WHITE LABOUR IN THE GOLD MINES.
[To THE EDITOR OF TUE "SPECTATOR.")
Sr,—All your readers must have perused the article in the Spectator of October 11th, "White Labour in the Gold Mines," with the closest interest. The subject is indeed important to every one who wishes to see South Africa able to get along prosperously and safely at a comparatively early date without the maintenance of a costly garrison, for if the minei were largely worked by British labour the necessity for a garrison would be no greater than in Australia. I am largely interested in gold-mining in Queensland, where our labour is white. As regards climate, it has one at least not better than the Transvaal. We can make good profits there, and have to work with material which on the average is not so rich in gold as that on the Rand, and our material is, more- over, harder to treat, requiring a greater number of stamps to crush a given quantity. So far as the above features are con. cerned, the Transvaal appears to be more suited to white labour than Queensland. The only obstacle in the way of the employment of white labour in the Transvaal would appear to be (beyond the will of the Government out there to make s change, and changes require effort) the cost of food, which would for some time depend on reasonable railway rates for landing it at a cheap cost, until such time as the South R. H.
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