Footnotes
*The author would like to thank the two anonymous referees ofLabour Historyfor their comments and suggestions.
1.Ann Curthoys, “Conflict and Consensus: The Seamen’s Strike of 1878,”inWho are Our Enemies? Racism and the Australian Working Class, ed.Ann Curthoys and Andrew Markus(:Hale and Iremonger, 1978), 48–65(this was a special issue ofLabour History, no. 35, November1978);Andrew Markus, Fear and Hatred: Purifying Australia and California 1850–1901(:Hale and Iremonger, 1979), 81–91, 102–5;Raymond Markey, “Race and Organized Labor in Australia, 1850–1901,” Historian 58, no. 2(December1996):347–51;Luke Trainor, British Imperialism and Australian Nationalism: Manipulation, Conflict, and Compromise in the Late Nineteenth Century(:Cambridge University Press, 1984), 85.
2.Curthoys, “Conflict and Consensus,” 65.
3.Ibid.
4.Ray Markey, “Populist Politics,”inCurthoys and Markus, Who are Our Enemies, 67.
5.Verity Burgmann, “Capital and Labour,”inCurthoys and Markus, Who are Our Enemies, 20–34;Verity Burgmann, “Writing Racism out of History,” Arena(first series), no. 67 (1984):78–92.
6.Rupert Lockwood, “British Imperial Influences in the Foundation of the White Australia Policy,” Labour History, no. 7 (November1964):23–33. See alsoMichael Quinlan and Constance Lever-Tracy, “From Labour Market Exclusion to Industrial Solidarity: Australian Trade Union Responses to Asian Workers, 1830–1988,” Cambridge Journal of Economics 14, no. 2(1980):166.
7.Phil Griffiths, “The Strategic Fears of the Ruling Class: The Construction of Queensland’s Chinese Immigrants Regulation Act of 1877,” Australian Journal of Politics and History 58, no. 1(March2012):1–19;Peter Corris, “Racialism: The Australian Experience,” Historical Studies, Australia and New Zealand 15, no. 61(October1973):754;Ann Curthoys, “Racism and Class in the Nineteenth Century Immigration Debate,”inSurrender Australia? Essays and Studies in the Uses of History: Geoffrey Blainey and Asian Immigration, ed.Andrew Markus and M. C. Ricklefs(:George Allen and Unwin, 1985), 98.
9.The strike has been mentioned in every major book treatment of the development of the White Australia policy. Substantial accounts of the strike not already mentioned includeMyra Willard, The History of the White Australia Policy to 1920(:Melbourne University Press, 1967), 51–58;Mother Pauline Kneipp, “The Seamen’s Strike 1878–1879: Its Relation to the White Australia Policy,” ANU Historical Journal 1, no. 2(1965–66):14–18;Charles Jonathon McNeill Hayes, “The Seamen’s Strike 1878–79”(BA Hons diss., History,Macquarie University, 1970);Richard Fletcher, “The Role of the Immigration Question in Gaining for the Labour Movement Recognition by Society in the Period 1877 to 1890 in New South Wales”(MA diss.,University of Sydney, 1964), 106–66.
10.Ann Curthoys, “Race and Ethnicity: A Study of the Response of British Colonists to Aborigines, Chinese and non-British Europeans in New South Wales, 1856–1881”(PhD diss.,Macquarie University, 1973), 413–30.
11.Phil Griffiths, “Containing Discontent: Anti-Chinese Racism in the Reinvention of Angus Cameron,” Labour History, no. 94 (May2008):78–80.
12. Sydney Morning Herald, 24 July1878, 3.
13. Sydney Morning Herald, 8 August1878, 4. Parkes was then a backbench MLA, neither in government nor part of the official opposition. See also theHerald’sattack on British writers,Sir Walter Medhurst and W. R. Greg, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 November, 1878, 4–5.
14. Sydney Morning Herald, 21 November1878, 4.
15.Ibid., 27 November1878, 4.
16.Ibid., 30 November1878, 4.
17.Ibid., 3 December1878, 4.
18.Ibid., 30 December1878, 4;Sydney Morning Herald, 25 September1877, 4.
19.Ibid., 10 January1879, 4.
20.TheSydney Morning Heraldhad been alarmed for some time about the growth of communism in Europe and America. During 1878, it reported the congresses and personalities of French and German socialism and, in late July 1878, devoted three columns and thousands of words to a summary of “The Literature of German socialism.” This report attributed the alarming growth of socialism in Germany to the shift from charity to “approbation of all the wildest schemes brought forward in the interest of the poor.” See, for instance, item on German socialists, 20 July 1878, 7; article on the alleged socialist, Dr Nobiling, 22 July 1878, 3; report on American communism, 13 August 1878, 7; reports on the Socialist Congress in Paris and Germany’s Anti-Socialist Bill, 29 October 1878, 8–9; for “The Literature of German Socialism,” 31 July1878, 7, reprinted fromThe Times(London).
21. Sydney Morning Herald, 24 April1879, 5.
22.Ibid.
23.R. B. Walker, The Newspaper Press in New South Wales, 1803–1920(:Sydney University Press, 1976), 76–78, 82–83.
24.Fletcher, “The Role of the Immigration Question,” 63, describes theEvening Newsas “very conservative in outlook,” saying it “criticized trade union activities on most matters apart from those concerned with immigration,” and he concluded, “its appeal was directed to the urban middle class.” My discussion of the politics of theEvening Newsis based on a specific project in which I closely read each edition of the paper published in March of 1870, 1872, 1874, 1876 and 1878, as well as its coverage of the ASN dispute.
25.The paper attacked trade union arguments against assisted immigration in February 1878 as “fictitious” and “alarmist,” according to Fletcher, “The Role of the Immigration Question,” 64 (citingEvening News, 12 February 1878); onBerry, Evening News, 13 March1878, 2.
27. Evening News, 19 November1878, 2.
28.Ibid., 30 November1878, 4.
29.Ibid.
30.See in particular the paper’s New Year’s message for 1879 which was the platform for a restatement of its broad approach to politics:Evening News, 1 Jan 1879, 2.
31.Evening News, 18 December1878, 2.
32.For example, inThomas Carlyle, Past and Present, 2nd edn(:Chapman and Hall, 1845), which was widely read by colonial liberals and radicals.
33. Evening News, 19 November1878, 2.
34.Ibid.
35.Evening News, 26 December1878, 2. This was the position of Sir Henry Parkes, himself a disciple of Carlyle’s:“By a little comprehensive consideration of the whole question, of what is due to our race, as well as what is due to immediate dividends, the matter might have been settled long ago,” Evening News, 30 December1878, 2. Parkes’ relationship with Thomas Carlyle is one of the great, unresearched elements of his life and politics. Parkes sent Carlyle letters and information about NSW politics, and his own career, visited him in London, and frequently cited Carlyle’s views in his speeches.
36. Evening News, 28 December1878, 4.
37.See eg, Evening News, 11 March1870, 3, which reprints an article by Wendell Phillips in which he says this: “[W]e must have the Vanderbilts. We cannot do without the money kings, and we cannot do without individual independence”; and “the statesmanship of today is to marry and reconcile these two indispensable elements of the future,” ie labour and capital.
38.Walter Phillips, “Jefferis, James (1833–1917),” Australian Dictionary of Biography,National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed September 2013,http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/jefferis-james-3853/text6123. His salary was around eight times that of an average tradesperson.
39.Rev Jas Jefferis, The Enfranchisement of Labour: A Lecture Delivered Under the Auspices of the Young Men’s Christian Association of New South Wales, on Tuesday, June 18th, 1878(:Foster and Fairfax, 1878), 17–22.
40.Rev J. Jefferis, The Chinese and the Seamen’s Strike: A Lecture(:Foster and Fairfax, 1878).
41.Ibid., 4.
42.Ibid., 9.
43.Ibid., 11.
44.Michael Quinlan, “The Low Rumble of Informal Dissent: Shipboard Protests Over Health and Safety in Australian Waters, 1790–1900,” Labour History, no. 102 (May2012):131–56, esp. 139–40.
45.Burgmann, “Writing Racism out of History,” 78–92.
46. Evening News, 25 April1879, 2.
47. Brisbane Courier, 20 November1878, 2.
48. Ibid., 25 November1878, 2.
49. Ibid., 26 November1878, 2.
50.Ibid., 7 December1878, 4.
51.Ibid., 11 December1878, 2. This was a serious consideration; see Trainor, British Imperialism, 85.
52.Week, 23 November1878, 724.
53.Ibid., 7 December 1878, 787, 792, 788; 14 December1878, 818–9.
54.Ibid., 7 December1878, 788.
55.Ibid., 28 December1878, 884.
56.Maryborough Chronicle, 30 November1878. TheChronicle‘s conservatism is demonstrated by its support for squatters and sugar planters against Liberals, and its support of candidates opposed to the Liberal Premier, John Douglas in the1878election.
57.Petition inMaryborough Chronicle, 5 December1878.
58.Ibid., 5 December1878.
59.Ibid., 7 December1878.
61.Maryborough Chronicle, 12 December1878.
62.The crowd was led by a local publican, James Manly, who was charged with attempting to incite a riot. Manly was clearly present in a leading role, reflecting again that, where there was plebeian agitation against Chinese people, it was so often led by storekeepers and publicans. Manly was acquitted. SeeRockhampton Morning Bulletin, 28 November1878.
63.Ibid., 27 November1878.
64.Ibid., 29 November1878. For Feez and Palmer, seeBill Thorpe, Colonial Queensland: Perspectives on a Frontier Society(:University of Queensland Press, 1996), 156–63.
65. Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, 12 December1878.
66. Townsville Herald, 27 November1878; this was the day of the election.
67.The paper explicitly identified itself with the politics of John Murtagh Macrossan, for a period the leading representative of North Queensland business interests and a leading figure in the McIlwraith party. SeeTownsville Herald, 23 October1878.
68.Ibid., 30 November1878.
69.Ibid., 11 December1878.
70.Ibid., 4 January1879.
71.SeeDenis Cryle, The Press in Colonial Queensland: A Social and Political History 1845–1875(:University of Queensland Press, 1989), esp. 122–24. On 127, Cryle describes the paper in 1871 as a “rabid” supporter of the Conservative Palmer.
72.Queensland Agriculturalist and Family Journal(Toowoomba), 4 October 1879, 1; Letter, C. H. Buzacott to Thomas McIlwraith, 21 May 1880, in Palmer-McIlwraith Papers, John Oxley Library, OM64–19/5.A. A. Morrison, “Hill, Charles Lumley (1840–1909),” Australian Dictionary of Biography,National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed September2013,http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hill-charles-lumley-3768/text5943.
73. Queensland Times, 26 November1878.
74.Ibid.
75.Ibid., 3 December1878.
76. Queensland Times, 19 December1878.
77.Ibid.
78.Editorial, Queensland Times, 17 December1878.
79.Ibid.
80.Queensland Times, 19 December1878.
81.Thompson’s position was not mentioned in the paper, presumably because he was one of very few parliamentarians to oppose the scaremongering in 1877; seeQueensland, Official Report of the Debates of the Legislative Assembly, 23(Brisbane, 1877), 355.
82. Queensland Times, 21 December1878.
83.Report inibid.
84. Queensland Times, 24 December1878.
85.Bradley Bowden, “‘Some Mysterious Terror’: The Relationship between Capital and Labour in Ipswich, 1861–96,” Labour History, no. 72 (May1997):77–100.
86.Age, 1 January1879, 2.
87.Argus, 29 November1878, 4.
88.Ibid., 6 January1879, 4.
89.Ibid., 11 December1878, 4–5.
90.Ibid., 6 January1879, 4.
91.South Australian Register, 10 December1878, 4. See also Griffiths, “Strategic Fears” for Queensland’s first anti-Chinese legislation.
92.Hobart Mercury, 30 December1878.
93.West Australian Times, 22 November 1878, reported that 50 indentured Chinese labourers would be introduced, and this was supported by a letter to the editor, 31 December1878. There was no editorialising on the ASN dispute, nor the “Chinese question” in general.
94.Luke Trainor (British Imperialism, 85) writes: “By 1882 the eastern Australian colonies had, despite some opposition from the Legislative Councils, specific restrictions on Chinese immigration.” The fact that the legislation passed means that it enjoyed majority support in the Legislative Councils, which suggests an entirely different class logic.
95.Kathryn Cronin, “‘The Yellow Agony’: Racial Attitudes and Responses towards the Chinese in Colonial Queensland,”inRace Relations in Colonial Queensland: A History of Exclusion, Exploitation and Extermination, byRaymond Evans, Kay Saunders, Kathryn Cronin(:University of Queensland Press, 1988), 312.
96.Markus, Fear and Hatred, 84.
97.See alsoWillard, The History of the White Australia Policy, 56: “the strength of the feeling aroused in all the self-governing Colonies … ensured the indirect success of the strikers.” The role of the mass media is again hidden by the use of the passive voice.
98.Markus, Fear and Hatred, 102–3.
99.Curthoys, “Conflict and Consensus,” 53.
100.Bede Nairn, “Davies, John (1839–1896),” Australian Dictionary of Biography,National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed September2013,http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/davies-john-3375/text5103.
101.Martha Rutledge, “Macintosh, John (1821–1911),” Australian Dictionary of Biography,National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed September2013,http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/macintosh-john-4100/text6551.
102.He left his family £42,000 on his death;Martha Rutledge, “McElhone, John (1833–1898),” Australian Dictionary of Biography,National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed September2013,http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcelhone-john-4087/text6529.
103.“With his own butchering business by 1871 he had amassed fourteen houses and £7000 which he lost in five months’ speculation in gold-mining shares in 1871–72, but he rehabilitated himself within seven years”; seeMark Lyons, “O’Connor, Daniel (1844–1914),” Australian Dictionary of Biography,National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed September2013,http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/oconnor-daniel-4314/text6995.
104.Ian Ellis, “Hungerford, Thomas (1823–1904),” Australian Dictionary of Biography,National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed September 2013,http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hungerford-thomas-3820/text6059. Hungerford is not included in “Conflict and Consensus,” but as MLA for Northumberland, was discussed in the same context in Curthoys, “Race and Ethnicity,” 443. Hungerford was present on the platform of the first public meeting against Chinese immigration after the start of the strike, called by the Political Reform Union; seeSydney Morning Herald, 19 November 1878, 6. Curthoys’ description best fits Angus Cameron MLA, who she described as “one of the more distinctly working class MLAs,” due to his origins as a trade unionist and trade union sponsored member. For a different perspective on Cameron, see Griffiths, “Containing Discontent,” 73–74, 83. After a meticulous examination of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the period 1872–87, A. W. Martin concluded that it was dominated by one class, and pointed to the need for an independent income for anyone contemplating election;A. W. Martin, “Political Groupings in New South Wales, 1872–1889: A Study in the Working of Responsible Government”(PhD diss.,Australian National University, 1955), esp. 290, 59–60, 46–48.
105.Curthoys, “Conflict and Consensus,” 63; this is her paraphrase of Angus Cameron’s position, which she describes as “correct.”
106.Sydney Morning Herald, 29 November 1878, 7. The first motion read: “That the withdrawal of the A.S.N. Co.’s fleet of steamers from their trade is calculated to cause permanent injury to the commerce of this port unless active measures are taken to resume operations.” Coverage of that meeting inAustralian Town and Country Journalfocused on the speech of the mover, S. A. Joseph, who talked at length about the damage the strike would do to shipping, the port and the commerce of the city, and completely failed to report Nichol’s comments on “cheap labour”;Australian Town and Country Journal, 30 November1878, 1022.
107.Markey, “Populist Politics,” 67.
108. Sydney Morning Herald, 23 April1879, 3. SeeRobertson, Dalley, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 April1879, 2–3;Foster, Samuel, Macleay, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April1879, 2, all of whom supported the bill. See also speeches by Charles Campbell (against bill), de Salis (didn’t vote), Innes (didn’t vote), Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April1878, 2. Other speakers against the bill took the strategic argument seriously by replying to it. See also Curthoys, “Race and Ethnicity,” 583–84.
109.Curthoys, “Conflict and Consensus,” 65.
110.Charles Price wrongly argues that the strike “brought to a head much working class unrest with the whole Chinese question”; seeCharles Price, The Great White Walls are Built: Restrictive Immigration to North America and Australasia(:Australian Institute of International Affairs, 1974), 163–64. In fact, despite repeated editorialising on the issue in theSydney Morning Herald, there was no mention of Chinese immigration as an issue at the founding of the Working Mens Defence Association, which had been set up to fight assisted immigration (Sydney Morning Herald, 13 June1877) nor in the speeches of WMDA candidates in the 1877 election. As late as January 1878, the five points of the manifesto of the Political Reform League, a partial successor to the WMDA, included no mention of Chinese immigration; seeSydney Morning Herald, 25 January 1878, 3. Price relies on Peter Loveday andA. W. Martin, Parliament Factions and Parties: The First Thirty Years of Responsible Government in New South Wales, 1856–1889(:Melbourne University Press, 1966), 104. They citeSydney Morning Herald, 25 January 1879, but this has no mention of Chinese immigration as an issue for the PRL. It only becomes an issue for the Trades and Labour Council and the wider populist movement in NSW once the Seamens Union is faced with ASN recruiting Chinese seafarers.
111.Charles Price was the only major historian of white Australia who insisted on the importance of the parliaments: “many leading professionals, pastoralists and business men were ardent supporters of restriction. They may not have argued their case with as much invective as representatives of the working classes, but they were the persons who in the end drafted the legislation and passed it through both Houses”; Price, The Great White Walls, 118; see also 229–30. However, he wrote a history dominated by situations of mobilisation and conflict over racial exclusion that gave the impression of labour leadership.
112.Curthoys, “Conflict and Consensus,” 48.
113.Denis Cryle, inThe Press in Colonial Queensland, has written on the way Queensland’s squatters fought to control local newspapers to leverage their economic power into maintenance of political dominance, and how rival ruling-class interests used their newspapers to mobilise against them.
114.J. M. Graham, “‘A Danger that No Language could Magnify’: TheNewcastle Morning Heraldand the Chinese Question,” Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society 69, no. 4(March1984), 239–50.
115.Andrew Markus, Australian Race Relations(:Allen & Unwin, 1994), 81.
116.See, for instance, the following speeches from debate on theChinese Immigrants Regulation Billin the NSW Legislative Council;Dalley, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 April1879, 2–3;Foster, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April1879, 2.
117.See, for instance, the following speeches from debate on theChinese Immigrants Regulation Billin the NSW Legislative Council;Charles Campbell, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April1879, 2;Darley, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 April1879, 3. There are hints of such a response in speeches byHolt, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April1879, 2; Innes, ibid, 2.
118.Trainor, British Imperialism.