OCCASIONAL NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3080, 12 April 1892, Page 3

OCCASIONAL NOTES.

By many thinkers, the danger of an invasion of the Australian colonies by the. overflowing hordes of Chirm is ;i real and not un imaginary one It will be reineiiihe.ml that, following the discovery of gold at the Palmer in 187-1, an iiuuiun.se influx of Chinese into Queensland took place, Jioing regarded as " social pests " (to quote the now famous words of our Minister of Education) and an abomination, by the Europeans, (ho bitt'-i' wag"d eiintinual warfaru against their uiiwelcomo yclbw brethren, lining ably assisted by the predatory tribjs of blacks in the neighbourhood of the diggings, and on the lino of route thereto, 'the stream of immigrating Chinamen, notwithstanding this, continued to increase in volume, and the question of checking it at last became a burning one. A poll-tax of £5 was imposed, and this had the effect of limiting tho influx somewhat. A poll-tax, however, to bo thoroughly effect ivo must be fixed at un abnormally high h'gitre, and the modest amount fixed by the Queensland Government was not likely to completely stop the inflow, nor did it have that effect. A method suggested by Dr Luinholz, a Norwegian natural«ist would, if adopted, be much more likely to put a damper upon the emigrating ardour of the Flowery Landers, at least so far as tho Northern Australian colonies aro concerned.

The method pointed out by Dr. Lumholz of checking the influx of *' yellow agony " is somewhat analofous to that adopted in New ealand of coping with the rabbit pest by means of stoats and weasels. The Australian black he regards as the natural enemy of the Chinaman, and is of opinion that were they given a free hand and unmolested in their dealings with tho almond-eyed intruders, ttey would be quite equal to dealing with any superfluity of bland and childlike Chinkies in the population. He would therefore meet tho Chinese difficulty by protecting the blacks and leaving John Chinaman entirely iu their hands, and state? if such were done the Colonial Secretary would be troubled no longer with the question. The blacks are cannibals, and it i.s by encouraging this delightful appetite of theirs for human flesh —restricted of course to that of Chinamen, other nationalities, and more particularly Norwegians, being exempted—that the doctor believes would have tho desired effect of checking the influx. Tho flesh of the European is not highly esteemed by these aboriginal epicures—its palatableness being marred by its excessive saltness; but that of tho Celestial, on the other hand, forms when in season (that is when procurable) the piece de resistance in their bills-of-faro.

Those of us who may have been within the odoriferous confines of a Chinese camp can without any stretch of the imagination, readily believe that the flesh of a well- seasoned Chinaman,must eat decidedly gainey—that is it the 'sinoll of the camp may bo tuken as a guide to the flavour of the Chinaman. If such is the case, there would be no occasion, a3 in the en so of wild fowl and venison, to hang tho meat for a week or a fortnight to impart that delicious fragrance for which European gourmets profess to have so groat a relish. It must be there all the time!

"What a blessing to a country is a free and untrammelled Press! So thinks not the Honourable John McKenzio. and this is proved by. the instructions said to have been given by him to the officers of the Laud Department in Dunediu to discontinue advertising Government notifications in the Dunediu Evening Star. This paper is one of the most widely-circu-lated papers in the colony, but it is in opposition to the Government, and it is thought this action has been taken by the Government with the soli; object ot wreaking vongance upon the Star fir its outspoken opinions on their policy. This is of cour.se only a matter of conjecture, but seeing that the Globe, a supporter of the Ministry, is now receiving the Government advertising, it is more than likely to be correct, more especially when, us a means of giving publicity to the notifications, the Globe cannot hold a candle to the Star. The conduct of the Government in this mutter is most pitiful, and is parallel with that of a blustering and overbearing - employer who would seek, by covert threats of sack, to coerce his men to regulate their political opinions by his own and to vote as ho may direct. Such conduct is contemptible, and I have often heard "Liberals" insinuate that it is practised by many employers on what they term the "Conservative" side of politics. Here we have a glaring case of the same sort of thing, and the offenders are tho " Liberal " Government!

Sir C. J. Eae, of Sydenham (father of Mr Arthur Rao, member for Murrumbidgce), has taken exception to remarks contained in a recent Note of mine referring to a meeting held at Wagga, at which his son's conduct in opposiug the passing of a vote of condolonce to the Queen, on the occasion of tho death of the Duke of Clarence, was condemned by his constituents. Mr Rae states that my premises were erroneous, but his own letter proves them to have been correct. He does not deny that the meeting at Wagga disclaimed all sympathy with their member in tho position ho took up, but wishes us to believe that tho meeting was composed of " squatters and their hangers-on." Whether they were such or not, I cannot say, having been furnished with no proof ; it is, however, immaterial. Certain it is their humanity as shown in their sympathy with tha bereaved is in refreshing contrast to the callousness and indiii'crence of their representative. With regard to the meetings in the iSydney Domain and Melbourne I have nothing to say, further than that if 3000 people in Sydney and 4000 in Melbourne have approved of Mr Rue's conduct then there are evidently more unrefined and unfeeling , boors amongst what are called the masses than one would have expected.