A summary of the Report of the Transvaal Labour Com-
mission was printed in Monday's papers. The findings of the majority Report may be grouped under two heads :—(1) That the demand for native labour for agriculture, the mining industry, railway work, and other industries is largely in excess of the supply—the shortage being 80,000 for agri- culture, 129,000 for the mines, and 40,000 for the railways— and that in each case the demand will increase with the development of the several industries; (2) that there is no adequate supply of labour in Central or Southern Africa to meet these requirements. The Commission in its majority Report abstains from propounding any scheme of its own to meet the exigencies of the situation, confining itself to criticism of the suggestions made before it by the various witnesses. It dismisses compulsory labour as of no practical value, asserts that the value of taxation as a means of com- pelling the native to work has hitherto been greatly over- estimated, and considers that a modification of native land tenure, to be effective, would have to be applied throughout the whole of South Africa, and even then would take a long time to influence the labour supply.
Previous page
