The Asiatic Danger in the Colonies (Routledge Revivals)

By: L.E. Neame

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Synopsis: First published in 1907, this volume emerged in response to the migration of Indo-Chinese labourers within the British Empire. British mass-transportation of indentured Indians to South Africa fifty years prior, and indentured Chinese workers in the early 1900s, had led to substantial demographic changes in the Natal province, resentment amongst the White British population and raised the critical issue of 'Chinese Slavery' in the 1906 election. The author attempted to explain Colonial reluctance to lower barriers to Indo-Chinese immigration through demonstrating how the skill and affordability of Indo-Chinese workers could undercut the White population. Primary concern was given to the White colonies of Australasia, South Africa and Canada rather than the West Indies, Malaya or Borneo. The author’s three principles of avoiding permanent Asiatic residency, insisting upon repatriation and fair treatment of Asiatics who had already entered the population were forwarded with the hope of retaining Britain’s Colonial Empire and providing a more sustainable migration policy.