Post by NZBC on Jul 15, 2012 13:37:50 GMT 12
In the New Zealand Gazette of the I7th inst., is re-printed an Act passed by the Queensland Legislature, regulating the immigration of the Chinese, and making provision against their becoming a charge upon the colony. The Act provides that the master of every vessel landing at a Queensland port having Chinese on board, shall not have more than one Chinaman for every 10 tons register that the vessel may be. A breach of this provision renders the vessel liable to a fine of £10, for every Chinaman carried in excess of that number. The Chinese are not to be landed on any part of Queensland until the captain, or some person for him, shall have paid £10 for every Chinaman so landed. A breach of this provision renders the captain liable to a penalty of £20, for every Chinaman so landed, besides the forfeiture of the vessel. On tho payment of the £10, a certificate is issued by a Customs or other Government officer, and on the holder of this certificate resolving to leave the colony, aud after proving that all fees and fines he has incurred are paid that he has not been confined iu any lock-up after conviction; that he has paid all costs and charges incurred in respect of his confinement or medical treatment in any public hospital, benevolent asylum, &c; that he has never been a charge upon the revenue of tho colony; the £10 will be repaid to him on board the vessel when he is about to sail away. Failing in any of these conditions, or the Chinaman deciding to remain iu the colony, or neglecting to produce the certificate showing that the £10 has been paid on his landing, the £10 shall be paid into Consolidated Revenue New Zealand Herald, Volume XV, Issue 5055, 29 January 1878, Page 2