ALIENS' REGISTRATION ACT NUMBER OF CHINESE FINED

ALIENS' REGISTRATION ACT NUMBER OF CHINESE FINED

The appearance of about twenty Chinamen at the Magistrate's Court this morning aroused much curiosity as to the cause. The natural conjecture was that the police had raided a pakapoo school. When the names were called the defendants lined up good humouredly, and it was probably the largest crowd of people charged with the same kind of offence that had been seen in the Hawera Court up to that time. The charge was that being aliens they had failed to notify the registering authority of their change of address. The names of defendants were: Joe Ching, Joe Ug, Ah Cheu, Joe Gow, Joe Pong Tai, Chau Wai, Joe Ham, Hong Wong Yong, Joe' Wae Hong, Lee Ying Chong, Ug Ping Luin, Tong Nau Sye, Soo Foo, Wong Ah Gae, Wong Yet Lung, Ching Poi, Sam Yue, Jack Ling. Mr Houston, who appeared for the whole of the defendants, said that all were pleading guilty. The charge was laid under section 10 of the Aliens Registration Act, 1917, and was that they had failed to notify their changes of address within 14 days. The facts in each case were practically the same. They had duly registered under the Act, but when they changed their places of abode they failed to notify the registering authority. They now wished to comply with the requirements of the Act. It was a notorious fact that Chinese were among the most law-abiding members of the community, and those in and around Hawera were really very quiet, good citizens. He suggested that the position would be met by convicting and discharging defendants. Sergeant Henry stated that the conditions with which defendants had failed to comply were endorsed on the certificates of registration issued to them. As for their conduct, all were well behaved, and the case had been brought both as a warning to them and others. Some of the defendants had been in the town over 12 months and others only a few months. The Magistrate, addressing the defendants through an interpreter, said that the Act required aliens to notify a change of address within 14 days: For failure to do this an alien was liable to a fine of £20. He was quite satisfied that defendants had acted in ignorance, and for that reason he would not inflict a heavy penalty this time, but if any of them came before him again he would have to make the penalty more severe. The Interpreter: They want you to make the fine as light as possible. Some of the men are not working, and those that are working are only receiving 15s or 20s a week. The Magistrate: I am not fining them £5, but ss. That is not very much. The Interpreter: No, but of course they would like you to make it lighter. (Laughter) Sergeant Henry: There does not appear to be any shortage of money with them when the races are on. Each was ordered to pay in addition to the fine and Court costs is towards the interpreter's fee. As soon as the penalties had been definitely fixed the countenances of the Chinamen lost their woe-begone expression, which might have been calculated to move any magistrate. Cheerful smiles lit up their faces as they filed into the clerk's room to pay the fines. Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, 26 October 1920, Page 7