In 1906 in Newfoundland, the Chinese were the only immigrants who were forced to pay this $300 tax. Why?

When the Chinese first came to Newfoundland most people were not worried. No one tried to control them. They were left to go about their business. The Chinese opened laundries and restaurants. A few worked in mining, fishing and forestry. But life was not easy. Sometimes the Chinese were treated badly. Children or toughs would throw rocks at them, tease them, or break their store windows. Sometimes the Chinese were beaten up. But they did not let this drive them away. They continued to try and make a living.

By 1900, two Chinese hand laundries5 were operating in St. John's: the Sing Lee Laundry on New Gower St., and the Jim Lee Laundry on Duckworth St. Over the next few years, more Chinese arrived. But their numbers were very small. Those that did come were all men. No Chinese women were allowed into Newfoundland until 1949.

As time went on, people began to notice the Chinese more and more. When we look at the newspapers of the time we see that some people were beginning to think that too many Chinese were coming into Newfoundland. People thought the Chinese would take any job they could get. It was said that they would work for very low wages—lower than most Newfoundlanders. Some people began to worry that the Chinese would take jobs away from other people. By 1904, many people were thinking this way. They believed that thousands and thousands of Chinese might decide to come to Newfoundland. This led to many negative comments about them. In the newspapers, both letters to the editor and editorials6 complained about the Chinese. When the fifth Chinese laundry opened in St. John's, The Evening Telegram of 21 December 1904, said, "It is time some steps were taken to check this invasion of undesirables."7 The Daily News said "the government should take steps to prevent more [Chinese] from coming in, [or] else the place will soon be over run."8 Sometimes the language used to describe the Chinese was even more unkind than "undesirables." Here is what the editor of the Daily News said in 1905:

5 In "hand laundries" the work is done mainly by hand instead of by machines.
6 An editorial is an opinion piece in a newspaper written by someone who works at the newspaper. See booklet 3 of this series Learning About the Past.
7 Evening Telegram, December 21, 1904, p. 3 col. 2.
8 Daily News, February 14, 1905, p.3, col. 8.