The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-12
!. sTRIKINa ENGLISH oprNror.

A STRIKING ENGLISH OPINION
 Tn the Labor Importation Ordinance pending in the British Parliament and likely to become law, the English are entering upon an experiment in South Africa that will be watched with interest everywhere and particularly by the peo- pie of the South. Not that we here are dreaming of supplanting the negro in ever So small a measure by the use of Chinese labor: the United States is too strongly committed in law and public opinion to the Chinese exclusion acts. There will, however. be a motley array of races in the Transvaal engaged in farming and mining such as can be found no where else, the nearest approach to so gross an adnixture of peoples being in our Southern States. We of the South must look on the English experiment earnestly and thoughtfuliy for we naturally seek light on our own problems wherever this is to be had.
 In the dearth of labor in the Transvaal. the negro being deemed unreliable and Inefficient. English capitalists have turn cd to China for help. The proposed law reads somewhat as if the authorities were agreed on setting up modified form of slavery for the Chinese who choose to seek their fortune in South Africa. The laborer enters into an elaborate en- gagement with the employers agent in China; he must serve for certain period; he can take no child of his own over the age of 10 years; he must work for the stated time for the particular em- ployer and grave formalities are enjoin- cd in transferring him from one corpora- 1 tion or individual to anotherf The pay- ment of his wages Is to be minutely supervised by the government and his return to his own country eventually be- ing kept. in view, this Is carefully pro- yided for. a
 In England the proposals have raised storm among the hber- | als and their clamor has been
 echoed among the very good people of this country. They see an insidious ap- proach to the actual reestabiishment of
 slavery as an institution. In the North
 the outcry is of piece with that which was witnessed when a few cases of so-
 called "peonage" were unearthad at the South. The bray of Exeter Hall has be-
 dition of their own premises the North
 ern philanthropist became at once angry l and eager to clean up back lots in the
 South. The pray of Extra Hall has be-
 come distinctly less potent as the world I has come more and more into actual con-
 tact with the weak and backward races
 and sentiment pure and simple is giving
 way to reason. Whatever may be
 thought of Premier, Balfour. he will be
 confessed to be one of the most scholarly
 and thoughtful men in public life today.
 He has proved his ability in many fields
 from profound theological speculation to
 golf. from running a great government
 to riding a bicycle. In the debate on
 the Chinese Labor Ordinance, the Pre-
 mier took up the race question in South
 Africa and confessed he could see no out
 come there, but the foundation of an
 aristocracy and proletariat class. His
 aristocracy was one of color. What
 would 'Wilberforce say to that. He
 would have to admit the world moves,
 even If he should contend 1t was moving
 backwards.
 The Premier went on and 1t is this pas
 sage in his argument we wish to submit
 to the consideration of our men who
 believe sentiment and not fact and reason l cbouId c0pfrol coufharp volIoiaS ,,,,tI,
 respect to the negro. ''The theories of
 the eighteenth and early nineteenth cen-
 turies," said MT. Balfour-why not the
 later nineteenth and earlier twentieth
 century?-"that all men are born equal
 has been refuted in this. as in many
 other instances, by the advanced science
 Men are not born equal They cannot
 be made equal by education extending over generation after generation within
 the ordinary historical limit. The dif-
 ferences between one family and another of mankind lie deep in the remote and
 unfathomable past and 1t Is folly to sup | pose that your petty educational reguIa- tions. be they what they may, can 1 obliterate distinctions deep seated under | the laws of nature"
 We are not prepared to dispute the
 statement of the British Prime Minister. ! We believe in the education of l the black man, but we have never be- | lieved any quantity of education would make him the equal of the white. We believe there are between the races