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539

A.—s

Sir JOSEPH WARD : The immigration law there would come into conflict with the proposals under this Bill. Under our immigration laws in New Zealand, which I think our country would not relax, we insist upon certain examinations, and will not allow aliens who do not comply with the reasonable conditions that we require to come into our country. I want to be perfectly sure, speaking from a New Zealand standpoint, that in any legislation that is put upon the Statute Book in the hope of having law common to all as Mr. Gladstone said, we maintain the right of New Zealand to exercise to the fullest possible extent the control of an alien race that we might consider an undesirable acquisition to our community. I am not saying it offensively in any sense whatever to any other race, but the feeling that we should help our own race permeates the whole country. The school children in our schools are taught to regard New Zealand as a white man's country. We look upon it as a glorious portion of the British possessions, and we want to keep it so. We are advancing in many ways and are well circumstanced with a fine population throughout, and we want to avoid the mixing up and the contamination of the races both now and in the years to come by preserving rt for white men to-day and not allowing any law, whether for the purpose of naturalization or for any other purpose to interfere with it. That is the fundamental and essential condition which I wish to see established in the interest of Great Britain just as well as of New Zealand. With that reservation, as far as we are concerned, I should only be too glad to assist in the very laudable object Mr. Gladstone has in view of having uniformity of treatment, but I do hope in giving effect to that uniformity of treatment that in the main overriding law you will make provision that the right of a self-governing Colony cannot be overriden by saying we have assented to some principle which might be found in operation injurious to our people. Mr. GLADSTONE : It would be our intention to meet the views you have expressed. lam not prepared at the present moment to say in what terms in the Bill it should be done. I think that is a matter for discussion. It will be of great value to me to have the views of tlie representatives of the different Colonies, so that we can consider subsequently having those views in black and white before us how best they can be met in the provisions in the Bill. The Bill itself, as explained last time, is only put forward as a basis for discussion. It is a draft Bill. There is no idea of at once introducing it into the House of Commons and discussing it there with all these particular matters put forward to-day by General Botha and others unsifted and practically unsettled. There is no idea of that sort. I think I can give an assurance that the views put forward generally to-day will be carefully considered before anything substantive and final is proposed formally. Probably the best plan, if this resolution which has been moved is accepted by the Conference, will be for us to consider, in the light of what has been said, what alteration in the draft Bill could be made in order to meet the views expressed, and then to leave the fuller discussion to the subsidiary Conference which, I understand, could be held under the terms of the resolution adopted on the 20th April. It is a very difficult matter, from the point of view of the law alone, and I should not care to attempt to offer suggestions or solutions of the various points raised straight away. Dr. SMARTT : It is a very important question to get settled, if you can do so, somewhat on the lines suggested by you, because we have the greatest difficulty. For instance, in South Africa, 1 take it that an alien naturalized in one Colony, perhaps holding the very highest office, who,

Fourteenth Day. 9 May 1907.

Naturalization.

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