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Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3891, 18 June 1881, Page 2

(To th c Editor of the Evening Stir.) '0 7 Sib,—The Chinese Immigration Bil. brought down by the Hon. Major Atkinson, and supported by Sir, George^Grey and other leading members of the House, is a complete farce and a sham, and will - x do nothing towards stopping the jnftu^Jjf f the yellow agony. *lf the '* rename I'of we bill we hare before us. is correctTrand we | take it for granted that sacb is the case--f Chinese are allowed to land on payment of ,£lO per head, and the master^ of the vessels bringing them to otrr shor«*rAr© to be made the'victims of heavy pains and penalties, far beyond that to which the Chinamen themselves are he|<Jr liable. What is £10 P as compared to what the Europeans pay daring tJie., same,, period The present debt of the cblony in toiimi numbers is £30,000,000, viz., every man, woman, and child in the Colony is in debt to the extent of £62, to meet which', 1 they pay annually the sum of £5 Is without reducing our indebtedness' one: 'singlto shilling, thus it will be seen that one average family in the Colony, say of five persons, pay £25 5s annually,; or £7§ 15s for the three years, or £25 more' than the same ntimber of Chinamen so far as the the Poll Tax is conoerned :is asked to pay. Of coune, some may say that Chinamen are consumers of dutiable goods, and so they .but, to a very limited extent. An European infant in many instances consumes more dutiable goods than a full grown Chinaman, and then the £10 is not made a charge, but is only deposited until such time ai the Chinaman thinks proper to pack up. fip blankets and. leave, and as Chinamen are nearly all alike, and this our wise' legislators seem to have forgotten,'the first Chinaman . presenting a receipt for £10, which may have been. given; to atfy other Chinaman, within three:; years ;'the'sum will be returned to the departed' Mongolian. Of course, we understandifchat the poll tax certificates will be like railway tick ets~not transferrable. ' We r also know that railway tickets are transferred. If Chinamen are allowed to live in the Colony, to have the same protection 7fo themselves and their property while they remain therein, then they ought .to pay for such protection the same^smourit as: other colonists, arid this could be done by paying not only the £10 for landing, for their good behaviour, bat an annual sum of an amount equal to their European neighbors. This latter sum could be made local revenue, andjCplleeted by local, authorities, and could be utilised in cleansing the dens where the Asiatics congregate, as it is a well known faelytiut wherever a number of them are setttei}, it is found almost impossible for,; Europeans to live in the same district;.. Their filthy and disgusting habits are too wellrknawn to be pointed out. Why should 5000 be allowed to remain in the colony without paying some proportionate amount toward its government ? Why should Chinaman 5001 pay £10, when Chinaman 4999' pays nothing ?—unless it is that,the'sooo' is'^he number of Chinamen required to do'the work necessary for the promoters 1 of the bill as shepherds and. cooks on stations, where they are to be found in large numbers in the South Island. Let oqr 1 ie/rislators take a leaf from the book of'some of the American States, and deaj, with the whole question as they have done, arid not in the patch-work style they are attempting in the present bill.—l am, &c., .'"'-: (. ".'.. .' ■.'•■": '■:;'. /Snoops.