ANTI-ASIATIC MOVEMENT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8472, 25 June 1907, Page 5

ANTI-ASIATIC MOVEMENT.

MEETING AT THE TOWN HALL.

ADDRESSES BY MESSRS HORNSBY AND HOGG, M's.H.R.

A public meeting was held in the Town Hall, last evening, when addresses were delivered by Messrs A. W. Hogg and J. T. M. Hornsby, M's.H.R.. on the anti-Asiatic question before a very large audience. The chair was occupied by the Mayor (Mr J. M. Coradine). Mr Hogg was the first speaker. He said that he had taken the platform at the request of his friend and colleague, Mr Hornsby, who, he said, felt diffident at addressing a meeting in his (Mr Hogg's) electorate without him also appearing. He did not intend to speak at any length. He felt sure that Mr Hornsby would do the subject justice. One reason for the speaker being . there that evening was to show that he was not a "wobbler." He felt the same on the antiAsiatic subject as he did some years ago when he spoke at a similar meeting in Wellington. He told the audience on that occasion not to use boycotting as a means of ridding the country of Chinese, because the wife of the working man could not be prevented from buying good fruit at a cheap price from the Chinese fruiterI era. He was still of the satie opinion. The pi'ice of fruit in a Chinese shop [ was an attractive feature. Though fruit in a Chinese shop appeared good, one could not rely upon it. He himself had been "had" in this respect. He once entered a Chinese shop to purchase some apples, which appeared tempting in the window, but when he saw the other side of the fruit it was anything but tempting. In Masterton, he went on to say, there were a number of Chinese, some of whom appeared to be reputable men, and he always believed in speaking of a man as he found him. Speaking with regard to the influx of Chinese into New Zealand he might say that the Chinese were a race who were as much sinned against as sinners. "There is one thing I object to, " said Mr Hogg, "and that is the purity of our race being assailed. For that reason steps should be taken to prevent an increase in the number of Chinese earning into the country.'* New Zealand wanted to keep her institutions and her people as clean as possible, and prevent them being interfered with by Asiatics. (Applause.) He trusted that the men and women of the colony would see the necessity for this. If New Zealand

was to become a prosperous country, and take its place among the nations of the world something would have to be done to stay the influx of Chinese. His sympathies were with the antiAsiatic movement not because he wished to do the Chinese any harm, but because the race in New Zealand must be kept pure. (Applause.) "Shut the doors of the colony against any further influx," said Mr Hogg, "either by making the poll tax so high as to become a barrier or say we must not admit them at all—and I latter would be the better course — then, in my opinion, there would be no Chinese left in the colony in a few years." (Hear, hear.) He was sure they would all be pleased to hear Mr Hornsby. who had made a special study of the subject. (Applause.) Mr Hornsby then rose to address the meeting, and was greeted with foud and prolonged cheers. The speaker's address occupied nearly an hour, and his remarks were followed with the greatest interest throughout and warmly applauded. At the outset Mr Hornsby assured his audience that it was a pleasure to him to hav« the honour of addressing such a large number on a question which, after all was said and done, was very little understood. When one spoke of Chinese gardeners and fruiterers it was a direct question, and understood by all, but when the subject was put in . the light of one affecting the whole colony, there were very few who took the trouble to investigate it. He was there that evening not to deal with any particular Chinese but to deal with the Asiatic question from a broad standpoint, and in a fair and impartial manner. Sir George Grey, than whom, the speaker said, no greater leader of men ever existed in New Zealand, once advised the people to "keep the race pure," and that- should be the watchword (Hear, hear.) "If we want to understand the Asiatics," said Mr Hornsby, "let us put ourselves in their place. When Adam i was a boy the Asiatics had the printing press, and they wera a civilised people when the British people were putting on their Sunday clothes with a paint brush. (Laugh(ter). Their standard is quite different to ours, and'they don't understand our code. They are fatalists, and with them the word morality, as understood by us, is unknown." He went on to relate the different practices in vogue in Eastern countries, and asked his audience if they wished the same state of affairs to exist here. "If you do" he continued, "you will encourage these people, but if you don't, you'll do your best to keep them out. (Applause). You might ask, how are we going to keep them out? The Imperial Government has seen fit to make treaties with Eastern countries, and the colonies are subject to those treaties. We would not like to break those treaties, but we can fence the Asiatics out like Australia has done. We don't want any poll tax. It's a dishonest thing; it's a hypocritical thing and I hate to think that we are taking their money and letting them into the colony, and then putting the money into the consolidated fund and calling it revenue. (Hear, hear.) Let us follow Australia's example, and adopt the education test as a means of keeping out undesirable aliens, and we won't be breaking any treaties. That's what we ought to do, and I as a member of the House of Representatives, will try and get such a provision placed on the Statute Book of the colony." (Hear, hear.) The remedy to keep the country white was touched upon in the Wairarapa Age in a leading article this (Monday) morning. It was to people the country with whites." There were plenty of people in the Old Country who could be brought out here to assist in the advancement of the country. He was pleased to see that there were several boys in the audience that evening, but he would say that before those boys had grown into manhood there would bo a "knocking at the door of Australia and New

Zealand, and outside there would b the blown and yellow men knocking for admittance." "Then." said the speaker, "we will have to stand up and fight to keep them out, and the only way to do it is to people the country with whites now." He went on to explain the geographical posi- ! tion of Australasia, and its proximity to the Eastern countries. Japan had already a navy, and one day China would "wake up" and build a navy, i and then Australasia would have to ' fight to keep the Eastern hordes out. It was an absolute necessity that the Australasian colonies should tackle the question of defence and at once. They were aware, from the report of the recent Imperial Conference, that Sir Joseph Ward had expressed himself in favour of continuing the subsidy to the Imperial navy instead of establishing a separate navy for the colony, and that Mr Deakin, the Australian Prime Minister, had stated that the Commonwealth intended to proceed with the work of build'ng a navy of her own. A start would thus be made by the Commonwealth in the direction of establishing a line of defence, and though small at first it would assuredly grow. They were aware that every now and then there was a "weeding out" of ships from the Imperial navy, and the poorer class of vessels were sold. Whenever the sale of those ships took ' place it was noticeable that there were representatives of foreign countries in the vicinity who were only too eager to buy the cast-off vessels. The speaker asked why should not Australasia make some arrangement with the Old Country to secure these ships and man them with colonial boys, who some, day would have to "say a word or two out of the cannon's mouth?" (Applause). "We must wake up," urged the speaker. » "It's all right saying jjthat the Old Country will save us, but she might be engaged in war in the Mediterranean Sea at some time, and then we will be left to ourselves. A child has eventually to leave its mother's apron-strings and go out into the world. So with Australasia, which is only h nation in the making, and which will some day have to fight for liberty. "Referring again to the anti-Asiatic question, Mr Hornsby declared that every time a person went into a Chinese shop to make a purchase he was pro - claiming to the world at large that he was a believer in cheap labour. Everyone knew how much a Chinese received for his labour, and what it cost him to live. The people in New Zealand had built up a high standard of living. By dealing with the Asiatics they were dragging the working, man down into the same style of lining as a Chinese. That was a point which he wished to impress upon his audience. Without doubt, it was owing to the support given them by the working man that the Chinese were' able to live in this country. The rich man with a garden of his own did not want any cheap truit or vegetables from the Chinese; the man with a little leisure was able to cultivate a garden and grow his own vegetables but it was at the house of the working man who worked from early morning till night, that the Chinese carts called. People should not buy vegetables and fruit from the Chinese, because they saved a few pence. Chinese laundries should not be supported, because the tariff was cheaper than that of a white establishment. He acquiesced with Mr Hogg when he said that now the Chinese were here, let them stop here, but he believed in boycott. Everyman had a right to deal where he liked, but he. for one, would not deal with the Chinese, and encourage cheap labour. He referred to the recent utterances of General Botha, the premier of the Transvaal, who said that the last Chinaman must go from the Rand,

He felt ashamed when he thought of the money and blood Britain had poured out in the Boer War when she fou.?ht for the ultimate end of placing Chinese on the Rand. Now, General Botha, the man whom England had fought against, said the Chinese must go. This was a lesson to some British leaders. Some people would say that the Chinese were law-abiding citizens. From what he knew of them they did not understand the law, and never would. Everyone was familiar with their "no savee," and tfie innocent look on their faces.

The speaker then dwelt on the conditions that existed in the Chinese quarters in the large cities of Australia, where the sweated Chinese worked without any interference from the authorities. The product of their sweated labour was sold to the white man and some of it found its way into New Zealand. He considered that such goods should be labelled "Chinese make," so that the people would know what they were buying. Some people advocated allowing the Chinese into the country, but would those people mix with the Chinese, look upon them as friends, and allow them to associate with their families? asked the speaker. Others, again, said that "the poor fellows had precious souls to save." "Well," answered the speaker, "let them save their souls,

but we don't want their bodies. 1 " Mr Hornsby made reference to the correspondence which had appeared in the columns of the Wairarapa Age recently on the anti-Asiatic question, and said that it was a remarkable fact that none of the letters written by pro-Chinese had the signatures of the writers attached, while all the anti-Chinese letters > were signed by the writers. "The pro-Chinese," he said, "were afraid of their doctrine." The capitalists, he said, had been responsible for keeping thej Chinese on the Rand. "What does the capitalist care for the British race, and the horrors of the Chow so long as he can keep the Chows on the Rand?" asked the speaker. "The capitalist only wants the 'boodle' and cares for nothing. "r He went onto say that the Chinese had been shut out of Christchurch years ago, and what Christchurch had done Masterton could do. He was pleased to see that one Chinese had been shut out of Carterton. He wanted them to understand and realise what trading with the Chinese meant. He appealed to the young people to buy their fruit at a white man's shop. Even if they paid a little more for their fruit, they would have the satisfaction of knowing that they were supporting their fellow-men and doing good for their country. "I appeal to you to do this, not for the sake of a few pence, but for the sake of your young country which you will some day have to light for," said the speaker. In conclusion, he hoped

that the anti-Chinese question would be dealt with during the coming session of Parliament. He would do all he could to have the education test applied to all undesirable aliens, who wished to enter New Zealand. He thanked those present for attending the meeting, and for the cordial reception and patient hearing they had given him. The speaker resumed I his seat amid loud ajiplause. On the motion of Mr B. J. Dolan, seconded by Mr J. Gilchrist, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr Hornsby for his interesting address. A vote of thanks to Mr Hogg and the Chairman concluded the meeting. A collection was taken up to defray the expenses in connection with the meeting and to assist the anti-Asiatic League. Over £& was realised.