is the recognised method in Australia for settling knotty problems and obtaining a popular verdict free from personal or political bias.
Much adverse criticism has been directed against the Commonwealth for its laws restricting immigration. But a law forbidding the indiscriminate introduction of labour under contract is a necessity in a country where the ruling rate of wages is higher than in Great Britain; where Factory Acts provide for boards that fix the rate of wages; and where the minimum wage is in force. There was hardly a voice raised in the Commonwealth Parliament against the clause providing for this restriction, and there was no division upon it. It was evident that without some such provision an unscrupulous employer might hoodwink those working at lower wages in other countries into binding themselves for a term of years at a rate which, though nigh enough to entice, was still below the Australian standard wage. The full Australian citizenship is open to the world, but he who desires to partake thereof should enter the country free and untrammelled.
The law was never intended to apply to such a case as that of the historical six hatters, who, however, were not sent back, as is so frequently stated, but, on the contrary, were admitted directly their employer applied for the requisite permission. The episode was a regrettable incident, for which a little passing inter-State jealousy was probably responsible, out does not give ground for all the clamour which was raised against the Act.
The exclusion of coloured races may be accepted as a fixed and final determination. This is not, as is frequently supposed, a mere labour question. It is a national resolve, which is shared by the great majority of every class, to preserve at all hazards the purity of the race. Those living at a distance can hardly appreciate the gravity of the position. Without immigration laws, Australia, situated as she is, would be inundated by alien races, and would soon cease to be a white man's
