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Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1069, 3 April 1882, Page 2

It may be remembered that an Act for regulating Chinese immigration was passed last session, but the Governor declined to take the responsibility of assenting to it, and sent it Home, as

the phrase has it, "for the signification of her Majesty's pleasure." This was hailed with great satisfaction by the philo-Chinese Members of the House, it being supposed that the Imperial Government would veto it. Contrary to this expectation, it has recertly been returned, assented to by her Majesty, and is now the law of the land. As on this, as on all goldfields, considerable interest is felt respecting Mongolians j generally, we give a brief abstract of the new Act. The number of Chinese that any vessel is permitted to bring to the Colony is not to exceed the proportion of one to every ten tons of her register, the penalty for excess of that being a sum not exceeding £10 per head, the owner, charterer, or master, being liable for the same. Every master of a vessel is compelled to hand over a list of his Chinese passengers to the Customs officer giving as full particulars of each one as is possible. Before any Chinamen are allowed to land, the master ofjhe vessel must pay £10 each for JjJMjJPw an&Bft jjp of the crew. The penalty on any master for not paying the head money and landing, or permitting any Chinese to land is not to exceed £10 for every one so landed, and in addition the vessel may be forfeited, condemned, and sold in the same way as vessels may be forfeited for breaches of Customs laws. Each Chinaman who pays the £10 is to receive a certificate to that effect. If any Chinaman enter or attempt to enter the Colony and evade payment, he may be apprehended, taken before any Justice of the Peace and fined ten pounds — power is given to the Government to remit penalties. Chinese so fined may have time given them, not exceeding two months for payment, if secured by recognizance, to the satisfaction of the sitting magistrate be given. The magistrate has power to exercise his own judgment as to whether any one brought before him is a Chinaman within the meaning of the Act or not. All Chinese now in the Colony may apply to the nearest Resident Magistrate's Court, or Goldfields' Warden, for a certificate of exemption as having been in yewv ew Zealand prior to this Act coming into operation, and if on temporary absence can obtain certificates to that effect, so that, on their return, they will not be liable to the above import duty of LlO per head. The above comprises all the points of the measure, and there can be no doubt it will greatly check the flow of Chinese immigration in New Zealand.