HOME AGAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 2 April 1907, Page 4

HOME AGAIN.

AUSTRALIANS FROM SOUTH AFRICA. COUNTRY IN A HAD.PLIGHT. Australians who returned to Sydney from South Africa by the sl,cami;r ilyiiieltus on March IS confirm the Ilia, has been said regarding the distress prevailing in South Africa, ami the sorry plight in which hundreds of Australian'- have found themselves (says Hi.' Daily Telegraph). 'The llymcttiis brought over 100 disappointed Australians from East London,, and when they landed many of ■ hem made vows never to leave the country again. "Thank God, we're here,'' said one man, "There's no place like Sydney. 1 Conversation with others showed that the sentiment was shared be all.

.Mr C. D. Kodgers, a resident, of Sydney for >ome years, but a New Zealiiiid'iu' by birth, expressed the opinion that South Africa was "done" for years t.i come. "The coiimry," lie added, "is in a bad plight. People are leaving ill hundreds. These arc not only men out of employment, but many are men wiio are giving up work to seek better living conditions elsewhere. By this boat R!o came away, and, [he majority of them are good tradesmen. Soniej were earning C>o a month in Johannesburg, but. the cost of living there is so high that they preferred to come out bore and accept, 8/ or 10/ a day. Rents arc exorbitant. There are hundreds anxious to get. away, but they have no money, and many of (nose who are 'n work are so disgusted with the prevailing conditions that, if it were not for their wives and families, they would throw it ii]) and leave the country. The majority of the disappointed leave through Capetown, and they are going away from that port lit the rate, of 000 a month, and have been doing so for the last: twelve months. Any boat leaving there gets plenty of pa>sengess. One of the causes of the bad times in Cape Colony is that it has lost all the trade of the 'Transvaal, which now "oes through Dolagoa Bay, the Portuguese jterrilory. Things aHe daily getting worse. Employers of labour are taking advantage of the, bad times, and arc now ■olleriug wages that a man cannot live upon. On the railway, on which I was employed, they are now starting checkers at 0/ a day. Bnf. the rents and price of food and clothing kerji up. At Capetown not long ago they had married men on relief works at i'l/0 per •lay, and the municipalities gave workto white in,,., ui waSPS p.,],, to Katlh-s—- - 2s (id a day. The Kaffirs are doing a lot of work that was at one time g.ven to the while man. ft costs them practically nothing to live.

"Trade is absnlutelv dead. Prosperous merchants ,-,f a V( , a ,. „,. tw .., h . H< are, shutting down, and the small shops are following suit. This applies all round—Johannesburg, Pretoria. Rioterniaritzburg, Bloemfont'ein, Durban East Loudon, and so on. PictormaritzW is practically empty, and there, is nothing hut shops to let. As for Johannesburg and Durban, erowds are always to be seen about the streets look-ill" for work. 1 can tell you it is a good place to he away from." Questioned as to (lie«causo of all this depression, JJr Ro( i go ,. s Nai( | j( . (] . f _ hcult to explain. The Rand was employing ,„„,-,. ~;,.„•(.,, ]1()U . , t[|iln iiv(| . had Mire, and was also producing tore gold: but the depression was stifi liere. "Of eourse," he added, "the „ti- '; i v' ff ' f,l i""" , , Mi,l, " i "- i^ii ' i «^- 11,1 • Laige batches of Indian cooliei «re cont.nu.illy arriving, and al JohaniK'soni., 11,,.,,. 11)llst ]ll; ( . (){m m _ ()(|M u-ne-e eoobes working j u ihti ]llilK , s J lie i.npouatioii of 1,,,];,,,, „ ooIi( , s u k|] '»g -Natal. They are much more hit,.], ''-cut lum the Kaffir, and have already 'tr.H'iillie white man out of so f his '•>'mer■occupations. For instance, they '<ive the vegetable and produce trade '.■'•(.rely in their hands. Another prommenf matter i„ considering the eausc „i the dcpicssion is f]„. ~x tc nsive withdiuwal „, tl , o sin( . ( , Uu , I( , ni|i|l . uim| »' Uiewar. 'I he war made most of the t"wns, and things were then so brisk 'Hat you eouid not go wroii" But when the military withdrew, and 11,. military pay s, o pp,, (Ii llu .„, ' (went slorv to tell "

Mr Rogers said that evervthing the people wore. ate. or used in South Africa was imported. There were no iinlus tries. The only thin, left for them was to develop their agricultural resources, and they were now turning (heir alien. Hon to that matter.

••Tak,-ii all amumf,- Jf,- 1t0,,.,.,,, ~„.,. fUKied, "Hie country is in a bad «-iv •>»< lit is (r„in{, stil furtlicrdown. Ith-is '«•>■» d 0.,,,, s„ ever sine, tin- cud of tl„, |>;ir. Merchants thought Ihcv were af bedrock a couple of years ago, but tlieV and it is still going further down. It has ■ii-o just hanging on in the hope that the country will soon turn the corner, ml I think- it will be some years before that happens."