236 



law to the particular human racial type evolved under its 

 influence, but cannot be adjusted to any other." Professor 

 Baldwin Spencer is therein quoted as having said, " In ray 

 opinion there is a belt of country in tropical Australia— 

 the northern territory of Queensland— which can only be 

 worked witli the aid of coloured labour." A Vice-President 

 of this Society, the late Dr. Walter Spencer, is quoted as 

 having stated that " If one maintains that the agricultural 

 riches of tropical Australia can be developed by white 

 labour, he is either a deluder or is deluded." 



In this Society also we have had a thoughtful paper by 

 Mr. Joseph Palmer on "A White Australia," which is 

 included in the records of its Economic Section. The paper 

 was read in September 1901, and in it reference was made 

 to the Bill then before the Commonwealth Parliament, 

 which subsequently became law as the Aliens Immigration 

 Restriction Act of 1901, it being subsequently amended in 

 1905. Under this Act, any person other than European, is 

 prohibited from entering the Commonwealth who fails to 

 pass the "dictation test," i.e. "who fails to write out not 

 less than 50 words of a European language prescribed by 

 regulation, when dictated to him by an officer administering 

 the Act." ] Mr. Palmer held the view that it is the duty 

 of Australians "as trustees in possession of this vast 

 territory, to govern it and its inhabitants in the best 

 interests of the entire human race," and that the theory 

 of a White Australia is "unjust, undesirable and impossible 

 —impossible, because legislate as much as we may, we 

 cannot keep the black and coloured people out." These 

 are statements of a sufficiently definite character to cause 

 us to consider if there be nothing to urge on the other side of 

 the question. Mr. Macho, already referred to, has recently 



i! and incidentally allowing 

 osed at any time within five years of landing 



