CHINESE QUESTION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5578, 13 February 1879, Page 3

CHINESE QUESTION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sib,—l am aware that the pamphlet pub-, lished by the Chinese merchants referred to in my last treats of the question at issue from a more exalted standpoint than that which is likely to be taken up by the colonies. The average working man out here would be quite prepared to get his tea from India, and to leave China alone. The prospects of a new and almost inexhaustible market for our wool in that country ought, however, to make even colonials pause before giving China an excuse for again closing her ports against the world. In my opinion tho power of commanding cheap labor for mechanical toil is a direct advantage to all classes of Europeans. It, means, in the long run, the production of articles of general consumption at a lower price, aud it also forces men who are fit for more intellectual labor to seek for it, and to give up mechanical drudgery which they have been tempted to undertake by the prices offered for it in tbe colonial labor market.

At the present day the object of »nr leading statesmen is to create a .nnihcr i class of small settlers. Land on derived payments with rigorous conditions of occupation and improvement is set aside for this purpose, and large holdings are declared illegal within such settlement. The reason why the working man hesitates before attempting to carve out a home for himself in the wilderness is this : the most fertile land generally requires many years of long persistent labor on the part of the settler without capital to bring it into cultivation, and in the meantime the settler must live. The price of labor precludes him from hiring assistance, and the best years of his life are often spent in an almost constant round of almost unrewarded toil. In the old country the Duke of Sutherland has been reclaiming large tracts of moorland and forest by expending some £2O per acre upon it in draining and cultivating the land with the steam-plough, uprooting trees by the steam machinery and bursting up granite rocks with dynamite. In New Zealand it is often impossible for us to avail ourselves of any such scientific agents, but we have a similar supply of cheap labor at command in China. If we can only succeed in settling our European working man upon the land, he will be quite as willing to employ cheap Chinese labor as the present “ bloated aristocrat.” We have ample historical precedent for the employment of an “ inferior” race as servants and laborers. Besides John Chinaman has no ambition to become a settler, he brings no wife or family, and as soon as he has saved enough of his earnings to keep him in simple comfort in his own country he betakes him back to the Celestial Empire. He is no more likely to take possession of the land than the Duke Sutherland’s agricultural steam engines, and may perhaps be employed with equally beneficial •ffect.

Despite the present outcry against their admission, I believe that before many years go by more liberal counsels will prevail. Already in many quarters the Chinese have found hearty and impartial advocates among colonists'and Europeans. Dr. Moerhouse, Bishop of Melbourne, says the “ Chinese have proved themselves industrious, orderly, and virtuous citizens. . . . We could never wall them out, English people least of all.” Mr. Cecil Guinness, an employer of Chinese labor for fifteen years in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, says—“ I have employed Chinamen as house-servants, gardeners, shepherds, ' fencers, and shearers, &c., in fact, in almost every form of employment connected with sheep farming. I have found them most useful and industrious, sober and honest.” Mr. Hussey Vivian, M.P., after a close examination of their haunts in ’Erisco, utterly repudiates the current stories of their vice and evil smells; he denies their dirt and diseases. A recent writer in “ Eraser’s Magazine ” predicts that—“ The stolid perseverance and steady industry, of the Chinaman will always find him employment either as a railway navvy or as a skilled artisan, for nothing seems to come amiss to him. Public opinion will eventually put down the present persecution, and the Chinese will be allowed to compete on equal terms with foreigners of other nations, who are permitted to practice their calling unmolested in the land of boasted freedom and equality. Among the Chinese merchants are to be found many true gentlemen, and if Europeans will but take the trouble to cultivate their acquaintance instead of spurning them under their feet, most of the existing prejudices and misunderstandings will be removed.” Even a radical paper, like the Melbourne Leader says:—“The Chinese are in many respects excellent laborers, and the em - ployment of a limited number is a benefit to all classes.” The quotations I have made have been as short as possible. My only object in placing them before your readers has been to induce them to give the subject a little calm consideration. The average colonial knows and feels that he can do without Chinese labor; the working class dread their competition. I am convinced that there is room for all in the colony, and that the introduction of a limited number of Chinese into the colony will be to the advantage of all classes of the community. The deliberate opinion of a great majority of the representatives on both sides of the House last session was that there was no need of any immediate legislation, but that a great and sudden influx of Chinese ought to be guarded against. If moderate counsels prevail, as I trust they may, the law may well be so framed that only a given number of Chinese shall be annually admitted into New Zealand free of any poll-tax. By all means let these immigrants be subjected to a rigorous medical examination,—J am, &c,, Y,