The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1901-11-28


white Australia, in which there
should be no inferior races and no
colored men. has been the dream of
public orators. Toward the realiZa-
tien of this ideal the first common
wealth parliament has bent all its
energies. ga continent for people, "
and that people of white skin, is the
ideal toward which the newborn COM
monwealth aspires.
Australia is determined if possible
to avoid the dangerous rock on which
the American republic very nearly
split. The preservation of Australia
for white races has been the dominant
note in federation all through. AS
Mr.. Deakin, the Victorian federal
member, said in the house of repre-
SentativeS the other day: 1.-THE unity
of Australia means nothing unless it
means the unity of the race, which is
an absolute essential of the unity of
Australia. A white Australia, in
fact, is the Monroe doctrine of the
Australian commonwealth. !"
How to carry the doctrine into
practice, however, is the difficulty,
ince there are between 20, 900 and sO,-
600 cOlOred aliens in Australia. In
northern Queensland the great sugar
industry is carried on mainly by color
ed labor; in western Australia the
carrying trade with the interior is
mainly i'm the hands of Afghans, who
are camped 1000 strong outside of
Coolgardie, where their Swarthy COM
plexions, splendid physique and
cleaning teeth, as they stride somber-
ly at the head of long strings of camels
in Indian file, form one of the most
interesting and characteristic sights
of the fields.
Thursday island is colored settle
ment. The vegetable gardens sOf
Australia-not only in and around the
cities but the little plots attached to
the farthest stations in the vast in
terror are mostly all in the hands of
the Chinese, who manufacture good
deal of the workingmen' furniture
and who have also invaded many
retail businesses, the grocery trade in
Perth being almost entirely run by
them, while in the same city the
pseudo tobacco shops are japanese.
In Sydney the Chinese have a
quarter all to themselves, and so have
the Syrians, the same as in New
York, where there isa separate quarter
for the Syrians and Greeks. Much of
the hawking in the country districts
is done by Syrians and Hindoos. The
latter are well known throughout the
Queensland interior as sellers Of Indian
goods which they hawk from town to
town in spring carts. The problem,
therefore, is not only racial but in
dustrial, and it is no wonder that the
members of the labor party are unani-
nous in their determination that the
color of Australia shall be pure
white.
Considered practically, the problem
has divided itself into two questions
first, with regard to Queensland and
the sugar industry, and secondly, with
regard to Australia as whole. The
first is being dealt with by the Pacific
island laborers' bill and the second by
the immigration restriction bill.
Then, by way of an episode, there is
the question of the employment of
Lascars Oh board the subsidized steam
ers carrying the Australian mails,
which is being dealt with in the postal
bill, and which has led to some very
singular tactics on the part of the
federal government.
Mr.. Barton's method of dealing
with each of these problems has been
severely criticised, not only by his op-
ponents but by many among his own
party, who have only been induced to
vote for the bills by threats of what
might happen if they failed in their
support. The Bartonian method OF
dealing with the Kanaka problem is
by giving the Kanakas notice to leave
Queensland, on sort of annual slid
ing scale, within five years, and by a
promise of practically prohibitive
tax on the Importation of sugar SO as
to insure the Australian sugar-growel
the whole of the Australian market.
This method has pleased the labor
party, which has decided to distribute
90, 900 copies of Mr.. Barton's speech
in Queensland, but ia Queensland it.
self it is regarded as tantamount to
the ruin of the industry. DR.. Max.
we'll, the expert who reported on the
whole question for the federal govern.
ment, has, at the request of the
premier, expressed his opinion on the
Kanaka bill, which is the straight-out