NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13273, 4 September 1906, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

the Seaweed INDUSTRY OF JAP

From a comprehensive report, prepared by the British representative at Tokio, at the request of the- Foreign Office, we learn that ■51 of the various species of seaweeds found on the coasts of Japan are; employed for useful purposes, and their collection and subsequent treatment form one of the most prominent industries of the Japanese Empire. In no other country are seaweeds put to such a variety of uses- as in Japan, where they are utilised as food, as planter and glue, as starch, and even as manure for the rice fields. One of the most important branches of the industry is the preparation of isinglass, the export of.which has already reached considerable dimensions. Another is the extraction of iodine, but the methods employed at present foi the production of this chemical, though certainly inexpensive, are crude, and could doubtless be greatly improved and a larger yield obtained. Moreover, the burning of the seaweed, which is part of the process, is frequently a cause of Considerable annoyanceto people who live in the neighbourhood of the places where it is carried on, owing i to the exceedingly disagreeable and pungent fumes given off.by,. the burning sea- J weed. During the last few years experiments have been . vigorously carried out ; under Government supervision \ in many places along the ; coast, and when the results have been definitely ascertained, it is expected that the annual yield of all kinds of useful algae will be largely increased. The only species which has been properly j cultivated in the past ;is , the laver (Porphyra tenella), all other kinds having been gathered indiscriminately, with the result that the supply has in some cases shown a considerable diminution. The -total value of the seaweeds prepared in 1904 exceeded £400,000, and the total value of the exports was £124,651. THE COLOUR QUESTION IN THE TRANSVAAL. Dr. Abdurabman, president of the African Political Organisation, has been explaining to the representative of an English journal some of the disabilities to which persons of colour are subjected in the Transvaal. "In the Cape Colony," he said, "it is possible for a person of colour, who has received a good education, to enjoy the fruits of that education freely and without hindrance, and to compete openly in commerce and professions with the rest of His Majesty's subjects. In the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony this is not the case. They cannot hold fixed property, nor can they act'as goldsmiths. Any coloured person found in possession of any inwrought precious metal is punishable with lashes not exceeding 50 in number and imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years, with or without hard labour. No ' native' may ride on a tramcar, and though I am a physician, with a large practice in Capetown, and a member of the Town Council there, I am for certain purposes an outlaw at Johannesburg. 1 lived for some time at Troyville, a suburb of that city. There is an excellent tramcar service into town. The happy white man may travel to his work for 3d. I had to walk or take a half-crown cab. Then, most grotesque of all, are the post office arrangements. The question is not, perhaps, really important, but it is typical of the elaborate, wasteful, and topsy-turvy absurdity of many of the anti-coloured laws. The Johannesburg Post Offioe is a spacious apartment, with a counter of some 60ft. This is for white men i only. For coloured people there is a small .underground room, where the black man buys his stamps from a, separate staff. Now, I myself am a ' native,' though in the bustle of life one is apt to forget one's degradation. In my thoughtless way I once dropped into the main hall of the post office and asked for six penny stamps. The clerk looked at me in a curious way, and served me after some slight hesitation. A friend who was with me pointed out the daring illegality I had been guilty of. 1 should have gone, of course, to the ' native' room downstairs. As a matter of amusement I repeated the offence. I got the stamp, though only after a still greater hesitation. A third" attempt produced a crisis. Unwillingly, and rather shamefacedly, the clerk asked me if I had a ' pass' allowing me to be served. Clearly he recognised the idiocy of the whole affair, but he would ' get into trouble if he served me,' after which I obeyed the laws of my country and went downstairs. Again— and these are far more serious questionspeople of colour are shut out from the use of the schools and. hospitals. Natives in Johannesburg contribute £160,000 towards the hospitals, and are housed in tents. The proposal of separate brick-and-mortar accommodation for coloured people has only just been raised. Education is for us a costly matter. My children may not use the common schools ;" I must engage a' separate teacher. This is a heavy burden."