THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1908. EXCLUSION POLICIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13701, 18 March 1908, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1908. EXCLUSION POLICIES.

Tjik criticism of the Vancouver correspondent of the London Times that " the immigration situation is becoming an absurd and dangerous muddle" contains too much truth for the increasing difficulty to be cavalierly ignored by the British States of the Empire. That, without exception, those British communities which are confronted by the manifold perils of undesirable immigration are determined to preserve their racial purity and their social standards must be fully admitted ; but so long as that purpose is attained it is eminently advisable that it should be reached without giving any unnecessary offence. What is urgently called for, therefore, is a conference of the various Governments concerned so that the whole question can be carefully and calmly discussed and debated and a common policy arranged, which policy may be submitted to the Imperial authorities for their consent and support. As matters stand, there is a different method in almost every exclusionist State of the Empire, and conflicting enactments are continually being offered for Imperial approval. British Columbia legislates in one direction, Natal in another, Australia in a third, and New Zealand in a fourth; the Cape and the Transvaal have their own peculiar conditions of admission and naturalisation; wherever we look there is confusion, and in this confusion there is the germ of endless trouble and possible war. To the Imperial citizen of British stock these restrictions mean nothing, for they must always be separated from the regulations designed to restrict immigration under contract. The New Zealander can travel upon business or pleasure from one end of the Empire to the other, the most carefully-guarded gate of every British State opening promptly to the passage of those, visibly recognisable as of kindred race and unquestionable status. It may even be said that any of the true European stocks are similarly unimpeded in their movements, although British Columbia appears to have so clumsily framed its statute that a German was recently denied adinia-

sion simply because he arrived from Australia. At any rate, there is no serious difficulty over any strictly European migration, the mild restrictions imposed upon it being of a nature quite understood by, and D not objectionable tso, every Western Government. No) civilised State openly attempts to foist upon another country its derelicts and criminals, although it is naturally ready to do so if the opportunity offers. What is creating the trouble is the, strict embargo now being laid, by the great majority of British colonial States, upon the immigration of persons other than those of European stock. This is a most > serious action, involving a refusal to treat the countries to which these persons belong upon the same terms as those which are unhesitatingly accorded to Western nations. Our colonial statesmen will be lacking in their duty unless they speedily come to a joint agreement on the matter, and thus free the problem from its present intricacies and complications. The Imperial Government may not. be able to see eye to eye* with us on the question of exclusion, but it would presumably welcome with alacrity a definite and practical statement of policy. For we must remember that in spite of its hesitations and reluctances the Imperial Government has made exclusion possible by most loyally supporting with its naval strength and its diplomatic influence the medley of colonial enactments having exclusion as their purpose. Our colonial .British States have mutilated beyond recognition the, once-proud > status of " British subject," which was once supposed to confer a freeman's rights upon every individual brought under the Hag, regardless of race, religion, colour, or condition. Yet the Imperial Government does not compel its to admit to our autonomous States the Hindoo or other alien subjects of the King, in spite of the intense feeling which our exclusions are. inciting in British dependencies. Chinese, and Japanese are similarly barred out and we have very generally failed to.bar them out in a manner calcu- , luted to soothe, their ruffled -pride and their very natural indignation. Yet the Imperial Government justifies our acts, even while it complains | of our indifference to their . effect j upon its Imperial policies. But j neither the Imperial Government j nor any colonial Government can j possibly expect this unregulated and j disconnected exclusion to go for ever unchallenged. We, cannot expect that any Asiatic Power or any Asiatic people will accept eagerly the general colonial principle that general Asiatic immigration to the States founded and populated by British and European colonists cannot be permitted. This must cause a considerable amount of antagonistic feeling, however diplomatically it is brought under their notice. It is infinitely better and wiser, however, to have a clear understanding on the point and thereafter to avoid the irritation now created by our j present confusing system, or lack of i system, than to drift along as we' are going until we drift to the verge j of war and possibly over it. It is I not beyond the bounds of possibility that, if racial lines of demarcation were traced on the maps, leaving to the European and to the Asiatic their recognised spheres of occupation, the energies of Asia might be so diverted as to free us not only from immigration difficulties but I from Asiatic ill-will. Before there can be any such arrangement made, however,' the British States of the Empire must cease their disorganised and disorganising tactics, which unquestionably threaten to become "an absurd and dangerous muddle." They should come to a common decision as to how best to preserve their national integrities and how least objectionably to exclude undesirable immigrants. New Zealanflers can certainly trust Sir Joseph Ward, ' as Australians can trust Mr. Deakin, to insist upon such precautions as are necessary for our preservation, nor is it conceivable that other representative colonial statesmen are less patriotic. * While a colonial policy upon this question would be . difficult to lay down, it cannot be , impossible, and once arrived at and < approved it would serve as a basis ] for Imperial guidance as well as for 1 colonial legislation. The question i of racial exclusion is becoming the < great problem of the Twentieth Cen- ' tury, and the more intelligently and < promptly we solve it the better it l will be, for our future peace and se- a curity. Meanwhile, we ought to in- ] crease our British populations by ' every possible means and initiate ' that defensive training which will ] alone serve us if excluded races appeal to the final Court of War l against Acts of Parliament.