We are delighted to see that the well-informed and able
special correspondent of the Times at Johannesburg, in his telegram published on Thursday, again insists upon the immense advantages which will accrue both to the mines and to the country as a whole if white could be substituted for black labour in large sections of mining work. We entirely agree. The Rand is well suited to carry a large white popula- tion owing to its splendid climate, and the influx of white men would be politically of great value. It would de- crease the perilously low proportion of whites, and would take away the temptation, always before the capitalists, to use objectionable means to obtain black labour, and to force the natives on the spot to work. The Times corre- spondent suggests. that an experiment should be made by sending out at once a thousand white labourers. "Some mine managers are prepared to make the experiment with full confidence in its success if only the London houses will sanction the step and collect labourers in England. Even supposing that the scheme failed, the outlay, which would not be excessive, might be regarded in the light of insurance money, for if certain of the mines employing white labour could show a profit, and a stream of immigration once set in, the mere expansion of industry from the steady flow of labour would be more lucrative to the companies than slightly higher profits while so much capital is locked up." Why should not Mr. Alfred Belt, who is known to be sincerely anxious to use
his vast wealth for the permanent good of South Africa, and some others of the more public-spirited of the mining capitalists here guarantee the expenses of the experiment, and let it have a fair trial? If they succeeded in their experiment they would have done a service of untold value to the whole of British South Africa.
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