The upshot of all this was that in June of the same year a conference of representatives of the Australian Governments of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia, was held at Sydney, with the result that the poll-tax which had given so much offence to the Chinese Government was remitted, but a number of resolutions were passed which have since been embodied in the different Chinese Immigrant Acts and statutes, which amended all the previous Acts which had been passed on the subject. It is unnecessary to quote these Acts in detail, but their provisions may be briefly summarized, as limiting the number of Chinese to be brought to the colonies by vessel; increasing the penalties for violation of the law; and prohibiting alien Chinese from voting at elections of the local authority of the colony. Certain exceptions are made in the case of Chinese immigrants who are British subjects, of certain Chinese officials, and of the crews of vessels who do not land in the colony.
These Acts, which are now in force, have been found very effectual for the purpose for which they were required. The action of the Colonies in this matter did not meet with the approval of the Colonial Office; but since it was evident that the Colonies were determined to prevent Chinese immigration at all hazards, no further word of remonstrance was heard from Downing Street.
There is no doubt that the point affecting labour upon which colonial workmen felt most strongly, and upon which they are thoroughly agreed, is the desire to discourage emigration. Colonial labour seeks protection by legislative means, not only against Chinese, but also, as we have seen, against the artificial supply of labour by State-aided immigration, and other means. The colonial workmen are opposed not only to the reception of the destitute from abroad, but even to the assisted emigration of persons able to work. They argue that if assisted English emigration is encouraged, inferior workmen will come out to the colonies, and bring down wages to the European level.
The agitation against the Chinese in particular, however, is no new thing. So far back as 1854 the second Governor of Victoria reported to the Home Government that he thought the introduction of the Chinese into Australia undesirable. "Australia for the Australian" has for a long time been the prevailing cry; and to that may be added, "Canada for the Canadian." Colonial labour, whether in Canada or Australasia, desires to limit competition. The Chinaman is a most dangerous competitor. He is an excellent workman, but at a very low standard of comfort. The colonial artisan, on the other hand, has a much higher standard of comfort than the ordinary European labourer. His pay is high, and his hours are short. He is educated, and he is independent. He has plenty of leisure for amusement, and he regards all his privileges as rights, and he fully intends to keep them. We cannot blame him either; and it cannot be said that he takes a purely selfish view of the case, since in the Dockers' Strike the Australian workmen sent large sums to England where no return was possible.
After all, the Chinese are only a small population in our white colonies; but this is because of the difficulties which have been thrown in the way of their coming in. Were it not for this, they would be numerous indeed. The Blue-book of July 1888, as we have seen, shows how determined the Colonies are to forbid Chinese immigration at all hazards. Their action in this matter has been in many respects contrary to the letter of the law; but as Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales, said, when charged by the Assembly for having broken the law, "I care nothing about your cobweb of technical law; I am obeying a law far superior to any law which issued these permits, namely, the law for the preservation of society in New South Wales."
The Australian Intercolonial Conference had declared the Chinese to be "an alien race, incapable of assimilation in the body politic"; and acting upon these conclusions, Sir Henry Parkes declared—"Neither for her Majesty's ships of war, nor for her Majesty's representative on the spot, nor for her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, do we intend to turn aside from our purpose." Lord Knutsford telegraphed to know by what law New South Wales shut out the Chinese; and the reply which he received, in effect was, that both laws and treaties must give way to the strength of colonial feeling. After that, the Imperial Government did well to be silent, for to have enforced the law, or to have enforced the treaties, would have been to have risked an open rupture between the Colonies and the mother country. This anti-Chinese feeling is often spoken of as another phase of protection; but it is worthy of note that Sir Henry Parkes, whose vigorous utterances I have quoted above, is a free-trader.
Such in brief are the principal colonial laws on this subject, both in a general sense, and more particularly with regard to Chinese immigration. These laws are the legislative outcome of the almost passionate demands of the colonists. The significant fact is, that unlike the mother country, the Colonies cannot bring forward the plea of overpopulation, since in all of them there are vast tracts of territory still uninhabited, and in Australia only the fringe of the vast continent is at present populated. Yet in their own interests the Colonies have found it necessary to pass such stringent laws as those described. The moral is obvious. If young countries like our Colonies, which require a large working population, find it necessary to shut out the destitute, the unfit, and the undesirable—and are able to do so with the greatest possible success—surely the mother country, where there are already too many mouths to fill, may be expected to follow their example.