AUSTRALIANS RETURN.

Gisborne Times, 3 April 1907, Page 4

AUSTRALIANS RETURN.

SOUTH AFRICA IN A BAD 5 PLIGHT.

Australians who returned to Sydney from South- Africa by tho steamer Hyniettus on March IS confirm the worst that has been said regarding tlio distress prevailing in South Africa, and the sorry plight, in which hundreds of Australians have found themselves (says tho Daily Telegraph). The Hymqttus brought over 100 disappointed Australians from Fast London, and when- they landed many of them made vows never to leave this country again. “Thank God, we’re here,”' said one man, “there’s no place like Sydney.” Conversation with- others showed that the sentiment was shared by all.

Air. C. D. Rodgers, a resident of Sydney lor come years, but "a New Zealander by birth, expressed the opinion that South Africa was “done’ for years to come. “The country,” lie added, “is in a bail plight. People are leaving in hundreds. These are not only men'out of employment, hut many are men who are giving up work to seek better living conditions elsewhere. By this boat 130 came away, and the majority of them arc good tradesmen. Some were earning £3O a mouth in Johannesburg, but the cost of living there is so high that they preferred to come out hero and accept 8s or 10s a day. Rents are exorbitant. There are hundreds anxious to get away, but they have no money, and many of those who are in work are so disgusted with the prevailing conditions- that, if it were not. for their wives and families, they would llirow it all up and leave the country. The majority of the disappointed leave through Capetown, and they are going away from that port at the rate of 600 a month, and haw boon doing so for the last twelve - lonths. Any boat leaving there' plenty' pJ.,passengers. One of the c»u*Jb r.f the ball times in Cape Colony is has ' lost dill the .trarle -rd" tlic Transvaal, which goes through iieuigoa LJuv. tlfe Portuguese territory. TlnngsVqire daily getting worse. Employes of labor are taking advantage <>( tlie ball times, and are now offering wages that a man cannot, live upon. Oil tho railway, oil-which I was employed, they aro now starting checkers at 6s a day. But the rents andpric.e of food and clothing keep up. i. At Capetown" not long ago they: bad married men on relief works, jit 3s Cd a day, and the inunicijfhlities gnvo work to white men at wages paid to Kaffirs —Os anil 2s oil a-.day. The •Kaffirs are. doing'n lot oft, work that was at. one time given to the white man. It costs them practically nothing to live.

‘ ‘Trade—is -absolutely dead. ' Prosperous .merchants of. a yoaivor two back are shutting down, and (lie small shops are. following suit. This applies all round—Johannesburg, Pretoria, Piotcmiaritjdmrg, Bloemfontein, Durban, East London, and so on. l'ieteriuaritzlnirg is practically empty, aiul there is nothing but shops to loti As for Johannesburg and Durban, crowds aro always to ho seen about the streets looking for work. 1 can tell you it is a good place to ho away: from.” Questioned as to the cause of all this depression, Mr. Kodgors said it was difficult to explain. The Hand was employing more capital now than ever it did before, and was also producing more gold-; but the d/vpression was still there. “Of course,” lie added, “the utilisation, of ••colored labor is a big factor. IWgtXybatehes of Indian coolies aro continually arriving, and at Johannesburg there must be 60,000 or'A7o,ooo Chinese coolies working in: the mines. The importation of Indian coolies is killing Natal. They arfi much more intelligent than the Kaffir, and have already driven the white mail out of some of his former occupations. For instance, they have the vegetable and produce trade entirely in their hands Another prominent matter in considering the cause of the depression is tho extensive withdrawal of troops since the termination of the war. Tho war made most of the towns, and things were then so brisk that you could not go wrong. But. when the militai’S withdrew, and the military pay swiped, there was a different story In-iAiIA \ Mr. Rodgers 'Hid .that- eje\vlhihg the people wofo, ate," mf listed in South iiiT[v>rte<fe There were no imlustrieaiJ The only thing left for them was tlfi dpvelop sli?*ivs agricultural resources.''and the/Vere now turning their attention to thatmatter. “Taken all mir.-l,” Air. Rodgers concluded, “the country is in a bad way, and it is going still further down. It has been doing so ever since the end of the war. Merchants thought they were at bedrock a couple of years ago. but they have at length had to close down. Many j are just hanging on in the hope tha'l the country will soon turn the corner but I think it 1 will he some years before that happens.' 1