New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-11-15

heed plentiful supply Of cheap labor. White
labor in connection Herewith is out Of the ques-
ton, and far the mines themselves are
concerned, the importation of the Chinese Will
not affect the white labor market in South
Africa in the least, always providing that they
IAN be restricted to the mines and to work of
The same kind which by reason of the cOndi-
lions Of climate is beyond the power of the white
man. There are hundreds of square miles of
auriferOus territory, not only in various parts of
the Transvaal, but also Rhodesia, which
noe ie mined, nor even scratched. under the
isssa5 labor conditions, but which may be
dsgss.oycd to advantage with the assist
age CT cheap Chinese labor. SO it can
not be said in any justice that the Chi
labCrer will displaCe the white man,
far as the mines and unskilled labor Of an
analogous character are concerned, and the OBJ
jection which has been put forward, that the
mine oT7.ers were bent ON working their mines
witt Chinese labor in order to escape from the
thra!ECm of the trade union and to avert the
crea..cn e white laboring class, which would
beco-ce cCficiently strong dictate not only on
the cyo-5;0a of wages, but also in political mat
ters, IS :. Australia, has foundation, since
undo 20 circumstances could white labor be
used fc- the work on which it is proposed to
employ the Chinese.
cerr Tho future rather than the present, it may
be pointed out that there are other points
which call for consideration in the matter. It
y perfectly true that the commercial and in
Lustrial development of South Africa has been
retarded until by the trouble in obtaining
Anskilled labor. Already before the Boer war
)he difficulty was SO pronounced that Cecil
Rhodes some ten years ago appealed to the
Transvaal government for permission to i'm
port coolies for work in the Rand mines, but
was met with a curt refusal the part of
President KRUGER. Since the incorporation of
the two Boer republics into the British Empire
matters have become still worse in this respect
For, whereas in 1897 about 100 900 KafIirs were
Working in the mines, it has been found i'm
t1ssible this year to secure more than 10000
and fewer than 100000 are urgently needed.
All attempts to obtain native labor from other
parts of British Africa have failed, owing 70
the inherent Incidence of the black and
TO his particular aversion to underground work.
The consequence is that the owners are I'M
able TO work their mines to anything approach
ing their full limit. This is all the more seri-
Gus when it is borne in mind that throughout
the war, and for some time afterward, the Trans
Vaal mines, comprising the most important gold
producing area of the world, practically at
standstill, causing a scarcity of gold, which
still exists, and which is regarded largely re-
sponsble for the financial depression. 1t is
of the utmost Importance not only to the own
crs, who have nearly S20O0.000O00 invested
in the mines but also to trade and in
dustry throughout the world, which are ham
pered by the scarcity of the yellow metal that
the mines should be worked to their fullest ca
pacity, and this only be accomplished by
Chinese labor. To those who assert that the
latter could be dispensed with, It may be
pointed out that the Importation of Chinese is
a far more costly process than the recruiting
Of Kaflirs, and that in their interests the
mine owners would never have resorted to
coolies unless they had previously exhausted