CHINESE IN AUSTRALIA.

Dunstan Times, Issue 692, 23 July 1875, Page 4

CHINESE IN AUSTRALIA.

■ ■ ■■O In a former issue w r e directed attention to the great influx of Chinese into the ports of Northern Australia. Mr James M‘Henley, /( Anglo Chinese linguist,” of Cooktown, in an interesting letter to the Brisbane Courier, ex plains that in Australia the working class of Chinese have foqr guilds, the objects of which are—l. To secure cheap passages to and from the goldfields of Australia. 2. To build clubhouses at the seaports and inland, where required. 3. To pay the passages of members to China, when unable to work through sickness or accident. 4. To bury the dead who die without means 5. To purchase mining property. G. To pay the expenses of lawsuits where the interests of the guild are concerned. 7. To pay for repair of club-houses; and 8. To pay incidental expenses. It must be admitted that this is a formidable combination ; and Mr M‘Henley proceeds to inform us that “ there are a number of commercial guilds separate from these, belonging to those who are in the trade The capital possessed by them amounts to millions, which may yet become a fearful strain on the energies of European capitalists of limited means. The head-quarters of these guilds are at M elbourne, Sydney, San Francisco, Hongkong, and Canton, while branch establishments exist in the principal centies of commerce. Situated as they are, they have at their command the principal markets of the world, and are therefore enabled to undersell European traders. A fall in the market ruinous to European traders would not be felt by them.” All this, be it observed, for the purpose of taking capital from the country. Mr— M‘Henley considers, however, that, while to stop the coming of the Chinese is impossible, numbers will never return to their native land, and that upon the plantations to which they will resort from the goldfields their labor is wanted, and “ will, in its turn, create labor for thousands of Europeans.” It may bo so ; but it is somewhat doubtful whether such beneficial results have followed the influx of Chinese into other parts of Australia.—Sydney Echo.