THE NATAL DELEGATES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 29, 3 February 1904, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE NATAL DELEGATES.

THE QCESTTON OF CHINEE LABOUR. (By Telegraph. — Special to "Star.") CHRISTCHURCH, Saturday. Messrs Evans, Hyslop and Armstrong, the Natal delegates, left for Dunedin yesterday morning. The two latter leave Bluff for Natal, and Mr. Evans will return to North, and continue his observations of this colony for another month before starting for America and Europe. Speaking in reference to Mr. Seddon's protest re the introduction of Chinese labour into I the Rand- one. of the delegates said that ias the Transvaal was a Crown colony, and not a self-governing one, and the other dependencies of the Empire bad been concerned in its acquisition, he I thought the- Premier was quite justified lin making his remonstrance. He thought, that his companions would agree with, | him in that, though on the subject of thi tdvi.-ability of introducing Chinese | their opinions differed, lie thought himi self that the immediate advantages of i such a siep would be more than counterbalanced by the subsequent disadvajii tages. He believed that tbe Premier lof Natal, however, had aced rightly in I dec-lining to support the protest in the j matter of introducing foreign labour: I Natal itself was not sinless, and for this ' reason could hardly interfere. They had j introduced Indians, who did most jof the menial work. At j present. these hardly competed with white labour, but they bad lie en followed by traders from Bombay, whom nobody introduced, and tbe. latter were certainly taking a share of business, which otherwise would belong exclusively to the whites. Some years ago there was a strong feeling in Natal with regard to possible danger from Indian labour, b;ii at present times were prosperous and the matter was not spoken of so much. A large number of people in Natal were opposed to the introduction of the Chinese labour into the Transvaal.