The long depression of the lates to earlys led to an increasing difficulty of finding work on the goldfields this led to a rise in anti-Chinese prejudice. In there were only nine women to men, raising fears that white women were at risk from Chinese men. By more than Chinese men had arrived in the province, although Chinese women seldom migrated with them. Chinese were seen as hard-working and law-abiding, and they were also willing to rework abandoned claims. Image source: 'Chinese meeting, Riverton. In, when returning to New Zealand from Australia, he died of a heart attack.
Seddon was an imperialist, he held numerous large portfolios while leading the country, and was the first New Zealand political leader to adopt a populist style. As leader of the Liberals, Seddon was associated with a number of important reforms and the granting of the vote to women.