Chinese Labour for the Rand Mines.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2, 14 January 1905, Page 53

Chinese Labour for the Rand Mines.

The hallowing article on the muehdiskuaeed question of the hitroduetiua of Chinese labenr into the Transvaal was ■Written by Mr Arthur T. Firth, of Auckland, who has been on the Rand for the fast three years as mining engineer.

Were the conditions met with on the Rand better understood by us in the colonies, there would be less prejudice against the introduction of Chinese labour into the Transvaal. These colonies have dune their utmost to throw 'every obstacle in the way of this, the enly means of raising South Africa, from the state of stagnation which at present exists. 'The action of the British Government in sanctioning the introduction ct Chinese to the Rand has been condemned, but this sanction dearly shows that they had thoroughly grasped the (situation with regard to the conditions existing there. The gold on the Rand is contained in ■'a conglomerate called banket, which consists of water-worn quartzite pebbles cemented together. Ts*e go>ld is contained in the matrix or cement, ami in no iuetance have the pebbles been found to be lauriferous. The auriferous width of these deposits does not exceed 44 inches, land 30 inches is about the average width mined. Before entering the morter-boxes !the ore Is passed over a revolving sorting table, where from 15 to 20 per eent. is discarded, this being of unpayable grade. ■The average value of the ore milled on the Kami is 39/ per ton, the cost of mining, milling, development, general •charges, etc., slightly exceeds 25/ per ton, with the employment of 85 per cent, black, and 15 per cent, white labour, including officials. The cost of white employees per ton t«f ore milled amounts to nearly 7/10, ■and black labour, including food, to 6/9 •per ton, making a total of 14/7 per ton for labour employed. Increase the proportion of white employees from 15 to 100 per cent., and it will at once be seen

the Impossibility of working the Rand low grade ores at anything but a huge loss. The greatest number of Kaffirs employed on the Rand mines prior to the outbreak of the, Boer war did not -exceed 80,000, although the requirements were then more than 100,009. Since the war the greatest number- obtainable amounted to 67,000. and this total has only been reached since May last, and has not been exceeded on account of the scare ity of that class of labour at present existing. In July last there were 57 mines milling on the Rand, with a total of 4,705 stamps. Working upon these there wera 67,000 black labourers employed, drawing a monthly wage slightly exceeding £3, with free food. The fine gold produced amounted to 298,825 .»z., valued at £1,269,328. No Chinese were then working. To August there were 65,848 Kaffirs and 4.947 Chinese, making a total of 70.795 eheap labourers employed on the mines. The output totalled 301,113 oz. fine gold, valued at £1,279,047, or an increase of £9,719 over the July output. The Chinese were arriving in batches up to the end of the month, so that the average number of labourers at work during August would probably not have exceeded 68.000. During 1899 the Rand turned out 4.065.180 oz., with an approximate value of £17,000,000. The total available cheap labour then was 80,000, and over 6,000 stamps were in motion. During the two and a-half years which have elapsed since the cessation of the war many mines have been equipped with milling machinery, but have not yet started crushing on account of the scarcity of cheap labour. Milling construction is steadily going on, and the present additional eheap labour requirements amount to 200.000, whether Chinese or Kaffir, and as the latter arc not obtainable Chinese are the only alternative. Had the necessary quantity of blaek labour been forthcoming at the elose of the war the Rand output would have exceeded £23,000.000 this vear, instead of only a possible £15,000,000. For every additional 1000 Chinese employees will lie required; thus the ad-

71 it ion of 200,006. 'Chinese will bring about the employment of upwards of 30,000 more white men, whereas without this increase in cheap labour no more whites would be required, as the mines cannot be worked with white labour alone. A want of this knowledge was demonstrated the other day iu an Auckland paper. A passage appeared in which the writer asserted that the Waihi ore was low grade, comparedwith the rich ores of the Transvaal. This statement proves his ignorance, and it would be wrong to let it pass without contradiction. The Transvaal ores are low grade compared with those of Waihi. The former, asr before stated, gives an average of 39/ per ton, and the latter exceels 55/ per ton. The eoinparison shows 16/ per ton i* favour of Waihi. The Waihi deposits are without doubt the largest iu the world, and the life of the mine, from present indications, will probably be the greatest. Its lodes are of huge dimensions compared with the narrow width of the Kami Banket deposit*. The cast of production existing at Waihi cannot therefore be taker, as a basis upon which to work out the cost on the Rami, and it is absurd to make such comparisons with that point iu view. Reports have been circulated From time to time that the Chinese are being treated as slaves, in the Transvaal. This is untrue in the extreme, for nothing of the kind exists there. Both Chinese and Kaffirs are treated with the utmost kindness and consideration, and the accommodation supplied them is of the best, both as regards comfort and sanitary arrangement. They are satisfied with their pay, and both races spend their earnings freely in the country. Murders are frequently occurring in Kaffir compounds, but of these we hear nothing. On the other hand, a few murders occurring amongst the imported Chinese, originating through religious disputes, appear in our papers under headings calculated to stir up a still more biased feeling against their introduction into the Transvaal than at present exists.

ARTHUR T. FIRTH.