128 [May, 1902.] 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
Vol. VIII. No. 89. 
not come to Australia in any large numbers. However, as they were agriculturists, it had 
been suggested that temporary use should be made of them — in ’he same manner as, in England, 
country labour was imported from towns for hop-picking, etc. — with arrangements for their 
return to their country after the particular tropical agriculture, which required their services, 
was over for the season. This scheme would, it was said, be a benefit to them as a civilizing 
influence, and enable the fertile coast-lands to produce all kinds of tropical produce. Sir 
Horace, however, was of opinion that this arrangement was at present outside the range of 
practical politics, and he had never been in favour of it. 
The labour necessary for the cultivation of the sugar fartns in Queensland had up to now 
been almost entirely drawn from the natives of the Solomon and New Hebrides Islands. In 
appearance there was not a very marked difference between these people, the Kanakas, and 
the aboriginal Australian. Their hair, however was curly, their stature lower, and they had 
a higher intelligence, and could be utilized in almost every kind of manual labour. Accus- 
tomed to out-door work in a tropical country, they made splendid agricultural labourers ; in 
fact, in planting, hand-weeding, washing and cutting cane in North Queensland, they 
performed well such work as a white labourer could not permanently do, and which no white 
man ought ever to be asked to do. There were not 10,000 of them in the whole Continent, 
and their programme of labour was so limited and restricted by statute as to be practically con- 
fined to out-door work in purely tropical agriculture. As proof of the necessity of their 
labour for the sugar industry, it was stated that not 100 tons of sugar were produced annually 
in all Queensland in the manufacture of which a Kanaka had not some part. Sir Horace 
here spoke very warmly on the question of deporting these people out of Australia, and hoped 
that, at any rate, some provision would be made for, and protection given to them, when they 
reached their own country. 
In point of time the Chinese were the first of the coloured races to emigrate to Australia, 
having commenced to arrive over fifty years ago. However, as there were not now more than 
30,000 of them in the whole Continent, it could hardly be urged that they had swarmed over 
Australia. They all came from one province of China, but were, as a rule, of the lowest and 
most servile class. Yet they all appeared to be intelligent and had a certain amount of 
education. There was good reason for believing that the Chinese Government was adverse 
to their emigration, so that there was little cause to dread their over-running the country. 
Sir Horace commented upon the reasons advanced for the exclusion of the Chinese, and the 
steps taken to keep them out. Their numbers at the present time in Queensland were 8,783 
males and 530 females. 
There were but few Japanese in the State — only 2,115 males and 154 females. Some of 
these were indentured labourers, under contract to return home, and others were employed 
in the pearl industry. In fact, the Japanese were the only reliable divers, and if they were 
excluded the pearl industry would probably be in a bad way. At one time it appeared as if 
there was likely to be an invasion of Japanese labour, but of late years all fear of that had 
passed, and the Government of Japan had arranged with the Government of Queensland to so 
check the emigration as to supply only the Queensland demand. Sir Horace was of opinion 
that the new Anglo- Japanese Treaty would not in any way involve a change of policy with 
regard to the exclusion laws, which had recently been passed by Lbe Commonwealth Parliament, 
for the purpose of excluding from Australia all coloured Asiatics, although in that category 
were included almost entirely the working classes of Japan. 
The brown people might all be classed as Coolies. There were only 939 of them in 
Queensland, and an Indian invasion had never been threatened. 
As a general rule it might be taken that the black races, including the Kanakas, did 
not blend with the whites, and that, therefore, their case was on quite a different footing from 
that of the yellow races, which did. Sir Horace contended that the exclusion laws, which 
had been passed by the various colonics before Federation, had so arranged matters that the 
numbers of these coloured peoples had already decreased, and that those who remained neither 
blended with the Europeans to any appreciable extent, nor were ever likely to give rise to any 
problem so serious that it could not be easily dealt with by the various States when it arose. 
He then more fully described the recent legislation of the Federal Government with regard to 
a “ White Australia,” which he considered premature, as the question was not of such 
importance to the Commonwealth as those relating to either commerce or defence, Mrhich had 
not received their proper amount of attention. Also he considered that the aborigines had, 
so to sp ak, a first claim on the Commonwealth, and the recent colour legislation did not 
relate to them. 
Sir Horace quite appreciated the necessity of Australia ultimately being a while country, 
but maintained that the coloured races were now extremely useful, commercially, and that 
the time had not yet arrived for excluding them altogether. He was also aware of the advant- 
ages to be derived from Commonwealth legislation on this matter, if only for the purpose of 
providing one system for the entire Continent. 
He maintained that a good deal of the recent legislation had not so much reference to a 
White Australia as to labour questions, and in this connection he instanced the law which 
excluded British emigrants, among others, who had engaged, before leaving home, to take 
up work on their arrival, a measure which he deprecated ; considering that, as Australia was 
badly in want of population, and that other attractive countries, not so expensive to reach, 
offered inducements to people to emigrate, they were not likely to go to Australia unless they 
were first satisfied that they would be welcomed there. 
After the lecture Sir Horace Tozer exhibited a number of slides illustrating the habits of 
the various races with which he had been dealing, and also the various industries of the State, 
notably of cattle-raising. 
Lord Lamington, after thanking Sir Horace for a most interesting lecture, doubted whether 
the Home Government had been so much to blame in the matter of Argentine meat supplies 
as was generally supposed. With regard to the Kanaka question, he felt that Queensland 
had been put in a difficult position in the matter by the Commonwealth Government, and 
that they all felt some regret that Queensland had not been more severe in making stipulations 
before joining the Federation. 
“NEW ZEALAND: HER RECORD AND DESTINY.” 
(By Edward Wakefield, Esq.) 
In the unavoidable absence of Sir James Fergusson, the chair was occupied by the 
Hon. W. P EMBER Reeves, Agent-Generdl for New Zealand, at the lecture given by 
Mr. Edward Wakefield at the Institute on Monday, 3rd March, entitled “New Zealand : 
her Record and Destiny,” who, in his introductory remarks, said that those among the 
audience who were New Zealanders must be acquainted with Mr. Wakefield, who had 
lived for many years in the colony, and they could not have forgotten the able journalist, 
the well-known politician, and brilliant public speaker. Had the lecturer, however, been 
without these personal claims, he would be sure of a most attentive hearing, if only for the name 
he bore, which was one of the historical names of New Zealand. If any man could claim 
to be the founder of the colony it was Edward Gibbon Wakefield, to whom was due the 
hoisting of the British Flag there 62 years ago. Very few people, at that time, had any 
faith in the colony. The rulers of the Empire did not think it would be at all a desirable 
addition to their responsibilities, and anyone who had prophesied that the time would come 
when New Zealanders would shed their blood for the old country in South Africa, would 
probably have been considered a madman. Edward Gibbon Wakefield could, hardly have 
foreseen that, but he had foresight enough to. know that in New Zealand Great Britain 
would acquire a splendid colony. 
The lecturer said that New Zealand was a country combining the characteristics of 
almost all the best of the civilized parts of the world. The colony was often spoken of as 
the antipodes of Great Britain, but this was not correct. Its geographical position 
corresponded more nearly to that of Italy and Turkey. However, both the country and the 
people had so many characteristics in common with Great Britain, that the description of the 
colony as the Great Britain of the South had a good deal of justification for it. 
The greater part of the lecture was historical, and Mr. Wakefield reminded his audience 
that the first intimation that Europeans had of the existence of such a country as New 
Zealand was its accidental discovery by Tasman in 1642. That explorer had given it its 
present name, a most inappropriate one, for it was in very many respects most unlike 
Zealand. The colony in fact was one of the most mountainous districts in the world, and, 
but for its maritime position, would bear a strong resemblance to Switzerland. 
Owing to Europe having been so occupied with its wars and revolutions nothing more 
was heard of New Zealand for 122 years, when Captain Cook visited it. But he had been a 
navigator and not a colonist, and the idea of founding a settlement in the country apparently 
never occurred to him. 
After Captain Cook many other captains touched on the shores of New Zealand, or 
discovered the islands round it, bringing away with them curiosities, native weapons, and 
tales of bloodshed and terror. Thus the country began to be surrounded with an 
atmosphere of mystery and romance, which excited the interest of the missionaries, who were 
the first civilized people to make a landing. 
Mr. Wakefield described how narrowly the country escaped becoming first a Dutch and 
then a French colony, and stated that even the hoisting of the British Flag by Colonel 
Wakefield in 1S40 had, at the time, been almost considered an exploit of piracy. However, 
the Duke of Wellington had upheld the action, and it was after him that the capital of the 
colony took its name. 
The ideal of New Zealand’s founders had been to make the colony as nearly as possible 
like Great Britain, politically and socially, while enjoying all the advantages of a virgin 
soil and perfect climate. Of the early founders Edward Gibbon Wakefield was the most 
important. He, in 1S40, formed the New Zealand Company, and brought over 1,200 
settlers who established themselves in what was now the city of Wellington. 
Other settlements from time to time sprang up in different parts of the country, with 
more or less independent forms of government. However, when the troubles with the 
natives — mainly over questions of land tenure — became acute, and Auckland was turned 
into a great military camp, the Government changed its form and became much more 
centralised. 
A vivid account was here given of the tribal wars of tire Maoris and of the consequent 
wholesale slaughter, mainly due to their use of firearms, which had been the real cause of the 
decimation of the native races. 
The war - between the English and Maoris lasted, with longer or shorter intervals, 
from 1843 to 1869, when it suddenly came to an end. The Maoris had proved themselves 
to be among the best of soldiers ; perhaps, behind palisades, the best. Their recent offer of 
service in South Africa had shown that the war had left no lasting ill effects behind it. 
New Zealand was the only part of Australasia which had passed through the fire of a 
severe and prolonged military conflict as a condition of its existence, and in that conflict 
W'ould be found one of the main causes which distinguished it so sharply from Australia. 
These wars, and the consequent subsidence of the small Provincial Governments, 
changed the whole state of affairs in New Zealand. Up to 1S69 the public works had been 
locally administered by the Provincial Governments, hut in 1S70, at the conclusion of the 
war, the Public Works Policy had been adopted, by which it had been decided to borrow 
^10,000,000 on the security of the colony, the whole to be spent in ten years on public 
works, immigration, and especially on railways. The results were remarkable. The whole 
colony entered upon a career of activity and commercial excitement. Mr. Wakefield here 
paid a high tribute to Sir Julius Vogel, and explained how this policy had been marred by 
events over which New Zealand had no control— notably by the failure of the Glasgow Bank 
— which had caused a demand for the withdrawal of much of the borrowed money. 
An interesting description was given as to how Sir George Grey had suddenly returned 
to active political life, of the share he had then taken in the affairs of the colony, and oi 
how, as legatee of that statesman’s influence, Mr. Seddon had come to occupy his present 
position. Mr. Wakefield thought that perhaps the word “ Socialism,” so often applied to 
the legislation of New Zealand, was not an appropriate one ; although wealth there was more 
evenly distributed than in any other country in the world, there was practically no poverty, 
and one could not find a man with a patch on his coat from one end of the colony to the 
other. 
Some quotations were made from the New Zealand Year-Book to show the present 
prosperous condition of the country, and Mr. Wakefield considered that, with its wonderful 
productiveness and buoyancy, it would at no very distant date fulfil all that its most ardent 
enthusiasts had hoped. The country was at present simply in a state of incubation, 
and developments were preparing which would, in time, give new impulses upon an enormous 
scale. He believed that the war in South Africa had done New Zealand a great deal of 
good, having brought out the spirit of the people, widened their ideas, and given them 
Imperialistic ideals to an extraordinary extent. The future of the colony was, he contended, 
to be that of Queen of the Pacific. It was a purely maritime country, 1,200 miles from the 
nearest mainland, and surrounded by islands of great wealth and capabilities. He believed 
that Lord Ranfurly and Mr. Seddon were perfectly right, and were looking wisely ahead, in 
gradually and persistently making New Zealand the ruler of all these islands. The country 
had, with its unparalleled water pow'er and land-locked harbours, a future for electricity which 
no other country in the world possessed, and he looked forward to seeing, in the West 
Coast Sounds, cities like Glasgow and Belfast which would send out their 20,000-ton 
steamers to successfully contend against the competition of any foreign country. 
Sir James Fergusson, who arrived during the lecture, said that as a previous Governor 
of New Zealand, it had given him much pleasure to hear what Mr. Wakefield had had to 
say about the colony. lie then gave some interesting anecdotes of Maori chivalry, and 
said he must refer to something Mr. Wakefield had said as to the warlike feeling that had 
been developed towards the mother-country and the Empire of which New Zealand 
formed so honourable a part. Something better than warlike feeling — brotherly feeling — 
had been developed. By their gallantry, though unfortunately they had suffered, the 
New Zealanders had quite recently contributed to a brilliant victory. He had been Governor 
of the colony twenty-six years ago, and had visited it again six years ago, when he had 
been much struck with the great advance that had been made in the meantime, not only from 
a material point of view, but more particularly with regard to the people themselves. 
Education, which was universal in the country, had already left its mark upon the people. 
“THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES 
OF THE CROWN COLONIES.” 
(By Mr. Hedger Wallace.) 
A course of lectures recently delivered by Mr. Hedger Wallace at the Imperial 
Institute on “ The Commercial Products and Agricultural Resources of the Crown Colonies ” 
was designed, through the demonstrations, following each lecture, which he gave in the 
galleries of the Institute, to attract attention to the collections of products illustrative of the 
