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Chinese
Immigration and
Australian Politics
A Critical Analysis on a Merit-
Based Immigration System

Jia Gao
Chinese Immigration and Australian Politics
 Jia Gao

Chinese Immigration
and Australian Politics
A Critical Analysis on a Merit-Based
Immigration System
Jia Gao
Asia Institute
University of Melbourne
Melbourne, Australia

ISBN 978-981-15-5908-2    ISBN 978-981-15-5909-9 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5909-9

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect
to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-­01/04 Gateway East, Singapore
189721, Singapore
This book is dedicated to my late uncle who financially supported
my study in Australia in 1988.
 Preface

This is the third monograph that I have written on the experiences of new
Chinese migrants in Australia since the late 1980s, following Chinese
Activism of a Different Kind (Brill, 2013a) and Chinese Migrant
Entrepreneurship in Australia from the Early 1990s (Elsevier, 2015). As
one of the first large group of Chinese students who came to study in
Australia in the late 1980s and have since settled permanently in the country,
I have long been planning to write a trilogy based on the experiences of
our group and many other later groups coming to Australia since the early
1990s. I hope that this book will be the realisation of my ambition.
After publishing the above first two major books on the topic, my
research attention was temporarily shifted away from new Chinese migrants
in Australia and turned towards working on Social Mobilisation in Post-­
Industrial China (Edward Elgar, 2019). This was partially because I have
maintained my keen research interest in studying some China-related
issues, and partly also because I had been considering which aspects of the
experiences of Chinese migrants in Australia could be further explored in
addition to the crucial issues studied in the first two monographs.
At the same time, my own research circumstances changed, and I have
since been supervising graduate research students, including those
conducting their doctoral studies, examining some interesting but impor-
tant issues concerning the Chinese Australian community. As a result,
such new circumstances unavoidably made the process of identifying and
selecting my own next research topic lengthy and challenging, as I wanted
to choose a meaningful theme that is as important as activism and entre-
preneurship, which I analysed in my first two books.

vii
viii PREFACE

What finally led me to decide to write this book is that since the second
half of 2016, there has been an increasingly intense campaign in Australia
regarding the alleged interference by China in Australian politics and
public life. This debate over the so-called Chinese influence or interfer-
ence has been predominantly dominated by a few Malcolm Turnbull-led
Liberal government agencies and media outlets, and its tone is very one-
sided and frightening. Among the many flaws of published comments and
the official discourse, the most disturbing aspect of the campaign is the
extent to which the efficacious integration of Chinese migrants in Australia
has been linked to China’s assumed infiltration of every layer of Australia’s
political landscape.
I tried very hard to avoid allowing the debate to influence my writing
task, and I also erroneously believed the debate would be short-lived, as
many other debates in Australia have come and gone rather quickly. I was
soon proved incorrect as this politicised debate not only dragged into
2018, but also intensified, resulting in more actions by the Turnbull
government. New espionage and foreign interference laws were hastily
debated and received parliamentary approval in June 2018. Before the
Review of the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and
Foreign Interference) Bill 2017 was officially tabled and debated in
Parliament, the Turnbull government issued a call for public submissions
on the proposed amendment to Australia’s security laws. I was contacted
by a couple of colleagues who wished to express their disagreement with
some of the key claims that had been raised in this increasingly heated
debate, and I therefore became one of the original 30 or so signatories
of the public submission, numbered 44, to the Parliamentary Joint
Committee on the issue.
As reported in the media, the debate over China’s interference in
Australia has split its community of China researchers, which was also a
loud wake-up call for me to bring my attention back to what was happening
to Chinese Australians. As a long-time observer of this fast-growing and
dynamic community, I can see that there is a great deal of misconception
and mistrust, in terms of the facts and the ways of viewing the facts, in the
many hostile comments made by some journalists, politicians and critics.
Fortunately, at the time, I was about to finish writing the book on social
mobilisation, and part of my attention could be turned to the debate.
I started sorting out my own views on Australia’s debate about Chinese
influence in a systematic and analytical way after receiving an invitation
from Current History, the oldest US-based journal devoted exclusively to
 PREFACE ix

world affairs, to write an essay on Australia’s uneasy relations with China,

and how Chinese Australians are caught in the middle. My essay was
included in the September 2018 issue of Current History.
Through the process of writing the essay, I saw clearly how the debate
had been wrongly directed and badly conducted, giving some displeased
Australians an opportunity to express their unhappiness and frustration
about various changes in present-day Australia, but regrettably, once
again, through spreading anti-China and anti-Chinese sentiments. Leaving
aside the human cost of frightening Chinese Australians, this debate has
been found to be flawed intellectually and analytically in several ways.
First, the debate is very tabloid in nature, typified by a short-sighted
view of the situation that it pretends to explore. Australia has been suffer-
ing from a periodic fear of China and the migrants from China since the
continent was first occupied by a scattered group of colonies, though this
time it has become more concerned with a more aggressive Chinese
foreign policy in its region. Fear has been part of the psyche of European
settlers in Australia, and China has long been seen as a peril in the Australian
imagination. In recent decades, there has been debate about China and its
migrants in Australia, the typical case of which is Hansonism, concerned
that Australia will be swamped by Asians. However, this debate is so short-­
sighted as to disregard the influence of Hansonism and related xenophobic
fear, taking the debate out of the historical context of Australia.
Second, the debate is also dominated by some rather one-sided views
of China and, more harmfully, of local Chinese Australians. This is very
evident in the case of the participation of Chinese community members in
the debate, which has seen ‘very few Chinese-Australians speak publicly on
these issues’ (Lo 2018, n.p.). What is even more evidence of its one-­
sidedness is its narrow focus on a few cases of Chinese donations. While
those who asked for and received donations are not challenged and disci-
plined, the loyalty of Chinese Australians has been questioned based on
those cases. I am aware that the debate has also included a few other
issues, which are defined as ‘four points of contention’, in the words of an
Australian analyst (Chubb 2018, n.p.). These include activities of the CCP
(Chinese Communist Party), causes of racist sentiments, sovereignty
issues, and threats to democratic politics in Australia. However, the
loudest message of the debate is about the donations from a few Chinese
businesspeople, from which an overgeneralised conclusion is drawn: there
has been infiltration of Chinese agents into every layer of Australian
society (Borys 2018; Welch 2018). As a person who went through the
x PREFACE

Maoist Cultural Revolution, I was disturbed by such a politically frightening

tune, and felt the need to discuss what mistakes the debate has made.
Third, the most fundamental mistake of the debate is that all Chinese
Australians have been implicated as a threat by a small group of critics who
are unfamiliar with Chinese Australians, especially migrants’ entrepreneur-
ialism, and their ways of dealing with business challenges and interpersonal
relations. Though a few critics mention some seemingly known facts, the
latter is seen and interpreted according to illusory constructs and logic
that are more related to dated perceptions of Chinese migrants of earlier
periods, such as coolie labourers and patriotic overseas Chinese, than the
realities of post-multicultural Australia. These critics seem also to believe
that many activities by Chinese Australians are driven by geopolitics, or
even directed by China’s ruling political elites, and that the many
networking activities of Chinese Australian business people, which have
been actively promoted by government bodies and businesses in Australia,
are evidence of China’s interference in Australia’s domestic affairs.
Lastly, a further analysis shows that critics are clearly unversed in what
a succession of Australian governments has been doing over recent decades
in utilising migration schemes to maintain the country’s socio-economic
development and standard of living. In other words, critics have hardly
viewed what they call the Chinese problem as Australia’s own issue, but
simply repudiate it through othering Chinese migrants from the country
they have long called home. The debate has skipped some fundamental
aspects of social transformations taking place in Australia and failed to
consider a range of domestic factors behind the debate, especially
Australia’s postwar historical shift toward Asia and the merit-based
selective migration system that Australia has formed and executed since
the early 1990s. Both the strategic shift and the merit-based migration
system have significantly changed the economic structure and the demo-
graphic composition of Australia. As I argued in my essay in Current
History, these fundamental and structural transformations have resulted in
the following changes:

The strong reorientation of Australia’s trade toward Asia, especially China,

has slowly changed established patterns in the distribution of employment
opportunities, wealth, and political influence in Australia. These changes
have been intensified by a shift in immigrant selection policies, with an
emphasis on education, skills, and ability to contribute to the economy. As a
result, trained, skilled, and well-off Chinese have been attracted to
Australia—and Chinese Australians have been better positioned than many
others to prosper in changing economic conditions. (Gao 2018, p. 231)
 PREFACE xi

All the above issues are absent from the debate over alleged Chinese
interference in Australian politics, the problem of which is equivalent to
blaming other people, friends or enemies, in far-away lands for the prob-
lems of its own society. Importantly, it also appears to be a new global
phenomenon, not only in terms of blaming others for their own problems,
but also in terms of paying inadequate attention to the demographic
changes that have taken place in all immigration countries, as well as their
correlation with domestic politics.
More theoretically, Australia’s highly charged China debate is not only
a simple or one-off reflection of what has been disturbing Australia and
sections of its population, but is a typical example of one of the most
important issues confronting many countries, especially developed Western
countries: the accumulated effects of global immigration and ongoing
changes in population composition in post-industrial economies. This will
soon be more theoretically and practically vital than it is now if consider-
ing, for example, that Australia’s merit-based migration system has been
repeatedly applauded by President Donald Trump, who considers
Australia’s approach as an ideal solution to the migration-related problems
of the United States (Williams 2017; Boyer 2018).
The issues that emerged from the debate, as well as my preliminary
analysis of the debate, present me with an opportunity to continue my
ongoing research on Chinese migrants in Australia and deepen and
broaden our current understanding of the merit-based selective migration
system and its medium-term effects on Australia as the host country.
As will be detailed in Chap. 1, this analysis takes a long-term and com-
prehensive view, to look at how Australia’s strategic shift towards Asia and
its merit-based migration selection policies have slowly transformed its
economic structure and demographic composition over the past three
decades, and how the new Chinese migrants, who were selected by various
new criteria of merit, have been integrated into Australia’s economic,
social and political life. All these have added a new and unfamiliar dimen-
sion to Australian politics. As the first book-length study written in English
in recent decades to systematically look at the medium-term effects of
merit-based migration system, this book is written with a sincere hope to
fill the knowledge gaps that have appeared in Australia’s recent debate
over China’s influence and exist in the research literature.

Melbourne, Australia Jia Gao

xii PREFACE

References

Borys, S. (2018). ‘China’s “brazen” and “aggressive” political interference

outlined in top-secret report’, China Power, ABC News, 29 May 2018,
www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-29/chinas-been-interfering-in-austra-
lian-politics-for-past-decade/9810236. Accessed 18 November 2018.
Boyer, D. (2018). ‘Trump praises Australia’s merit-based immigration sys-
tem’, Washington Times, 23 February 2018, www.washingtontimes.
com/news/2018/feb/23/trump-praises-australia-merit-immigration-
system/. Accessed 18 November 2018.
Chubb, A. (2018). ‘When it comes to China’s influence on Australia,
beware of sweeping statements and conflated ideas’, The Conversation,
11 April 2018, http://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-chinas-
influence-on-australia-beware-of-sweeping-statements-and-conflated-
ideas-94496. Accessed 18 November 2018.
Gao, J. (2018). ‘Chinese Australians face a foreign influence panic’,
Current History, September: 229–234.
Lo, J. Y. (2018). ‘Just because I have a moderate view on China doesn’t
make me a Beijing stooge’, The Guardian, 6 April 2018. www.theguard-
ian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/06/in-the-debate-around-foreign-
interference-chinese-australians-suffer. Accessed 18 November 2018.
Welch, D. (2018). ‘Chinese agents are undermining Australia’s sover-
eignty, Clive Hamilton’s controversial new book claims’, China Power,
ABC News, 22 February 2018, www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-22/
book-reveals-extent-of-chinese-influence-in-australia/9464692.
Accessed 18 November 2018.
Williams, J. (2017). ‘Trump looks to Australia in overhauling immigra-
tion system’, New York Times, 3 August 2017, www.nytimes.
com/2017/08/03/world/australia/trump-immigration-merit-
based-points.html. Accessed 18 November 2018.
 Acknowledgements

This book is based on my continuing longitudinal research on the experiences

of new Chinese migrants in Australia, which started as early as 1988 when
I decided to leave my teaching and research position at Beijing-­based
Renmin University of China and pursue a foreign postgraduate degree.
Over the past three decades, I have been assisted by so many people in so
many ways that I cannot possibly acknowledge all of them properly in a
short acknowledgement. My deep gratitude goes to everyone who has
helped me in the past three or so decades.
My special and heartfelt thanks go to the following colleagues, friends
and organisations for their help, support and advice, direct and indirect,
in writing this book. I am indebted to many of them in the fields of
migration and Chinese migration studies, who have in recent years
provided me with valuable advice and encouragement, particularly to
Professor Pookong Kee of the University of Melbourne, Professor
Wanning Sun of the University of Technology Sydney, Dr Bin Wu of the
University of Nottingham, Professor Min Zhou of the University of
California, Los Angeles, Professor Chee-Beng Tan of Sun Yat-Sen
University, Professor Liu Hong of Nanyang Technological University,
Professor Fan Ke of Nanjing University, Professor Wei Li of Arizona State
University, and Professor Minghuan Li of Jinan University.
I wish to thank two young scholars, Dr Qiuping Pan and Dr Yilu Yang,
who have been very helpful to my research in recent years, keeping me
well informed of what has been happening in Chinese Australian commu-
nities. They were undertaking their PhD research on Chinese migrants in
Australia at the University of Melbourne.

xiii
xiv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am also grateful to Mr Vishal Daryanomel, the Commissioning Editor

at Palgrave Macmillan, for encouraging me to write and submit the
manuscript for publication. I would also like to thank all the anonymous
reviewers for their helpful comments on both the book proposal and
the first draft of the manuscript. My thanks also go to the editorial and
production teams at Palgrave Macmillan for guiding me through the
publication process.
A special mention goes to the Faculty of Arts at the University of
Melbourne. My research activities have never been supported by any
external funding, including Australia’s research funding institutions, and I
am therefore particularly grateful for the internal funding I received from
the Faculty Internal Grant Scheme.
Once again, I am assisted by Ms Helen Koehne, an accredited editor of
Editorial Combat, and I am greatly indebted to her for her professional
assistance in editing the manuscript and many helpful suggestions.
This book could not have been written without the help of my family,
who have all been very supportive of me in this writing task. I would like
to thank all the interviewees for sharing their views and insights with me.
Since this manuscript is largely based on what I have studied in Australia
since 1988, I would like to dedicate this book to my late uncle who
financially supported my study in Australia in 1988 as a self-funded and
fee-­paying foreign student. This permitted me, as a Chinese university
lecturer, to study abroad. Just like what happened to many Chinese families
in the late 1940s, my uncle was relocated to Taiwan as a young medical
student. His support made my study in Australia possible.
 Contents

1 Post-multicultural Realities Distorted by Pre-­multicultural

Ideologies  1

2 Australia’s New Immigration Selection Tetralogy 43

3 Chinese Entrepreneurialism and Australia’s China-­

dependent Economy 81

4 Australian Responses to the Rise of Chinese Immigration115

5 Chinese as Voting Blocs in Australian Politics153

6 Integration-Inspired Community Activism and

Pushing the Bamboo Ceiling in Australia189

7 Established Elites Challenged by the Historical Shift

Towards Asia223

xv
xvi Contents

8 Conclusion: Getting Back on the Track of Nation-

Building257

References281

Index325
 Abbreviations

ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation

ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics
ACPET Australian Council for Private Education and Training
ACRI Australia-China Relations Institute
AEC Australian Electoral Commission
AGPS Australian Government Publishing Service
ALP Australian Labor Party, the
ANU Australian National University
ASIO Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
AustLii Australasian Legal Information Institute
Austrade Australian Trade and Investment Commission
CCCA Chinese Community Council of Australia
CCP Chinese Communist Party
CGTN China Global Television Network
ChAFTA China-Australia Free Trade Agreement
CITIC China International Trust Investment Corporation
CSC China Scholarship Council
DFAT Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (of Australia)
DHA Department of Home Affairs
DIAC Department of Immigration and Citizenship
DIBP Department of Immigration and Border Protection
ELICOS English Language Incentive Course for Overseas Students
FIRB Foreign Investment Review Board
GFC Global financial crisis
HK Hong Kong
IMF International Monetary Fund

xvii
xviii Abbreviations

ISSCO International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas

NBSC National Bureau of Statistics of China
NSW New South Wales
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OPC Office of Parliamentary Counsel, the
PLA People’s Liberation Army (of China)
PRC People’s Republic of China, the
PUP Palmer United Party, the
SBS Special Broadcasting Service, the
SIV Significant Investor Visa
SMEs Small- and medium-sized enterprises
UCL University College London
UTS University of Technology Sydney
UWA University of Western Australia
VCE Victorian Certificate of Education
 List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Foreign-born population in Australia, 1901–71.

(Source: DIBP (Department of Immigration and Border
Protection) (2015, p. 16)) 5
Fig. 1.2 Origins of Chinese Australians, by region, 1981–2016.
(Source: Based on data from ABS (Australian Bureau of
Statistics) (2017)) 9
Fig. 2.1 Australia’s postwar immigration, 1945–2010. (Source: Based on
data from DHA (Department of Home Affairs) (2017)) 48
Fig. 2.2 Migrant intake by stream, 1984–2014. (Source: DIBP (2015,
p. 71))50
Fig. 2.3 Annual migrant intake, 1983–2014. (Source: Based on Larsen
(2013, p. 4)) 53
Fig. 2.4 Number of regulations introduced to improve immigration
policies, 1994–2016. (Source: Based on data from
OPC (2017)) 57
Fig. 2.5 Employment of China-born Australians, 2016. (Source: ABS
(2018, p. 6)) 66
Fig. 2.6 East Asian sources of migrants since 1991. (Source: Australian
Census Stats (2012, n.p.)) 68
Fig. 3.1 Sectoral employment trends in Australia, 1976–2001. (Source:
Based on Productivity Commission (2003, p. 27)) 85
Fig. 3.2 Maslow’s five-tier hierarchy of needs. (Source: Maslow (1943,
1987))87
Fig. 3.3 Australia’s export market to China, 1991–2001. (Source: Based
on the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References
Committee (2005)) 93

xix
xx List of Figures

Fig. 3.4 Business visa application lodgements, 2010–14. (Source: Joint

Standing Committee on Migration (2015, p. 45)) 101
Fig. 3.5 China’s share of Australia’s total merchandise trade,
1901–2012. (Source: The Treasury (2012, n.p.)) 103
Fig. 3.6 China as Australia’s largest services export market. (Source: The
Treasury (2012, n.p.)) 104
Fig. 3.7 Australia’s top two-way trading partners, 2016–18. (Source:
Based on Chau (2019)) 106
Fig. 4.1 Academic performance of 16-year-old British students, by
ethnic background, 2015. (Source: Based on Harris (2016)) 132
Fig. 4.2 Housing price growth in Australia since the mid-1990s
compared to income. (Source: Based on Pash (2018); (index:
1970 = 100))138
Fig. 4.3 Declining housing prices in Sydney and Melbourne. (Source:
Based on Oliver (2019)) 142
Fig. 5.1 Changes in Australia’s workforce and declining union
membership. (Source: Based on Bowden 2017) 156
Fig. 5.2 Number of minor political parties in Australia. (Source: Based
on Wood et al. 2018, p. 28) 159
Fig. 5.3 Number of Chinese community organisations, Victoria. (Source:
Based on Pan 2019, p. 203) 166
Fig. 5.4 Number of federal election candidates of Chinese origin.
(Source: Based on AEC 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019) 171
Fig. 6.1 China’s increasing number of university-educated people.
(Source: Based on China’s Ministry of Education 2018) 195
Fig. 6.2 Growth in annual disposable income of urban residents per
capita in China. (Source: Based on NBSC 2013, 2017, 2018) 197
Fig. 7.1 Australia’s merchandise exports to Europe (%). (Source:
Bingham 2016, p. 8) 226
Fig. 7.2 Australia’s merchandise exports to Asia (%). (Source: Bingham
2016, p. 8) 233
 List of Tables

Table 2.1 Industrial disputes in Australia, working days lost per

employee, 1973–2002 47
Table 2.2 Business skills (provisional) visas, subclasses 160–165 60
Table 2.3 Percentage of Chinese students in Australia’s total foreign
student population, 2005–13 64
Table 3.1 Educational attainment in Australia’s main workforce sectors,
1984, 1994 and 2001 97
Table 4.1 Percentage of students from non-English-speaking
backgrounds in NSW’s top 10 selective schools, 2017 131
Table 4.2 Number of schools offering Chinese in Australia, by state 134
Table 5.1 Federal election candidates of Chinese origin, 2019 170

xxi
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help him realize his dream. Even the flames, often the elements of
destruction, turn their energies into power to help him. Finally,
Praxiteles and the stone-cutters begin the temple, and Joseph and
the carpenters, Tubal Cain and the blacksmiths, Michael Angelo and
the painters complete it. The Anvil Chorus plays, Enlightenment
awakens the Master Builder from his dream, and Achievement
shows him that his vision has been realized. The beautiful temple
stands before him.
All three of these spectacles show untold dramas in fields of
thought yet untouched. They were mediums through which the
ideals, the traditions, and the beauties of nature and human nature
could be expressed.
The great mass of people in the state love good plays. Just like
most folks, they want something with a homely story mixed with a
few bits of comedy. Ninety out of a hundred persons are usually
human, anyway. “David Harum,” a three-act comedy by Eugene
Noyes Westcott, seemed to hit the right spot with hundreds of the
Dacotah folks. Personally, I do not believe a finer piece of non-
professional acting has ever been done in America than that of the
young man who took the part of David Harum. His phenomenal
success in the character is all due to the fact that he lived the part
every time he acted it. Naturally, he had strong support in the
presentation of the play.
One incident in regard to the place of its production I shall never
forget. During the past twenty-five years it has been my good fortune
to see plays and programs presented in village halls, schoolhouses,
churches, homes, country stores, gymnasiums, auditoriums,
theaters, hotels, barns, parks, groves, streets, and other places. But
I have never had the good fortune to see a baseball diamond used
for a theater, and on the Fourth of July, with a play like “David
Harum.” It all happened down at Lisbon. The second baseball game
had just finished. It was about six-thirty in the evening. A frame of
two-by-four scantling was erected and braced like a city billboard.
The center of the frame was exactly nine feet from the home plate.
On it fourteen foot green draperies were hung. A large soiled canvas
was laid on the worn ground for the stage. Three electric bulbs with a
few batteries and two good sized automobiles furnished all the light
necessary for the production. The baseball pits, where the players
stay before they are called upon to bat, were used as dressing
rooms. The crowd began to assemble at half past seven, and at
eight o’clock the bleachers were brimful. The overflow crowd was
seated on planks close up to the stage. For two solid hours and on
the Fourth of July, mind you, several hundred people sat, watched,
and listened to David Harum. Not a soul left. The interest manifested
by the audience was tense at all times. It was one of the most unique
instances ever experienced by the writer.

Scene—Sitting Bull-Custer. By Aaron McGaffey Beede

An Indian drama called, “Sitting Bull-Custer,” written by an

Episcopal priest, now a judge in Sioux County, told the story of the
Redman’s version of the Custer Massacre. It was presented on a
Dacotah prairie at sunset, seven years ago. The scene represented
an Indian village on the Little Big Horn River. It was dawn, June
twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and seventy six. A thick clump of
trees, in which the Indian characters, Echonka, Gall, Rain-in-the-
Face, Old-man, Old-woman, and Old-Woman-Diviner were hidden,
furnished the background. There, secluded as spies, they anxiously
awaited the arrival of Sitting Bull, believing that he would unfold
valuable secrets in regard to the coming battle. Fool-mink, an Indian
story teller and singer, the comedian of the play, was everywhere
present. He sang and he danced. His music irritated Rain-in-the-
Face, because it reminded him of the time Tom Custer handcuffed
him. In several sharp encounters which ensued between Fool-Mink
and Rain-in-the-Face, Gall acted as the peace-maker. Silence
reigned. Sitting Bull arrived. He looked at the dawn wistfully, started
a fire, and sat down beside it. He spoke with rapid tongue. He told
the story of the Redman, the most misunderstood creature on earth.
He gave the reason why his race feared the white man—he wanted
to be left alone and have food to eat. He foretold the battle. Suddenly
his body became as rigid as a statue. Mid pauses, he spoke in a far-
away ghostly voice.

“Great Custer speaks. I hear him say,

Brave action crushes calumny.
No lies can crush a glittering fact,
If man, ignoring self, will act.
I’m not a man without a flaw,
What man has not his foibles? Pshaw!
Courtmartial me! For what? To blight
My name! I swear, by yonder light
Of morning, I’ve no serious wrong!
The truth will flame abroad ere long.
Their teeth shall bite the dust to-day,
A soldier’s grave can sing a lay
Of praise, while foibles dare not peep,
And those who twisted foibles sleep
Forgotten. They suppose I shrink
From death as they do. As they think
They judge me. Open your sweet jaws,
Brave death, and swallowing petty flaws,
 Make Custer’s rightful honor bright
And clean, as youthful morning light!
To die! To die gives them the shame,
And me, I ask no word of fame,
Save this,—that ere I slept in dust.
He pauses, waves his lifted hand,
He’s beckoning toward the spirit land.”

In this reverie he pictured Custer as the idol of the Redman. The

arrival of the herald from the enemy’s camp awakened him from his
stupor. A council of war was hastily called. It was noon and after. The
battle was on. The smoke rose in every direction. Soldiers and
warriors appeared and disappeared. Echonka was seen. His gun
failed to discharge. A bullet laid him low. Winona, Echonka’s lover,
came running, looked at him with an agonized face, lifted her hands
toward heaven, and shrieked. She knelt at his side and cried as if
her heart would break. The fatal day soon ended. It was after sunset.
Sitting Bull in searching among the dead found the body of Custer.
The wailing for the dead could just be heard. He uttered a soliloquy,
covered Custer’s face with a silk handkerchief, lifted his own face
and hands in prayer, and was silent. The play ended.
The effect upon the three thousand persons who witnessed the
Indian play was excellent.
Religious dramas, sometimes in prose and poetry and often in
tableau and pantomime, are given. “The Evergreen Tree,” “The
Nazarene in Song and Story,” and “The Man of Galilee” were
especially well presented. Every year a series of one-act plays is
produced for the sole purpose of training young men and women to
be able to stage dramas in the districts where they expect to live.
Programs containing features characteristic of the activities of a
community are frequently given.
A great many original plays have been written and presented to
large crowds. “The Prairie Wolf,” “Bridging the Chasm,” “Every Ship
Will Find a Harbor,” “The New Country Woman,” “The Country Side,”
not to mention dozens of others, are productions which have come
out of the country people themselves. The place was crowded at the
presentation of every one of these plays. Over eighty per cent of the
audiences were country people, who had come to see dramas of
their own creation, plays that had come out of the soil. “The Prairie
Wolf” was written by a young man who was interested in horses and
cattle. It pictured in a most vivid manner the financial troubles of a
great many farmers. The central thought in “Bridging the Chasm”
brought out the gap between city and country. A city girl and a
country boy had fallen in love with each other. The city prejudice
against country people made her hesitate before she said yes.
“Every Ship Will Find a Harbor” was worked out by a country lad who
was very fond of machinery and electricity. The action of the play
took place in a country store, in the woods near the Langer farm, and
in the sitting room of a farm home. The play told the story of a lazy
country boy who decided to leave the farm and go west in search of
adventure, and to study about machinery with the aid of a
correspondence course. He didn’t like school. After being in the
employ of a western power company for a few years, he returned
home. His arm was broken. While at home he became interested in
the community where he was born. In order to help his people enjoy
life he showed them how to harness nature’s power, so that the
drudgery of the farm might be done by machinery instead of man
power. The crowd which witnessed this play was a very responsive
one. “The New Country Woman,” written by a girl of French descent,
brought out the leadership of woman in improving the social
conditions in the country. There were ten characters in the play. The
action took place in three scenes. The existing rural conditions in the
state were splendidly portrayed in “The Country Side.” It was
exceptionally well written, the thought and the English well nigh
perfect.
 Scene—“American Beauties”—A One-Act Play by A. Seaman

Whenever possible, the young people who are competent are

broken in as directors on the original plays as well as on the others.
This is done to give them the experience, so that they can help when
called upon in their communities to assist. It also develops
leadership. In other words, The Little Country Theater is not only a
laboratory to try out different kinds of plays and entertainments for
country folks, but also a place to train country-life workers.
One could go on indefinitely with hundreds of incidents which
show the magnitude of the work of this particular country-life
laboratory in the Northwest.
 A BEE IN A DRONE’S HIVE
Just a few years past a young man from near Edmunds, North
Dakota, came to see me. He said he wanted to try a hand at writing
a play. When asked what was the most interesting thing in his life at
that particular time, he told me about two people who had lived on
the farm the greater share of their lives. One wanted to retire and the
other to remain. I asked him how he stood on the subject and he
said if he were to make a decision he would stay on the farm.
“Good,” said I, “there’s the theme for your play, country life versus
city life. Lay the scene of the first act in the city and have the farmer
retired, showing that all the advantages of real life are not found in
the city. Place the second act out in the country and demonstrate the
social possibilities of life on the farm.”
Nothing more was said. He left the office. In about three or four
weeks he returned with a copy of a play. It was written in lead pencil
on an old-fashioned yellow tablet. I asked him what the name of the
play was, and he said he had called it “A Bee in a Drone’s Hive.” At
first I objected to the title, but after questioning him found that the
reason he called the play, “A Bee in a Drone’s Hive” was that he
thought that a man who really understood the country should never
move to the city; that he was just as much out of place in the city as
a bee was in a drone’s hive.
At first thought, I intended to go over the play with him and correct
it and make a suggestion here and there. Then another idea struck
me. What if this young man were out in the country, would it be
possible for him to have anybody go over a play he had written
there? Just about that time I made a trip east and read the play to
several audiences. It met with a hearty reception wherever read.
After a talk with a great many playwrights, authors, and men of
affairs, I came to the inevitable conclusion that the best thing to do
was to bring the play back and let the author stage it just as he had
written it. This was done. Within several weeks the play was
presented in the theater.
A full house greeted the performance. Men and women from all
over the state were present to witness the production. Everybody
said it was the best thing they had ever seen. Rural workers in the
audience claimed it was one of the finest arguments in favor of
country life that they had ever heard. The author took the part of
Hiram Johnson, the philosopher. His make-up was remarkable. He
did it himself. After the play several persons suggested that the thing
for him to do was to go away and take some courses in writing plays.
This did not appeal to him, as he loved the farm and wanted to return
to it. What he really found out was that he could express himself.
To-day he operates nearly four hundred acres of land. He has forty
head of cattle, eight of which are registered short-horns. He is a
successful farmer in every respect. During his spare moments he
takes part in home talent plays. He loves the drama. He is married
and has a family.
“A Bee in a Drone’s Hive” is the product from the mind of a farmer
who actually farms and lives on the farm. Following is the play in full
form just as he wrote it and as it was produced.
 Scene—“A Bee in a Drone’s Hive” By Cecil Baker

ACT I.
Scene: Benson’s home in the city. Room lavishly furnished. Ethel
at desk writing, Mr. Benson sitting in easy chair reading, and Mrs.
Benson darning socks.
Mrs. Benson
Ethel, who are you writing to?
Ethel
Oh, I was just dropping a line to brother Harry. Thought he would
be glad to know how we were getting along in the city by now. You
know I promised him I would write often and let him know how you
and father took to city life. He said you would never like it here after
the novelty of it wore off.
Mrs. Benson
Tell him I would write some, too, only I’m such a poor writer and it
hasn’t been long since I did write. You know people like to get letters
often, so if you write now, and then me after while, he may like it
better. I want to read what you have written when you get through.
Ethel
Sorry, mother, but I can’t let you read this one—at least all of it.
You know brother and I always did confide in each other. I’ve often
thought how much better we understand each other than most
brothers and sisters, and how much more pleasant it is. I always feel
sorry for girls who have no brothers and for boys who have no
sisters.
Mr. Benson
You say you’re writin’ to Harry, Ethel? By jinks, I’d like to know how
he is getting along on the old homestead. S’pose he’s got his grain
most cleaned by now, and just waitin’ till it thaws out so he can get
into the fields. I’d sure like to see that car load of yearlin’s he says he
just bought. Bet that bunch he’s finishin’ for the June market is fine
by now; you know he wrote last spring that they were lookin’ mighty
promisin’ and he takes such pride in them, too.
Mrs. Benson
Harry does think a lot of the stock and that dear little wife he got
takes such an interest in things, too, and she’s so encouraging. Did
you notice the way she pulled him out of the blues once when they
were first married? He always goes to her for advice in everything he
does.
Mr. Benson
Yes, and by Jinks, her advice is worth somethin’ too. Harry always
says that’s just the way he looks at it, but thought he’d ask her first.
You know as how I used to always be against those agricultural
colleges and never had much faith in ’em. Well, that pair has
completely converted me. Harry never did like stock till he went away
to school. As soon as he got back he began talkin’ as how we could
improve ours, and as how many we ought to have more for the size
of our farm. By jinks, I’ve got to slip out there fore long and see those
cattle.
Ethel rises with two letters in hand and rings for the butler.
Mrs. Benson
Looks as though you were confiding in someone else, too.
Ethel
Oh no, just a letter to Mabel.
Mr. Benson
Rising.
Ethel, if you don’t care I’ll take your letters to the box. I’ve simply
got to get more fresh air. I’ve begun to feel like a house plant what’s
bin sittin’ in the bay window all winter. When the hired man comes,
tell him to fix up the fire.
Ethel
All right, father. Be sure you put the letters in a mail box and not in
the police telephone box like you did once. (Exit Mr. Benson.)
Mother, father makes me think of a bee in a drone’s hive; he’s just
dying for something to do and there isn’t a thing around here to do
that would satisfy him. He’s just aching to be out among the stock on
the farm. I really feel sorry for him, but I guess there isn’t any way to
better things; he’s not able to run the farm any longer.
 Mrs. Benson
No, he isn’t and I wouldn’t think of movin’ in with Harry and Jennie,
even though they wouldn’t object. It breaks up the home spirit so to
have two families in one home. I’ve never let on to your pa, but I
don’t like the city life half as well as I thought I would, and I really
never thought of what a handicap it would be to you.
Ethel
Oh, don’t you care about me. I have a good home here as long as
you live and I don’t know of a place where I’m needed as bad as I
am right here looking after you and father. I consider it my calling.
Mrs. Benson
I don’t see how we would get along here without you, but it’s not
fair, and you don’t owe it. I was just thinking the other day about
Clarence. He must be about through college by now. There wasn’t a
better fellow livin’ than Clarence and he seemed to think so much of
you. How’s come you and him don’t write any more? You used to.
Ethel
Yes, we did write till three years ago, when he failed to answer my
letter and I never wrote again.
Mrs. Benson
Maybe he didn’t get your letter.
Ethel
I heard through a friend that he did. I thought that if he didn’t want
to write, that was his own business. I suppose he found another girl.
But mother, it’s hard to forget—I didn’t know I did care so much. But
—oh well, it’s too late now. I’m going to stay by you and father, so I
should worry.
(Walks across room to desk.)
Mrs. Benson
Speaking to self.
I wish we had never come to the city. Poor girl.
 Ethel
Mother, I’ve something amusing to tell you. What do you think, Mr.
Smith, who called to see me last night, asked me to marry him.
Mrs. Benson
What!
Ethel
Wouldn’t that make you laugh?
Mrs. Benson
Why, you haven’t known him more than a month and a half, have
you?
Ethel
No, and I’ve only seen him a few times at that.
Mrs. Benson
That beats anything I ever heard of. Is the fellow in his right mind?
Ethel
Oh, I guess he’s sane enough—but he’s so used to having his
money get what he wants, that I suppose he thought it would buy
me, too.
Mrs. Benson
How much money has he got?
Ethel
I don’t know, but from the way he talks he must have quite a bit.
Mrs. Benson
Well, he had better trade some of it for a little common sense.
Ethel
By the way, mother, is this Thursday or Friday? You know we’ve
invited the Asterbilts for dinner Friday, and you know—
Mrs. Benson
 Interrupting.
That’s what’s the matter, and this is Friday and it’s six-thirty now.
They ought to have been here three-quarters of an hour ago—
mighty good thing they’re late.
Ethel
I wonder if the maid has forgotten, too.
Mrs. Benson
My goodness, what if she has forgotten! You be straightening the
room—I’ll go and see her.
Exit Mrs. Benson. Enter butler.
Walter
Sorry, I’m so long, Miss Ethel.
Ethel
You don’t look so very long to me. Fix the fire and see that
everything is ready for company, the Asterbilts are coming.
Walter
The Asterbilts! You having those swell bugs here! You had better
order a butler and have him delivered at once.
Exit Walter.
Ethel
This is an awful state of affairs. Here the swellest people in town
are coming and we’re not ready. I didn’t much want to have them,
but mother insisted. She said it was time I ought to be getting
acquainted with some of the good people of the city. I’m not very
ambitious, if they’re all like Mr. Smith. Some idea he’s got of what
love is; and father makes so many mistakes. He simply can’t learn
the city ways and this is the first time we’ve invited in any society
people. Well, it’s too late now to talk about it—we’d might as—
Enter Mr. Benson.
Mr. Benson
 Mailed your letters, Ethel. Why, what’s up, girl—be ye cleanin’
house so soon? Don’t think you’ll last if you go over this house at
that pace.
Ethel
We invited the Asterbilts for supper and we’d forgotten all about it
till it was past the time they were supposed to be here. They’re
almost an hour late now. This is enough to give one nervous
prostration. Maybe they’re not coming, though.
Mr. Benson
By jinks, I hope they’ll come. I was just wonderin’ the other day
why we couldn’t have in some of our neighbors and get acquainted a
little. Why, we don’t even know the people across the street from us.
Out on the farm we knew people from six to twelve miles around.
Enter Mrs. Benson.
Mrs. Benson
The maid says everything is ready. Wonder why they don’t come
or phone us. I wish they wouldn’t come, now. Why, what will they
think of us in these clothes?
Enter Walter. Hands Mrs. Benson a card.
Mrs. Benson
Reading.
They’re here, show them up, Walter.
Walter
I’m afraid I’m a poor butler.
Exit.
Mr. Benson
I don’t see what there is to worry about—your clothes are clean
and neat. What more can they expect? By jinks, I don’t let a little
thing like that worry me.
Enter Mr. and Mrs. Asterbilt, preceded by butler.
 Mrs. Benson
Shaking hands with Mrs. Asterbilt who holds hand high for
fashionable hand shake.
How do you do, Mrs. Asterbilt.
Mrs. Asterbilt
Good evening.
Mrs. Benson
I hope you’ll excuse—
Mrs. Asterbilt
Interrupting.
Mrs. Benson, my husband.
Mr. Asterbilt
Mrs. Benson, it gives me very great pleasure to make your
acquaintance.
Mrs. Asterbilt
And I suppose this is your daughter.
Shakes hands with her.
Mr. Benson
Yes, that’s her.
Mrs. Asterbilt
You’re a very charming young lady.
Mr. Asterbilt
Shaking hands with Ethel.
Indeed you’re very charming, Miss Benson.
Mrs. Benson
This is my husband, Mrs. Asterbilt.
Mr. Benson
 Makes a couple of attempts to shake hands with Mrs. Asterbilt and
at last finding her hand, which is held high, pulls it down and gives
real handshake.
I’m so glad ter know you, Mrs. Asterbilt. (Shakes with Mr.
Asterbilt.) How do ye do, Mr. Asterbilt. By jinks, I’m glad you folks
come this evenin’. I was just tellin’ Ethel as how we didn’t know our
next door neighbor here in town. Do ye know, Mr. Asterbilt, I don’t
think the town folks are near as sociable as us country folks. Won’t
ye take your wraps off and stay a while?
Mrs. Asterbilt
Removing wraps, hands them to Walter, who wads them all up in
his arms and drops Asterbilt’s hat.
I’m so sorry we were unable to get here for dinner or to let you
know. We fully intended to get here, but we went out auto riding in
the country and were detained by a breakdown. When we arrived
home and saw we were so late, we took our dinner at the cafe
before coming. I hope our delay hasn’t put you to any great anxiety.
Since we couldn’t get here for dinner, we thought we would call for a
while, rather than disappoint you completely.
Exit butler with wraps.
Mrs. Benson
We’re very glad you did, won’t you be seated?
Mr. Benson
Indeed we’re glad you have come. Anyone is welcome at our
house any time. Don’t you know people aren’t so sociable as they
uster be. Why, when I was a boy we either called on some of our
neighbors, or they called on us every night of the week during the
winter months. I’ve been noticin’ as how the town folks don’t call at
all unless they’re invited. By jinks, come to think about it, you folks
are the first to come since we’ve been here, exceptin’ one of our
neighbors from the farm.
Begins slowly to remove shoes.
 Mr. Asterbilt
By the way, Mr. Benson, what is your opinion of the commission
form of government this city is going to submit to the voters next
election? You know some of the cities have already adopted it and it
is promising to become quite popular.
Mr. Benson
Can’t say as I know much about it. If it’s anything like the
commission the grain and stock buyers get, I don’t think much of it.
You see lots of those fellers getting rich while many of the farmers
who haul their grain in to them are just barely holdin’ their own. So
they’re wantin’ to make a big thing outen the city people, too, are
they?
Mr. Asterbilt
You have the wrong impression, Mr. Benson. This commission
form of government consists of several committees of three men
each and each committee has some special phase of city work to
look after, such as streets, parks, public health, etc.
Ethel
Father, you’ll have to be reading up a little, so you’ll know which
way to vote at the election.
Mr. Benson
Rubbing his feet.
Guess you’re right, Ethel.
Mrs. Asterbilt
Miss Benson, I don’t think I have seen you at any of the balls this
winter—it must be that you haven’t been introduced yet, for young
ladies are in quite a demand. I believe you would be a very graceful
dancer.
Ethel
I’ve been to a few social gatherings given by the young ladies’
society of our church—we’ve had some real nice times.
 Mrs. Asterbilt
Those will do for some people, I suppose, but you’re charming
enough to get into real society. I can give you the name of a fine
dancing school where you can learn to dance in a very short time.
They guarantee to get their pupils into society as soon as they have
completed.
Mr. Benson
Has been rubbing his feet, now places them on the back of a
chair.
These pavements just tear my feet to pieces every time I go for a
walk. The cities talk about their improvements, why don’t they cover
their walks with rubber so as to save one’s feet? I’d lots rather have
an old cow path to walk on.
Ethel
Leaving room.
Father, may I see you for a moment?
Exit.
Mr. Benson
I’ll be back in a moment, just go right on visitin’.
Exit.
Mrs. Asterbilt
Do you folks like the city life better than the country life?
Mrs. Benson
I can’t say as we do—we miss our neighbors so.
Mrs. Asterbilt
You should get into society. We have some very cultured people in
this city, with high social standings. Your daughter is good looking
enough to marry a rich young man. You should give a ball in her
honor.
 Enter Hiram Johnson. He looks around the room much awed by its
splendor.
Mrs. Benson
Rises to meet him.
Why, hello, Hiram.
Hiram
How do you do, Mary? Golly, but you have a swell home! A feller
told me this was where you lived so I walked right in without
knocking. This is a swell room—don’t you sorter feel like a snake in a
bird’s nest?
Mrs. Benson
How did you happen to come here?
Hiram
I was just takin’ a little vacation to see the sights. Many of our
learned men get much of their education just traveling.
Mrs. Benson
Meet our company, Hiram. It’s Mr. and Mrs. Asterbilt.
Hiram
Shaking hands in a friendly way.
I’m glad to know any one whose friends to John and Mary. I
knowed they would soon get acquainted when they came here, for
they’re so neighborly.
Enter Mr. Benson with house slippers on.
Mr. Benson
By jinks, if it ain’t Hiram.
Exit Mrs. Benson.
Hiram
Crossing to Benson.