New-York tribune., 1922-03-26

~ Africa, ordered formidable
force of infantry, cavalry
and artillery into johannesburg and
..nt squadron Of army airplancs
lowering over the mining district of the
esrd it was not primarily to handle the
/ ssrike situation i'm tnat part of South
Africa. Rather WAS it for the purpose
r dealing q swift and determined blow
., political situation which apparent
: still bids fair to become the most
b sncerous menace that the Union Of
south Africa has had to face
The strike on the Rand is not in
.sef an isolated phenomenon. 1t is
merely ono Of a series Of labor dis
lurbarces which are inevitable in the
I,ature of things iu conditions of the
vars aftermath. 1t is a counterpart of
similar occurrences that have taken
,'sce in different parts of the world in
re course Of the last three years, and
+, tire result OF the necessity to ad-
INST postwar conditions. Attempts al
yiucing wages Of labor inflated by the
var on the part Of the employers Of
,bor, determined opposition to such
tduction on the part Of labor. efforts
n the part of the government to bring
re TWO sides together and at the same
me to make strides toward more
Tless efFectual solution Of such funda-
rental problems involved in the proc
S Of adjustment as the cost of liv-
~. the housing problem and the gem
ers question Of profteering- these
are aspects Of the South African strike
situation, familiar enough in all parts
Of the world.
The strike itself is not a sudden and
rc2pected development. All through
latter half Of 1921 constant strug-
.e was going on between the Indus
rial Federation, representing various
groups Of miners, and the Chamber of
Eines, which is an organization Of
aine owners. There were two prin-
spal points at issue in this struggle.
I1e first, and possb bly, the more funda-
1eatal Of the two. was concerned with
proposal made by the Chamber for
ne modification of certain working
,Rditions. especially of the gold mines.
.ac second was connected with the
aeston Of wages.
The mines of South Africa are
named by both white and native black
Zboy, and the question Of preserving
certain radio between the whites and
The natives in some Of the important
7ches of industry has been matter
great concern to the leaders Of
.-garized labor in the mining area.
he question was finally settled for the
tine being by the inauguration of a
called "status quo agreement, in
,cordance with which the general
stio between white and native labor in
rc~al important branches Of industry
vas fixed at one TO eight.
'roposal TO Reduce Ratio
OF Black end White Labor
What the chamber proposed to do
7ss 20 cancel this agreement. and it
marshaled a large number of argu-
vents In favor Of such course. 1t
-honed that. unless this were done and
unless operating costs were reduced in
his manner, at least twenty-five out
Of the trlrty-niue gold mines in the
Iransyaal would probably have to shut
down when gold returned to its normal
alue. This would mean that over ten
housaud white miners would be thrown
out of employment General SHUTS at
tempted mediation and convened a
conference, at which efforts were made
70 reach an understanding on the basis
o.. modification of the "status quo
agreement The mine owners proposed
a ratio IF 1913 natives to one white,
but the miners refused to accept the
proposal
The question in the coal mining dis
-icts was primarily one of wages. In
the course of the war the wages Of
coal miners increased generally by
80 per cent, from 20 to so shillings a
shift. At the end of 1921 the coal min
ing companies decided to reduce the
wages by 5 shillings, and in reply to
an announcement of this reduction, the
coal miners unions declared a strike
which became effective on January i
1922. A week later the Industrial Fed
Grafton ordered a strike in the gold
mines on the Rand, the engineering
shop OF johannesburg, and the power
station at Victoria Falls.
For two months after that these
various strikes continued with inter
mttent success. The strikes affected
|nlte labor, and some of the mines
we're operated by natives. In their ef-
iorts to make the strike entirely sue
cessfu the strike leaders turned to
methods Of intimidation and compul-
SION.
The police and the government forces
found the strikers excellently organized d
end well provided with arms. They
operated by means of small detach-
merits Of we'll armed workmen who
asd been trained by ex-service men
hese detachments, known as the
eOmmandos," gave the police consid-
sfao'e trouble and succeeded in en-
''rcing the strike order in some of