CHINESE IMMIGRATION COMMITTEE.

9

H.—No. sa,

the purchase of such land as was required from the Native chiefs ; and this transaction (in theory at any rate, if not always in actual practice) was voluntary on the part of tho original possessors of the soil. Now, this argument, based on an abstract theorem of right and wrong, tells with tenfold force against the arbitrary exclusion of the Chinese. From the whole tenor of our Colonial policy with regard to the encouragement of emigration, it must be conceded on all sides that there is room for a much larger population to live in comfort and plenty th<an our present number; and if this be admitted, the question arises, who have the best right to migrate to an unoccupied country? AVhy, surely it must be that nation that is most incommoded by its surplus population. China is at this present the most densely peopled country in the world— their population is between 350 and 400 millions. The Emperor of China sways the sceptre over more than twice the population which acknowledges the sovereignty of the Queen of England, —and this allowing the widest possible extent of that kingdom on which it is proudly said the sun never sets. The following statistics will show at a glance the relative denseness of the population of eight principal Provinces of the Chinese Empire : — Population per square mile. Kiang-Su ... .'.. ... ... ... ... 853 Nglnin-hwei ... ... ... ... ... ... 701 Che-kiang ... ... ... ... ... ... 671 How-pih ... ... ... ... ... ... 525 Shang-tung ... ... ... ... ... ... 515 Pe-che-lee ... ... ... ... ... ... 473 Kiang-See ... ... ... ... ... ... 421 Ho-nan ... ... ... ... ... ... 353 The two most thickly populated countries in Europe are Belgium, 383 per square mile, and England, 353 per square mile. The eight Provinces above enumerated contain (each !) a population varying from 23 to 38 millions —the smallest of them exceeding tho population of England and Wales, which may be fairly set down at 22 millions, while Belgium has only 5 millions. If, therefore, the plea on which we ourselves encroach upon the birthplace of the Maoris be at all tenable, we cannot exclude the Chinese, who have still greater claims than ourselves to take up unoccupied tracts of country. As to the argument that Europeans having discovered the gold fields that are already opened, and therefore the right to work them should be vested in Europeans for ever after, it may at first glance deceive some by its plausibility, but will not bear examination. It would be more reasonable to limit the right to work to the individual discoverers, than to all emigrants from one arbitrary quarter of the globe, Europe to wit. Besides, the same .argument would exclude Americans, although many of the earliest pioneers of the mines of New Zealand were either Californians, or had gained much of their gold fields experience in California. The next arguments to which I shall refer are those apparently based on religion. The Chinese are objected to as being idolatars, pagans, heathen, and that they keep no Sabbath. To this I reply, that whatever their religion may be, it does not intrude itself upon the rest of the community offensively; and I ask if it is seriously feared that Chinese paganism and idolatry will dechristianize the miners of the New Zealand Gold Fields? I have had extensive knowledge of them, and can say, without fear of contradiction, that (except in the chief gold fields towns, where the mercantile element has a greater influence) the mining community show but little respect for religion. They neglect public worship ; it is difficult to support a church among them, although they are always more ready to subscribe for a building when solicited than to enter it after erection. The grog shanties and many licensed publichouses do their best trade on Sundays. In many of them half a dozen or a dozen men may be found from Saturday night to Monday morning drinking, drunken and rioting, to the disturbance of their more peaceably disposed neighbours. Of course this is a sweeping assertion, but it is none the less true. There are many praiseworthy exceptions in every community, but these will, I am sure, not be offended with me for pointing out in all its nakedness the real truth as regards the state of Christianity on the gold fields. Many have been baptized, and have no other claim to the name of Christians ; and these are the first that cry out against John, " Oh ' he's not a Christian, he's a heathen ; we won't have him here." __'ve seen a Christian miner on a Sunday rolling along the street iu a state of Christian drunkenness, pass a Chinaman, who was quietly standing off the pathway, and wantonly strike him with his open hand upon the head, which the Chinaman meekly bore, merely rubbing his head and thinking —what? What could he think but that he had been grossly and grievously insulted and assaulted by a Christian, in a Christian country, on a Christian Sabbath, and had no redress. Our much-vaunted Christianity teaches us that God "made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts xvii. 26) ; that charity is the chiefest of the Christian virtues; that charity "doth not behave itself unseemly," " charity envieth not," &e, &c. The very essence of Christianity is proselytism— "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." Accepting this, as Christians must, as an authoritative command to spread Christianity amongst heathens and pagans by every means in their power, they ought to hail the influx of Chinese as a special dispensation of Providence for facilitating the dissemination of Christian doctrines and virtues. I turn to the next class of objections-—those based upon grounds of morality. I am told tho Chinese are addicted to thieving; they bring no wives with them ; and they are in the habit of decoying young girls to their homes for immoral purposes ; and that they are inveterate gamblers. I believe, that to the last charge they must plead guilty. Many of them seem to take great pleasure in a game of chance in which money is staked and lost and won. I have many times entered their houses when the game has been in " full swing." They, however, do not encourage Europeans to join them at it, although they are civil, and even polite, to strangers who merely go to look on. The games are alw.ays conducted in a very orderly manner. I never heard of a quarrel among them at a gamblingtable, although there is always a perfect babel of talk going on. It is to be regretted for their own 3