C H A P T E R
XXIII.
LABOUR.
JOHN
CHINAMAN
is
not
at
all
appreciated
in
the
colony, for the simple reason that he is too industrious
and too steady.
H e can work l o n g and well, and live
on very little, and is content to g o on working
even
if the rate of wages
then,
declines a little now and
which is more than a g o o d many of the British labourers
in the colony will d o ;
reason
apparently
of
wherefore J o h n Chinaman, b y
his steadiness and
good
sense,
has made himself objectionable to the drunken, agitating
class of labourers that is too c o m m o n in N e w Zealand,
until these have clamoured to have him excluded from
the
country, under
the
shameful
pretext
that
taking the bread out of their m o u t h s ; and
he
is
ministers
have yielded to the clamour, and have imposed a tax
of
£10
per head on every Celestial entering the colony.
302
ROUND
AB OUT' NE W
ZEALAND.
T h e colonial labourer has said, " I am not g o i n g to
work
longer
than
so many hours a day, or for less
than so m a n y shillings; and I ' m not g o i n g to let any
man come to the colony w h o will! " and he has been
patted on the back b y some M i n i s t r y
said to
or other,
who
him—
" Q u i t e right, John, quite right, we agree with y o u ,
and if y o u will give us y o u r vote at the next election,
we will stop Chinese immigration. " 1
1
Since this was written the Australian Colonies have had another
fright over the arrival of a handful of Chinamen, and the various
governments have yielded to the clamour of their masters—the working classes—and have contrived to make it still more difficult and
expensive for a Chinaman to land in Australasia.
In forcing this
legislation the working man is owning that he will not work hard
enough to compete with the Celestial, for it is absolutely ridiculous
to suppose that he cannot compete with him if he chooses.
does not make one feel proud of one's countrymen.
This
N o on,e would
wish to see a large Chinese population in Australasia; but at present
the proportion of Chinese is ridiculously small, and increasing very
slowly.
In New Zealand there are only about 4, 500 Chinese in
600, 000 inhabitants;
and as the chief want of the colony at the
present time is population, it seems very extraordinary to throw every
obstacle in the way of the immigration of a few Chinese, who are in
many ways most excellent colonists.
Increase of population to take
up the land, and to lower the high wages of the working classes, is
universally admitted to be the chief want of the c o l o n y ; and here we
have a case of ministers backing up the people to stop the very thing
which is most wanted.
It is a queer world !
303
LABOUR.
The Chinese make bad colonists in one way, as they
spend very little, and ultimately take all their earnings
back to China.
But I would like to see a few more
Chinese in the colony, if only to stir up the overpaid
and far too independent labourers of our own nationality
to a little real activity, and bring the high wages down
to what they ought to be, and must be before very long.
Once in the colony he is not going to be turned
out in a hurry either, so he has already made himself
almost indispensable.
W h o supplies all the vegetables
in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland,
or any other town of decent size but John Chinaman ?
There are very few townships without a few acres of
neatly kept garden ground, where a quiet little colony
of
Celestials attends to the vegetable wants of
the
community, and laughs in its sleeve at the European
labourers, who prefer to go on strike if they can't
get the 7s. or 8s. a day they- think they ought to
have, rather than work for 6d. a day less.
There seems to be a growing disaffection in the
colony
as
contemplate.
regards
Young
wages
men
that
come
is
not
out
pleasant
from
to
Europe
thoroughly imbued with the idea that they are going
to get 8 s. or ios. a day all the year round, and if
prices happen to fall and they can't get more than
304
ROUND
ABOUT
NEW
6s. they consider themselves
ZEALAND.
badly treated, and led
by older colonists, go out on strike, quite forgetting
that even the lower wage is double or more than double
what they could get at home.
I cut the following out of a recent New Zealand
paper: it speaks for itself.
" T h r e e hundred emigrants recently arrived in Tasmania by the
Cape Clear, were engaged within a week, and within a month got up
a strike for increased wages. "
This is Tasmania, but New Zealand can show similar
cases.
As the population of the country increases, the
rate of wages will decrease, so the sooner labourers learn
to accept the inevitable the better.
A thing that generally strikes strangers very soon
is the fact of omnibuses being without
conductors:
this is one of the effects of high wages.
As it is
possible to manage without a conductor, they do not
employ them, but have the American Omnibus system.
A little glass box is placed at the end of the car, in
such a position that the driver can see what is in it,
and passengers have to deposit the exact fare in this
as soon as they get in.
Change is always to be had
from the driver, but money once put into the glass
box cannot be taken out again till the box is unlocked
at the 'bus Office.
305
LABOUR.
T h e English labourer has a worse enemy to contend
with in the colony than any C h i n a m a n — I mean D r i n k .
O n e would have t h o u g h t that having to pay
every drink, as is the case in the
had
some
effect in
checking
6d.
for
colonies, would have
the
habit,
among
the
labouring men at least; and so, in a way, I believe it
has.
I think it has had the effect of m a k i n g
many
men, who have not been accustomed in the old country
to drink to excess, total abstainers; but with men w h o
have been used to " t a l l " drinking at home, the extra
4d. they have to pay for their glass of
beer does not
in any way seem to affect the quantity consumed.
have
heard
many
cases
of
men
labourers and in receipt of
o f this
generally
regularly
week
who
are
I
excellent
a week, spending ^jßz
after week
ends in the whole
of
in
drink;
the wages
and
going
it
in
drink, and the man's getting into debt for the actual
necessities of life.
O f course this sort of thing can't
go on very l o n g ; j ß i worth of bad spirits every w e e k —
whisky is the usual d r i n k — w i l l soon tell on any
stitution, and the man either reforms, or kills
in a very short t i m e ; too often the latter.
con-
himself
U p country,
away from the towns, it is difficult to get drink, and
consequently
hard-working;
the
men
and
are
generally
station-hands
very
and
sober
and
shepherds
will
x
306
ROUND
ABOUT
NEW
ZEALAND.
often g o for twelve months together without
getting
drunk, or in some cases without t o u c h i n g alcohol, until
they
receive
their
year's wages.
employers'
cheque
A s a rule t h e y have
for
the
whole
everything
found
t h e m on the station, and having no occasion to spend
money
on
themselves,
year's wages, perhaps
then
call
frequently
£50
receive
or £ 6 0
the
in one
whole
cheque;
the farce, or tragedy, I hardly know w h i c h
it, begins.
They
obtain
a few
days' leave
to
and
ride solemnly down to the nearest town, take u p thenquarters in an hotel, and after having given the cheque
to the landlord, never leave the place as l o n g as he will
continue to supply them with drinks.
to
all their friends and
T h e y offer drinks
every one w h o
comes
near
them, and will drink themselves as l o n g as they remain
sensible.
T h i s performance generally ends in the hero
b e i n g robbed
of everything
he possesses while
in
a
drunken fit, and the landlord turning h i m out of doors,
saying that he has had full value for his cheque, after
he has been there a few days.
not
know how
much
he
T h e man himself does
has spent, and
often
does
not know to within a few days how l o n g he has been
" o n the b o o z e " as it is termed, but has to g o when
the landlord tells him, as he has been foolish e n o u g h
to give all his m o n e y up on
his
first
arrival.
This
307
LABOUR.
is called in the Colonies " j u m p i n g down a
cheque; "
and I have heard of men, who have " j u m p e d
down"
not only their cheques, hut everything they possessed,
and have had to
sell the clothes
o f f their b a c k s
to
g e t back to their employer's station again.
Sober men who can resist this peculiar habit m a k e
a very
good
thing
of
it, as their
expenses
on
the
stations are almost: nil, and they frequently put b y as
m u c h as
£50
per annum, till they can get together
e n o u g h to b u y " t h a t little piece of l a n d " that every
one has his eye on in N e w Zealand.
happy;
Then, they are
and if they remain steady there is no doubt
of their d o i n g well. * F o r a steady E n g l i s h labourer the
colony is simply a Paradise;
with the h i g h w a g e s o f
the present time, a w o r k i n g man w h o saves his m o n e y
m a y b e c o m e as wealthy as any one in the land;
x 2