The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-17

The ulStrlDutiOn of Christian litera-
 ture in the Mormon homes by means oi colporter wagons and colporters for the
 purpose of reaching the children and
 youth has been very successful.
 ENGLISH COLONIES AND MONGo-
 HAN RACES.
 Canada, it appears from dispatch
 printed in the Sun yesterday, is about
 to take steps to restrict, possibly to pro-
 hibit, Chinese immigration. A com
 mission was recently appointed by the
 Canadian government to investigate the
 immigration of Chinese into the Domin-
 ion of Canada. That commission has
 now submitted it's report. It recom-
 mends the negotiation of treaty which
 will practically exclude the Chinese from Canada. Pending the conclusion
 of treaty the commission advises that
 head tax of five hundred dollars be | imposed on every Chinese immigrant
 That the government of Great Britain would undertake to negotiate such a treaty for Canada is doubtful, to say
 the least. Great Britain is not accus-
 toned to sacrifice what she considers
 imperial interests in order to pro-
 mote the interests of her dependencies.
 This has been illustrated in a striking
 manner recently in the controversy be- | tween the imperial government and the | government of the new Australian com
 monwealth.
 l The first legislation of the first Aus l 4yo orlia of statutes intended to secure "a white | Australia" That, indeed, was one of the leading issues in the election of | members of the parliament of the new commonwealth The Australians have long feared that the introduction of
 Asiatic races into their country might be followed by disastrous results. The Chinese In Australia form a percentage of the population five times as great as it Is In the United States They are, on
 the whole, an industrious and law abid-
 ing people, just as they are in this country But the Australians are bent on shutting out the Mongolan races, and the question was how should the exclusion be effected. In the United States there is no consideration for Chi
 
 congress simply passes an exclusion act and the question is settled The Aus tralian parliament desired to enact statute prohibiting the introduction of Chinese or Japanese immigrants in plain terms. London, or rather the British colonial office, promptly ex- pressed disapproval. As a writer in the March North American Review points out: "It is one of the inevitable draw backs of incorporation in an empire so extended as that of Great Britain that questions of primarily local concern in one of its divisions cannot be dealt with independently of the interests of other divisions" Great Britain has spheres of influence in China, has a large trade with that country and is constantly in- creasing her interests in the Chinese empire It would never do for a Brit ish dependency to place stigma upon the subjects of 8 country with which the British empire does business. So Australia was refused permission to ex- cude Chinese and Japanese immigrants, as such and compelled to adopt anoth- CT method of solving the Asiatic race problem.
 Although the commonwealth of Aus tralia has the fullest possible powers of self government, its parliament has been forced by imperial considerations to abdicate it's power to enact the legis lation demanded by majority of Aus tralians The statutes which have been enacted for the exclusion of Chinese and Japanese immigration provide only for ct, >Io o1I fact that | might be applied in the discretion of the executive, to immigrants from Eu- rope and America as well os from Asi- attic countries. Any other form of leg islation would not have received the as- l sent of the crown. Of course there were | many Australians who said they didn't | care a fig what the crown thought | about the acts of the wealth | parliament. That was not shared by | the commonwealth government, which | yielded almost without protest to the | of the imperial govern | ment Ns there any good reason for be- leying that the British government | would permit Canada to do something which it vetoed in the case of Austra- | lia? Is it probable that the British for eign office would propose a treaty with China by the terms of which a British would be allowed to brand all subjects of the Chinese empire as not fit to become residents of that de- England has recently made a treaty of alliance with Japan The Japanese in British Columbia are not liked by the "Anglo-S Saxons" of that British possession. Is it conceivable that the government of Great Britain, arfter recognizing the Japanese as equals of Anglo Saxons, will propose to ! proud ally to enter into a treaty by which Canada will be permitted to place | stigma on Japanese immigrants?
 It may be that the Canadians will 'ontrive some means by which they can exclude the Mongolian races from Can ida. They will have to ''go Canny," Ii however out of regard for imperial in- erests. They cannot initiate the meth Dds of the big republic on this side of he border. If they do they will be ' alied sharply to account by the London representatives of the crown. It now emains to be seen what action will be ! aken by the Dominion government on he recommendations of the comms- ion. The ultra Chinese eXclusionists in f UT congress profess to find in the Ca l adian commissions report an indorse- z nent of the extreme Legislation advoca- ( ed by the nt-Chinese element in the 1. k