page 5

THE CHINESE QUESTION.

LETTER FROM MR. J. C. FIRTH, HIS REMEDY FOR THE EVIL. Me. J. C. Firth has addressed the following letter on the Chinese question to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and the Governments of the respective Australasian colonies :— New Zealand, Auckland, 14th February, 1888. Sir,—The Chinese question appears to mo to be more or less rapidly forcing itself into a position which cannot be safely ignored for any long time by the Australasian colonies. 1. For many years attempts have been made in the Australasian colonies to deal with Chinese immigration, chiefly by imposing a poll-tax on every Chinaman introduced. ■ 2. These attempts have been only partially successful, with the additional disadvantage — it appears to —that such attempts are practical evasions of the treaties concluded by Her Majesty with the Emperor of China. . 3. The working Classes of the Australasian colonies hava taken a decided stand against any considerable introduction of Chinese into their respective colonies, apparently and chiefly on the ground of their being competitors as wage-earners, and incidentally that they are not, and will not be, colonists in any true sense. Beneath these objections I venture to think there may be, perhaps not yet so apparent or acknowledged, a broader and a vastly more vital reason, namely, the instinct of racial preservation. 4. When it is recognised that the Chinese immigration has, even at this early stage, demonstrated that the Australasian colonies offer great inducements _ to the location of Chinamen, notwithstanding the disabilities imposed upon them, we may as well be prepared for a constantly-increasing migration to Australasian shores, and, though we may attempt to check it by the imposition of a still heavier poll-tax, and by disabilities of various kinds, we must be prepared ere long for an enquiry on the part of the Chinese authorities as to whether the treaties are not being evaded. Not that the ruling powers in China are desirous of encouraging the emigration of their people, but it is evident that with the negotiation of the treaties European ideas are making more or less impression on even so conservative a people as the Chinese, and that in China, as everywhere, the voice of the common people is more and more making itself heard. 5. When the English plenipotentiaries secured the right of Englishmen to enter and locate themselves in the five treaty ports, they, of necessity, granted the right to China for her people to enter the British dominions. But when the English plenipotentiaries conceded this right, it is probable that they had no idea that it would be largely taken advantage of. Events are, however, proving that they had not fully measured the effect of the contact with European ideas which the treaty secured. Some of these effects the Australasian colonies are already finding to ( their cost. . | 6. It is unnecessary for me to enter here into a disquisition on the qualities of the Chinese as immigrants ; suffice it to say that though generally they are industrious, patient, inoffensive, and, so far, obedient to our laws, they do not, with few exceptions, become colonists; they are essentially aliens in manner, customs, and religion, and must continue to be so. They do not assimilate with us. They are amongst us, but not of us. 7. The question we have to consider is, what is likely to be the effect in the future upon the Australasian colonies of their propinquity to an empire of four hundred millions of Chinese should their migratory instinct develop into a volume beyond our power to control ? At present the European population of the Australasian colonies has not reached four milions. When we reflect upon the vast bodies of men which,, even in historic times, have moved to other countries, when once the subtle and uncontrollable force of the migratory instinct had taken possession of thenij we cannot regard the possibility of such an instinct influencing large masses of a population of four hundred millions without the gravest apprehension. Whenever that migratory wave sets in upon these colonies, with the present appliances at command, we shall not.be able to control it under the conditions of the existing treaties. If we are unable to control it, we may at some period more or less distant find the Australasian colonies exposed to an invasion which may place these grand free colonies now the homes of English people—under the control of Mongolian hordes, under which our bright dreams for the future would be forever extinguished. S. In view of such a contingency, and of the conditions of the existing treaties, there appear to me to be but two modes of dealing with the Chinese question : — (1) To endeavour to procure the abrogation of the treaties ; or (2) To endeavour to secure their modification. Looking at the vast and varied trade of the British Empire with China, the first of these modes is clearly beyond our reach. Nor is such a course desirable, even if it were possible, for the reason that in the probable coming struggle between England and Russia in these seas and elsewhere China will be one of our most potent allies unless we alienate her sympathies and drive her from us. 9. The latter course, namely, to endeavour to secure the modification or interpretation of the treaties, is obviously the one to adopt, and one, 1 think, within our power to obtain. The modification I venture to propose is, bv the adoption by Great Britain ana China of a clause interpreting the articles permitting the entrance of British subjects into China, and of Chinese into British dominions, in the following manner, namely — Let a census be taken, say in 1888, of the total number of British subjects entering China in that vear, and let that number be the number of Chinese to enter the British dominions during the following year, and so oil. 10. In such an effort it may be presumed that wc should be supported by the United States, where the Chinese immigration question has frequently been the occasion of great difficulties. 11. I have thus briefly endeavoured to bring this question under your notice, and I also address by this mail similar letters to the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London, to the Premiers of New Zealand, New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia, in the hope that, however imperfectly I may have brought this subject before your notice, the question itself is momentous enough to induce you to consider it, and in the further hope that you may see fit to bring it under the notice of the Legis- ! lature of Victoria, in order that concerted action may be taken.lam, &c., J. C. Firth, j