Chinese in Tahiti Grow in Power

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 152, 17 September 1927, Page 12

Chinese in Tahiti Grow in Power

Unequal Laws Favour Their Trading Activity

More than 50 years ago Governor de la Richerie, of Tahiti, introduced a few Chinese there fo.r agricultural work, giving them the option of remaining in the colony at the conclusion of their seven-year contract. Few ever left, but others came so fast that, in the words of the Rev. Father Emil Rougier, for many years stationed in Tahiti, the country finds itself confronted with a serious Chinese problem, for “the Orientals are in a far better position than the Tahiti people themselves.”

Explaining present conditions while at Honolulu recently. Father Rougier said to the “New York Times”: “The Tahiti traders are compelled by law to keep account books, so that the tax controller may verify the revenue and amount of trade declared for tax purposes if he desires to do so. The Chinese trader is at liberty to keep his books in Chinese, or to keep no books, and the controller is supposed to accept the figures given to him. Via New Zealand “The Tahiti citizens who import labourers are compelled by law to comply with expensive regulations for housing, nourishing, returning, paying, etc. Not so with the Chinese. By every mail steamer via New Zealand, arrive some 40 or 50 Chinese, men and women. They land penniless and are employed for a song by their countrymen already established in Tahiti. “The law says that every one must send his children to school. It is free for any child of any nationality. The Oriental imports his own teachers and goes to the expense of erecting and supporting his own schools. There, all teaching is done in Chinese, although a French girl gives general lessons two hours a day. Result: None of the pupils can speak French; none can read French; none will be able to keep books in French. Will this perpetuate a small China State in our midst? “Every Saturday, Chinese students go through a military drill, German fashion; they have never looked for a French monitor. Their schoolmasters cannot speak French. A Chinaman born in Hawaii is American; born in Tahiti he remains a Chinaman. In Papeete 80 per cent, of the stores are owned by Chinese. They have their own doctors and druggists who pay no taxes, as they a.re not licensed. When a rich Chinaman dies, his fortune, as a rule, has already passed to some other Celestial. Trade Captured “Twenty years ago the Chinese had only a few retail stores in Papeete and none to speak of in the other islands, Marquesas and Tuamotus. To-day they have captured 700 per cent, of the trade and are the importers and exporters. There is a law prohibiting foreigners owning and operating vessels for trading purposes in the colony. The Chinese evade the law by hiring the name or the boat of a French citizen. Thus the trade goes on fictitiously under the French flag, but for Chinese interests alone. “After mastering’ the trade of this colony, the Chinese are beginning to conquer the soil. It is a fact that, so far, not many Chinamen are land owners (except in the city, the whole centre of Papeete belonging to them), but, if they are not yet owners of very large areas, they are commanding large areas. The ownership will follow.

“To this day 75 per cent, of the lands belong to the natives, who are French citizens. The Chinese know very well that the native will not sell his land outright, so he advances money to the owner of the coveted land, often without interest, but the money must be refunded at a fixed date. Very seldom can the native return the money at that date. The Chinaman advances more money and fixes, a new date, provided the owner a.grees, this time in writing, to pay back principal and interest or abandon the land. Needless to say, the crops of the land are harvested by the money-lender as long ais the native has not paid. This is equivalent to ownership, or better, as the native continues to work the la.nd, which he still believes is his own. In doing this the Chinese are within the law. “Signs on many stores are in Chinese only. This colony has no newspapers of any kind, but the Chinese have two periodicals in their own language. They have their own language. They have their own clubs; one is the Kuomintang.

“Tahiti has a total population of 24,000.. The Chinese number 8,000, or one-third of the whole jpopulation.”