Exhibit D: Immigration Restriction

7 16 1881 The Bulletin.PNG

"The Scape-Goat." Bulletin, July 16, 1881. 

This cartoon featured in The Bulletin, an infamously nationalistic and anti-Chinese magazine. It is reminiscent of The Bulletin’s later cartoon, the ‘Mongolian Octopus’, in a number of ways.¹ Firstly, the Chinese figure is beastialised and stereotyped: à la his 'queue' haircut, squinting eyes, 'fu manchu' moustache, and teapot. Moreover, an assortment of Sinophobic words and associations are scrawled across his goat’s body, including “smallpox”, “opium smoking”, and “cheap and nasty”.

Notably, the cartoon is also in explicit support of a Chinese immigration restriction bill, as written on the teapot. On July 7, a little more than a week prior to the cartoon's publication, such a bill was first read out in the New South Wales Parliament. This coincided with increasing hysteria and panic surrounding the smallpox epidemic. By this time, police and health authorities were inundated with complaints and accusations directed towards Sydney’s Chinese. The vast majority of these proved to be unfounded - cases of measles, chickenpox, and indigestion were frequently reported. Unfortunately, many of the falsely accused were sent to North Head Quarantine Station regardless. One particularly telling example involved the investigation of Chinese residence because “dreadful groans” had been heard during the night. When health officials arrived, they learned that “the Chinese inmates of the place were in the habit of snoring in their sleep,” and that this is what had alarmed their neighbours.²

Still, there was some debate surrounding the immigration restriction bill. However, most of this disagreement was not concerned with whether or not Chinese immigration should be curtailed - for which there was overwhelming support - but over the particular details of the legislation. For example, an editorial in the Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser astutely recognised that “the outbreak of small-pox in Sydney has not only hastened” the writing of the bill, but “it has affected its character” too. It argued that the bill was attempting to stifle Chinese immigration and prevent the spread of infectious disease, when it would be more pragmatic to address these issues “separately”. To this end, the article questioned the bill’s provision that every ship arriving into the country must be placed under quarantine - “what had this to do with restricting Chinese immigration?”³ Regardless, the Influx of Chinese Restriction Act 1881 was soon in effect. Institutional racism, informed by popular sentiments including those commonly expressed in the press, was thereby realised in the Colony's legislature.

Moreover, the fact that the Chinese “scape-goat” is being pushed off a cliff by a man ostensibly dressed in Ancient Greek attire is a reference to Ancient Greek scapegoating rituals. In these, “the death of one or two people saves the city from destruction,” or so was the thinking. The Ancient Greek man might also serve as a reaffirmation of the 'superior' European roots of the British. In this way, then, the survival of one national group is directly linked to the expulsion (and destruction) of another. This demonstrates how, as Ouyang Yu articulates, “nationalism combined with racism finds in the Chinese a convenient scapegoat and a necessary antithesis.” To take this further, an Australian national identity was thus formed in part by the vilification and Othering of a perceived or manufactured - largely by the press - threat in the Chinese. This Othering was framed as necessary for the nation's survival - as later echoed in Sir Henry Parkes' speech - and occurred not only in the nation's consciousness, but in the Colony's legislation too.

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¹ “The Mongolian Octopus - His Grip on Australia,” Bulletin, August 21, 1886.
² “Small-pox in Sydney,” Sydney Morning Herald, June 21, 1881.
³ “Friday, July 22, 1881,” Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser, July 22, 1881.
⁴ Jan Bremmer, “Scapegoat Rituals in Ancient Greece,” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 87 (1983): 304.
⁵ Yu Ouyang, “Australian invention of Chinese invasion: a century of paranoia, 1888-1988,” Australian Literary Studies 17.1 (1995): 74.
7 22 1881 Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser.PNG

“Friday, July 22, 1881,” Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser, July 22, 1881.

1881 Chinese Restriction Act.jpg

Influx of Chinese Restriction Act 1881. Courtesy State Records New South Wales.

In 1888, an attempt to repeal the Influx of Chinese Restriction Act 1881 was voted down. Strong anti-Chinese sentiments had persisted since the epidemic and this was reflected in parliament.

Exhibit D: Immigration Restriction