A NATURALISED CHINESE

Otago Witness, Issue 4039, 11 August 1931, Page 34

A NATURALISED CHINESE

RESIDENTIAL RIGHTS OF CHILDREN PETITION TO PARLIAMENT. WELLINGTON, August 5. The peculiar position of a Chinese resident of Wellington, a naturalised British subject, in regard to the residential rights of his children ip shown in a petition presented in the House to-day by Mr C. L. Carr (Tiinaru), on behalf of Mr C. H. Chapman (Wellington North). The petitioner, a Chinese laundryman named Shack Horne, came to New Zealand in 1879 and remained until 1904, when he went to Hongkong on business, returning to the Dominion in 1906. He was again absent from New Zealand from 1909 to 1917, since when he has resided continuously in the Dominion. He is a widower with seven children. Two of the sons and the only girl were born in New Zealand and the other four sons, whose ages range from 12 to 19 years, were born in Hongkong. It is in respect of these latter that the petition has been framed. Two of the sons born abroad are in New Zealand on temporary permits and the petitioner asks that they be allowed to remain permanently in New Zealand without the payment of the poll tax. permission having previously been refused by the Minister of Customs. He asks that the other two sons, who are still abroad, be permitted to enter the Dominion and reside here permanently without paying poll tax. As evidence of his standing as a reputable citizen. Shack Horne states that for some years he was Chinese interpreter in the Magistrate’s Court at Wellington, and he was also interpreter in connection with the Customs Department He claims that he was instrumental in introducing legislation for the suppression of the opium traffic in New Zealand and was the first person to introduce to the General Assembly the matter of the appointment of a consul to represent the interests of the Chinese residents of the country, having journeyed to China to obtain the permission of the Chinese Government. His eldest son served with the New Zealand forces in the war. The petition is signed by 198 residents of Wellington.