PECULIAR POSITION

Taranaki Daily News, 15 August 1931, Page 18 (Supplement)

PECULIAR POSITION

. CHINESE FATHER’S PETITION. RIGHTS OF CHILDREN AT ISSUE. The peculiar position of a Chinese: resident of'Wellington, a naturalised British subject, in regard to the residential right of his children is shown in a petition presented to the House of Representatives by the Rev. C. Carr (Labour, Timaru) on behalf of Mr. C. H. Chapman (Labour, Wellington North). The petitioner, a Chinese laundryman named Shack Horne, came to New Zealand to reside in 1879 and remained until 1904, when he went to Hong Kong 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 Hong Kong. It is in respect of the latter that the petition has been framed.

Two of the sons born abroad are at present in New Zealand on temporary permits and the petitioner asks that they be allowed to ' remain permanently in New Zealand without the payment' of poll-tax, permission having been previously 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 the poll-tax. As evidence of his standing as a reputable citizen, Shack Horne states that he was for some years Chinese interpreter in the Magistrate’s Corut at Wellington and was also an 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 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.

For many years he has been actively connected with Chinese Christian mission work both here and in Hong Kong. His only daughter is a missionary in Hong Kong, attached to the Chinese Christian Mission. His eldest son served with the New Zealaiid Expeditionary Force in th© Great War.

The petition has been signed by 198 residents of Wellington.