Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-10-06
Indians Refuse to Obey Laws and
Go 10 Prison Without Pro-
test or Resistance.
SERIOUS PROBLEM TO Be SOLVED
Remarkable Attitude of Brown Men
Makes it Necessary for Government
to Make Arrests by Wholesale and
the Supply of Lock.ups Soon win
Be Exhausted.

Julian NESBUltG, Oct. J.-Will the
Transvanl have TO build a new jail TO
accommodate 10000 Asiutics, or will
the first law passed by the first elected
parliament be successfully deiiod by
the eastern peoples within her Dor
dcrs?
These are the questions South Afri-
ca is asking. The Transvaal's latest
trouble raises an issue of the greatest
importance. The Indians In the colony
have armed themselves with the wca-
pom of the English Nonconformists.
They have become passive resisters.
They sit down and stolidly refuse to
obey the law. They are prepared to be
sent To Jail. or ruined in business +
dcportcd. But they will not be regis
tered by act of parliament. The dead
lock is an awkward one. What the
Asiatics in the Transvaal do today the
Aslatics in Natal. or Australia or
British Columbia may do tomorrow.
Verse still. the resistance to the law
may have bad effect OH the millions
of colored people in the suhcontincnt.
They may begin to say among them
selves that the rule OF the white man
is not so very strong after all. And,
lastly, the mere act Of this resistance
may tend to fan the flame of anti
British feeling in India
There are in the Transvaal some
1000 Asiatics-exclusive of the Chi
nese mine coolies. who do not come
within the new act. 1t is declared by
the administration that their numbers
are being constantly added TO by the
influx of newcomers. who get In on
the strength of false permits or with
out any permits ut all.
t was resolved. therefore, to find
out precisely who are entitled to reside
in the Transvaal, and for this purpose
there was passed the Asiatic law am
cndmcnt ordnance. which. although
not assented to in the days of the nom
mated legislature. was allowed by the
imperial authorities when passed by
the self-governing colony. This law
calls upon every Asiatic to apply for
n registration certificate. and on the
form asking for this certificate every
Asiatic male over eight years OF age
mist place his finger impressions.
Nav Act Put In Force.
The government decided to put the
act in force district by district. They
began with Pretoria, where the Asia
tics were called upon to register he
tween July l and July 81. Led by the
British Indians, the Asiatics refused
They placed plckets outside the regis
tration office and the official appoint
ed to receive the applications sat all
day and every day waiting for Asia
tics who did not come. Then 1t was
decided to receive applications Sc
cretly at night at private houses. Forte
Memons gave in, and 1t Is believed
another thirty or forty Indians an
piled. But in Pretoria alone 1000
As:atics defied the law. and assuming
that the proportion is maintained in
all the other districts there will event
uallv be over 1000 Asiatics liable
first 10 n fine of $500 or three months
Imprisonment, then to the loss OF
their trading licenses, and finally to
deportation.
The Indians object to the principle
of the act and also to its provisions
They declare that it is class legisla
tion of the worst type They say that
if every man in the Transvaal were
called upon to register they would
register rs quickly as any one. aIut
when they are singled out by law, tneS
ltluSt. ivy NDhlu Iip'N'' 'iis''
precedent would be created. They say
that once the principle of special lcgis
lation is admitted in the statute bool
there is no guarantee that 1t will mo-
be expanded and that they will be
forced to live and trade in special 10
cations, pay special taxes, and In fac
he treated differently from other Brit
ish subjects.
The secondary objections are equal
~ strong They protest that the finger
impression system is humiliating ant
degrading, and classes them will
criminals. They protest that the dc
mand thae they shall declare theil
mothers name is an insult to their re
ligious ideas, for with many indiana
IL would be considered serious dis
Grace to utter the name OF their motn
er.
Prefer Ruin to Submission.
Well-to-do merchants have resolved
to face ruin rather than submit. MI
Gandhi, who headed the recent de
mutation to England, asks to be thu
first man sent to prison for RESISTING