The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-02 00:00:00

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NEI':S PAP Eft
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x,4;
pa ies
arm]. he ng 8 per cent C. 4
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be greatly benefited,--,:as-- the,,it2,hoidt,'
will rise to £l2O, and peahaps
.X125;,41 Thgto iism.lt
party lure who are opposed to the sale . but/ pre
sume the decision of the London shareholders will
determine the matter.
The legislation of th,4s colony respecting the
Chinese population may possibly lead to a difficulty
between this Government and the Imperial Govern-
ment on international grounds growing out of the
Chinese treaty. Of that treaty no authentic copy
has been as yet officially communicated to this Go-
vernment. It appears to haVe been constructed
without reference to the position of this country-in
relation to China, and especially without any con-
sideration as to the manner in which. we are exposed
to the influx of considerable numbers of the Chinese
race bearing a large and inconvenient proportion to •
the European population of the country. We have
at present about 40,000 Chinese in Victoria, wholly
males. This is one-twelfth of our whole population
and but for the checks which our legislation has
imposed upon the immigration of Chinese the num-
ber would have been greater. At one period the
numbers continually pouring into our ports
threatened at no distant day to convert this into a
settlement of Chinese rather than of Europeans. .
This very naturally created alarm, and it was really •
in obedience to popular opinion that the first Act
was passed in 1855, having for its undisguised ob- ,
ject to limit the influx of the Chin use. This Act
provided that the master of any shijp arriving with
any Chinese on board where the proportion of per-
sons
on board, including the crew, exceeded one to
every 10 tons should be liable to a penalty of £lO
for every passenger in excess of that proportion. A
rate of £lO each was also levied on all Chinesepas-
sengers brought by ships. The Chinese were also
rendered liable to an annual payment of 20s. each.
The penalty for the non-payment of this last sum.
was £5, or two months' imprisonment. In Nov.,
1857, another Act was passed; 21st of Victoria, No.
41 (without repealing the former Act), requiring
the Chinese to take out a residence licence to be
renewed every second month on payment of £1
for such licence and for every renewal. . The
Chinese were required to produce a- receipt;
for the " head money" paid on their arriyal by tM •
captain,-and if they could not produLje such ieeeipt
they wereTeifilied - to• pay .the-170-in addition to
the licence fee. The object of this was to check the
influx of Chinese from Adelaide and Sydney by way:
of the Murray river. If they could not produce the
receipt, or did not pay the £lO, the licence was
refused. But this second act contained nepenalty
and no direct mode of recovering either the £lO or
the accumulated licence fees. The expedients for
inducing rather than enforcing the payment was a
species of outlawry clause by which a. Chinaman
who is without licence cannot sue in any;court.
This is the method adopted as to the " miner's.right"
(or licence to mine for gold), and it succeeds pretty
well as to European miners. because from their re-
lation with their fellow miners and others on the gold
fields they frequently want to sue, and have a sort
of instinctive alarm of anything approaching to 'a
privation of an important right. But the Chinese
are not much under-that necessity, and the act has
been in a great degree a failure. The present.
Government have brought in a bill repealing the
existing acts, and simplifying the modes of pay-
ment, and also reducing the imposition more within
the means of the Chinese. The "head money" on
entering our ports is retained, and also the propor-
tion of passengers to tonnage. But the £1 residence
fee of the first act, and the £6 annual licence fees
of the second act, as well as the £1 for " miner's,
right," under the Goldfields' Act (which. the
Chinaman must now pay like all others), are
commuted for a payment of £4 per annum,
which may be paid by instalments (two or four
to be fixed in committee). The principle of
this bill is similar to that of the existing
acts, but its operation is more favourable to the
Chinese, and I apprehend it will turn out
more productive of revenue. I think there is
very little doubt of the passing of this act,
and as the treaty has not been communi-
cated the Legislature will not have to consider its
effects in relation to the favoured nation's clause,
as it is commonly called, of that treaty. It is to
be hoped, also, that her Majesty will not be ad-
vised to disallow it, for such disallowance would
set up the present Acts, which are really oppres-
sive on the Chinese people. I say that these Acts
will be set up, because the treaty will not operate
to repeal Acts already in existence, and the Impe-
rial Parliament having clothed these colonies with
full power to legislate respecting our internal con-
cerns has abdicated its own function of legislating
for us. The necessity of a check is very great.
Moreover, exceptional legislation is requisite for
an exceptional people. They cost this Government
a considerable sum for protection. The protective
organisation alone costs about £17,000 a year.
This extra expense the Chinese ought to pay. On
this principle we tax our mining population spe-
cially and exceptionally, because the cost of
governing the goldfields is greater than that of
governing other classes. When practical, we make
use of intelligent Chinese to fill some offices among
them. This legislation is no doubt similar in prin-
ciple to our laws for preventing the influx of
criminals. It is open to the same technical and
theoretic objections, but is at the same time justi-
fiable by the same necessity. Our distance from
China is not very great, our goldfields are attractive
to them, and if unchecked by legislation we should
be overwhelmed by this peculiar people. If they
had brought a reasonable proportion of women,
and settled into a domestic state, I doubt whether
there would have grown up against them so strong
a prejudice, but even with women the existence
in the midst of a superior race of an inferior race
is a very great evil, especially where many of their
habits are repugnant to the feelings of Europeans.
In concluding this subject, I think it necessary
to state my conviction that this colony will insist
on its right to institute and continue some sort of
exceptional legislation in order to protect our
population from any overpowering influx of the
Chinese race, as it has already successfully done in
the Influx of Criminals Bill, the late discussion
upon which I described in a former letter.

METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS.

The weekly meeting of the Metropolitan Board
of Works was held yesterday in Guildhall—Mr. J.
Thwaites in the chair.

The financial statement showed the following
results :—General account, £27,978 Bs. ; Covent-
garden approach, £199,332 6s. 9d. ; Southwark
and Westminster communication, £22,545, 135.;
Victoria-park approach £42,502 11s. 10d ; Finsbury-
part, £3 16s. 11d. Total, £292,319 16s. 6d.

IMPROVEMENT OF TOWER-HILL.
A deputation attended the board from the Tower-
hill Paving Trustees to present a memorial on the
subject of the local management of Great Tower-
hill. The memorialists stated that the carriage-way
of Tower-hill was very defective, and they .urged
upon the board the great importance of the efficient
maintenance of the carriage-way of this thorough-
fare, as by the opening of Postern-row and George-
street the traffic had been recently much increased.
This memorial was referred to the Works Com-
mittee.

THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD.
Mr. LESLIE moved, pursuant to notice—" That
the time now wasted in reading the minutes be
saved to the board and the public, and that the
bye-law of the board No. 6, relating to the minutes
of the proceedings of the board, be varied accord-
ingly." He said that the practice was now really
adopted, as every member received a copy, of the
printed minutes on the day before the board meet-
ing, which made them more conversant with the
business done than by hearing them read by the
clerk, especially as no one listened to him.
Mr. BURSLEM seconded the motion, which was
unanimously agreed to.
Mr. LESLIE then moved—" That the hour of
meeting for the future be eleven o'clock instead of
sapoptohretr o
persons
ers thisons
w motion
were
hein
the
twelve, and that the bye-law of the board No. 1,
relating to ordinary meetings of the board, be
altered accordingly."
urilnan
u
said
tahbaitt of meetingjudgesjes,
at ten o'clock, but as he be-
lieved that some opposition would be offered to that
hour, he had sought to make a comproMise by pro-
posing that they should meet at eleven o'clock. If
the business was to begin at that hour it would
enable the members of Parliament who were mem-
bers of the board to attend without interference
with their parliamentary duties.
The CHAIRMAN said a great deal of the difficulty
which at present prevented the attendance of mem-
bers of Parliament would be avoided as soon as the
business of the office was removed to Berkeley
House. As regarded the hour of meeting, he ac-
knowledged the value of meeting early; but
although he was at the office by nine o'clock in the
morning, there would be a difficulty in getting rid
of the letters and other matters by eleven o'clock,
and therefore, for the few months that they would
have to remain in Greek-street he would suggest
that their hour of meeting should continue as here-
tofore.

Mr. LESLIE then, by consent, withdrew .his
motion.

NAMES OF STREETS. ~7
On the recommendation of the Works and Gene•
ral Purposes Committee, it was agreed—"Thatthe
plates for the names of streets patented by Messrs:,
Skinner and Whalley be used, the ground being.
white, with black flush letters."
Some uninteresting routine matters Wen then
disposed of, and the board a*journed•