THE CHINESE QUESTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1904, 18 May 1888, Page 16

THE CHINESE QUESTION.

. •— — TJHENEW RESTRICTIVE LEGISLATION. Wellington, May 10. The proclamation re infected ports is republished for general information, and it is notified that strict, quarantine will- be enforced •in reference to all vessels arriving at any port or place in New Zealand from or having touched at China, Hongkong, Sumatra^ Java, and the I islands of the Eastern Archipelago, or having received any person or thing whatsoever from or out of any vessel coming from or having touched 'at any of such places. - May 11. The Chinese Immigrants Act Amendment j Bill was circulated this evening. Its general purport is as I stated it would be, but there are ,one or two fresh points. In the first place, the bill limits the number of Chinese which may be ;brought to one for every 100 tons, and increases j the penalty for disobedience from £20 to £50, jalso' making it an offence for a shipmaster to ! 'permit any Chinese to escape from his vessel before the poll tax shall have been paid. Any Chinese not paying the poll tax may be imprisoned for 12 months. Chinese crews who do not land, or officials, or Chinese who . are •naturalised in the colony, are exempt from the poll tax. There. are provisions against evasion of the act by transhipping, and in all proceedings under the act the burden of disproof is cast on the defendant. The Chinese are disqualified from voting at any local election unless naturalised, and any names of nen-natnralised Chinese that may be on the voting list are ''to be cancelled. It may be as well to explain that in framing the Chinese Immigrants Act the Government have been very careful not to exceed the limits of the acts which in the other colonies have received the Royal sanction. The previous New Zealand act contained one restrictive provision not in the Victorian act. In the new bill the Government have introduced all the Victorian provisions while retaining those peculiar to New Zealand. The new bill is entirely within the bounds of the legislation which has already been approved of by the Imperial' authorities. It is taken for granted that the Royal assent will not be refused or even delayed in the case of the present measure if, as expected, it passes both Houses. Gbeymouth, May 12. < The Wareatea arrived at 1 tfclock, bringing the Te Anau's Chinese passengers. There was no demonstration or hostility whatever. A crowd collected to see them land. Most of them seem to have been in the colonies before, many old Grey Valley miners among them. They will be sent up the Grey Valley at once and distributed among the abandoned workings. Auckland, May 14. Sir George Grey addressed a crowded meeting at St. James' Hall to-night on the Chinese question. Mr J. C. Firth' presided. Sir G. Grey, in the course of, an excellent address, urged that means should be taken during the present session of Parliament to prevent the influx of Chinese into the colony, and said he was going to Wellington with a firm determination to achieve that end. (Pee Press Association.) Melbourne, May 10. A number, of the Chinese passengers by the Afghan have been allowed to land, their naturalisation papers having been found to be in proper order. May 14. The captain of the steamer Albany, with Chinese passengers aboard, defied the Customs authorities, and proceeded to the wharf at Melbourne. His passengers were not, however, allowed to land, and the captain will be proceeded against. May 15.^ The captain o£ the Albany has been fined £50 for bringing his vessel with Chinese passengers alongside the wharf in defiance of the orders of the authorities. Sydney, May 11. The Chinese passengers by the s.s. Afghan and Tsinan are taking proceedings to test the legality of the action of the Government in retaining them on board their vessels. The Coal Lumpers' Union have decided to boycott the Chinese. May 14. The captain of the steamers Tsinan and Afghan, fearing that if they attempt to take back the Chinese a serious outbreak will occur, have determined not to risk their lives. They claim from Admiral Fairfax the protection of the British flag, and ask for naval guards or an armed convoy. The admiral will announce his decision on the return of the Nelson. The Hauroto has 14 Chinese passengers ex the Tsinan and Afghan. May 15. A rule nisi for a writ of habeas corpus has been granted on behalf of the Chinese passengers of the Afghan and Tsinan who are detained here. An application to make the rule absolute will be made on Thursday. Sir Henry Parkes has received a cablegram from Lord Knutsford asking under what law the Chinese passengers are debavrerl from landing here, and has replied that the Government are determined, at all hazards, to prevent the Chinese landing unless they are naturalised subjects. In the House to-day, the Premier gave notice of a bill to amend the Chinese Immigration Eestriction Act, and for the suspension of the Standing Orders' to allow of the bill being passed through all its stages in one day. The Chinese Bill to be introduced provides agains^ the influx of Chinese and indemnifies the Government and the Executive for all actions taken in connection with the Chinese since the Ist May. The steamer Guthrie has arrived with 163 Chinese. The steamer has been quarantined. Adelaide, May 10. The Government do not intend to stop tba manufacture of opium in the Northern Territory, as to do so would only be a means of increasing the profits of the Chinese merchants. The Government have suggested that an intercolonial conference should be held to discuss the Chinese question. In reply to their circular the Government have received generally favourable replies as to the proposed conference to consider the Chinese question. The New Sooth Wales Government, while favouring the proposal, mention that they will be unable to be represented unless the conference is held in Sydney. The Tasmanian Government reply that they are unable to be re presented. May 15. Cardinal Moran, in the course of • an interview, said that the, colonies are acting in an arbitrary and un-Christian spirit in prohibiting the Chinese from landing. ■■ He admitted -that formerly he had held a different opinion, ,but after careful consideration he ha 4 seen

good cause ■to change his views. A ' great deal of the present agitation was' fictitious, and got up by loafers and others' who' were too lazy to work themselves. , Brisbane, May 10. On the strength of legal opinions obtained by them, the Chinese will not leave the Croydon goldfield, and the miners threaten to eject them if they return to the field. Special constables have been sworn in to preserve order. Six hundred of the Chinese on the Croydon goidfields have armed themselves in order to resist, ejectment. May 14. The Chinese at Clevingrove have cabled to Pekin, appealing for the protection of the Chinese Government. ■ ° London, May 9. Sir F. D. Bell is communicating with Lord Knutsford relative to the anti-Chinese agitation in the colonies. -Lord Knutsford has informally assured Sir Graham Berry, the Agent-general for Victoria, that the anxiety of the colonies as to the influx of Chinese is justified, but he desires to satisfy himself that the requests of colonial Governments are within the obligations of the existing treaty between England and China. May 10. . Sir F, Dillon Bell is of opinion that the Imperial Government will not take any action in connection with the influx of Chinese into Australia until all the colonies are unanimous on the subject. May 13. The Shanghai correspondent of the Standard cables that the English residents in China deprecate the action of the Australian Governments in excluding the Chinese. Washington, May 10. The Senate has ratified the AmericanChinese Treaty excluding Chinese labourers from the United States for a period of twenty years. ■ Hongkong, May 12. The Chamber of Commerce have protested against the action of the Australian Governments in excluding the Chinese, affirming that such action imperils British interests in China, and will alienate the sympathies of that country from England.