THE CHINESE QUESTION.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 190, 28 September 1871, Page 5

THE CHINESE QUESTION.

(To the Editor.) Sir, — Now there seems a probability that the influx of Chinese into this province is to be something enormous, it is time some stringent measures were adopted to put a stop to their further encroachment on our shores. It will not do for the mining community to let the grass grow under their foet in this matter, for it is indeed of vital importance to the province that, as I said before, the influx of Chinese should be stopped. The miner must not be oblivious in this, but expel them if possible. This province is at pre sent gorged with them to its utmost ; and well may the miners view with alarm the news that 4000 more are about to proceed hither, and to take, as it were, the living out of our miners' and their children's mouths — for such it is so doing, although opinions differ a great deal on that score. I will take an instance of the ill effect it will have upon the mining community. Tfc is universally^ known th"at the principal goldfields are now in a settled and quiet state (in consequence of fie " roughs " and " rowdies " having vacated them, and gone elsewhere to work their .abominations), and populated by men who have families and households to keep up and sustain. Now, any one having visited these localities will perceive at once that if any great quantity of miners of any sort or degree come in upon them, they will at once glut those fields to such an extent that the auriferous ground will be all, more or less, taken up and occupied. The miners would not grumble so much if it were only Europeans who were obtaining this gold, for if so, it would be put to a proper and beneficial use ; but to allow these Celestials to come in hordes to swallow up the ground wholesale, seems too iniquitous altogether, and surpasses all common sense. It is all very well for certain wise-heads to call out that tKere is any quantity of ground to maintain and employ all those individuals who choose to take it up ; but let those unreasonable folks be placed in the position of some of our really hard-working and striving miners, and then would be seen their frantic endeavours to get the Chinese out of the province ; they would be the most energetic in trying to expunge them, root and branch, from amongst us. It is no doubt very well meant for certain "John Bulls" to stand by, who have a superabundance of cash, which they rejoice in as they clink in their jcapacious pockets ; as long as they have their quantum what "care they for the poor miner, their wives and bairns ? They can well afford to stand expounding their wise saws and modern instances — selfishness personified. One of their wise saws is after this fashion : " How is it that Englishmen cannot compete with or against the Chinese ? " for the very simple reason that where only a few" English miners are at work, perhaps there are parties of tens and twenties of Chinese, and they having the advantage inasmuch and in this respect, that they help each other and have no ties to encumber them,, and which in consequence augment their means, and as their luck, can regulate their movements. Tho Europeans are generally in small parties, and in most cases have large families to provide for, and are tied irrevocably, so have Lot much time to prospect. If this amiable John Bull had half the hardships to endure that the miner has to undergo, his rotundity of stomacb would collapse in a very short space of time, and that sweet jingling in his pockets, which he loves to hear, would soon cease. To return : if the miner would prospect, he has not the courage to do so, on account of certain storekeepers who ar^ev&r on the watch to prevent him by keeping him in mind of sundry bills tlyit must be disbursed, and if they are not, then the Eesident Magistrate's Cjurt must be tried, and then

follows "No credit." and want for wife and baiins. bach is the idea of Europeans prospecting; the e\il is not theirs. On the other hand, the Chinaman has no ineumbvarcp of any aorfc, and if he obtains nothing 'ie need not spend, which they act up to, as is well known. ' John Bull theu exclaims, with a dignified and portly air. " Why do the European miners, then, run into debt — the Chinaman never does?" Ah, John Bull, you are very very hard, although you have a good name for charitable and kindly actions ; would it be well to see. because of the miner's ill luck, those poor little faces looking anxiously for bread and none to be procured ? You with your luxury at home 'little think about and actually grudge them the necessaries wanted and wished for in their homes. The foregoing is an illustration of the miner as he is situated at present, and what will it come to if the little they have is wrested from them. It is an acknowledged fact that gold-digging is a thing of the past as far as a moneymaking occupation, and how is it to be imagined are all these Chinese to bo employed ? If they were a settled and social people, the matter would be materially altered. What benefit wi'l

the province ever derive from them ? none whatever j with the exception of enlarging the revenue by a few extra miners' rights, «§*■., they are not great consumers of anything but rice, as that is their chief food. If they obtained any great quantity of money and did settle, how could they possibly be desirable members of society. Catch John Bull soiling his coat-tails against their house doors, and associating with them ; he would rather not do that ; and still he cries out " Chinese for ever ! " and " what splendid colonists they will make ! " As soon as Johu has amassed sufficient wealth, taken out of our country, he forthwith proceeds to China to spend it, thereby taking out of this country that wealth, which, if a European obtained, would be spent here ; and this drain continuing, will impoverish the province to an enormous extent, and be anything but efficacious, except tojimpedejfcheprogress of the Europeaus. It is evident tbe goldfields will not and cannot continue a very lengthened period, especially if they are overrun with Chinese. Let me give an instance of the benefit to be reaped by us, as far as concerns agriculture. Suppose the miner is obliged to leave the goldfields on accouut of his not being able to live or subsist on them ; leaving his wife antl family behind him, ho' travels, footsore, many a weary mile seeking for employment, which he cannot find. The place he conjectures and in whicii bo fancies Lo might obtain employment is filled with Chinese, employed at a much lower rate of wages than be can afford to take — really afford to lake, fovhas he not those at home to provide for out of hia earnings, which the Chinaman has not ? John Bull theu shows his selfishness ; he stands forth and cries, " If the Chinese can do the work cheaper, we will give it to them" — he, in his hardness of heart, and standing therein his pride, little thinking, or not troubling to think, how that tbe Chinese have no families to work for, and of the poor little mouths that want filling belonging to his own kindred. For shame, John Bull ! thou. wert ever selfish. So, weary both in, body and mind, our poor miner has to seek elsewhere, and the same results will accrue at every place he stops at. Perhaps it may not happen to us individually, as we shall no doubt have gone to rest long ago ; but can you not realise the position our children will be in when such things come to pass, and the sore distress that will take hold upon them, and all because certain wise people of the land would have a few pounds put on to the revenue for a year or two. The great idea seems to be that as Victoria has not felt any ill effects from tbe Chinese, that New Zealand will not. I say and vouch that New Zealani will never be one iota like Victoria ; she has half the advantages to sustain a large population, and especially in this province, there being a very insufficient quantity of agricultural land fit for use. Victoria bas a vast area, and the goldfields there will maintain a population of thousands for years to come. Will it be so in Otago, a very small province, with only a few million acres, and not one quarter of that gold-bear-ing ground ? The Chinese, certainly, have not much vice in their composition — at least we do not perceive it. They have one very good trait — they are not of a quarrelsome nature, as far as can be seen by people who know not their tongue ; as for that, if John Bull was to be in the midst of a furious quarrel, he, poor soul, would be none the wiser, and would be congratulating himself only od their loud way of speaking. T!iey certainly gamble a great deal, and because our police do -not understand their language, they are not interfered with, which is a bad precedent, for the crime is there all the same. •In time, when they learn our language sufficiently, they will induce and lead the Europeans into tbeiv gambling habits, for our Englishman is very prone to it, if he has the wherewithal: Gambling is not their worst fault. In course of time, as they get spread and scattered in large quantities over the province-,' will it be safe for the miner to leave his home, should he be called away at any time for the purpose of changing to a different locality?

(To be conclude^, in our next).