IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15319, 15 September 1920, Page 9

IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS

"A WHITE NEW ZEALAND." WELLINGTON, l ast xiight. In the Houso Mr Massey moved the second reading of the Immigration Restriction Amendment Bill. He quoted largely from immigration statistics to ■show that 18,734 persons had arrived m New Zealand from the British Empire during the last six months, compared with 19.650 during the whole of laot ye-ar. During this six months 476 persons had paid the poll tax. He then proceeded to say that the Bill was the insult of a deep-seated sentiment ou the part of a great majority of the people tliat the Dominion should be a "white" I New Zealand, and that so far as legisla-j tion could provide that new arrivals should bo loyal to , the fcountry and to the Empii-e. He quoted , the resolution ; adopted by the Imperial War Council m 1916 that it was the inherent function of the British Commonwealth* including' India, that each portion should enjoy control of the composition of its own population by means of restriction of immigration from any of the otlier communities. He explained the details of the clauses, and conchule'd by saying the i whole purpose of the Bill was to keep I the population pure tttid loyiih Mr Sidey said the Bill whs one of the most important brought before Prtrlhi- j ■ irtelit this session, and its necessity was: shown by what had been going on here for some tim-e past. He took exception jto tlie denitifion of "British and Irish," ' which he thought an Uncalled for distinc- \ Mr Massey said that was the official : definition. j Continuing, Mr Sidey contended that some form of affirmation should be al- . lowed immigrants instead of being bound . down to the oath of allegiance. He alao thought some more severe check should be put upon tho entry of Chinese... The ••ducal ion lest was not severe enough. As a whole ho heartily 'supported the Bill. * ■ Mr Stewart, while affirming ; the desir- j ability of having a "white" New Zealand, ' thought the Government had not been very happy m the way they were going about it. Some of the provisions- of the Bill he thought would' be uunecesarily offensive to citizens of America or France. Discussing the limitation of Chinese, he opposed the imposition of a poll tax. which the Chinese Government regarded as cruel and barbarous, and advocated a friendly arrangement with the Chinese Government under which the total number of Chinese to be admitted should be fixed. Offence to the Chinese nation would thus be avoidecl. Mr Holland, while not favoring the barrier against the people of other countries just because of the color of ■ their skin or the country m which they were born, said at the same time he and the Labor party would do all m their power to preserve our higher standard of living. He favered organising the Indians into unions to prevent them entering j(hto unfair competition wfth the workers. He agreed with the abolition of the poll tax upon* Chinese' and the substitution of a fixed number being admitted. He objected to the sub-section of clause 5 as being un-British and to clause 6 as being .'machinery 'for admitting cheap labor whenever the Government desired to do so. He thought the form of oath stipulation would no good and would only be offensive to many people of deep religious feeling, namely, tho members of the Society of Friends. Mr Malcolm .supported .the principle of a "white" New Zealand, but considered the Bill crude m its operation? Mr Savage -objected to the power given m the Bill ' to the Minister of Customs either jbo admit Asiatics or exclude them at his 'sweet will. That was more power than Parliament should give to any Minister. Mr Harris thought the Hindoo problem was much more serious and more difficult ' to deal with than the exclusion of Chinese. Mr Mitchell thought that both Hindoos and Chinese should be kept out, but he did not desire to sec -it done offensively. The Hon. J. A. Hanan supported the Bill. " Mr MoCallum said he thought the House woidd be better employed m discussing how to encourage th-e^ immigration of our own people thfyi m seeking lo restrict the immigration of other peoples. Mr Sullivan said that so great was the discretionary power- giyon to the Gov- j ernment under the Bill that nb matter j what other clauses were provided the Government could ignore them if .it pleased and admit as many Asiatic immigrants as it thought fit. He thought the Bill should lay down certain fixed principles, and ilbt leave so much to the sweet will of the Government. I Mr Kellett said he would go further than the Bill proposed. He would not admit a single Asiatic into New Zealand. ( Mr Lysnar supported the Bill absolutely, except that ho thought tho form bf ' the oath of allegiance should be made i more drastic to keep disloyalists out. { j Mr Stutham, while approving the main j -principle of tho Bill, suggested amendments which ho said must be m. ' committee if tho Bill , was to receive the Royal assent. Tlio Hon. A. T. Ngalst and Messrs McCombs, Parry, Youug and Atmore supported the Bill. After midnighj, tho. debate was continued by Messrs Bartram and Howard. At 12.15 v Mr Massey replied. He said, ref erring ik> the plea, put m for tho use j of diplomacy, that diplomacy took time j and ho was thinking of 1 the rate at which Chinese had been pouring into 'the country during the last eight months, when 739 had come into New. Zealand. At tho same time he did not want to do any injustice to tho Chinese, and it would be m our own interest to treat them fairly and decently. He believed the time would come when they would be a power m the world but that time was not yet. The. Bill was read a; seco»id *»»ne and the House rose at Assn.