ENTRY OF RACE ALIENS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 167, 10 April 1920, Page 6

ENTRY OF RACE ALIENS

CHINESE IMMIGRANTS

NUMBER GREATLY INCREASED

A total of 217 Chinese have arrived at Auckland since the beginning of this year, compared with ISI3 during the whole of last year, states the- "Herald." During the same period 34 Chinese left from Auckland, the total departures in 1919 being 55. J-lqually largfe numbers of Chinese 1 have beeir entering tlv; Dominion through the port of Wellington. The Customs authorities state that every passenger steamer now brings the. full complement of Chinese allowed, one for every 200 tons burthen. •

At present there, arc stated, to lie over 90 Ch..less. in Sydney awaiting vessels to bring them-,' to New Zealand, while accommodation on ■ steamers from Hongkong to Sydney is fully booked up to July or August. The new arrivals wait in Sydney, under boil'!, until they can secure a passage to -Ncnv Zealand. - An interesting point in connection with recent immigration is the increase in j,e number of'women admitted.

The recent her.vy influx of Orientals is held to be mainly due to the fact that shipping; conditions have returned to normal, enabling the large' number ,pf Chinese who had gathered in Sydney to reach their destination. ..

The new arrivals appear to' have little difficulty in meeting the education tost, which? with a. poll tax of .iICQ, is the only restriction imposed on Chinese immigration into the Dominion. Only one or two .in the course of; a year fail to meet the test, and if refused entry on these grounds they havc ( the right of appeal to a magistrate. .Recently twomen who failed to pass the test to the .satisfaction of the Customs officials c-xer-cise<l this'right, and botli appeals were allowed. The test in practically every easr is readily passed; it consists merely in. reading a passage .in English equivalent to fourth standard school requirements. Men and women pass it equally easily. Chinese women arc admitted into the Dominion on the same, terms as the men,, save those who enter the country d the wives, of naturalised Chinamen," to whose. entry there is no bar. . For the last four years, however,naturalisation of Chinamen in any part, of the world has been prohibited by the C'inese Government. With regard to the poll tax, this must An deposited with the Customs -officials I before the immigrant .is allowed jo land; | sometimes it is'advanced by friends or relatives already here, in other _ cases nail through the Chinese Navigation Society and other shipping' agencies. One 0- two eases have occurred lately in which payment has been evaded,' but the offenders have-been located-by the au-' th'vities. end the'tax collected. -The question, what become? of all the Chinese arriving 'n the unm'yy, is answered in nart when one considers the incrensinsr bold which Chinamen are saining on the i'rmt-sc-llMig iimi laundry trades. The owning of new shops means the growing of more the need for more labourens In the gardens ':>u<l 'more-boys behind the counters, and this | probably accounts for the largo number 'of Chinese boys.still-in their teens who

have arrived lately. "It'is difficult U> tell where they all go," remarked, one authority.' "They are • prosn?«Kng—looking out' for any chances ofTcrinp.- The Chinese is a very.-peaceful; form-of 'penetration,' and there is little chalice of anyone finding out just what is in the Celestial mind until ho chooses to reveal it." Although the question, "where do they all go?" could not he definitely answered, the nuery . ' "where do they come from ?" proved much 'simpler, for it appears that. practically all the C'lrnese arriving in New. Zealand come from Canton. "They live there in what you mi,ght term clans," said one with- knowledge of Chinese immigration, "and when a resident of one street comes out and does well here, it is not long before he i-c writing home and inducing all his friends and relatives in the same slre-it to. ioin liim."_ ' ■ , - ■While there has been a great.increase in Chinese' immigration, ft, considerable falling off in the number of Hindus is reported to. havt\ taken place_ lately. This is accounted for by the fact that the education te c t has l>*en stiifened lately, and instead 'of the Hindu merely copying printed matter placed before liitn, he •'« now required to write an application and fill in answers to certain miestions. So in the meantime, he is deforriii" liis trio from the South S.»:s, and studying a little harder at his Urdu school 'to acquire the slightadditional knowledge which jjnin piiu).