CHINESE ON THE RAND.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1751, 27 September 1905, Page 66

CHINESE ON THE RAND.

REMARKABLE DISCLOSURES FROM within. (By a Chinese Official.) The following article lias boon written for the cf Daily Chronicle” by Tse Tsi fihau (English, Thomas A. See), a Chinaman who was appointed Chinese lAdviser and Interpreter on the East Hand! Mine®, a position carrying a Salary of £6OO per annum, which he resigned a few months ago because of ids disapproval of the manner in which his fellow-countrymen were treated. Mr See travelled from South Africa $o Liondon expressly to communicate his experiences to the Editor of the “Daily Chronicle.” Mir See left England last week for China with the object of making known. |o his countrymen the treatment meted but to the Chinese labourers in the Transvaal. I arrived at Johannesburg in Doeem s>er 1903. A little while after I had Arrived the great struggle for Chinese J*abour began, which ended in a victory for the mineowners, to the great discontent of the other British colonies and of the white people of the T sa nsvaal ftself. At the time of the signing of the Labour Ordinance I was holding the Jposition of Secretary to the Chinese Association in Johannesburg*. My compatriots were all against their countryJnen coming out to the mines as they (Were fully aware of the hardships and 'the treatment they Mould have to undergo on arriving there. I <sld my best to keep my countrymen fepdet, for I found that it would be of Ho use for a handful of foreigners, who already looked upon with suspicion, tp fight against the capitalists, especially as we were only allowed to trade Under a license. I had personal interviews with Mr Harold Strange, the president of the Chamber of Mines, and Others in a similar position, and they all assured me that the Chinese would get the best of treatment and protection, and at least the same wages that lithe Kaffirs were getting CHINAMEN DECEIVED. in May 1904 I joined the Foreign Department, under Mr W. JDvars, as an interpreter and finger imjbressfion clerk. I was sent down to Durban to meet the first batch of Chinese arriving by the Tweeddale. To* my great surprise and astonishment, I ft>und that more than 50 per cent, of the jnen did rot know what their work Was to be, and that the nature of it had been absolutely misrepresented to them by the recruiting agents in China. had been tcld that the work was " Just the same as that done in the gold trines in Australia and America, and that there would be all sorts of work for other mechanics to do*. This batch Was drafted to the New Comet Mine; land when they arrived there and found Out the kind of work they were asked to do, thev broke out into revolt, destroyed the compound offices, and if police assistance had not arrived in time, the lives of some white men would have been in danger. I was also in Durban when the second batch of Chinese arrived from Tientsin. .The majority of these were ex-soldiers %om Weihaiwei. They told me they understood they were to act as soldiers i :©.nd to dig in the gold mines (which they fyitmd erstood to be a lluyial m i nos), and to do other work. They v r ere quite ignorant of the fact that they had to go 0000 feet underground. The third . .batch made the same statements, and

these last had not even seen the terms of their contracts before they left. Books with the terms of their contracts in Chinese were handed to them at Jacob’s Camp, Durban. -.

HOW THE CHINES® ARE TREATED.

On September 2, 1904, I was offered, and accepted, the post of Chinese adviser and interpreter to the East Rand Proprietary Mines. I entered upon my duties on October 1, and remained there until the end of March last, when I resigned, because I saw and heard so much that was oppressive to my countrymen, that I could not stay any longer. In justice to my employers, I nust say that, personally, I could not have expected better treatment, but when I called for my salary at the end of March (£SO) I was asked to sign a deei ment stating that I was satisfied with the treatment' the labourers were receiving. This I refused to do, so I had to leave the Transvaal without it. I applied several times for it but never eve a got a reply. This is the only had treatment I have to complain of which came at the very last moment. I presume they got to hear of my intentions. Although I was no longer in the Foreign Labour Department, I met many Chinese interpreters and doctors from other mines, all of whom were absolutely disgusted with the treatment the labourers were getting, and also with that which they experienced' themselves. As regards the'coolies, I am confident that, with the exception of those whose heads are sought for by the Chinese and those who are much in debt in China, all would most gladly leave the Transvaal. That they have been enticed here under false pretences—not by the Transvaal Labour Acremt in China, but by the Chinese recruiting agents—there, is not a shadow of doubt.,

As to the housing of the labourers, they are as well housed as any common Chinese labourer could expect. At the start they were overfed, but during the last four months, the rations have been cut down to the very lowest limit, and the coolies are unable to satisfy their appetite without buying extra food. The meat they get ig of very poor quality indeed. When I complained I was told that the cost of feeding was too high, and must he out down. It has now been settled that a labourer hand-drilling must drill two* feet before be is entitled to a day’s pay. If he does not do two feet he gets no pay at all. This, I consider, is a direct* infringement of the Labour Ordinance. On August 16, 1904, the following notice was posted:—“Coolies who do not drill two feet, and who in the miner’s opinion, could have done more, will not be paid for the day.” I understand that the Kaffirs get 8d a fod% for hand-drill-ing, whilst the Chinese only get 6d. The average pay earned by a coolie is barely enough to carry him along. He wears out a pair of boot® every month, costing him 8s 6d. He has to buy his own clothing, tobacco, and other necessaries. Although the . wage they earn here might be four times as much as it would be in China, they would be much better off in their native land. EXCESSIVE MORTALITY.

The health of the coolies has been very poor. The chief sickness is beri-beri, and up to the end of February last there have been seventy deaths'. About 400 have been repatriated. I firmly believe that when their three years are up, not 50 per cent, will live to see China again. On March 31 last, there were 204 labourers suffering from beriberi, packed like sardines in th© lazaretto, waiting to be sent away. Before X left the East Hand the hospital for coloured labourers there must have had from 400 to 500 patients daily, and there was only one doctor, one compound manager, one assist-ant” manager, and a few Kaffir dressers. The hospital is very airy and spacious. If the Ghirese were looked after by one of their own countrymen they -would be much nore comfortable. If the coolies commit some slight offeree, they are handcuffed and kept in the compound office for a day or two. The men are always knocked about by the white foremen, and when they make complaints, they are rarely believed, ai the white, man is always held to be in the right. If a coolie is found to be drilling Short of two feet for a few days in- the month, or to be absent from work, he is “run in,” and fined from 10s to £4, or sentenced to from two weeks’ to two months’ hard labour by the magistrates. Sometimes, to save trouble, be gets a few outs with th© sjambok, a rhinoceros-hide whip. The term of his service is three years, but in many cases it will be four years. All the days upon which he gets no ticket are deducted as an unlawful absence, and be will have to work a period equal to thirty-six full months, minus Sundays and holidays. If a coolie is injured in the mine, he gets no pay whilst in hospital. IN TEARS IN THE MINES. Labourers who have signed on as foremen in China are being forced to do ordinary labourers’ work. o*n February 27 last a foreman named Phun Pak was ordered to do hammer work. He refused, and was at once charged with refusing to work, and was fined £3 or five weeks’ hard labour. Many of the men whom I spoke to underground were weeping; when I spoke to them. Many

spend the night® in the compound weeping. On October 20, 1904, Chan Tsi Hang counmittecT suicide. He left a letter saying 'fie could never work out his time, and asking bis compatriots to take ha® bones home. On the following day, Chan Ying Choy tried to commit suicide By hanging. On March 18, 1905, labourer No. 1085 committed suicide, and about the end of the same month another tiled to do so in the Beri-beri hospital, but was saved by his own countrymen. Whenever a larbourer is charged with any offence he is always convicted 1 . The fines were at first 10s to £l, hut when the magistrates found that the other coolies were subscribing to pay them they fixed the fines so high as to make this impossible. I interpreted 1 in court for about six months, and I never knew a single man get off. A word from the white boss who prosecutes is all that is required. Mr W. Evans, who was appointed as Chinese Protector, was one of the best men who* could have been obtained for that position. But how were the grievances of the coolies to reach him? If an interpreter spoke on their behalf, it meant the “sack.” Mr Evans, undot Ptediy had his hands tied, and was not free to act* as he wished to and, in my opinion, it was this that led to his resignation. The interpreters and doctors on the mines employing coolies from the North of China all tell me that these are being treated much worse than those on the New Comet mine. Chinese punishments are introduced, such as wooden stocks, beating with pole®, sjamboking, and locking up in dark rooms without food. The coolies are compelled to address their controller as “Ta-ren,” which means “Great Man.” Only high-grade Mandarins are thus addressed by their inferiors in China. The men are, lam told, beaten unmercifully, and for “short footage” tihey get no pay, and for offence®, instead of being charged before a magistrate, they are flogged, or beaten with axe-handles. - On the New Croesus Mine I was told that the labourers are severely beaten. On the French Rand Mine, told me that the labourers received up to fifty lashes with the sjambok, and that he had three men in hospital for over two weeks under treatment from the injuries received. Hb declared this publicly to members of the Cantonese Club at Johannesburg at their annual dinner. He was afterward® sent back to China. The reason why the coolies are better treated on the New Comet is easily explained. The whole of the Chinese community in. South Africa are Southerner®, and they would have soon heard of any gross ill-treatment*. There are no local Northerners in South Africa, so the mine-owners thought they would be able to treat the coolies from Northern China as they pleased. THIS “HELL” IN SOUTH .AFRICA. Notices have been posted calling upon those coolies who desire to have their wives brought* over to report themselves. They only laugh at this notice. They want to know who is to feedi and clothe them. They said that if their wives expected to be maintained on the pay they were getting they would starve, and so they had better starve in China. Others said they must* have committed some great wrong in their previous existence, and must have been banished to this bell in South Africa as a punishment. They did not wish their wives to suffer the same penalty. On the East Rand Mines there are no quarters ready for the coolies’ families, and I do not believe they exist in any other mine. The Chinese community of the whole of South Africa have heen treated badly enough, and they are keeping a very watchful eye on the situation. The whole of the Chinese on the Rand have combined and deputed me to go to England as their representative to tell the truth about what i® going on. In doing this I have sacrificed £6OO. a year besides free quarters; but as I am in duty bound to see that my countrymen are fairly treated, I do not think I have sacrificed too much. —THOMAS A. SEE.