CHINESE LABOR.
BRITISHER'S STRIKING LETTER FROM JOHANNESBURG.
METHODS ON THE RAND. A correspondent recently sent the London "Daily Chronicle" a copy of a letter which he had received from his brother who lias been many years resident in Johannesburg:— * " i see from the newspapers which you have sent me that in the home country the defence of the importation of the Chinese is based largely on four points, which I should like to be home to deal with, as they could easily be answered. However, briefly I can tell you that we Britishers in South Africa, apart from those under the control of the mine owners, are to a man opposed to this labour Ordinan.ce. Your Unionist party argue that it was passed by the Legislative Council of the Transvaal! Surely you know that Lord Milner had the power to reject anything be saw fit, and not in one instance of the remaining twenty-nine members nominated to the Council 'were the people, either British or Dutch, allowed to have a representative. Hence it was quite impossible for this nominated council to voice our views—which are those of the general public. The majority of these nominated members are directly connected with the big mining houses, and their sole aim was Chinese labour. ENGINEERING A CABLE. '' It is also argued that the Nonconformist bodies of the Transvaal were in favour of . Chinese indentured labour. Evidently this statement is based on the cable sent home by the executive of the Church Council. This was engineered by certain gentlemen closely allied with the mining houses. The Council of the Executive were not even consulted on the matter. Why, 1 ask, was there such secrecy? The congregations were- not consulted; not in a single instance was the question ever broached to them, neither a petition presented, nor a referendum taken by any church of any denomina- " Further it is being advanced that petitions came from the people here urging the necessity of the Chinese being admitted. Such petitions were got «p solely by the mining houses, who wanted the Chinamen, the signatures being obtained by the following methods. The milling houses obtained a certain number of unemployed, and gave them a sovereign a day so long as they could obtain signatures ot their men, and had any ot the latter refused to sign, it was well - known that they would he marked^ Had the mining houses been so anxious to let the home people see that we wanted Chinese, why, I would like to ask, did they not take a referendum of this colony, as the people wished? HIRED OPPOSITION. " Are you Britishers at liome aware of the fact that a meeting was held at the Wanderers in November, 1903, to pass a resolution in favour of a referendum of the .colony being taken ? At that meting Mr J. W. Quinn, our pre-sent-Mayor was for three hours refused a hearing by a band pf ruffians, hired at 15s per head. They were given instructions to breakup the meeting, and this task they accomplished. It is wfjll-known here . who hired these hooligans—viz., .the big mining houses who wanted the Chinese. " The Dutch are absolutely en masse dead against the Chinaman. I also emphatically say that a large majority of the British people were against his introduction. However, we do not say it would be wise to repatriate the Chinamen en bloc, how we have them here. As you can quite follow, it 50,000 labourers were suddenly withdrawn it would cause a great depression. Hence we say, stop further importations until the people here can speak through q. responsible Government of their own. " Naturally you ask, who, are to take their places ? Kaffirs, as before the Avar, "when this country was far more flourishing than it is at present, in spite of the 50,000 Chinamen. There are many more points I could touch on the question—slavery, bad treatment, rewards for catching runaway Chinamen, immorality, imported diseases, murder of unprotected Dutch farmers, etc. If the Chinese are not in a state of slavery, I ask by what name can we call it?"
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Bibliographic details
Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIX, Issue 62, 14 March 1906, Page 1
Word Count
684CHINESE LABOR. Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIX, Issue 62, 14 March 1906, Page 1
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