Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1957-06-15

reasons developed into a political
cause and became a symbol of the
clash between Africans and the
government over treatment of At
ricans in this country.
On its side the government de-
clared the boycott had been &C.
mented as test of strength be-
tween Africans and government
and that it must be smashed at
all costs. Thus with no prospects
of negotiations, tempers rose on
both sides.
Policemen harried the boycotters
and in some instances broke up
their meetings. Extremists among
the boycotters threatened to burn
down the bus company's offices
and with them the now idle fleet
of buses so that the buses had to
be conveyed to safety and placed
under military guard.
Concerned at this explosive sit
uation and the ugly implications
which the boycott was now assum-
ing, organized commerce in Jo-
hannesburg stepped in with an
emergency plan. The Chamber of
Commerce itself bought books Of
tickets from the bus company at
the new higher bus fare and sold
them to Africans at the old price
they had previously paid.
This arrangement ended the boy
colt and virtually subsidized the
bus company, the Public Utility
Transport Corporation, which ad-
mittedly was in dire financial
straits and needed the increase in
fares drastically to continue run
ming.
The Chamber of Commerce
launched a $4,000 fund to cover
the cost of this subsidy for an
emergency period of three months.
This period EXPIRES July l and con-
Germ was rife lest the boycott, with
all its tensions, be resumed once
the subsidy expired and the bus
company be forced to extract high
er fares from Africans
But the government now has
published new legislation which it
is understood will be sped through
Parliament before July and which
it appears will go a long way to-
ward solving the whole bus issue
peacefully.
Low Wages Blamed
1t is the Native Transport Ser
vices bill, which will levy on en-
ployers a new weekly contribution
to- subsidize African transport SER
vices where necessary.
These new funds, it is under
stood, be partly used to keep Jo-
hannesburg's African bus services
running on the old fare structure
before it was increased.
While this move has met with a
large measure of approval, num-
Der of authorities point out that
substituting bus companies to pro-
vide cheap African transport does
not go to the root of the economic
problem.
A Chamber Of Commerce spokes-
man, for example, says, "The At
rican's real Illustration lies in his
low living standards. And the
real answer is to raise his wages
so he can weather transport in
creases and so on. In the Chamber
of Commerce, the minimum wage
paid to an African laborer is laid
down at $50 weekly. We are
considering tipping this minimum
by 10 cents weekly.
"This would set laborer's wage
at about the minimum figure which
Independent researchers have de-
clared is necessary for an African
family to live upon. Industry faces
a different problem, for unless pro-
ductivity is increased by African
workers, an increase in their wages
may render the employers product
uncompetitive with those from
other areas. But start is being
made"
The Anglican Bishop of johann
nesburg, Ambroce Reeves, says the
"cverstrained poverty" Of Africans
was largely responsible for the
boycott, and that while the gov
eminent has solved the bus fares
issue the overall problem Of At
rican poverty remains.
Mr.. Alex Nipple parliamentary
leader Of the small but vocal Labor
Party in Parliament, which has
consistently drawn attention to Al
rican hardships, has called for an
overall inquiry into African wages,
which, he says, are hopelessly in
adequate.