hundreds of millions waiting to be dug | getting his rights. The regulations pro out. When a friend gave him this information and showed him figures, he asked "Well, what is England to get out of this?" His friend asked what part of England he was interested in. He suggested the case of his constituents in South Staffordshire. He was then vided that the Chinese labourers were not to be treated harshly. The experiment was to be carried out, not in a remote portion of the world, but by our own compatriots in the full light of day, with a vigilant Press looking on. Now what reason was there to think shown mines where excellent machinery that the responsible managers of the made by Messrs. Tangye in his own constituency was working successfully. He was told that the demand for machinery of that description was capable of enormous expansion, and that in the case of a great development of mining in South Africa millions of money would be spent on other Staffordshire productions, such as iron and brass work, saddlery, silver and electro-plate, jewellery, etc. But this development depended almost entirely on the supply of labour. He had asked his friend why there was a difficulty about labour, and he was informed that mines producing a small proportion of gold to the quantity of material treated could not pay a very large amount in wages, and it was absolutely necessary that those white men who were employed should be paid good wages. To live in comfort a white man ought to earn at least £20 a month. To do away with the prosperity of the gold mines was to injure the employment of white men in other industries, such as coal-mining and agriculture. They were told that there was a considerable output from the mines at the present time. He admitted that; but they were working the rich surface reefs, which were not expensive to develop, and not difficult to work. It would not be long before these surface reefs would be worked out; and if unskilled labour was not to be employed, who was to develop the deep-level mines? It cost £500,000 sterling to bring a deep level mine to the producing stage, and if capital was discouraged from investing in these deep-level mines, the whole prosperity of South Africa would come to an end. From the common-sense and economic point of view, the employment of Chinese labour was the best thing that could happen. It should be remembered that the Chinaman, if not treated fairly, would not work, because there was no mule in the world more obstinate than the Chinaman when he thought he was not VOL. CXXX. [FOURTH SERIES.] a were Chinese labourers fairly? He knew that before the war their attention was turned very closely to the question of supply of labour. If in all those years they had been unable to find any other solution of the problem than the employment of Chinese labour, the extreme probability was that no better solution was to be found. We had spent enormous sums the opportunity to get some of it back, and of money in South Africa; we had now that could be done by securing well-paid coloured labour there was employed the employment for our young men ; the more more openings there would be for these of providing a magnificent market for young men, and South Africa was capable articles manufactured in this country. These were legitimate ways of getting back some of the money expended in the war. He believed that the employment of Chinese labour would be good for this country, for the Transvaal, and for the Chinaman, and therefore he would have no hesitation in voting against the Amend ment. *MR. FENWICK (Northumberland, Wansbeck) said he had no doubt that the C or for the whole course of the man's natural existence, it was still slavery. hon. Gentleman who had just sat down was persuaded that the introduction of Chinese labour in the Transvaal would be advantageous to that part of our There could be no doubt that possessions. The hon. Member who com- the Amendment brought them face menced the debate that afternoon com- to face with what was, after all, plained that the mover and the seconder a very serious problem. The Governof the Amendment had not given due con- ment undoubtedly had made up their sideration to the views held by the minds, so far as they were concerned, to majority of the Legislative Council. He sanction this Ordinance, and practically to had listened very carefully to the able and give to the authorities in the Transvaal interesting speeches of the mover and the power to introduce Chinese labour into seconder, and it had struck him that they that colony. Now, they had been told, had paid all the respect that was due to again and again during the war in South the majority of the Legislative Council, Africa that the Government were powerhaving regard to the way in which the less, however much they might desire it, Council had been constituted. It was not to offer terms of surrender to the Boers a representative authority in any way, as without the consent of our colonial the hon. Gentleman well knew, and the fellow-subjects, who had made such verdict of the majority of that Council on sacrifices with us in the interests of the this question could not be taken as repre- Empire. They were told also, again and senting the views of the white population again, that the Government could not of the Transvaal. Until the Government disclose the terms of settlement after the took some steps to ascertain clearly and war without having regard to colonial indisputably the views of the white popu- opinion. Now, if the opinion of our lation of the Transvaal on this question, colonial fellow subjects was of such he and his friends, at all events, could weighty importance as the Government not be satisfied with the conclusion held it to be at that time, why did they at which they had arrived. The hon. now ignore colonial sentiment and feeling Gentleman went on to say that he in a matter of this kind, which vitally intended to speak and to vote for what affected the interests of the whole he considered the best interests of the Empire. The hon. and gallant Gentleman colony, the responsibility of the Govern- the Member for the Isle of Wight, ment of which we had taken upon our- emphasised the fact that the opinions selves. He had listened very carefully of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, to the hon. Member's speech, and it and Cape Colony were dead against struck him that the hon. Gentleman re- the action which the Government garded the best interests of the colony were likely to take in reference in the as based upon the introduction of slavery, Ordinance. With the permission of the or what he would prefer to call a low House he should like to read the terms of a cablegram sent in December last by Commonwealth, Mr. Deakin, to the Secrethe Prime Minister of the Australian tary of the Anti-Asiatic League in Cape Town. Mr. Deakin cabled standard of civilisation. He was aware that the noble Lord the Member for Bedfordshire took exception to the use of the term "slavery," as applied to the introduction of Chinese into South Africa, and he asked the question, "What is slavery?" The noble Lord went on to define slavery as "the condition of a man who is bound to another man for 66 Unofficially replying your cable am now able to assure you that the Australian policy of exclusion of coloured aliens re-endorsed yesterday by great majority at the general election." That cable was read to a mass meeting in Cape Town of between 3,000 and 4,000 inhabitants. A cable was also read from the First Commissioner of Customs in the Commonwealth, dated Adelaide, which stated, life." Well, he should like to put forward a better definition of slavery than that of the noble Lord. He defined it as "the suppression of individual liberty and freedom of action," and it mattered nothing to him whether the suppression "Red hot sympathy with the movement." of individual freedom and liberty of viz., the movement to action was merely for a limited period introduction of prevent the Asiatic labour into the Transvaal. The hon. Gentleman the Member for East Clare referred to the communication from the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Its text had not yet been communicated to the House and he should like to read it. It was as follows From the right hon. Richard Seddon. I earnestly hope, in the true interests of South Africa, that the movement for the introduction of Asiatic labour will not succeed. If this were to be the result of the great sacrifices made, it would cause heart-burnings and feelings of wide-spread disappointment. No Asiatic can enter this Colony without paying £100. Speak ing as one knowing the Chinese on the gold fields of Australia and New Zealand, I assert they are no use in underground work, and prove undesirable colonists in every sense of the word." Then there was a telegram from the Trades Council of Johannesburg which stated "Labour union in the Transvaal unanimously oppose introduction of Asiatics." An attempt was made on behalf of the Trades Council to hold a meeting at Johannesburg to protest against the introduction of the Chinese, but the capitalists organised a strong band of roughs at 15s. per head to break it up. As a result they appealed to their fellow citizens at the Cape to assist them in their endeavour to prevent the introduction of Asiatic labour. Why was the House of Commons asked to sanction this slavery Ordinance? Having regard to the restrictions which it was proposed to impose on the freedom of action of the Chinese, he thought they were justly entitled to regard the Ordinance as a slavery Ordinance. They were told by the hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Plymouth that the reason they were asked to sanction the Ordinance was that the gold mines could not be worked without the introduction of cheap labour. He denied that. But even if it were so, he wished to ask how far the Government intended to carry that principle. There were industries in this country that were suffering seriously, some of them only barely making ends meet, others temporarily working at a loss. If those industries could have the assistance of the Government in obtaining cheap labour they would regard it as a godsend. Were the Government about to extend their policy to this country? They would not dare to do it. He denied that there was a shortage of white unskilled labour in the Transvaal. If the mineowners were prepared to pay fair wages that labour would be forthcoming at once. The war in South Africa was a miners' war in some respects, but he was in a position to say that the miners in the TransVaal were not opposing the employment of white unskilled labour. Their opposition was devoted entirely to the introduction of unskilled Chinese labour. He could assure the Colonial Secretary that letters had been regularly received at the offices of the Miners' Union in Newcastle, from friends who went to South Africa, and on whose words they could rely just as implicitly as the right hon. Gentleman relied on the word of his advisers in the Transvaal. Those letters stated that the hostility of the miners was not to the employment of unskilled white labour, but to the employment of Asiatic labour. *MR. FENWICK said that the hon. Gentleman might possess some special information about that particular mine, but his information from the miners who went to South Africa and on whose word he could rely was as he had stated. At a mass meeting at Cape Town a distinguished citizen who had been in South Africa for twenty years gave some examples to show that there was a good supply of white unskilled labour in South Africa. He said that the De Beers mine wanted over 15,000 extra natives and they had not the slightest difficulty in getting them. The reason being that the conditions of employment were favourable. Only the other day he himself was told that there was one mine in Matabeleland which was never short of labour, because the manager dealt fairly and honestly with the natives and discharged any of his white employees who illtreated them. Again, at Cape Town there was no difficulty in getting native labour for the Docks, but in East London there was the greatest difficulty, the reason being that the wages offered in East London was only 2s. 6d. per day, whereas in Cape Town it was 4s. That clearly showed that where reasonable remuneration was given there was very little difficulty indeed in getting this native labour. Towards the close of the late unhappy war supporters of the Government pointed out to the working classes in this country what a happy unting ground South Africa would be for the British labourer, and what a splendid outlet it would be for the surplus .population of this country. Now it turned out that this country had shed the blood of tens of thousands of its subjects not in the interests of British labour but in the interests of Chinese labour. [An HoN. MEMBER: And the Millionaires.] Yes, both of those classes. Ships were chartered to send troops to South Africe and it seemed to him they would have to charter more ships to bring back the British unemployed from South Africa. The views of those who might be taken to represent the minds of the millionaires of Park Lane indicated that this was really a question of wages and fair conditions of employment. Mr. Lionel Phillips, in a letter to The Times about twelve months ago, said "The refuse and wastrels of this country we will not have at any price, because at sixpence a day they would be dear. Your good honest workmen we cannot afford." What an idea! He would have thought that if anybody could afford to pay fair wages for good honest British labour it was the millionaires who were interested in the mines of South Africa. But underlying this agitation there was also the fear that, if white labour were employed to any considerable extent, trades unions or organisations would be formed to the annoyance of the mine owners. The "trail of the serpent" referred to in the memorandum presented by the mining industry to the ex-Colonial Secretary in January of last year at Johannesburg was the formation of labour unions. The mine-owners were afraid their profits would be interfered with; hence this agitation. It was for this that we had spent millions of treasure and sacrificed thousands of lives, that wives had been made widows, and children left fatherlessthat we might further increase the huge dividends of the men of Park Lane who held this Government in the hollow of their hand. Throughout this agitation the Government had been in the hands of the financiers of London and the Transvaal, and they appeared to be utterly incapable of extricating themselves from the mercenary spell which these men had woven around them. From his knowledge of the working classes of the country he was convinced that if this issue alone was placed before them there would be a speedy clearing out of the Party opposite. He heartily supported the Amendment, believing the Government were about to take a step which would introduce a moral cancer into the social life of the Transvaal, a step fraught with grave danger to the best interests of the Colony, and a step which Members would probably live to regret. MR. SEELY (Lincoln) said he did not wish to make any appeal to sentiment or to opposition to Chinese labour in itself. He appreciated the gravity of the situation in South Africa, and the fact that we had evidence tending to show there was a shortage of labour, and that Lord believed it was Milner and others necessary for the country that fresh sources of supply should be found. One of the gravest elements in the question. was the objection to the introduction of Chinese which undoubtedly existed in our Colonies, and the fact that in taking the action proposed we should be acting contrary to the sentiments of all the Colonies which had had any experience of Chinese labour. His principal reason for rising was to ask the Government to delay taking action and to give the country time to consider the question from the point of view, not particularly of the labour being Asiatic, but mainly of the actual regulations to be imposed. Everybody who read those regulations would agree that, although the Colonial Secretary was doubtless perfectly satisfied that anything in the nature of slavery would be prevented, it did not quite appear on the face of the Ordinance that that end would be secured. On the contrary there were grave reasons for fearing that something of the kind would result. There had been an unfortunate incident in the debate. Would anybody have expected that in the twentieth century an hon, Member would have stood up to defend and praise the old slave trade in the Southern States of America? Yet that had happened in the debate, for the hon. Member for Leicester had stated that the slave trade in the Southern States of America had been a great economical advantage to that country and to the world. SIR JOHN ROLLESTON explained that what he said was that the old and earlier methods were much to be deplored. He did not in any way praise them, although the economical results were advantageous. MR. SEELY said he was in the recollection of the House. No doubt the hon. Member did not intend to praise or defend the slave trade, but that only showed what happened when Members got talking on the subject. What the hon. Member said was that the slave trade had been an advantage to those countries, and that the Southern States of America and the cotton trade could not have been properly developed had it not been for the slave trade. That a Member of the House should have made such a statement was an incident which could not have given much pleasure to the Colonial Secretary in whose defence the speech was made. SIR JOHN ROLLESTON: May I say that I am not afraid even in this House to state a fact which is historically true? MR. SEELY said they might differ as to the statement and still more as to its historical truth. According to the proposed regulations, if one of these men thought he would like to live outside the "Chinese village" and bought a house for his wife and family to live in, he would be liable to heavy punishment, and the person selling the house would be fined £500 or imprisoned for two years. Then there was the following clause "Any person who shall harbour or conceal any labourer who has deserted from the service of his importer, or who has committed any breach of this Ordinance, or who should aid and abet any labourer to desert as aforesaid, will be liable to a fine not exceeding £50, and, in default of payment, to imprisonment not exceeding three months." The old theory for which we had fought in the past, had been that British soil was free, and that every Englishman was free to protect any slave who ran to him. He asked whether it would not be well to give the House a little more time to consider how this evil might be avoided. Only yesterday had there been published the correspondence these regulations. The Chinese Minister had made certain suggestions or alterations, one of which was 6 be a bona fide employer of labour, and not a That the person styled the importer' shall mere dealer or speculator in labour; and that the transfer or assignment of the labourer to another employer shall only be made with the consent of the immigrant and the approval of the Consul or Consular Agent of his country." The Chinese Minister was a heathen and they wereChristians and this was a Christian country, and yet he went on to say— "This is necessary in order to prevent the immigrant from being made a mere chattel or article of commerce.' He was aware that the right hon. Gentleman the Colonial Secretary was prepared to put something of that kind into this regulation, but at any rate there was this justification for the Chinese Minister's suggestion, that in the first Ordinance the consent of the Chinese labourer was struck out. Did not the right hon. Gentleman think that, under the circumstances, it would be far wiser for him to allow the House to see the whole of these regulations and the correspondence before he asked it to pledge itself in any way to this Ordinance. As it stood without the regulations the Ordinance was slavery, and nothing more nor less. [Mr. LYTTELTON dissented.] The that; all he could say was the Chinese right hon. Gentleman did not acknowledge Minister thought it so, and we certainly ought to go one better than the Chinese Minister; he therefore begged the Colonial Secretary and the Government to give an assurance to the House that this matter should not be considered finally at an end when the vote was given that evening, but would say that the Chinese should not be brought into the Transvaal until sufficient time had been given to enable the people to thoroughly understand the conditions under which they were to be employed. The correspondence with the Chinese Ministers was a very important element in this matter. It was a very serious thing for Minister to write about making his people "chattels and articles of commerce," he therefore hoped sufficient time would be allowed to consider all the aspects of the case. а MR. WILLIAM REDMOND, as а of the Chinese Minister with regard to matter of personal explanation and in |