AUSTRALIA WANTS RACIAL PURITY

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 61, 3 June 1927, Page 9

AUSTRALIA WANTS RACIAL PURITY

IDEAL APPLAUDED INDIAN REVIEWS POSITION By Cable. —Press Association. —Copyriglii Reed. 11.40 a.m. SYDNEY, To-day. Dewan Rangachariar. the Indian representative at the Canberra ceremonies, interviewed by Press representatives, said he understood and sympathised with the ideal of a white Australia. He interpreted that ideal, however, as a desire to preserve racial purity. Beneath it ran deep the fear that once the dark-skinned races were admitted to Australia an intermixture would begin. Those who felt this fear, he said, under-estimated that the national pride of the Indian and law of his race against intermarriage was rigidly upheld, even within India itself as between caste and caste. This prohibition would operate with much more strength whe#e white people were concerned. Just as an undermining of the economic standard might be prevented by insisting that Indian migrants to Australia should have a certain amount of property, so the racial purity might be protected by providing that such migrants should be married and accompanied by their wives. Migration from India would not be extensive even if all restrictions whatever were removed. Indians, as a race, were much too settled for that. It was only within the past few years, comparatively speaking, that social conventions had allowed them to move out of their country at all.—A. and N.Z.