COLOURED RACES IN NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2874, 12 September 1916, Page 7

COLOURED RACES IN NEW ZEALAND

A Serious menace.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—The letter sent by the Trades and Labour Council to the Minister ut Internal Affairs, re the influx of Hindoos, is timely, and-draws attention to a very serious danger to New Zealand. At tlw present rate of increase, the coloured races will become a very prominent .factor in our population in a few years. Syrians, Alghans, Chinese, Hindoos, negroes, and Pacific I slanders arc rapidly overrunning the Main Trunk country, and wo way expect the Japanese very shortly if our supine (jovernment doesn't wake up. _ When first tho . writer visited To Kuiti there was ono solitary Chinese shop. Now, thanks to the thoughtless patronage of the white people, thero are three, large Chineso shops, and several Hindoo, in tho fruit, confectionery, and tailoring trades. At Tau. marunui the Chinese fruiterer and confectioner'is increasing, and tho Syrian lias a good footing in the restaurant [ trade. ' The same thing is evident throughout New Zealand. I_ have in mind a little | history, as follows: A Syrian opened a store in a Main Trunk town,-and the white people patronised him. There was a white storekeeper also, but the Syrian cut prices fine, and as all the family worked in the business for no wages he could dp so. The consequence was tho eventual disappearance of the wliito storekeeper, which meant the enrichment of the Syrian to such anoxtont that ho obtained a section of land from ono of the land boards, sold tho storo to another- Syrian family (who carry it on entirely among themselves and employ nobody), and proceeded to develop the land. He had family help in this—brothers and children—and lias made so much money that lie cannot rest content on the farm, but has opened, another storo in a town where there aro three wliito storekeepers. Unless the white settlers aro wiso and patriotic enough to leave him severely alouo, it will probably end (as before) in tho disappearance of one or two of the white traders, for owing to tho Syrian paying no wages lie will be ablo to cut prices. t How many patriotic men and women, workers especially, stop to think that by buying fruit, vegetables, and lollies from a Chineso they aro robbing many a returned soldier, (disabled for activo work, and many a. soldier's widow, of the chance to at least make a living and be of uso to'the•■community. In Napier and Hastings, as in other towns, tho Chinese shops are crowded on a Saturday night, and mostly by women, and I know at least three cases where prospective soldier-fruiterers wore so appalled at the idea of having to com. pete with the Chinese that they refused good offers. In laundry work it is the same. In a Taranaki town a white woman mado a fair living getting Up collars and shirts, mostly for working men, until a Chinese opened, when her trade dis-, appeared. Tho last I knew of her she was scrubbing floors in a public hospital. In a Main Trunk' town a woman ia running a "meals at all hours" establishment, and keeps herself and a young daughter, hut she is fearful about the future, ,for a swarthy Syrian (or Ar< monian, 1 cannot bo sure) lias been talking about opening close by, and ho will have the support of his countrymen in a large town adjacent. Many hotels keep a Chinese cook, though they try to. hide tho fact. That generally means a Chinese kitchen staff'* throughout, as few white peoplo can work with them. Now, we havo tho brown Hindoo, meek-looking, no lighter, but as numerous as tho sands of the sea. Already tho results to the Maoris in some of those King Country kaingas arc nono too pleasant, and .thoy will be worse as the Hindoos increase. While our own bravo boys are risking their lives, while tho prospective fathers of our future citizens aro lighting for high ideals, our thoughtless policy ia allowing yellow Chineso, swarthy Syrians, and brown Hindoos, and even black negroes to (ill their places, and appropriate many suitablo occupations for the wounded and debilitated. And . the workers, and especially tho workers' wives, are largely responsible. For though tho coloured race -caro little for the wliito man's good opinion or bad, they immediately know when the money ceases to come in. • Their whole purposo in. life is <a sordid one, and their ideals' likewise. - - For cousider, wo havo no right to expect these aliens .to respect our ideas, our standard 'of living, our morals, and most decidedly it is sheerfolly to OKpeot them to fight for them. If allowed to get numerous enough, their opinions, and, above all, their example will infect our national life with the sarno poison that wo see at work in tho U.S.A., where a once noblo peoplo have sunk .to the level of sordid dagos. It is time the Government, and Labour, and all of us realised this clangor. Many-eu Chinese lady has arrived in New Zealand, and many a brood of sturdy young Chinese, who have never paid poll-tax, has arrived subsequently. For'it id tho peculiar propensity of all these races which seek to make New Zealand their home to breed fast, much faster than the higher wliito races, and in a few years' time this immigration problem will assume most formidable aspects. Do Now Zealanders ever wonder why the Ohinamnn is such a good gardener? Because, in China, the population is so thick .and tho ground so closely subdivided that every scrap of it must produce its crop, or tilt family cultivating it go short. ■. Wo havo enough difficulties in racial matters even now. In Taranaki there are dubious tales about some of tho Swiss, in North Auckland tho Dalmatians and Croats are a questionable asset, and wo havo quito as many German-born amongst us as ir« neod; but theso peoplo can bo absorbed, and made into good New Zealanders, because they arc white. But the yellpw, black, and bixnVn races we aro letting in cannot bo absorbed without degradation of both white and coloured. Sir. I 'believe this to bo otic of the most urgent questions of tho day, and, although little in sympathy with the' violent methods of Labour, I trust tho Trades Council will see the matter does not got shelved. Bvory month's delay makes tho problem more acute. Having stated the evil, have 1 _ a remedy:" Ye?, sir, I would give every coloured man or woman —Hindoo, negro, Turk, Syrian, Afghan, Chinese, Kanaka, etc., etc., three years' limit to close his business, sell his property, and then provide free passage to anywhere in the wide world accessible to a British boat. As to the Chineso poll-tax, givo it back, or proportionately to length of residence. And future arrivals to havo at tho very least £1.00 poll-tax and three years' limit. Bo as fair and as reasonable us possible, but keep them out. If wo don't .—I am, etc., AN .ENGLISH-BOK's' >TBW ZEALANDER. > Septemher 11.