THE CHINESE AMENDED BILL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 2, Issue 382, 29 June 1881, Page 2

THE CHINESE AMENDED BILL.

The Wellington ;Evening Post thus summarises' the alterations made in Committee of the House ot Representatives in the Chinese Immigration Bill:. “ The amended bill for the regulation of Chinese immigration is - now circulated. The amendments made in committee of the whole House 1 are * wholly in the direction of increased stringency. . The chief alterations from tlie, original draft consist (i) in the excision of the second clause, which provided that the bill should be brought into operation when the Governor in Council should' be satisfied that the Chinese population of the colony exceeded five thousand persons, a.nd (2) in the .striking out of the latter part of section 9, how numbered 8 t!ie ; -ielriovai of section 2. The portion removed is that which provided that any Chinese departing from the colony within three years from the date of arrival, and not having during his stay been convidted of offences or become a charge on the colony, might have returned to him the poll-tax of Lio which he had to pay on landing. As the bill now stands, this sura become a species of “ import duty ” on Chinamen, and is to be “ paid into the Public Account, and form part of the Consolidated Fund.”