THE CHINESE IMMIGRATION BILL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1874, 22 June 1888, Page 4

THE CHINESE IMMIGRATION BILL.

There appears to be very great probability of something like a dead lock between the two Chambers of the Legislature ftsregards this measure. It bad, it will be remembered, a very severe time of it m the Council, which body has made alterations mit of a very material character. These consist m the striking out of the clauses which disqualified persons of the Chinese race from exercising the rights of citizenship, and m the addition of a new clause exempting such Chinese as are natural born subjects of the Queen from the operation of the clause which restricts the number of immigrants per vessel to one to every hundred tons. The first point is of no great importance and might well be waived by the House of Representatives, but the other is vital, inasmuch as the new clause would practically render the Bill inoperative. ! For, remembering the almost impos pibility of distinguishing one Chinaman from another, it will be seen at once that, as all the Chinese m Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements are subjects of Her Msjesty, it would inevitably appear, should this clause become law, that all Chinese immigrants would claim to hail from one or other of these localities, and thus m default of disproof of the troth of their assertion, conld come m under the old Act at the rate of one for every ten tons of the vessel's tonnage. As the recent Chinese Conference decided that the limits should be one for every five hundred tons it would be manifestly absurd to permit this state of things, and hence the House was quite right m refusing to agree to the amendments proposed by the Council. In all probability the House will give way as to the other matters if the Council yields m this, but there is an impression that it desires to kill the Bill and if so there would be a final disagreement resulting m its being laid aside. We hope tfeab this will not be the ca3e, but that better counsels will prevail, for though tie Bill as introduced by the Government falls short of the legislation which will have eventually to be adopted, it is yet a distinct improvement upon the Act of 1881 ; and with the excision of the new clause would operate to check the Mongolian invasion with which we are threatened.