Manawatu Herald. [Established Ang. 27, 1878.] SATURDAY, SEPT., 8, 1904. The Transvaal and Asiatics.

Manawatu Herald, 3 September 1904, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. [Established Ang. 27, 1878 .] SATURDAY, SEPT., 8, 1904. The Transvaal and Asiatics.

——* —_ There promises to be further trouble in the Transvaal over the alien question. The agitation against the Chinese has subsided to some extent, but a fresh difficulty has Cropped up in connection with another class ol Asiatics—British Indians. The lattei are said to be gradually capturing the retail trade of the country, their cheap mode of living enabling them to undersell the white trader, and the result is that a strong feeling has been aroused against them on the part of the white population, who are particularly anXioUs to get rid of them. Representations have been made to the Colonial Secretary, Mr A. Lyttleton, by the Legislative Council of the TrandVaal, Urging him to take ftOfciem to prevent the further influx of Asiatics, other than Chinese, but Mr Lyttleton has declined to allow the rights of the British Indians to be interfered with, and has also refused to appoint a Commission to deal with the question of Asiatic immigration. There is every likelihood of a bitter controversy being aroused, and if this is done the consequences may be serious. The colonies were deeply angered over the treatment the people of the Transvaal received at the hands of the British Government with regard to the importation of Chinese cheap labour, and if the Asiatic question in South Africa again comes to the fore, the colonies will not be inc’ined to submit to a second violation of the rights of the white population The whole matter is fraught with many dangerous possibilities, and it is to be hoped that an amicable and satisfactory settlement of the difficulty will be arrived at. The ties of affection to the mother country have been somewhat strained through the action of the British Government in dealing with the Chinese question, and it will require careful diplomacy to avoid a further and perhaps more serious rupture.