to make substantial concessions to Japan on other points. The following day M. Kurino met M. Bezobrazoff, and casually learnt from him the decision that had been arrived at. From that moment the die was cast. There was no necessity for Japan to await the arrival of the formal note, more especially as it would probably have been accompanied by Admiral Wirenius and the Russian Mediterranean squadron. Nevertheless she did wait, for it was not until February 5, when Russian troops had already invaded Northern Korea, that M. Kurino was instructed to break off negotiations.

This is the story, set out, we believe, truthfully and without parti pris, of the long gathering of the clouds which have now burst in the Far East. Its moral is a trifle banal, for it bears a suspicious likeness, in its illustrations of the limitations of human wisdom and of national self-control, to too many of the prolegomena of great wars with which the history of our race is seared. But, if the origins of this struggle are commonplace, its possible results are unconventional enough. This is scarcely the time to speculate upon them, nor, if it were, does it enter into the scope of this paper to deal with them. But this much must be said. The prospect is full of perils for others besides the actual belligerents, and it consequently behoves neutral nations to avoid embittering or enlarging the contest by any thoughtless word or illconsidered act. If we feel drawn towards one belligerent by its real grievances, by its patience, moderation, and manly conduct, and by the political relations which link us with it, we are, perhaps, not less drawn to the other by our own recent experience of the anxieties and sufferings of a great war, and perhaps also by a not inconsiderable community of Imperial ambitions and blundering methods. Whatever hope there may be of a mitigation of the horrors of the war itself and of the wide-reaching dangers with which it is fraught, it must rest finally, not on the prudence of statesmen, but on the spirit of moderation and charity and the high sense of the common good with which the 'unofficial people,' as the late Lord Salisbury called them, are inspired.

GE

611

Art. XI.-CHINESE LABOUR FOR SOUTH AFRICA. 1. Present Position and Future Prospects of British Trade in South Africa. Report of Henry Birchenough, Commissioner appointed by the Board of Trade. London: Spottiswoode, 1903. (Cd. 1844.)

2. Report of the Transvaal Labour Commission. London: Spottiswoode, 1903. (Cd. 1896; Cd. 1897.)

3. A Descriptive and Statistical Statement of the Gold Mining Industry of the Witwatersrand. Appendix to the Thirteenth Report of the Transvaal Chamber of Mines, 1902.

4. Debates in the House of Lords and House of Commons. 'Times,' February 17 and March 22, 1904.

It was inevitable that much discussion should take place before Chinese could be imported into the Transvaal to work as unskilled labourers in the mines. Considerable time was required to ascertain if it were not possible to procure the labour in South Africa, and for the people of the Transvaal to consider the question thoroughly; after which an ordinance had to be framed acceptable to the people as well as to the British and Chinese Governments. The requisite legislation has now been passed and sanctioned; but before the consent of the Imperial Government was obtained the subject was exhaustively debated in the House of Lords, the House of Commons, and the legislative assemblies of most of the self-governing colonies. Party feeling has generally affected these debates. In Cape Colony the introduction of Chinese into the Transvaal has been opposed by both political parties with a view to securing the native vote In Australia and New Zealand it has been made use of as a cry to please the working man. In this country Chinese labour has been made the chief pretext for what was practically a motion of censure on the Government.

In these circumstances it is not surprising that people have become bewildered over this much-vexed question, for many statements have been made which obscure the main issue and render it difficult for those who are endeavouring to form dispassionate and unbiassed judgments to ascertain the essential facts. The Archbishop Vol. 199.-No. 398.

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of Canterbury, in an eloquent speech in the House of Lords on March 22, said:--

I have been in the last few days the recipient of appeals from many different quarters, including those made to me in this House, that I should, I had almost said, put myself at the head of a movement to resist, in the name of liberty, or rather religion, the enactment for which the Transvaal asks. That would be a very easy course to take, and in one sense might be a very popular course. Nothing is easier than to inflame popular feeling on a matter of this kind. Why? Because you have ready to your hand to use-may we not say to trade upon?-one of the noblest and most sacred instincts which God has implanted in the minds of the English race the love of liberty, and the hatred of anything like slavery. It is a perilous thing, and may be grossly unfair, to trade upon that feeling unless you take care to tell those to whom you are speaking the whole story. . . . To take something that is very sacred and utilise it for lower purposes for a party end is to debase and degrade it. I am not accusing members of your lordships' House of doing this; but any one, I think, will admit that it is being done up and down the country to-day.'

The Archbishop of Canterbury put his finger here upon a real danger to the Empire. It is unfortunately true that whenever a great national question comes up for discussion it is at once made a political pawn for party purposes. The people of South Africa are satisfied if the subject is discussed honestly, sincerely, and on its merits. But their very existence must not be imperilled in the struggle for party ends. On this account it is to be regretted that so many reckless misstatements have been disseminated both at home and in the colonies. Did these misstatements damage only the Government at home it would matter comparatively little; but they are doing incalculable harm to our fellow-countrymen in South Africa and to the interests of the Empire at large.

The volume and violence of ignorant or interested criticism which has recently obscured this question has already caused the people of the Transvaal to consider very seriously their relations with this country. It is likely to make them clamour for responsible government before it is in the true interests of the Empire that it should be granted. Many people are already inclined

to take the view that it is better to secure responsible government at once than to be left to the tender mercies of a party which has shown so ominous an intention to govern the new colonies, not as they wish to be governed, but as best suits the party in power. In these circumstances responsible government is likely to be demanded; but the premature concession of it, especially if made in answer to an angry demand, would be fatal to Imperial interests, though it would possibly tend towards the immediate prosperity of the country.

It should be remembered that in the Transvaal, where the people have had the opportunity of studying the question on the spot, it has taken twelve months to convince them of the necessity of importing Chinese to do their unskilled labour. A year ago they were as strongly opposed to this measure as any in the Empire are to-day; and it has been necessity only which has gradually changed their views. The evidence disclosed in Lord Milner's despatches and elsewhere, that the vast majority are now in favour of the proposal, is too clear to require recapitulation. Are we seriously to suppose that the resolutions and petitions have all been 'got up,' or that the change has taken place without good reason?

It is clear from the debates that few speakers realise the seriousness of the position in South Africa. Wait, they say; do not be in such a hurry; everything will come right with a little patience! Is this language to use to a starving man? Distress is steadily increasing; and when distress has been gradually creeping on a population for over two years, after a long period of privation and exile caused by the war, there comes a point when something must be done. The situation becomes intolerable. A remedy, distasteful enough in happier circumstances, has to be applied.

As to the present state of things, we may quote the 'South African News'-an unimpeachable witness, for it is violently hostile to the importation of Chinese labour. Its special correspondent writes from Johannesburg, under date February 13, as follows:—

'Johannesburg to-day is practically moneyless. Business is almost at a standstill. Big houses are dismissing their men or reducing their staffs. The smaller stores and warehouses are almost tottering. I have the statements of owners of large

businesses that their trade is declining day by day. I have it on the authority of bank officials that the merchants are practically living on credit. Trade was never worse. The engineering yards are stacked with machinery; the veld is scattered with machinery. Numbers of artisan engineers are out of work, waiting for this machinery to be put up. The streets are overrun with men out of work, mostly unskilled men, but still a sad number of artisans and mechanics. . . . Mines are threatening every day to shut down. Workmen are leaving the Rand nightly in large numbers.'

Shortly before the war the mines of the Rand produced gold at the rate of about 20,000,000l. per annum. They employed about 12,000 white men and 100,000 natives. About 6000 stamps were running. The total European population of the Rand was estimated at under 80,000. To-day the mines produce gold at about the rate of 14,000,000l. per annum. They employ about 70,000 natives and 13,000 whites. About 4500 stamps are at work. The total European population of the Rand is now estimated at 95,000.

It has been argued that there is no reason for complaint in this state of things, since the mines produce as much gold to-day as they did four years before the war. Earl Spencer said in the House of Lords on March 18:

According to Lord Milner the production of gold was greater now than in 1895 and 1896, when the gold production of the Transvaal was the marvel of the world. Why, then, was it necessary to force an extra production by the importation of Chinese labour? Was it because it was desired that great fortunes should be made in a short time? Could not the mine-owners wait until the market had become more settled? He protested against a course of action so fraught with evil being taken merely for the sake of increasing the output of gold so that a few men might make their fortunes rapidly.'

To this argument we reply that conditions have radically changed since 1896. Enterprises have been launched and vast sums of capital expended, not only to extract gold equivalent in amount to what was being produced before the war, but to provide for the natural increase which, but for the war, would have taken place. It seems to escape these critics that it requires four to five years to put a deep level mine into the producing state. The