The Afghan nuisance
Item
Title
The Afghan nuisance
datePublished
21/06/1897
isPartOf
pageStart
2
identifier
88083233
Description
A newspaper opinion piece about the unsanitary habits of Afghan migrants.
content
As a place of residence Kalgoorlie has luckilynever appeared in the past to meet with
great favor from Afghans. In Coolgardie
their ragged tents can be counted almost in
hundreds in one part of the suburbs. The
associations of their camp are obnoxious in
the extreme. Tins, old bones, filth and
swarthy faces are the most prominent fea-
tures. The settlement is indeed one of the
very few blots on a clean and fair city. In
the early days the Afghans of the goldfields
made Coolgardie their headquarters, and
there they remained. The other centres
were only favored by their presence occa-
sionally, when they visited them with their
camels as carriers. Since the extension of the
railway from Coolgardie, and more especially
of late, Afghans unfortunately have been more
en evidence in Kalgoorlie, and recently public
attention was drawn by Mr T. W. Child in
the columns of this journal to the menace to
the health of the community occasioned by
the state of their camp at the end of Picca-
dilly street in the vicinity of the railway
siding. The filthy habits and absence of
sanitary arrangements render them particu-
larly objectionable to those residing in their
neighborhood. The advisableness of check-
ing the immigration of colored races and of
introducing special legislation affecting
Asiatics now in the colony will in all proba-
bility be discussed at an early stage during
the next session of Parliament. The unani-
mity of feeling in favor of "a white Austra-
lia" does not permit of the question being
ignored in the face of the increase in the
number of alien arrivals and the fact that the
difficulties of coping with the danger are
made greater by delay. Pending the action
of the Legislature, it is unquestionably the
duty of the local Boards of Health within
whose juristidiction Afghan camps are situated
to ensure that they comply with the sanitary
regulations. This is in the interests of the
turbaned gentry as well as of society at
large.
great favor from Afghans. In Coolgardie
their ragged tents can be counted almost in
hundreds in one part of the suburbs. The
associations of their camp are obnoxious in
the extreme. Tins, old bones, filth and
swarthy faces are the most prominent fea-
tures. The settlement is indeed one of the
very few blots on a clean and fair city. In
the early days the Afghans of the goldfields
made Coolgardie their headquarters, and
there they remained. The other centres
were only favored by their presence occa-
sionally, when they visited them with their
camels as carriers. Since the extension of the
railway from Coolgardie, and more especially
of late, Afghans unfortunately have been more
en evidence in Kalgoorlie, and recently public
attention was drawn by Mr T. W. Child in
the columns of this journal to the menace to
the health of the community occasioned by
the state of their camp at the end of Picca-
dilly street in the vicinity of the railway
siding. The filthy habits and absence of
sanitary arrangements render them particu-
larly objectionable to those residing in their
neighborhood. The advisableness of check-
ing the immigration of colored races and of
introducing special legislation affecting
Asiatics now in the colony will in all proba-
bility be discussed at an early stage during
the next session of Parliament. The unani-
mity of feeling in favor of "a white Austra-
lia" does not permit of the question being
ignored in the face of the increase in the
number of alien arrivals and the fact that the
difficulties of coping with the danger are
made greater by delay. Pending the action
of the Legislature, it is unquestionably the
duty of the local Boards of Health within
whose juristidiction Afghan camps are situated
to ensure that they comply with the sanitary
regulations. This is in the interests of the
turbaned gentry as well as of society at
large.
Spatial Coverage
Kalgoorlie, WA
Type
Newspaper article
