PETITION TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 131, 1 September 1871, Page 3

PETITION TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

We have been requested to insert the following peiition, got up under the auspices of the A row "District Min rs' Association for signature throughout the Otago Uoldfi dds, and presentation to the House of Representatives :

To the Honorable House of Representatives. This petition humbly sheweth : 1. That your petitioners consist oi miners and other residents on the (roldfields ,of Otago and its capital, and who are largely interested in the future prosperity of the Province. 2. That your petitioner* claim to have discovered all the GoldftYlds of Otago ; '>aye endured many years of hardship and privations in their development and extension, and have, by their efforts, niseclthem to their present high position as valuable fields of labor, eerrain, through time, to attract a hirue Enr< • pean i mmigra tion.

3. Thaty. -up petit ioncrs are tnost loyal subjects of her Britannic Majesty ; are intelligent, industrious, and weli-dis-posed; composed of individuals in the prime of manhood, and inured 1o the hardest toil. That, therefore, they are highly .'desirable colonists. 4. That large numbers of Chinese have been permitted to locate themselves upon the G-oldfields of Otago, and that their numbers are increasing so rapidly as to alarm your petitioners, wh, fear that they (the Chinese) will soon vastly outnumber the Europeans, and absorb almost the whole of the workable auriferous deposits. 5. That the Chinese helm-.; to a totally different race of men, with whom your petitioners cannot assimilate in any respect; that they do not rring their wives with them, which fact must tend to lower the standard of morality in the Province; and that their presenee will create a formidable barrier against any addition to our population from' Europe, an I counterbalance the good winch might result from the reduced rate of passage-money from Europe, provided by the Government of New Zealand, to such an extent that your petitioners believe the moment has arrived w en you will have to make your choice between European* and Mongolians as your future population, as experience emphatically teaches that the two races cannot both prosper when brought iuto close contact; and your petitioners would point out the fact that, by encouragng Chinese immigration, a serious loss must result to British commerce, as the Chinese nation will reap the principal benefit of their trade, and also of the money they may realise.

6. That New Ze dand incurs an enormous expense of blood and treasure in opening up these islands for settlement, in doing whi. h large debts are incurred to which our posterity will ha\e to contribute ; •nd t at it'is therefore unjust to h. r Majesty's subjects to allow fields of labor opened up at such vast sacrifices to be overrun and impoverished by the subjects of a foreign power, who do not intend to make the country their home, md who evade pay in nt towards it* revenue whenever possible.

7. That, by the principles of international law, as recognised by Great Britain and the United States'of America, which form the basis of the treaty of Washing n, it is distinctly laid down that the natural resources of a British Colony—such as the Dominion of Canada—are not to be thrown open to the occupation or enjoyment of the citizens of other nations, except under special treaty, and then only in consideration of equally valuable concessions and advantages ijiven aa an equivalent. In support of this, your petitioners beg to quote Clauses 18, 22, and 33 of said Treaty.

8. That both California and Australia acknowledge that the presence of the Chinese in large numbers in their midst is to be deplored ; and your petitioners would draw your attention to the great expense it will entail upon the Colony to provide Chinese interpreters and detectives, such as they have in Yi.toHa, where the iraols are full of Chinese, notwit•'• tanking the diuVu,ty of detectin„ cime a-Montr thorn -not for <etthe hardships and privations which

the miners and other residents of the Goldfields of Victoria' have to endure from the numerous depredations committed by the Chinese ou their property —in fart, to such an extent were tbeir robberies carried that no portable •»roperty was considered safe; and,moreover, the Chinese did not scruple to commit murder when caught in the act L' f ' • or roboery ; the gross immoralities prac Hsed in their earnps constitute them the headquarters of prostitution, and the refuse of (ramblers, thieves, and assassins, uropeans cannot compete with the Chinese in the labor market, and great poverty and distress must result to your petitioners, which will he more intensely felt in this Colony, inasmuch as we have not such enormous fields of labor ? o operate' u;>on ns California and Australia and the ill effects of a large rush of Chinese will be more speedily and keenly felt. 9. Your petitioners therefore pray that you will recommend the Governor to exercise the prerogative-which gives the Crown absolute power over all mines of gold in the Colony,.and cause a clause to be inserted i»i t ! >e new Goldfields Act, forbidding the issue of miners' rights to the Chinese, at the Mine time making such provisions as may seem equitable towards those who hold murium privileges under the present Regulations. 10. Your petitioners deeply feel the necessity of placing an effectual bar on the further influx of Chinese, as it is their solemn conviction that unless the most stringent measures are taken* the result will be bloodshed and anarchy, or the total exodus of your petitioners from this Colony. 11. Your petitioners believe that their prayer is based upon equity and justice, and is in strict accordance with international law, as shown by the recent transactions between the Imperial Government and the United States of America in reference to the Canadian fisheries, referred to in the 7th clause of this petition. And your petitioners will ever pray, Ac., Ac