The Lord Mayor, in response to an appeal made by
Sir Alfred Milner and strongly endorsed by Mr. Chamberlain, has opened a Mansion House'fund on behalf of the refugees from the Transvaal and the Free State. Though much has been done by local generosity in Cape Colony and Natal, while those of the refugees who can are helping themselves, the exodus from the Rand has now reached such proportions— fifty thousand already have left, the arrivals at Cape Town alone exceeding a thousand a day—as to impose a greater burden on Colonial resources than they can possibly bear. It is further pointed out by Sir Alfred Milner that the vast majority of the refugees are not of Colonial, but British, origin, that a large number are already in needy circum- stances, and that the savings of many more will speedily be exhausted. We sincerely hope that the Lord Mayor's appeal for help, which, as he says, to be effectual must be rendered without delay, will meet with the ready response it deserves. The facts on which it is based may be commended to the consideration of those who seem to believe that Johannesburg is chiefly inhabited by capitalists.
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