A WHITE NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 12

A WHITE NEW ZEALAND.

RESTRICTIVE LEGISLATION ASKED FOR. The principle "of a White New Zealand was enthusiastically endorsed by a meeting of fruiterers and laundrymen in the Stock Exchange Hall on Wednesday, 17th inst. Mr if. Campbell occupied the chair, and tho principal speaker was Mr W. A. Lloyd, of Wellington. Mr Lloyd explained that up to a few weeks ago be was in the civil service of the colony, and that, sooner than abandon' a publio meeting he had called to discuss the question of Chinese competition, he threw up that position. Whether his action in calling the meeting was, as he had been officially informed, an infringement of the civil service regulations or not, the fact remained that he received at the meeting sympathetic 'messages regarding the object they were gathered together to discuss from the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) and the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Massey). The meeting was crowded, and enthusiastically in favour of a White New Zealand. Sir Josegh Ward had agreed to receive a deputation in regard to the matter, and a number of gen.tlem.en in Wellington had commissioned him (Mr Lloyd) to obtain first-hand evidence by means of a tour through the colony. In Christchurch a committee had been formed and a public meeting was being arranged. In labour matters in this colony the Chinese possessed a great and an unfair advantage. They were practically exempt from all the restrictive legislation that was imposed on Europeans. People would tell them sometimes that the Chinaman was more profioient in certain branches of industry than was his white competitor. He denied this. Never, speaking with a full knowledge of the facts, had he found any employment carried on by the Aeiatio that the European could not do a great deal better if he tried. He urged .. that the Chinese should in all cases be placed under the same labour restrictions as Europeans were. Another side of the evil, that of the immorality among the Chinese, or , caused through the presence of the , Chinese, he did not propose to deal with, inasmuch as it wae easier to arouse the publio passions in such a case, than it was to quell them. 'Terrible stories could be told, but— he held his tongue. He had no wish to create a class of Lionel Terrys. An apologist for the Mongolian was found in Mr Gore, who declared that the Chinaman was "our best friend." He , owned most of the market gardens, and he | was at the back of the wholesale trade. To attempt to boycott the Celeotial would , be to bring him into the market as a com- | peting retailer. During 30 years he had had dealings with Chinamen, and he had found them a strictly honourable body of men. Mr Fraser challenged the last speaker to prove hi* statement about the Celestial monopoly of the market gardens, and said he was prepared to prove that the cabbages, cauliflowers, and turnips exploited bo largely by John Ohinaman were actually grown by the long-suffering European. He objected to the presence of so many Chinese shops, and not the less so because, to his own knowledge, the back part of such an establishment was as often as not devoted to tihe u*e of opium and gambling. Moreover, he had frequently seen young white girls in these places. Mr Lloyd corroborated the statement made by Mr Fraser respecting the habits of the Chinese. Opium was being systematically smuggled into the country through the post office. A reward had been offered for the detection of such packages, but he knew a postal official who had made two such discoveries and had gone nnrewarded. Opium-smoking waa practised among the Chinese, and, moreover, there were people of European extraction who shared in the disgusting habit. On the motion of Mr Hubbard, seconded by Mr Bryant, it Was resolved W hold a public meeting in Dunedin on Wednesday next, -the 24th inst., to discuss the Chinese question. It was further resolved, on tne motion of Mr C. Fraser, seconded by Mr Bryant— "That this meeting, representative of the fruit industry and laundry businesses of Dunedin, emphatically declares iteelf in. favour of the principle of a White New Zealand, and urges the necessity of legislative action to restrict Asiatic immigration." THE ASIATIC PROBLEM. A meeting to consider the Asiatic problem was held at the Garrison Hajl on tihe 24th, under the presidency of Mr J. H.

Walker. There was a large attendance, including many fruiterers and laundTymen. The principal speaker was Mr W. A. Lloyd, of Wellington. The Chairman, in introducing Mr Lloyd, said tihe problem of the Asiatic in their midst was undoubtedly a very pressing one, and was evidently, at the present time, en-X-agixisr the attention of legislators. Mr Lloyd had just received the following telegram from the Prime Minister : —"ln reply to your telegram with reference to your meeting to-night, my sympathies are entirely with the cause you support. My views on this question, are, I presume, well known, for both in Parliament and out I have consistently advocated the exclusion from New Zealand of people whose admission might make for the deterioration of our race. Unfortunately, the imposition of a poll-tax has not been successful in preventing the influx of Chinese. It is very necessary, in the best interests of New Zealand, that further restrictions should be imposed, and it is the intention of the Government to introduce this session legislation to remedy the existing state of things. A high educational test is proposed, and this, with the poll tax, it is hoped, in a great measure will act aa a deterrent^ to an increase in the numbers of the Chinese coming to our; country in the future.— J. G. Waed." Mr Lloyd, who was most -eordiallv received, then delivered an address giving reasons why Asiatics should be excluded from the colony. He said it was hoped that the legislation foreshadowed by the Premier would deal with the question of immigration : it remained to say what steps should be taken in respect of the Chinese who were here. The Otago Daily Times had spoken of the decrease in the numbers of Chinese. The fact was that, whilst the Chinese were decreasing in the country districts, where gold mining was becoming less profitable, they were still a curse in the town. If it were true that the Chinese •were deoreasing, then that was all the more reason to deal firmly with the matter now. Whatever the difficulty, larger or smaller than in the past, the position remained the same: would they stop the influx of the alien to the colony and confine their patronage to the people of their own race? If the European, part of the population was but true to itself, then all would be well. He was desirous of seeing every man interested in the question an active centre of propaganda. This was necessary in consequence of the general indifference to the question to be met with at every turn. As regarded the legislative aspect of the agitation, he believed that the House would be found practically unanimous, inasmuch as nothing unfair would be proposed. — (Applause.) He looked forward to the time when the grave moral danger inseparable from the presence of 4000 male aliens would be ended ; when the competition between the white and the yellow would no longer be biassed in favour of the latter; when New Zealand would no longer be faced "by grave racial problems in which th© white could only suffer by contamination. — (Applause.) Mr Munro, president of the Independent Political Labour League, moved — "Bearing in mind the right of the Crown to veto any measure, whether merely restrictive or absolutely prohibitive, dealing with Chinese immigration, and the strong probability of the Imperial veto being exercised in the latter case, this meeting respectfully urges Parliament to introduce at the earliest possible moment legislation restricting the entry of Chinese into New Zealand." — Mr Tait seconded. Dr Kirk moved an amendment — "That this meeting, fully recognising the issues at stake, is of opinion that the exclusion of Asiatics from New Zealand would be prejudicial to Britain's best interests — commercial, political, and religious — in the Far East." He remarked that more than 1000 New Zealandersj men and womefl, werd engaged in missionary work or trading in China. Tho Rev. Mr Don, the well-known Chinese missionary, seconded. Whilst agreeing with much in Mr Lloyd's address, he considered it, on the whole, a hotoh-potch, inasmuch as it was not confined to the Chinese but rambled over Asia, America, and Africa, in the endeavour of the speaker to find suitable examples. There were in New Zealand only 2500 Chinese — one to every 360 of the British population. Both the proposer and seconder of the amendment had to face a running fire of criticism, and, on being put, the amendment was almost unanimously rejected. The resolution was carried with not more than half a dozen dissentient.

j Mr W. S. Pattison (president of the | Trades and Labour Council} moved, Mr R. j K. Douglas (vice-president of the Indepen- . dent Political Labour League) seconded, and it was further resolved — "That, in the interests of racial purity, and to preserve the European type in Neif Zealand, and for other reasons difficult to state, but well understood,, this meeting of Dunedin citizens is of opinion that inter-marriage between Europeans and Chinese, or other Asiatics, should be absolutely prohibited by law." » On the motion of Mr J. Campbell it was also resolved — "That this meeting desires to direct the Attention of the authorities concerned to the unfair advantage enjoyed by Chinese in certain over their European competitors owin? to their being being practically exempt from the operation of laws regulating hours of labour, employment of assistants, etc., and respectfully, but emphatically, asserts that such unfair advantage should be terminated immediately by making factor; legislation apply equally to Chinese and Europeans." The meeting closed with the customary vote to the chair. Mr W. A. Lloyd, who is conducting x the White New Zealand movement, informed a representative of this journal on the 25th that as the outcome of his visit to and address in Dunedin a Provisional Committee has been formed to keep the work actively going on. The functions of the committee will be to promote an eduoational propaganda on the subject, with the view to induce the public to refrain from countenancing the Chinese. In due course a conference will be held at Wellington on the subject, and a deputation will wait upon the Prime Minister. From Dunedin Mr Lloyd goee north as far as Auckland, speaking at Christchurch and on the West Coast en route, returning to Wellington by way of Napier and Palmerston North.