Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-09
PAINTS DARK PICTURE
OF SOUTH AFRICA
WRITES OF CONDITIONS THERE.
Cost of Living Enormous and Cap1tai
lists Combined to Control-Natura1
Conditions Good.

A., ,ooo,pt of the conditions preVailns
~ johannesburg s. A, and the haho Cum
,rv is contained in a letter receiver het
r.oen+lv from a gentleman who mas iateiy
como 10 South Africa. The correspondent
.,o.ks almost exclusively of the expenses
- living and of operating mines III 'h'
country The writer says
.Tbis is certainly WONDERFUL coui'i -
- what / am told is true. II Is not pun
MANS country, however No matter NJ"
GOOD your properties, your cialms' W
t,ons or even your registered lanos are
,,n,ess YOU have an immense sum 10 WI
,bem with. you are at the beck ana can u
tho svndicates. All the owners or the pis
mines and all moneyed men. whether ny
tac,t understanding or oona noe asi &c s-,
noent are allied to prevent the piaens %
the market of properties they oo iioe va,
troll. Tito this. When
.,o d;scoverer of lands containing soiu'
conner coal the like mas secuiSu W
tinns mr. made an actual purchase, ne aP
~ ,,;ras him to produce his proofs and tnen
,na,ces him to agree to hold the matter
omen for a while. Then the mattef Is uliom
"a To rest The man who mace the oioeoH
cry may go the reuna s. "a anu affe Ga bar
oain until finally the mans patience anu
his capital are exhausted, hB optiohs ca
r;re and he is compelled to sell at what
ever figure the moneyed men care " s'9
Location of the Mines.
..5,he main reef on which the principal
Ia wines are located runs along the
southern boundary lines OF TINS CITY anu
,.e,,s ont through its streets. For miles
hayord the limits of the city this reef con-
Times and is undeveloped. Between johann
pesburg and Pretoria is large tract OF
land. twenty-five or more miles square. winch
is of granite formation. All about TINS area
of land the gold reef has peen traceo anu
lis now being worked
at is my opinion that all this talk on the
labor question is the work OF the mohopo-
lies and syndicates, and OF their own manu-
facture They have driven the kaffirs and
Z,,Ius from them by falling to give them
fair wages and proper treatment. There
are as many negroes IN tne country as
there ever were. The argument made by
the owners and capitalists is that II good
a., ~ COS are maid the negroes will work only
for a short time, at the end or Which they
quit and remain away until Inc money SO
earned Is spent. and that that Is the rea-
son why the mines cannot be worked to
their full capacity The argument also fur
nishes a pretext for opening new mines.
"If the arguments of the moneyed inter-
ests are allowed to prevail and they are
permitted to introduce Chinese labor, a
state of slavery or servitude for the ma
tiyes is likely to result or they must starve.
If the capitalists did not make these argu-
ments, they would not be able to retain
control of the local government and at
the same time hoodwink the British ma
ton, as they are now doing.
'"The people In control have everything
in their own hands and will continue to
have. unless the oppressed change the sit
uation, probably by force OF arms. There
is. however, party of conservative men
In the country who realize fully the situa-
ton and sympathize with the oppressed;
who know that labor can be obtained and
by fair treatment retained. and who will
some day wrest the control of this great
and rich country from monopoly. and, per-
haps, from the British government.
Everything Sells at High Figures.
Everything here costs the highest price
that can be obtained for u. Railway