It appears that the restriction of Japanese immigration to the United States in 1907 resulted in a large movement of this race from Hawaii to Canada, this destination being chosen because, under the United States regulation, they were not admissible to the latter country. During that year a large number of Portuguese immigrants were brought from the Azores and Madeira to Hawaii on ships chartered for that purpose. When the Portuguese were landed, the ships were immediately loaded with Japanese laborers, who had become dissatisfied in Hawaii, and proceeded to Canada.

This influx aroused determined opposition to Japanese immigration and resulted in an agreement between Canada and Japan, whereby the issue of passports for Japanese coming to Canada is limited to 400 annually. The great decrease in Japanese immigration in 1908, as above shown, indicates that the agreement between the two Governments is effective.

HINDU.

Hindu, or East Indian, immigrants were the latest to become a factor in Canada's oriental immigration problem, but owing to quick and vigorous action on the part of the Dominion the movement was of brief duration. The following statement of arrivals during recent years illustrates the rise and fall, as well as the extent, of Hindu immigration to Canada:

Canada, and particularly British Columbia, did not want the Hindus as immigrants, but the fact that citizens of Canada and India were alike British subjects made the problem a delicate one. Consequently Mr. King was, in 1908, sent on a mission to England "to confer with the British authorities on the subject of immigration to Canada from the Orient, and immigration from India in particular.” That the desired end was attained is indicated by the fact that in the fiscal year 1909 following Mr. King's conference with the British authorities only 6 Hindu immigrants were admitted to Canada, whereas the number for the previous year was 2,623.

The practical exclusion of Hindus from Canada was accomplished under the Canadian immigration law, which, as previously explained, is peculiarly adapted to meet emergencies of this nature. While Hindus are not specifically excluded, or, in fact, even mentioned in the Canadian immigration act or orders of the governor in council relative thereto, practically insurmountable barriers have been erected against them. It is required that such immigrants shall possess at least $200 on landing; but the most effective barrier is the section of the law which provides that any immigrants who have come to Canada otherwise than by continuous journey from the country of which they are natives or citizens, and upon through tickets purchased in that country, may be excluded.

PART II. AUSTRALIA.

There has been a steady immigration movement to the British colonies in Australasia since the earliest days of their settlement. It is impossible to determine the extent of the movement from other countries, except in recent years, for the records prior to 1901 do not distinguish between transoceanic immigration and that from one Australasian colony to another; but it is well known that during the entire history of the colonies by far the greater part of the transoceanic immigration originated in the United Kingdom, and consequently the white population is very largely of British origin.

With the federation, in 1901, of the colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania into the Commonwealth of Australia, the regulation of immigration came within the province of the Commonwealth Parliament. Australia's immigration problem is the problem of a vast, undeveloped land, and the chief concern of the Commonwealth in this respect is to secure British and other white settlers and to exclude Asiatics and certain Pacific Islanders who are attracted there by the opportunity for highly remunerative labor.

IMMIGRATION ENCOURAGED.

The only districts of Australia which are at all well populated by whites are in a fringe of country along the coast. With an area of 2,974,581 square miles, the Commonwealth in 1907 had a population of only 4,197,022, exclusive of aborigines; while the continental United States, with a land area of 2,974,159 square miles, had a population in 1900 of about 76,000,000.

Of the total area of the Australian Commonwealth, 52.7 per cent remained unoccupied in 1907. Only 4.7 per cent of the land has been entirely alienated, 1.9 per cent being in process of alienation and 40.7 per cent being leased or licensed. In order to induce settlers to take up the unoccupied land, the government allows the purchase of freeholds by payment of small installments, while allowances to settlers for improving holdings are made in all the States except Tasmania. Even with such inducements, voluntary immigration is not sufficiently large to be satisfactory, and some of the States continue to induce immigration by paying the passage wholly or in part of persons from the United Kingdom whose purpose it is to settle on the land or to engage in farming or other work of a similar nature. Assistance is also offered to domestic servants and other persons who can satisfy the representative of the Commonwealth in London that they would make desirable settlers in Australia.

EARLIER IMMIGRATION.

Immigration has been the most important factor in the increase of Australasia's population from the earliest days of its settlement. In 1788 the total population was 1,030, all of whom were in New South Wales, the parent colony of Australia. In 1901 the population of the Commonwealth, exclusive of the aborigines, was 3,773,245. There was a high rate of increase in the population between 1831 and 1841, due largely to a vigorous policy of state-aided immigration in force during that period. There was also a rapid increase between 1851 and 1861, which was due in great part to the discovery of gold in Victoria and the consequent heavy immigration to that colony. Large gains in the population of Queensland and Western Australia prior to 1901 also were mainly the results of immigration movements attendant upon gold discoveries.

Prior to the formation of the Commonwealth in 1901, the immigration records of the several colonies were kept separately, and, as previously stated, no distinction was made between transoceanic and intercolonial immigrants. It is impossible, therefore, to determine what proportion of the immigration movement to the various colonies was from over the sea. However, the following table shows the "net immigration," or excess of immigration over emigration, in the case of each colony, in ten-year periods from 1851 to 1900, and also in the year 1901:

TABLE 7.-The "net immigration" to Australasia for the five decennial periods ending 1900, and for the year 1901, by States.

[From The Seven Colonies of Australasia, 1901-2, p. 535.]

It will be noted that Queensland is the colony which shows an excess of immigrants over emigrants during each period considered. During the time covered there was a considerable movement of population from one colony to another, which accounts for the fluctuation in immigration and emigration. As already stated, the discovery of gold in Victoria influenced the movement to that colony in 18511860, while the increased immigration to Queensland in 1881-1890 and to Western Australia in 1891-1900 was due to the same cause.

RECENT IMMIGRATION.

From 1902 to 1908, inclusive, 391,207 immigrants were admitted to the Commonwealth of Australia, and of these 321,334, or 82.1 per cent, were British. No other nationality comes in any considerable

numbers, the French being second with 10,976 immigrants and the Chinese third with 8,767, during the same period. Of the immigrants classed as British, however, only about one-fourth come direct from the United Kingdom. New Zealand furnishes nearly one-half of the total, and the remainder come from other British colonies.

ASSISTED IMMIGRATION.

The policy of assisting immigration has been pursued by the sev-] eral States of the Australian Commonwealth for a greater part of the time since their settlement, but in recent years the practice has been largely discontinued, except in South Australia, Western Australia, and Queensland. According to official records, state-aided immigrants have been admitted to the various Australian States as fol-! lows: "

a

THE AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION LAW.

Prior to the federation, the several colonies now composing Australia had restricted the immigration of Chinese and other Asiatics, and also provided for the exclusion of other persons deemed undesirable. Upon the formation of the Commonwealth in 1901 the power to control immigration and emigration was conceded to the Parliament of the United Colonies. Acting under this authority, Parliament enacted the immigration restriction act of 1901 which superseded the immigration laws of the various colonies. In 1905 the contract immigrants act was substituted for a clause of the act of 1901 which restricted the immigration of persons under contract, and the act was otherwise amended.

The following classes are excluded by the terms of the Australian law: Any person failing to write 50 dictated words of some designated language; any person likely to become a public charge; any person insane or idiotic; any person suffering from a dangerous, loathsome, infectious, or contagious disease; any prostitute or person profiting by prostitution; any unpardoned person convicted of a nonpolitical offense, sentenced for one year or more and not having

served the sentence.

The law shall not apply to any person holding a legal certificate of exemption; members of the King's army or navy; officers and crew of public vessels; officers and crew of all vessels submitting to regulations for ingress and egress; officers of any nation duly accredited to the government of the Commonwealth or sent by any government on any special mission.

• The Official Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia, No. 2, 1901–1908, p. 176. d Ibid., p. 1104.

• Commonwealth Constitution Act, chap. 1, Pt. V, sec. 51.

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