The Irish standard., 1899-10-28
GRIEVANCES OF THE ou1LANDERs.

GRIEVANCES OF THE OUTLANDERS.
Now that the war between the British
and the Beers is raging in South Africa
it may be we'll to know what it is all
about The secretary OF state for the
colonies, Joseph Chamberlain, OF Man
chester made a great ado over the ill
treatment OF the Outlanders and claimed
they were entitled to the franchise. He
cmphatically declared that taxation
without representation is tyranny" and
that British subjects should be permit
ted to renounce their allegiance to
Queen Victoria and become burglers
OF the Transvaal with all the rights
of citizenship. He said that $4,000 Out
landcrs had signed petition and sent
it to England demanding protection
from Bocr tyranny, and that he could
not Withstand their appeal.
We find in the Manchester Guardian
OF September 20 that the English min
ers who have returned from the Trans
vaal give a flat contradiction to Mr.
Chamberlain. The story they tell is
direct. simple and rational. They frank
ly avow that their object and the object
OF their iellow-workmen in going to the
Transvaal was to make money eve as
miners one OF them declared, "go there
simply because there is more money to
be got for our labor, and am happy to
say we were not disappointed in that
respect. The rate OF wages varies from
Fl to 22s. Cd. per day. That is what
men usually get. Against that there are
the expenses, but we get kept, and we'll
kept, for about {6 month, while other
expenses are very moderate. 1t is true
a suit OF clothes which would cost f.
los here would be f6 in Johannesburg,
but we can we'll afford to pay extra.
All the taxes we were asked to pay was
the poll tax OF lbs. adj a year" Another
representative stated that he earned f5o
a month, and as householder paid an
additional tax for sanitary arrangements
If Is. Sd. year. Well satisfied with the
means and conditions OF livelihood,
these men testified that they had no rea
son to complain Of their treatment at
the hands OF the Beers On the con-
trary, innumerable instances were given
OF kindness and courtesy. At the time
of the Jameson raid one or two of these
men, working at the mines in the neigh
borhood Of Krugersdorp, and, owing
to hostilities, cut off from supplies, were
fed by The men whose territory was be-
ing invaded.
The English miners were asked by
DR.. Spence Watson if it was true that
no respectable English person could
walk the streets Of johannesburg with
out being spat upon and insulted. They
laughed at the notion and said they
could get along just as easily in johann
nesburg as in "canny Newcastle" Be-
ing asked If they wanted the franchise,
they said they cared nothing about it,
They had gone to the Transvaal to
make money and not to live there per-
manently. How did it happen. then, it
was asked, that a petition signed by
$4,000 Outlandcrs reached England
These men knew nothing about it; did
not know, and had never heard of, any
body who had signed it; could not haz-
ard a conjecture as to how the sigma
lures were obtained; but ventured to
express the opinion that even their sig
natures might be found among the
number, although they had never seen
the document 1t was true they had
signed petitions against dynamite mo-
nopoly or other obstacles chiefly be-
cause they were obliged to. 1t was fire.
quently case OF Sign or Clear" and
to man with ESQ month, whose
avowed object was to make money, the
policy for profit was the line of least
resistance. AS far as these men were
concerned, the South African League
was evidently OF the same dubious char
acter as the petition. But plainly, they
knew very little about it, and less about
Mr.. Strong, the supposed representative
OF the working classes in the Trans
vaal.
One OF the miners, very intelligent
man, was not able to attend the meeting
in the Burt Hall, but he sent letter
to the chairman. in which he said:
with regard to British subjects being
tyrannized over by the Beers, l have
never seen anything OF the sort, and
mining is the chief industry in the
Transvaal. The wages paid are from
los. to f2 per day. The cost OF living