THE COLONIST. Published Dails.—Mobning. Nelsoh, Wednesay Mabch 4, 1903. ;{& ALIEN IMMIGRATION.

Colonist, Volume XLVI, Issue 10657, 4 March 1903, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Dails. — Mobning. Nelsoh, Wednesay Mabch 4, 1903. ;{& ALIEN IMMIGRATION.

The subject of Alien Immigration is one that has commanded considerable attention for some time past, not only in the Colonies, but also in Great .Britain and the United States. The cable tells us that the Conservative Member of Parliament for Central Sheffield, Sir Howard Vincent, moved an amendment to the Address-in-Reply in the House of Commons urging the Governmment to legislate for the exclusion of destitute aliens, and that the Imperial • Government has under pressure, agreed to consider a remedy when the report of the Alien Immigration Commission is received. The London "Times'* on January 15th last declared that "there are unquestionably signs of a growing prejudice, which threatens to teach a dangerous height, against the influx of pauper or otherwise undesirable aliens. The germs of hostility always exist, and- irresponsible "persons delight to foster them." It is all very well to sneer at preudice, but self-preservation is the first law of nature, and if the British race is to continue full of life and strength, an intermixture with an inferior race must, as far as possible, be. guarded against, while the children's portion must not be given to the stranger, even though the latter be treated with kindness. The London "Times" practically admitted this, for the writer of the article quoted from proceeded to remark: — "The present Btate of things is, however, a little exceptional. Englishmen who are out of work cannot be expected to see with satisfaction the arrival of foreigners who will one day compete with them; ratepayers are convinced, not without reason, that a large part of the new comers will be supported by them; health officers are apprehensive of the consequences of the free admission of a class of persons peculiarly calculated to be mediums for the conveyance of disease ; and, what has more than any other fact brought about a sense of grievance and the desire to impose i restrictions on the . entrance of 'undesirabies,' some Judges have of late made" stringent observations on the large number of crimes of a particularly atrocious character committed by foreigners. The writer referred to says it is no use to warn off these ' undesirables' ; they come and are Jikely to come in larger streams. He ' refers also to the complaints made in Francei .where the foreign elementjof '

1 population Is said tqJbe__BO__gopsiderable as to 'be a social peril, afed the large agglomerations of Italians, Spauiards, and Germans, all of whom are ineligible for purposes of national defence, and many of whom might, in the event -of war, serve against the country which has harboured them in time of peace, are, it is sometimes Baid, menaces to the State. The writer of the "Times" article declared that the evils which undoubtedly exist are to be found in an' aggravated degree mainly in a few districts in London, and a few other very large towns. Only a few trades are so far seriously affected by the influx of labor. He goes on to say however, that 'we hear much of aliens brought before our criminal Courts, and but little of the fact that not a few of the immigrants set ah example, in some domestic virtues, and their law-abiding ways* to the native population in which they live." He very rightly points out that in old days immigration was the coming of the strong, the advenjturous, the men of firm purpose. "Their native lands were the losers, those in which they settled enriched by a hardy, vigorous stock," but, he proceed^ "it is n#b So to-day. The pilgrim fathers we get weekly from the Continent are a poor lot, and the quality would'seem to be deteriorating. Any one standing on the quays at Bremen, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, or Antwerp, where the great lines that cater for emigrants start, nees long processions of feeble, destitute, illfed nlen ahci women* dazed and ignorant, impelled by a sort of animal instinct to seek a better lot than that of misery which has been theirs at home; To be sure, there is an element, sound and wholesome, of frugal peasants and skilful enterprising workmen; but it is almost lost in the mass of broken-down humanity, social'failure, and victims of congenital incapacity." He alludes to the fact that the United States have imposed stringent conditions oh the admission of ' ' undesirables, and says "Our Australian colonies mean to follow a sane policy. We do not refer co legislation intended to exclnde people of an alien race and with different conceptions of morality. That head of legislation is already large; but it is accompanied by provisions intended to shut out foreigners likely to become a charge on the community. Rubbish is not any longer to be dump&fl down at New York or Melbourne. Mr Eeeves, in his recent book on 'State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand,' refers to ' the rooted belief in the European mind that the new world was made by Providence for the purpose of absorbing all the waste matter and morbid excretions ]of the old. That belief must be put away. The certainty that the stream of jpauper emigration must be diverted to countries which continue to suffer their entrance is recognised, as well as the prospect of England being preferred, not merely on account of its proximity to the sources of alien pauperism, but by reason of its easy-going demeanour. The Royal Commission, which is investigating the subject, is looked to by the writer in the "Times" to indicate what maybe done "without losing our good name among nations for hospitalty to strangers, or creating embarrassment and ill-feeling. " He points out that " the figures of the past must not be taken as indications of the future, for with the completeness of modern organisation "in every village, and, indeed, in almost every tavern and drinking shop in Germany and Russia, the peasant is told of the facilities" which"are within his reach for taking him to centres where his condition will be immeasurably better than he has Known. Already it is the fact that every failure of harvest, every measure of legislation or administration which creates discontent, sends out an army of "the weak and helpless to seek employment or alms in foreign lands." He adds, in conclusion: "The London ratepaayer may take pride in the fact that he already supports no small contingent of the paupers of other countries. He may, when the full force of legislation passed or proposed in America and our Colonies is felt, have reason to think more seriously of the matter. ' ' As to the frugal and other virtues of any small proportion of the class ol aliens which now seek refuge in British territory, • it may safely be said that their influence for good is entirely lost, and even the frugality of foreigners may result in evil to our owp race, for the wealth that must be accumulated by those practising such virtue will cause others to migrate to the country in which the man ;has become rich, and the alien population must thereby become increased. The possession of the "virtue of frugailty will not make amends for vicious "practices or moral or physical taints. One reason why many dislike to tackle this difficulty is that if our own people are to be protected from aliens who wish to come to reside amongst us they should also be protected from aliens who merely compete in industries and commerce against our own people, while living in the country in which they were born. Common humanity imposes a duty towards all men, but there is a prior duty to our own children and to those of our own race, and that duty requires that the moral, the physical, and the material welfare of the race shall I be protected.

estimate and the total giVin yesterday at once disappears. Again, \}\ must be remembered that the Board has a nest-egg of £5.000, which will certainly be over i 87,000 before the works are completed, and the realisable plant, exclusive of dredge, must also be taken into account, so that, providing the Engineer is not considerably out In his estimate of the cost of the works, the Board will still have a margin to work upon.