An ominous incident is reported by Renter's Agency from Beira.
A batch of one hundred and thirty-six Abyssinians and Somalis, imported on board the German liner ' Herzog' for labour in the Rhodesian mines, refused to land, having been told by the firemen that they would have to work in chains. The Portuguese police and soldiers were called in, and the natives proving recalcitrant, a serious fight ensued, in which nine of the police were wounded, while one Somali was killed, twenty-six were wounded, and eighty-six are re- ported missing, "having jumped overboard." This painful episode shows how extremely difficult is the problem of native labour in South Africa. We may remark, however, that if the Chartered Company had not allowed a system of what was practically forced labour to be carried out in Rhodesia in the years following the conquest, there would probably be no need now to import native labour.
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