The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1922-02-24
Mankato Young Man
Writes From Africa
ElwIn Halves ReIatesExperiences
In johannesburg; Views
Of English

DR.. and Mrs. K. L. Halves have re-
celved letter with newspaper clip
pings from their SON Edwin, which
might be OF interest to people in
Mankato. Edwin Halves is a mining
engineer for the IgersoH- Rand com
pany' in Johannesburg, South Africa.
He sends some articles from the
paper in that place that shows clear
ly the attitude of the English to the
United States. He continues that if a
person in that place did not know
anything about the states but what
they read in the newspapers they
would form a very adverse opinion Of
this country. 1t seems that the Eng
lish are very jealous of this American
company, and are putting forth all
the propaganda they can TO cover 1t
up. He states that the Afrikander or
nationalist as the Dutch party is call
ed, Is friendly with the United States,
but the English do not love Americans
He says: THE working men here
are all at the mercy of the Unions q
condition brought on by the war,
where the mining companies did ev-
erything they could to keep the men
at work. Now when the price Of gold
Is falling the men do not wish to take
any cuts in wages. The agitators are
busy earning their money and so ev-
eryone is out on strike. The Golfers
struck January !, and now all the
old mines are shut down as veal as
that place. Heretofore the men got
everything they asked for. The strike
generally lasted only a few days be-
cause they gave them what they
wanted. The community is almost en-
urely dependent upon the mines and
when they stop everything else stops.
In a previous strike the men became
violent at once, tried to blow up the
Rand club and mine offices and about
twenty were killed. They now have
mounted police ,camped in various
places around the town to preserve
order.
"The most serious aspect of the
business is that about 200, 900 natives
who work in the mines and live in
mine compounds will have to be sent
back home, This may cause trouble
and If they are once sent back it will
take months to get the magain. AS a
whole the outlook Is not very promiS-
ing. Of course our business here al
most stops when the mines shut down.
Among the clippings which was a
summary Of lecture given by a Mr..
Bertrand Russell to the Woman's In
ternational League in Manchester. Mr..
Russell quoted Americas attitude to
the Panama tolls, the Allied war debts,
and Russian trade. 1T could not in
the face Of these things be said that
America was always honorable, hu-
manitar1an or liberal. OF Japan Mr..
Russell said 1t was a country with a
mental civilization quite unlike that
of the Western countries. The relation
between Japan and America was like
that of Germany and ENGLAND before
the war, and It was to be feared that
japan might like Germany, challenge
the world and fall and In falling bring
with 1t the Western civilizations. In
the deeper issues his personal feelings
were all for Japan and against Ameri-
ca, but Japan repeatedly had put her
self in the wrong. 1t should for n
stance, have claimed for China what
it claimed for itself.
1t would be best for China to get
hack Manchuria and Shantung, and
discoro, but there seemed little chance
of that. The four Powers had in ehect
agreed to exploit China together, and
America would control the consoxti
um of bankers. America would also
set to work to convert the Chinese in
to muscular Christians for the ulti-
mate profit OF financiers. In the long
run, China would awake, and Mr.. Rus
sell could not see any more hope for
a stable world in the Washington
Conference. There would be war,
war. he thought between American
capitalism, Russian socialism and the
East. Only under international So
cialism he concluded, could both
peace and freedom exist.