The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TUESDAY, JANUARY 7. 1908. THE CHINESE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2082, 7 January 1908, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TUESDAY, JANUARY 7. 1908. THE CHINESE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Now that the experiment with Chinese labor in South Africa has been terminated bv the deportation of tiio indentured Asiatics, it is instructive to notico the outcome, it will bo remembered that they were imported at the request of the mineowners, who declared that such cheap labor as the Chinaman could supply was absolutely essential to the economical working of tlio mines. Amidst a howl of disapproval on the part' of many sections the Chinese were imported, but ultim itely tho opposition to their presence iu the mines became so pronounced that sentiment in England was produced to such an extent that the present Government wont into power pledged to effect tlio exportation from the Transvaal of tho Chinese laborers. Now that the experiment eau be said to be at an end, it i: satisfactory to kno»\ lint those who were instrument'll in convincing the Government that the solution of the Transvaal labor troubles lay in the importation of Asiatics, ire no a reconciled to the ending of the imported labor. H has been a costly experiment for tlie mines, for this reason —that, although tho labor itself is cheap enough, the cost ol importing, the erection of compounds for the accommodation of the coolies and incidentals, such as the engagement oi qualified linguists, were a burden that was counted upon to he spread over a number of years. As it is, this expense has to be met lor the services of the coolies during their frnst indentures.

There is no doubt that the importation of Chinese has had the effect of impressing upon the native mind that they are not indispensable. On this point the correspondent of the Lyttelton Times tells us the tact has been borne in upon them that labor, if not of a more effirUui, at all events of a more intelligent quality, can he found for the mines. The blacks now show more avidity for service and a greater concern in carrying out- the duties allotted to them than was the ease when they constituted the sole source of unskilled labor at hand. Something, of course, has to be said as to the improved conditions under which the Kaffir is now able to work. The Chinese have been unduly pampered. The “slavery” cry was of course, a mere figure of speech. The coolies were housed and fed in a far more pretentious style than many white laborers enjoy ,on mines in other countries.

A significant feature of the whole matter is the finding of a Commission that has recently been appointed to overhaul the method of working in the mines. One matter that lias been brought out prominently is that the improved drill will effect an 'immense economy in the working of the mines. As a matter of laet, it has been shown that already on many of the mines within the past few months working costs have come down as much as half-a-crown per ton. This means a great deal of money to the big companies, and the European sh trchoklers, who have been wont to cry out at reduced dividends, should bencTii by the improved methods that are now being put into practice. Another startling pronouncement brought out was the admission of the general manager of the Eckstein group that if native labor was entirely eliminated, and the mines worked solely by white labor, much more efficiency would be obtained and the working costs reduced to a much lower basis than with the present system. The general manager of the Eckstein group gave it as his opinion that the mines could be worked quite as cheaply as those in the United iStates if tlies white man took up his proper burden and did not rely on the unskilled black labor that lias hitherto been supposed to be essential on the Hand. The idea that South Africa can do away entirely with native labor has opened up a new vista of possibilities for the industry there. The admission in regard to white labor publicly made bv snob ail .authority .must have been rather disconcerting to the heads of the mining houses, who have for years past scorned the notion that Europeans could be profitably employed on the reef except in a skilled capacity.