Tax conclusion of the treaty between the United States and China for the prevention of Chinese immigration into the territories of the former has brought the same question into the acute stage in Australia, We gave a short time Premier of New South Wales to the the purport of a letter from the Premier of Victoria, in which he advocated the adoption of measures for the prevention of Chinese immigration similar to those of the new American treaty. It is evident that politicians in the Colonies take a different view of the value of that instrument from that which our San Francisco correspondent has expressed. They evidently think that it will perform the work for which it appears to be intended, but he looks at it as nothing but a sop thrown to the sand-lotters and Irish, who by the bye are very much dissatisfied with it. The telegraph has informed us that the Government of Victoria prohibited the landing at Melbourne of some Chinese labourers, which is putting into
anti-Chinese a 'e get some trust-action the most. exisen views of the worthy Tnfornation about the state of ublic feeling on the Chinese Question in Sydney from the proceedings at an influential Civic meeting which was held there at the end of March. Only one speaker rested his opposition to the influx of Chinese on what is called in the colony national grounds, all the others did so in the interest of the working mau, It is the working men in the Colonies who demand the exclusion of the Chinese, and as they have political power in their hands they will probably obtain what they want. The development of the Colonies is nothing to them when it carries with it competition in the labour market and probably reduced wages. The capitalist wants to have his plantations or mines worked by Chinese or some other Jabour that will be satisfied with lower wages than the horny-handed sons of toil, who are native or British born, think their due, But this does not suit the working man, who wants to keep all the advantages, higher wages and shorter hours, which he has wrung from employers, and to crease these as opportunities occur. It! is a part of the struggle which is always going on between capital and labour the latter bent on getting all it can and keeping it, careless whether fields are untilled or treasure left undug in the mines. An instance of the influence of the working men in Sydney was supplied at the meeting, in the acknowledgment of one of the directors of a Steamship China, the Chinese he had. imported to Company that he had sent back to work jin the steamers. This or something like it has occurred before in the Colonies and other parts of the world.
The Chinese Question in Australia has lately become a political difficulty through the action of the Government of South Australia, It has endeavoured to utilise Chinese labour, to develop the resources of its tropical province. large influx of Chinese labourers has consequently taken and as Parlia- The ment was not sitting in Adelaide, in March, there were no means of getting a law passed which would increase the import duty on Chinese to a point sufficiently high to stop the flood of immigration. This would not get rid of all the difficulty because, as an Autralian writer points out, it would not deal with the protest of the Chinese Government. "That protest put the question on a new footing, and forces the Colonies to discuss not only the application. of the treaties but the suitableness of these treaties." But the Sydney meeting did not trouble itself about the national part of the question, all the speakers and those whom they addressed cared about was the effect which a large influx of Chinese would, or might, have on wages. Events have not borne out the anticipations of the Chinese Commissioners who visited Australia last year and lately made their report to the Viceroy of Kuangtung. It is now evident that the colonists are determined to bring within very narrow limits the immigration of Chinese labourers, and that this policy is not likely to be affected by considerations for the relations of the Imperial Government with that of Peking. It might be supposed that the latter would take umbrage at exceptional legislation intended to exclude its subjects from Australia and California. But Sir John Pope Hennessy, in an article in the last number of the Nineteenth Century contradicts this view. Noticing first what the Premier of Queensland—to whose opinions we drew attention some months since—has said on the question, and his opinion that Chinese should be partially excluded—an exclusion dependent on the operation of an increased poll tax, the prohibition of naturalization and a taxon residence—Sir John shows that these will be inefficient. Why then, he asks, should not the colonies adopt the policy which has been embodied in the last American treaty The answer is that they are not allowed to do 30; Downing Street rightly interprets the sentiment of the House of Commons in objecting to the prohibition of Chinese. Sir John Hen-nosy believes this sentiment of Parliament to be wrong. He proceeds "Thad some opportunity of ascertain ing how far this common opinion was well founded. When I assumed the administration of Hongkong in 1877 I entertained a similar opinion. But direct communication with intelligent Chinese, and especially with the Ziterati of China (from whom the governing classes are drawn), soon taught me that I was mistaken. My interviews at Tientsin with Li Hung Chang and at Peking with Prince and other members of the Tsung-li-Yamen convinced me that the experience I had gained in Hongkong and Cantoy was well founded, and that, so far from there being in China any general' objection to the policy of prohibition, such a policy would be viewed at least with indifference and probably with satisfaction.
argument. on the subject was briefly stated by an interesting guest that I had the honour of entertaining. When the Chinese envoy to the German Peking, in speaking of Prince Bismarck Emperor was returning from Berlin to
he gave two reasons for doubting the infallible statesmanship of the Prince, one connected with the 07 wu armies that he traced to him; the other he thus referred to: The Prince said that China and Germany were natural allies, because, unlike Russia, England, or France, no territorial jealousies could arise, and because there were plenty of German steamships now ready to convey away the surplus population of China to San Francisco, to Australia, to Peru, and other places suited to Chinese emigrants.' ' Fancy,' said the envoy, 'a European statesman addressing the latter argument to me—to me, a Chinaman This Chinese guest of the ex-Governor of Hongkong went on to explain the li tical and religious objections a. true Chinese has to emigration to foreign countries. Sir John Hennessy has some severe comments on certain British, American and German houses in Hong kong who complained of his stopping the exportation of Chinese convicts from the colony, and by their efforts, he says, a trade has been kept up—the coolie trade to Australia—though it has been alike distasteful to the governing classes of China and the people of Australia, Finally he says there is a remedy for this "if Lord Knutsford can do that which has enabled him to solve with success some older and more difficult problems—if he can get at. the real facts and can induce the Foreign Office to act upon them. No doubt," he says, "the unsettled question of treaty revision with China indirectly complicates the question." But ithe is right in affirming the Chinese governing classes would not object to the exclusion of their countrymen from Australia, then the action of the Colonial Governments instead of impeding treaty revision or any diplomatic action would rather further it. And thus what appears likely to be eminently displeasing to Peking would be welcomed there.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.