SMUGGLING OF CHINESE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19148, 3 November 1927, Page 15

SMUGGLING OF CHINESE.

* BRAZEN ATTEMPT AT SYDNEY. LANDED ON HARBOUR FORESHORE. (TBOK OCa OWK COSKSPOKDBNT.) SYDNEY, October 21. Frequently allegations are made that a ' (systematic business, with lai'ge profits, is made of the smuggling of Chinese into this country to defeat the White Australia laws. The ramifica/tions of this business are said to exist round the whole of Australia's 10,000 miles of coastline, and it has been freely stated that the" chief point of entry was along the northern coast, whence the smuggled Chinese made their way southwards after being initiated into some of the mysteries of the English language and Australian laws and customs. But Sydneysiders were amazed to learn this week that in the dead of last Sunday night the most brazen attempt yet detected to smuggle Chinese into Australia had been made at their front door—at a fashionable harbourside suburb. Mysterious Movements at Cremorne. News of the attempt was not made public until the middle of the week The scene of the smugglers' endeavour was Cremorne, where fashionable flats and residences predominate. Lying off this point of the harbour is an Asiatic steamer. It is alleged that at least a dozen Chinese were taken from this vessel to Cremorne in a boat, and with conspirators helping from the shore landed there. The Chinese were apparently in a weak condition, and showed signs of having been confined in a cramped space for a considerable time. Two motor-cars were seen waiting, and after the Chinese from the boat had been helped up the slope from the water to dry land, they were bundled into these vehicles and whisked away into the night. _ The work was quickly done, and the time well-chosen. Had not public-spirited residents o!: houses near the water become suspicious of the mysterious movements of people and motor-cars, the daring attempt might have been wholly successful. They reported the affair to the vigilant Customs Department, and the latter's investigators were soon on the track of the smuggled Chinese. Three Men Arrested. In three days, three Chinese were arrested, two being charged with being prohibited immigrants. When one of the two appeared in Court he was so weak that he had almost to be carried into the dock, and there sank limply to the floor. Both had been arrested in suburbs distant from Cremorne. The third man arrested was a Chinese storekeeper, and against him were preferred two charges of conspiring to bring prohibited immigrants into the Commonwealth. All three were ieliinnded until October ,19th. Alleged Smuggling Ring. Meanwhile the search is proceeding vigorously, for the other Chinese landed. Suburbs near and far, and the rural districts surrounding the metropolitan area are being scoured by police and Customs officials, and the homes of even wealthy Orientals are being searched in the hope of tracing the unwanted newcomers. Officials eyen fear that so weak were some of the aliens landed that several may have died. There is a distinct feeling among the officials that they are onthe eve of an important discovery concerning the alleged smuggling '.'ring."