A WHITE NEW ZEALAND

NZ Truth, Issue 749, 25 October 1919, Page 1

A WHITE NEW ZEALAND

While a great deal of cheap claptrap has been indulged m concerning New Zealand's mandatory powers m Ramos, It is a somewhat singular, if not sinister, thing to note that the possibility of New Zealand's policy of a "white New Zealand" being endangered has not occurred to our Parila-

— wwyfnT-tq ti ■ and "TrXi^*" Wishes tO point out that the workers do not seem to liave many, if any, white New Zealand champions In t^f* extreme TiflTMH* party In Parliament. II we are to accept 88 correct the strange doctrine of the «ul-«ye<i shrieking Socialists m tola and other countries that all men, «f all colors and creeds rank equal m their estimation, ■ we reach the conclusion that New Zealand, under a gocialistio state, would be open to all the cheap and nasty colored races of the earth, that they would rank as the equal of the white man, women and children of N«w Zealand. Socialists and extremists who preach: this doctrine ,of *3>rotheriy love" and the equality of th* races of mankind, regardless of color or creed* generally find themselves up against the very tough proposition of convincing the white races that m any circumstances they should place themselves on the very low level of the scum of Asia. In Australia, where the settled policy long has been Australia for the white races, the task of excluding 'Asiatics and other aliens from Australia's shores has often been made difficult by the attempts made to break down the racial barriers, due to the nonsensical and pernicious doctrines of extremists who have failad' to perceive that m preaching 1 the nonsense of black, brown and brindle being the brother of the "paleface" they have been encouraged by and ' play right into the hands of the cheap colored labor -. loving and employing classes. One of the few things which redound to the credit' of Australian Labor, the Labor Patty which Mr. H. E. Holland stigmatises as "sham," is the effort which was made, and which so far has proved successful, m Tnft*pfo**n<"g "A "White Australia." The comparatively close proximity of New Zealand to 'Asiatic countries, rendering it imperative to raise the color bar, should unite this Dominion with the Commonwealth m ft strong and determined effort to keep this country white, but if . extreme Labor politicians are prone to palter with the policy, and are concerned only with a question of Free or Bond cheap colored labor for Samoa or any other island adjacent to the Dominion, then the white worker of New Zealand need not expect to find any champions of the cause of a White New Zealand m the small bat noisy ranks.

Admittedly, the question of the control of Samoa Is one bristling with .many difficulties, and m "Truth's opinion it 'might have proved much more satisfactory to the people of New Zealand if, a. mandate had not been accepted by New Zealand and if the control of thfw captured German Territory had been Invested m Great Britain or treated as part of a Western Pacific Confederation under the governorship of a High Commissioner. However, New Zealand, through its representatives,, having accepted the mandate, the next Parliament of New Zealand will be fully entitled to give further consideration to this question, because so far as matters have progressed, there has been a violation of what "Truth" holds to be the policy of & White New Zealand by the Reform majority m the present Parliament. It Is a remarkable feature that New Zealand is being asked to take over the control not only of a captured German colony but the loving care of a horde of cheap and nasty Chinese coolies. The' Premier, during the discussion m Parliament m the early hours of Saturday morning last, professed that he was opposed to indentured labor but drew, or attempted to draw, a distinction -between indentured Labor under British rule and a similar system under German rule. This statement does not assist Mr. Massey m the slightest'degree. If he disbelieved m indentured labor, if he disliked it as .lie professed, he could hav^e adopted the suggestion which the Lelder of the Opposition offered, viz., ».o/ postpone lor an Indefinite period, and the longer the period the better it would be for New Zealand, of this very osrioufl matter. . However, Mr. Massey pushed the matter through, and an amendment against indentured labor was defeated by a majority of Reform-

era and a few Liberals who surely were not fully seized of the situation. It is all very well for Mr. Massey to draw a distinction -'between Indentured labor under British rule and German rule. No doubt under . German rule nameless horrors were perpetrated, but who can speak with pride of the efforts of British "blackbirders" "recruiting" labor m the Western Pacific? One of the foulest blots on British rule m the Western Pacific Islands is to ' be found In the infamous history of labor recruiting m the South Seas, and the infamies which were perpetrated during the "hunts" for Kanakas to work the sugar plantations . of Queensland have hardened the Australian heart against all who talk of docile and intelligent aliens who work for next to nothing and live on a handful of rice per day. New Zealand's Parliament, by the aid of a Reform Majority, haa affirmed the principle of cheap colored indentured Labor m Samoa, under the New Zealand mandatory- It savors of the plight of South Africa after the Boer War.

It Is true that the Labor members of Parliament futllely moved m the direction of prohibiting indentured labor, and Chinese cheap and nasty L&bor, is what Reform favors. It is true that the Liberal leader refused to be placed m a false' position or be caught m a trap by voting for indentured Labor, but why did not the Labor section raise the cry that the policy of a White New Zealand, a policy which the Liberal leader and all true Liberals are committed to, was being endangered? It is "all very well for Messrs. Holland and Co. to Indulge m platiI tudes anent the oppression of the workers, but what greater oppression can, be wrought, what greater danger can exist to the white workers, if New Zealand is not kept white? Whether they like it or not, the Socialists m Parliament cannot square their professed principles of the equality of all men with the instinctive horror of the white at the thought that. bis country Is to become the dumping - % ground of Asiatic hordes, or the danger to his country by islands adjacent being peopled by Asiatics, It is all very well for Mr. Holland to indulge m heroics, or to fulminate against indentured labor m Samoa, when, after all, \he is seeking to make some strategic political move. Why did not Mr. Holland and his colleagues point to the danger which Fiji with its . imported labor from Ceylon and Madras constitute to New Zealand? Why did not the Labor extremists move m the direction of absolutely forbidding all Asiatic labor In Samoa, and Asiatic labor In Samoa Is just as great a menace to a White New Zealand as is the cheap coolie labor Imported to FijL New Zealand's Parliament, by virtue of the Reform majority, rejected, &s no doubt was anticipated, Mr. Holland's amendment against indentured Labor m Samoa, but a little relief is afforded by " the fact that this Parliament has laid it down by the Act providing for the "recruiting" of Chinese coolies, who are to be the "special wards" of New Zealand, that the system is to remain m force for not longer than twelve months. Let Mr. Holland and his colleagues, if they .are returned to Parliament, support a Liberal . .administration and the settled Liberal policy of a White New Zealand.

It is a fact, proved by the Government Statistician's figures, that during the' regime of the Liberal Party, Asiatic immigration to New Zealand was kept In check. Since 1911, the year m which the Reform Party burgled lta. way to office, Asiatic immigration to New Zealand has increased considerably. During the years that the Reform Party has held office, the cities of New Zealand, particularly Auckland and Wellington, m fact, the north island generally, have seen the formation of colonies of cheap and nasty, coolies from India and Ceylon. These coolies were originally indentured laborers on the sugar plantations of Fiji, and it seems to "Truth" that their settlement m New Zealand is a violation of the terms of their contracts. Instead of being returned to India and Ceylon, they have been permitted to swoop down on this country, and though regarded as "doolie," "gentle" and 'Hawabiding" creatures, their presence m the Dominion, under a Reform Government's sway, Is a challenge to the policy of a White New Zealand to which polloy the Liberal leader and

his followers are pledged, a policy to which Labor should. also pledge itself. Indentured cheap Chinese coolie labor to Samoa, .or Asiatid* coolie labor of any kind, particularly as a New Zealand Parliament dominated by a Reform Party has affirmed a policy of oheap Chinese colored labor at Samoa, means a further menace to the selfrespecting white community of New Zealand, and another indication of Reform's "square deal" to Labor. Socallod Labor politicians cannot be allowed to blow hot and cold on thia momentous matter. They must definitely pledge themselves to a White New Zealand, and must not m any way countenance any move which threatens directly or indirectly to violate the White New Zealand policy. The equality of mankind, the settingon the same plane of black, brown, piebald and yellow with the sensitive white, ia all moonshine, Socialistic shibboleths, impossible and impracticable. Thia question has got to be faced m the coming decade. The Pacific is to be the new storm centre, and heroics about the yellow man, the folack man and the brown man being the brother of the white do not allay the suspicion that the "yellow peril" is real, a menace and a nightmare.

IS IT POSSIBLE UNDER "THE OLD GANG?"