The Commonwealth secret service is just now searching the sugar districts along the northeastern seaboard for Japanese and other coloured aliens who have illegally gained a footing in the country. This is the proper season, the authorities seem to think, for such activity. The pearling fleets come into Thursday Island at the end of the year and lay up for the monsoonal season, Nominally their crews are counted when they go out and when they return, but it is certain that a thoroughly effective check cannot be maintained, seeing that the officials are few and the opportunities of landing jon islands or the mainland io-numerable. Officially Japan is, of course, acting quite correctly, and any violation. of the Australian immigration laws is done on private account. The local newspapers at some North Queensland ports are stating in a few lines that some Japanese have pleaded guilty to being prohibited immigrants and are to be deported, but this is only sufficient to show that, despite official denials in Melbourne, Japanese do get through and enter the Commonwealth without warrant.
There is, however, a more important phase of Japanese activity, involving several thousand of the subjects of the Mikado. Thus on the pearling fleet based on Thursday Island the Japanese struck and demanded the exclusion of the Malays employed alongside them. The result was that certain leaders of the strikers, who, of course, are under indentures, were promptly deported. Now a i trouble has arisen in connexion with the pearling fleet, based on Broome, away on the northwest corner of Australia. The disturbances there took a more dangerous form, and the Japanese set out to kill their Malay fellow-workers. They rioted to some effect, and there were a few Malays killed, and a number wounded. The small European community was sworn in as special constables, and the Government was asked to despatch a warship to the spot. It is said that order has been restored, and that a destroyer is on the 14 days' journey to the place.
These two incidents are attracting a good deal of attention aniongst more thoughtful men. Here we have evidence of design. The Japanese and Malays er Timorese have been working amicably together for several years. Suddenly within a few weeks the Japanese at places 2,000 miles apart make an attempt to become the sole employees on the pearling fleets, which after all are the videttes of our northern coast. It lis not unlikely that the ultimate rest will be a strong public demand that Japanese be entirely ex¢luded from the pearling fleets.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.