TRADES and LABOUR COUNCIL

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 34, 9 February 1905, Page 3

TRADES and LABOUR COUNCIL

RESTRICTION OF CHINESE IMMIGRATION. The usual fortnightly meeting of tbe Trades and Labour Council was held in the Cook-street Hall last evening, Mr Jas. Derrick, president, being in the chair. The Council discussed at some length a resolution rescinding the motion that t-he press be requested to attend the meetings of the Council, the rescinding resolution being lost by 13 votes to 14. A communication was received from Mr H. Cooper, secretary of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council, protesting against the influx of Chinese as being against the mental, moral, and physical welfare of the inhabi fcants of Ne%v Zealand, and asking the Council to cooperate in urging the Government to introduce legislation to exrfnde Asiatics. A return was enclosed showing that in 1903 132 Chinese arrived in the colony and 124 departed, while in 1904 235 Chinese ai-rived and 128 departed. Mr McC'oombe moved that the Council endorse the action of the Wellington Council protesting against the serious influx o-f Chinese. The Council would only be doing its duty in endeavouring to exclude Asiatics, who beld such different views to Europeans on moral and sanitary questions. Mr T. Phillips, in seconding, remarked that the Chinese had laid a much heavier hand on Wellington than upon Auckland. Several streets there were entirely given over to Chinese, and in one it was not even safe to go down the street in broad dayHght. Mr Banfield thought that the Chinese were not men at all, biit beasts. If they lived tbe same as Europeans there would be no objection to their coming here, *~ The chairman considered that tbe landlords and municipal council were to" blame for not carrying out their -work properly, and for allowing insanrtarv conditions to exist. Europeans -were living in hovels and dsns, and the municipality did not take any notice of them. The Trades Coaneil should take up the question, and see that tbe Chinese were properly boused. Mr Fowler pointed oat that a large proportion of the Lancashire cotton was shipped to China, and if we treated them in this exclusive manner they might retaliate, and injure the cotton spinners. The motion proposed by Mr McCoombe was agreed to. The secretary of the Wellington Trades Council wrote, in reply to a communication from the Council, that the i whole of the Wellington Council intended waiting on the Premier as a deputation urging him to administer the Act in its entirety a* once- Mr J. Maekay, deputy chief inspector of the Labour Department, also replying to the Coancil stated that until tbe test case which the department expected to come before the Supreme Court early this month bad been decided, no action eoold be taken as far as section 3 of the Act was concerned, bat be pointed out that the remainder of the Act was in active operation, and that Mr Ferguson w*s carrying it out as well as was possible. Immediately the test case was decided he ■would be better able to define the position. The letters were received.