The Dominion. SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1914. PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2162, 30 May 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1914. PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE

. The arrival of a shipload of Hindus at Vancouver and tn<j refusal of the. Canadian Imipigta#KL Department to allow them to land is likely to develop into a difficult situation. There is some reason to believe that the, invasion lias been more or less deliberately engineered by disaffected Indian subjects p{ the Kjsu for the express purpose of placing the Imperial Government; in an awkward position, and causing ill-feeling both in India and Canada. It seenis to be a new phase of the Anarchist movement winch is just now giving agood deal of t.o the iiovemmcnt of India. It is not probablo thai, the recent Indian crisis in skmSh Africa was designed and planned, but. it js probable that ihe Hindu disloyalists felt that the resttHttjg excitomcnt favourod their . seditious propaganda, and this feeling possi-

blv suggesled the idea of developing serious Irovtblc in Canada, Tlw sailing of tlw: emigrant ship for British Columbia was the cause of gyttve anxkty in official cirdcs in India-, tho move being regarded as ft deliberate eiinlk-ng.; with this object of forcing the Asiatic problem to the front at aft itieonvcnvenb moment. The Premier of British i.Yuumbia points o»t that it is a- rather singnhv cohickfoira th,-it the Hindu? shculii mate the attempt to enter (.';uuuin just when the Imperial Govern iiieiit is engaged in the solution of \ domestic questions Ono English newspaper even goes so far as to describe what is taking J'lace as a "'deliberate dumping of Hindus" and ft "Wiwitoa provocation.'' The Caaadiau authorities are enffcavonriftg to Cope with the- invasion lay the entorccweat of aft Orfer-in-Cmaicil prohibiting artisans, whether t hey corns from Asia or niiy ■other country, from entering the Wominion during the next six months. But this is probably only a temporary expedient- designed to tide oyer the present difficulty. and,. judging by the state of public Opinion, Pa-r----lio-mtmt will no doubt take further measures to control. the entry of Asiatics. The large growth of the Oriental population of British Columbia 1m been receiving very serious attention lately. In an article in. the March mi moor ef the Hnuml Table ii is stated that already one. man in every five is an Oriental, and it is pointed . out thai tho west coasts of Canada and the United States offer to the . Asiatic attractive climatic conditions. The influx: of Japnnesa into California has catised an outcry in the United States and tiro efforts, mad" to (.heck it have given rise to much indignation in Japan. The Governments of fch« two countries

arc endeavouring to come to aft US", ; dersbuuling ett the. .subject, bit); a per-: nianent solution of the problem is not in sight. The most that. can reasonably he expected at present is a mhict ion of tfo fnctton bv a more or less satisfactory compromise. As far as Canada is concerned the fact that the Hindus are. suh.ie.ets of the liiS'G adds to the difficulty of the j truest ion, and the idea of the. author- ;■ itios Sfleiiis to have been to erect tern-, pnrary harriers until gene definite line of action coal# be agreed upon: with the British Government, and the of India, hut tho shipload of Hindus now damouring for aclmission will probably precipitate a crisis and force the. Canadian Parliament to pass legislation as .soon as possible that will effectively check fhn iivflow. The. self governing '•feofniaiojis do not desire to embarrass fchtt Imperial nnthriritics in_ the povcrning of India, but British countries already' populated with f, -white race cannot, for political and econoraic rcasans. absorb an. unlimited number of Orientals, aß;d soTiVJ bawieys mvist he, i'aisfi4, _ It is not a question of racial inferiority, but of racial diffsrenees in the matter of social customs and standards of living. Tho writer already qtiofed putrv-this phase of. the question Oiiite, ■airly:

It it; ti'fit ii iiuesticu. of higher or lower ! (he writes). Any Unprejudiced obssrver must he ir.-.pressod with the lUagmfice'irt finalities of all the '-Oriental peoples. They liava ft ttetihy qiitto Ki«.at lis ours, But it ,fe Imrit for a white man wto is starving to be aiiprejudicffd in his .attitiido to the yellow :uan wwtt, in all injiiieehce, SO' far as jll-intr-n!, is coni'triictl, is tsjilng away his daily bread. Vtrl.v elaftta. Invfi alreofly ■occiitrcd, and are iiomul -H occur \vi!h intTC-aSins frcqucficy, jf this iiiniiigratißn is iiot strictly limited. Such clasjies wiii iaia.Re a .good undertjotwbini ihf Occidental and tho Oriental races' impossibles The writer goes oil to express the opinion that. m the earning days, when the standards of life ami the political institutions. of East and West .more nearly approximate, bav- ■ rfers against the free coming and going of anv man into any part of the: : world will, not be required, . A. disquieting aspect of the_ present difficulty ift British Colulnbia is the connection which seems to exist he- ' twccn. it 'ami the unrest in India. There can be no doubt that a discontented section of the Indian population is secretly at work with the objeeii of undermining British rule. ■ and during the last few years their [ deeds and methods have, compelled the authorities to take special measures for the enforcement of law and ■order anct the' maintenance of British nrestige, fhe attchipfed a-sfeis-rinatiuivof the viceroy in December. 1912, has been followed by a series of. crimes of violence, and davinf the : last few months great loss of property hag been caused in Bombay by incendiary fires. The serbusness of the position has. been intensified by tie difficulty of discovering the perpetrators. Xothing ha.S a more restraining influence on evJM-osrs than the knowledge that punishment is almost certain to follow crime, and when in any community 4 large proportion of criminals go unpunished others are emboldened to break the jaijjr ami risk the esnseaneiices in tho hope that, they too will escape. It is probable. that the nmnhcr of actual criminals is. very small 'when compared with tho vast population of India. ! hut the manner in which detection ; is avoided seems to indicate that- a : much larger section of the community is in more w less active sympathy with the all-too-frequent iiraii testations of political lawlessness* A : widespread state of apathy increases the difficulty of the. authorities in ' bringing v/romr-doms te justice. It : seems undeniaiile that, as the Bo.rairi.y correspondent of the T-ondon Timr* states, the rmhlie life of India, is being noisolved by tho existence of a ;small band of political cfinlinals. i [ and that the manner in w-hieh they; ! escane punishment tends _to j^romote; further anavchv hv holding up before weak Indian youths,' who o.rn, probably the tools of s^'me^Anarc'hist : organisation, the possibility ol no, iflriety without . punishment. The : riwarnnient has lately in.ken more ! efiestive steps to deal with the situa- i tion, but many peonlo are of opinion .' (hat iniprovements in the methods of criminal investigation will have to ba made if the evil activities of the lawless clement of. the population are to be suppressed.