A WHITE AUSTRALIA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 169, 16 January 1914, Page 4

A WHITE AUSTRALIA.

■'l''"' view expressed by Sir William Ijcver concerning the "While Australia" ■policy is doubtless shared by many people in 'the Commonwealth (says the -Lyt-te-lton Times). It <<n,bodies a purely coiuniercial conception of national duly, the idea 111 a I the shortest road to wealthy and the development of the country is necessarily the right one. Sir •William, of course, is able to defend his •opinion on ethical "rounds, also, and possibly lie would ar<,me that, broadly speaking, ilji* while. races have no exclusive i-ijjht to the enjoyment of ii ( Mnjx'opled tract of tropical and semitropical country. The doctrine of the brotherhood of man should logically open the door* of Australia, lo all races, and we. imagine that some of the most fervent preachers of that doctrine in the Commonwealth would hesitate to udvoc'llc it» adoption, lint in gunrding the {Tates of their country jealously against t'hc dark-skinned races the Australians are looking well ahead. liy Uie importation of coolies from Asia and tire island.") they could enormously 'hasten file material progress of tlu;iv own country, but they are anxious to avoid such -a situation as that which lias dorelopetl ■in North America, where negroes, who

were imported to do the ''donkey work," are now complicating the social .problems iljy their natural increase. The Australian idea is to admit Hie dark* •skinned races only under conditions thai, ■would, prevent them from becoming a serious problem in themselves, and we are not at all sure that if is not nearer to the spirit of the brotherhood doctrine than is Sir William Lever's suggestion. Hrotherhood leaves little room for the development of the; tllieory oE a dominant race and a "donkey work" race. The people- in possession of Australia want to see no separate- cominninity growing up in their midst with a lower standard, of comfort and a lower ethical code than those of the white men. The development of the country proceeds more slowly than would bo the case .if Asiatics were admitted freely, but it is proceeding surely, and in the white race is conserving its virility and ensuring its ability to hold its magnilicent heritage.