candidates who objected to the importation of Chinese labour to
work Transvaal mines. I also remember that their opponents in defending this importation asserted as a fact which admitted of no denial, and governed the whole labour problem, that the white man in this country would in no circumstances so far degrade himself as to earn an honest living by manual labour. I enclose herewith cuttings from the Rand Daily Mail of Tuesday and Friday last. The Rand Daily Mail has been a consistent supporter of the theory that Chinese labour is a necessity, and the perusal of the state- ments it now makes may suggest to some enthusiastic sup- porters of the late Government's action in this matter that the assertions they have made were in this respect—well, "terminologically inexact." They may also suggest to the less enthusiastic that friends who make such important admis- sions as these when they are being driven into a corner are very unsafe political allies, and that other so-called facts put forward by the Rand financiers upon which they have honestly relied are coin of a very doubtful value to use in political controversy.—I am, Sir, &c., "The leaders of the mining industry, actuated with the laudable desire of assisting the poor whites, indigent ex-burghers, and men of the bywoner class who have keenly felt the pinch of poverty for a considerable period, have initiated the idea of offering employment on the mines in the Witwatersrand area to all the unskilled white labour available to complete the complement. The rate of pay has been fixed at 7s. 6d. per day, which for un- skilled labour is more than a living wage. Already large numbers of de arms Boeren ' from the districts of Vrededorp and Bream- fontein have availed themselves of the offer, and one hundred men have been taken on at the Crown Reef, where they will be employed on surface work alone. Ex-Commandant van Dam, who was well known before the war as chief of the Johannesburg Zarps, is closely identifying himself with the movement, and he is assisting the industrial employment scheme by every means in his power, and his office yesterday was besieged with applicants of the 'poor white' class who were seeking work and eager to get it. The men already taken on are settling down to their surface duties, and are thoroughly contented with the ruling rates of pay, which are higher than offered unskilled labour on the rail- way construction works in various parts of the Transvaal. The bywoners ' particularly welcome the scheme, which furnishes them with an excellent opportunity of tiding over a depressing agricultural season. On the East Rand and some of the central mines the system has been operating successfully for some time, and with its extension to all the mines on the reef unskilled white labour will find an outlet for its energies which should materially relieve the grinding poverty now prevailing among the indigent classes."—Rand Daily Mail, June 19th.
"We have been informed that the experiment of employing white unskilled labour is being tried on another mine on the Rand to a limited extent. Their employment in this case has been due to efforts that have been made by Mr. J. P. Meyer and Mr. J. P. Jooste, who have been interesting themselves in the cause of the unemployed. Our mention of ex-Commandant van Dam as being connected with the effort was erroneous. The manager at the mine in question, it is said, is seeing if he can make room for twenty-five unskilled white workers, who will be employed in any part of the mine, underground as well as on the surface if need be, and will perform tramming, walling, and other work appertaining to the un- skilled worker. But there will be progression ; that is to say, the men will not always be occupied in the lowest forms of labour. If they show efficiency, they will pass by gradual stages to more responsible work, till in time it will be possible for them to reach the grade of a skilled workman. There will be a corresponding progression in their pay, which to commence with will be at the rate of 10s. a day, increasing as more skilled work is undertaken. So far, room has been found for ten men. Had more been required Mr. Jooste could have provided them without any difficulty, for since the matter has become public property men have called upon him in large numbers anxious and willing to work, and he could have supplied 500 had there been an opportunity for them, even to do unskilled labour, so long as a living wage was paid. We have been informed by one gentleman that the allegation that men will not accept this kind of work is a fallacy—that there are some men who would undertake the work in the hope of ultimately being occupied on the mine at the trade in which they have been trained. Should the experiment be successful and develop, it may have results of the most far- reaching character."—Rand Daily Mail, June 22nd.
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