CHINESE FRUITERERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17830, 26 April 1926, Page 5

CHINESE FRUITERERS.

To the Kditor. Sir.—The letters published in the “Star” of Saturday last relative to the above question must surely, in the main, have been indited in humorous vein. In that guise they rather appealed to me. “Live and Let Live’s” conception of the virtuous Chinaman would, no doubt, be quite sufficient to give the latter a hearty welcome into the former's intimate family circle—a fitting mate. say. for a young daughter. “Honest” Chinamen are few and far between, as evidence the bland “no savee" of the wily Celestial in his frequent visits to the police courts. This, after having satisfactorily passed an English language test before being permitted to land in New Zealand. “A Green New Zealand's” contribution is too humorous to bear comment. Geo. Ah Chang asks why a white woman “demeans herself” by purchasing from a Chinaman. It is for this reason. During the war, and to the shame of their white patrons, hundreds of Chinamen, smugly protected as an alien race, made fortunes whilst the white fruiterer bled and died for the Empire. Many of those who letumed suffered disabilities which reduced their capacity for work, and the competition of the then wealthy, price-cutting Chinaman sent them out oi business. The white woman demeans herself because, at the exp'ense of her own sex, she encourages a race far below her own moral standard—as witness the recent assaults by Chinamen on little girls in Wellington and Auckland. Sht\ demeans herself because she takes the bread out of the mouth of the white wife and white children who are dependent on the white fruiterer. She demeans herself becau.se she is not consistent in so far as she would be the first to protest most vigorously were a Chinaman to enter into direct competition in business with her own husband. But why continue? That is no insult to the white women of Christchurch, Geo. Ah Chang. In spite of your magnanimous refusal to defend them, it is solid fact. Will the white woman with any respect for the welfare of her race accept the Chinaman as her social equal and a fitting mate for her daughter? Shocking suggestion ! Geo Ah Chang illustrates the cunning of his race when he applauds the generosity of his countryman in paying high prices for his vegetables in the market. “Who gains,” he says, “but the grower?” Yes, the Chinese grower. Can Geo. Ah Chang deny that tons of vegetables sent into the market are bought by the very grower who sends them in? lie serenely takes his pick of his own goods to sell in his own shop, then makes the white man pay top price for the residue. Cute, isn’t it? In conclusion, may I be permitted to be curious? Perhaps G.A.C. can help me. What proportion of money made bv the Chinese in New Zealand is spent in New Zealand as compared to that sent to China? Does the Chinaman, who is single, give back to the workers of New Zealand (in the way of supporting home industries and thus providing work for white workers) a tithe of the money spent bv the white fruiterer and his white family? Is there not at the present time a Chinaman in Christchurch spending New Zealand money (never to return) in giving his son a college education and his wife a royal time in China? Do not wealthy Chinese assist Chinese labourers to New Zealand and hold them in bond (i.e., cheap indentured labour) for a term of years? Do assistants in Chinese shops actually. in the strictest sense of the word, conform with the Shops and Offices Act? Has the Government of New Zealand issued a writ forbidding the further entry of Chinese into this countrj-- owing to adverse police reports? For what reason did white people (more especially English) go in fear of their lives during the recent trouble in China? Now be careful. Geo. Ah Chang! I am not seeking a cheap advertisement. —I am, etc., ALLONS.