THE CHINESE QUESTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9048, 8 May 1888, Page 5

THE CHINESE QUESTION.

[press association.]

Adelaide, May *7. The Chinese by the Menmuir were not allowed to land.

NOT TO BE TAKEN BACK. Melbourne, May 7. It is understood that the agents of the steamship companies trading to China have been instructed not on any account to allow the Chinese to return in their vessels, even though the Government offer them £50 a head.

ARRIVAL OF THE TE ANAU.

THE CHINESE NOT LANDED. [BY TELEGRAPH.— ASSOCIATION.] Bluff, Monday. The Te Anau arrived at twenty minutes to twelve a.m. to-day. A large crowd met the steamer, the object being to oppose the landing of the Chinese. On getting moored alongside the wharf, Captain Mcintosh announced that there were sixteen Chinese for Dunedin, seventy-nine for Greymouth, and none for the Bluff. This news was received with cheers, after which the people quietly dispersed. THE GATHERING TO OPPOSE THE LANDING. TheTe Anau arrived about eleven a.m., and was boarded by the Health Officer, who occupied about an hour in examining the Chinese. He gave a clean bill, but it was then ascertained that none were to be landed at the Bluff. There are 99 on board : 19 of these are for Dunedin, and the balance for Greymouth. A magistrate, a number of policemen, and several justices were on the wharf when the steamer came

alongside, and the crowd was augmented by a large contingent of people from Invercargill. Great satisfaction was expressed when it was known that the Chinese were not to be landed, and at a meeting on the wharf, presided over by the Mayor of Invercargill, congratulatory speeches were made, it being hinted that the change of destination was due to the action already taken. Captain Mcintosh, on learning the position of matters, posted men to prevent the Chinese going on shore. During the day they were clustered in the fore part of the steamer, and were left severely alone, except by one or two youngsters, who indulged in a little stonethrowing, but were promptly stopped.

Invercargill, Monday. The Premier advises the Mayor and the member for Awarua that the Government cannot legally prevent the landing of the Chinese on board the s.s. Te Anau. He says that Parliament will legislate, and asks those in authority to see that no disorder occurs.

The message wired by the Press Association from Wellington that the Government were going to follow the same course as Victoria, and refuse to allow the Chinese to land, put the opponents of the Chinese completely off their guard, and very few went to the Bluff by the morning train. Although it was a quarter to eleven before it was known that the statement was wrong, the word was soon passed round, and ono hundred and twenty persons went down to the port by the quarter-past eleven train. Had the true state of affairs been known, the number would have been increased by several hundreds. There was a large crowd of all classes on the platform to see the train off, and great excitement prevailed. MASS MEETING AT DUNEDIN. Dunedin, Monday. A mass meeting, called at short notice, was held at the Princess Theatre to-night re tho Chinese question. The theatre was packed. The Mayor presided. The principal speakers wero Messrs. Fish, Fitchett, and Allen, M.H.R.'s, and Mr. Barron.

Resolutions were carried similar to those at Invercargill, save that no reference was made to prevent the Chinese landing. The Mayor of Dunedin, the representatives in Parliament, with Messrs. Wathen, E. Wilson, W. M. Bolt, H. Warner, and C. R. Barron were appointed a vigilance committee, with power to add to their number, for the purpose of guarding the interests of the European colonists against the influx of Chinese.

A resolution was passed requesting the Government to take combined action with Australia to prevent the influx of Chinese. The meeting was orderly and enthusiastic. Tho Mayor afterwards sent the following telegram to the Premier, Wellington:— " Monster meeting tonight unanimously declared against further influx of Chinese. Will the notice said to be gazetted to-day, declaring Chinese ports infected, prevent those on the Te Anau arriving to-morrow morning at Port Chalmers or Dunedin? Strong feeling exists here. Please reply urgent. —W. Dawson, Mayor."

THE CABINET.

OPINION IN WELLINGTON. [BY TELEGRAPH.OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Wellington, Monday. The Government resolved on Saturday night in Cabinet to issue a proclamation declaring the ports of China, Singapore, and some others infected places. , The Press warns the Government against the consequence of "mob law" as manifested in Brisbane, and plainly indicated at Sydney and Invercargill. It would almost seem from the attitude taken by the Press that some difference of opinion exists in this community as to the manner of meeting tho Chinese difficulty. The following is tho concluding paragraph of its leader this evening :—"As to the decision which we understand has been come to with a view to discouraging Chinese immigration in future, to proclaim China an infected place, so that all ships carrying Chinese passengers must perform quarantine, it seems to us neither more nor less than a clumsy piece of illegality. It is clearly a gross distortion of the law, which would not be tolerated for a moment if applied to Europeans, and we do not believe it will gain its '' object. The legality of such a proceeding is about to be tested in the Supreme Court at Melbourne, and even if it should be held to be within the power of the Government to keep all ships coming from China in quarantine, whether they have sickness on board or not, the Chinese will no doubt find some method of evading this tyrannical and irrational law. For us who resort to such devices to call the Chinese ' barbarians' is the very irony of self-complaisance. Surely there is a statesmanlike way of dealing with this question, and it is deplorable to find how incapable our public men are of discerning it. The Government, as the matter at present stands, can do nothing except what the law allows them to do."

A Minister said to me to-day : " Wo have I nut the law in force. We cannot break the law. What is provided by law is imperative. As it is proposed to legislate further on the subject, we must wait." There are people here who think that the proclamation will not meet the difficulty ; for any number of Chinese who might want to come to New Zealand could travel to a port not within the proclamation. I have talked with people here who say that there is very little fear of New Zealand being " flooded with large numbers of Chinese." They look upon the present aspect of the question as accidental. They consider that popular irritation will rather delay than accelerate its satisfactory settlement. Such settlement, they contend, can only be obtained by negotiation through the Home Government with tho Imperial authorities at Pekin.

REQUEST TO SIR GEORGE GREY. A petition is being circulated in town, soliciting Sir George Grey to give a public address on the Chinese question, owing to his large knowledge of the subject. Yesterday Mr. W. Hodge procured several hundred signatures to it.