CHINESE LABOUR IN THE TRANSVAAL.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.") SIR,—It seems to me, as a constant reader of the Spectator, that you have been strangely misinformed as to the result of the Chinese labour introduced into the Transvaal. I there- fore send you some figures from a very trustworthy source :- New Comet Mine : May, 1904, whites employed before the arrival of the Chinese, 34; July 11th, after their arrival, 96; July 16th, 143. Van Ryn Mine : before the Chinese came, 193; since their arrival, 213. Geduld Properties : 76 whites were employed in May; since the arrival of the Chinese, 110. In June, 1903, when 3,508 natives left the Railway Department, it was found necessary in consequence to discharge 654 white artisans. Having a son at work in an assay office in one of the mines, I am in constant communica- tion with the Transvaal, and hardly a week passes without his telling me what a great success the Chinese coolies are, and how greatly they are increasing the number of white men employed.—I am, Sir, &c., G. BOSANQUET (late Rector of Clophill, Beds.) Moraine, Bridgnorth.
[We deal with the question of Chinese labour elsewhere, but must note here that the figures we quoted on October 1st from the Manchester Guardian were the official figures. Had they been wrongly given by the Manchester Guardian we feel certain that they would have been corrected before now. —ED. Spectator.]
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