Chinese Discrimination

            Here in Nelson, the competition from the Chinese is not a matter of great consequence, but on the Island it has reached such proportions as to become a matter of alarm to the men who are forced to earn their bread by the sweat of their brows.  In many lines the white man has been driven from his legitimate sphere of operations by the cheaper labor of the “Heathen Chinee,” and more than that, John Chinaman has had a bad influence on the morals of the people.  He has indulged in vicious practices and been a constant source of corruption to the rising generation.  With a man like W.W.B. McInnes to fight against Chinese immigration, the political situation is likely to grow more complicated.  It is doubtful, however, if much would be accomplished in the way of restricting immigration by increasing the head tax.  Many merchants in Victoria have amassed wealth by the presence of the Chinese.  They employ the Chinese in manufacturing goods, and then sell these same articles as the product of white labor.  The deluded laboringman will not buy from the Chinaman, but he will buy from the white dealer, and pay two prices, under the delusion that he is upholding a principle.  The white dealer has grown rich by systematic practice of this deception.  The only agitation that will prove effective is one that will strike the pockets of the merchant who buys goods from the Chinese.  However, Mr. McInnes is a persistent young fellow and he may create trouble for the Liberal Government.  He has ability and the attempt of certain Liberal papers to sneer at his speech at Nanaimo will not deter him in his fight against John Chinaman.