SIR,—It is not right that Mr. F. I. Cooke should
be allowed unchallenged to assert that Lord Milner wrote any letter containing the passage Mr. Cooke asserts to have been con- tained in it (Spectator, December 10th). From inherent evidence, that passage surely cannot be authentic. Shortly, the alleged passage is this :-7,000 Chinese labourers involve the employment of 1,000 white "workmen," or "fitters," as they are termed ; 500 of these are married, each household giving an average_ of five per family ; this makes 3,000 whites. Every 1,000 "white men engaged in the mines " implies a " population " of 1,000 engaged in subsidiary trades ; of these "men" a larger proportion are married than in the case of miners, there- fore "all told there are at least 8,000 to 10,000 white people who have found employment and means of livelihood as a direct result of the importation of 7,000 Chinese." Q. E. D. It appears, Sir, from the last returns that there are now 17,000 Chinamen on the Rand, so that there should be now 23,000 of this happy white population. But that is not all. There are 70,000 Kaffirs employed in the mines. There must be the same ratio of white men, or "fitters," to the Kaffirs as to the Chinese. Therefore there should be a population of 700,000 white people "in prosperous conditions" living now on the Rand. Surely, Sir, it is not too much to say that this alleged letter can scarcely be authentic. To such shifts are supporters of Chinese labour driven.—I am, Sir, &C.,
HIGH VELD.
[Our correspondent makes a very complete reductio ad absurdum of Lord Milner's figures, but we see no evidence whatever for his suggestion that the letter is not authentic, —unless, indeed, he makes it in irony. It was published in all the papers, and its authenticity has nowhere been called in dispute. We may note also that Lord Milner evidently assumes that the Chinese labourers are all celibates, and that none of their women are indentured with them. This is somewhat strange, since it was distinctly understood during the debates in Parliament that women were to accompany the miners. Are we to understand that this pledge was for Parliamentary consumption only,—that it was never intended to carry it into practice P—En. Spectator.]
EUROPE IN AFRICA.
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