AN IMPORTANT QUESTION

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2669, 9 August 1887, Page 2

AN IMPORTANT QUESTION

. (To the Editor.) * Hint,—There is one important, affecting the Working men of New Zea-' ■ land tliat Beems to have been completely lost si»ht of at the various meeting hald' by the-candidates. Not one of the® has been asked to pledge himself, if elected, to do all in his power to. prevent the introduction of Chinese, Kanaka and Caffir labour into New Zealand. This, to my mind is of greater iraportan«*toche majority of electors than either' Jptrade- ' or Protection. 'Opinions aliuf; have atid will differ on these two points, 'ijyton the other question there .can. only be v one opinion. 'Whon. we loolj at othe?. colonies and see the effect of almosjQih-' restricted Chinese immigration Wjneih 1 it behoves the working man of

felld to look out and prevent the evil reading nny further than it has already, by makingte the teat question of tho «and refusing to support any cante, be he Freetrader or Protectionist will not pledge himself to prevent this unmitigated cnrso, with its concomi • tant train of evils, undue competition, and starvation of our men and demorali ■ sation qt our women,- from overrunning '• s'oura< •• California has 'V,as?dy "been it.,- Northern - such nn ex^enc .J Anti'ChindSe leagues cite fomed'-MLdver that colony;. The •<stawt Rt the foot of this;lette; will' give • yaurreadeni a slight Idea how itaffecta « tradespeople in a city. like. wilors in one qf the largest si. companies In Sydney (the A.S.N), had to itrike to prevent being swamped out by cheap Chinese labor. They are slo.wly but'surely increasing and monopolising various industries in New Zealand. They have nearly monopolised the fruit and vegetable trade in Wellington, and in w our own little village they aro .gradually increasing ; they have already secured .the vegetable trade, and have now started attacking the cabinet making and drapery trade. 1 should like to go iutothequestion still further, and point out a number of other ovila resulting from the same soureo fcfmly respect for your space prevents mo 4&>ing so at present. Hoping thff subject \\l be taken up by someone who can; do it greater justice than myself, I remain, etc., . ' (}. CoKER. The following ia an extract from a Melbourne paper. Commenting on tho disastrous results of Chinese cheap labor! it points out that in 1870 there were 180 cabinet makers in Victoria, vvliilo to-day the number is 92. During the same period the number of Chinese makers of furniture had risen from 20 to 450. From an industrial pointof view thisunhappyprogress iB intolerable, but the moral aspects of the question are sadder still. Cheaply fed, scantly clad, housed like swine, and without the refilling influence of financial responsibility of family ties, the Chinese, a alike from an industrial and moral point of view, form a distinct source of peril to the prosperity and purity of national life. The Chinese who are already here must receive fair play, but wc must protect ourselves as a nation from a further disastrous influx. Sanitary regulations must be enforced, and if necessary a heavier poll-tax or annual license imposed,