The Asiatic danger in the colonies

rz

THE ASIATIC DANGER IN THE
COLONIES

The day will come, and perhaps is not far distant,
when the European observer will look round to see
the world girdled with a continuous zone of the
black and yellow races, no longer too weak for
aggression, or under tutelage, but independent, or
practically so, in government, monopolizing the
trade of their own regions and circumscribing the
industry of the Europeans. — Mr Charles Pearson
in ' National Life and Character.'

... It is difficult to conceive any question at
the present moment more momentous than the
struggle between East and West for the inherit-
ance of these semi-vacant territories. Promises
have been made without knowledge or perception
of the consequence involved in their fulfilment. —
Sir Arthur Lawley, Lieut. -Governor of the Trans-
vaal, 1904.

THE ASIATIC DANGER
IN THE COLONIES

By
L. E. NEAME

LONDON

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LIMITED

New York: E. P. BUTTON & CO

1907

M% ^so^-
Asyy^

.*^

Zo tbe
01^ jfolftB at Dome

546()f8

Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive

in 2007 with funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation

littp://www.archive.org/details/asiaticdangerincOOneamricli

PREFACE

In the following pages an attempt is made to present
a fair and impartial summary of the Asiatic difficulty
as it affects the Colonies, and to justify the strong
feeling which exists in the great outer areas of the
Empire against this class of immigration. The
opinions expressed will probably fail to give full
satisfaction to either side. In one quarter they
may be considered somewhat weak and nerveless ;
in another they may be regarded as arguments in
favour of a policy of spoliation and injustice. Upon
this question it is peculiarly difficult to appreciate
one's opponent's case. That colour prej udice which is
reflected in the fourth article of the old Boer Grond-
wet may prevent the Australasian and the Africander
taking an absolutely fair view of the Asiatic or
British- Indian case. But the recent speeches of
Anglo-Indians who accompanied the deputations
to Lord Elgin and Mr Morley argue a similar intellec-
tual myopia. Unwittingly I may also be afflicted
with one disease or the other. Still the views here-
after expressed are the product of six years spent in

vii

Vlll PREFACE

Asia and South Africa, and no one can possess a
greater admiration for India and the Indian peoples.
A decision against Asiatic immigration in the Colonies
is in no way due to a lack of appreciation of Asiatic
virtues — it is rather a testimonal to Asiatic capacity
for succeeding.

To those who make a special study of Colonial
affairs, the information given may contain nothing
new. But there are many people who watch keenly
the tendencies of the Empire who have not the time
to devote to the somewhat laborious pastime of
reading blue books and official papers. To these I
hope the points emphasized will be helpful in arriving
at a clearer appreciation of the Colonial attitude.
Many of the facts have appeared from time to time
in the columns of the Empire Review, the Daily
Mail, the Pall Mall Gazette, the Pioneer (Allahabad)
the Rand Daily Mail, and other journals, but the
information is now re-arranged and amplified. For
any shortcomings I must plead the difficulty of
obtaining, in this part of the world, several works of
reference desired.

Whilst this little record was in the press there
arose a widespread anti-Asiatic agitation which
supports many of the contentions set out. The
storm produced by the Transvaal Asiatic Law
Amendment Ordinance ; the opposition to Indian

PREFACE IX

immigrants in British Columbia ; the dispute
between Japan and the United States concerning
the school regulations in San Francisco ; the drastic
anti-Asiatic legislation introduced in the Natal
House of Assembly ; the decision of the Chinese
Government to again inquire into the working of the
Australian laws and the subsequent re-assertion of the
guiding principles of Australian and New Zealand
policy ; the outcry in Jamaica against Chinese
store-keepers and hotel-keepers — all these incidents
drive home the very real importance of the question.
But this agitation strengthens rather than modifies
the argument that in the best interests of the Empire,
the Colonies must be kept free from Asiatic immigra-
tion. In this connexion the word Colonies is used
in its stricter meaning, and is not intended to apply
to those parts of the Empire which are better described
as Plantations. But I include the tropical parts of
Australia and South Africa for reasons which
Professor J. W. Gregory stated in his paper on
" The Economic Geography and Development of
Australia " which appeared in the Geographical
Journal in September, 1906. The peace of the white
man in the tropics can hardly be regarded as finally
settled, despite the Cayenne disaster and other
failures. However, whatever the ultimate decision
may be on this pomt, the broad principle remains

X PREFACE

that the enormous areas suitable for white coloriza-
tion in Africa, AustraHa, and North America should
be closed to the Asiatic nations, whether British
subjects or not. When an English Prime Minister
talks of " twelve millions on the verge of starvation '*
and Commission after Commission reports on emigra-
tion schemes, it is surely essential to reserve these
lands for the expansion of our own nation and
peoples who blend with it.

The much condemned Asiatic Law Amendment
Ordinance in the Transvaal was conceived in this
spirit. There was no desire to inflict additional
hardship upon the British Indian population. The
idea was simply to establish once and for all th«
rights of the Indians already in the Colony. " Regis-
tration," Lord Milner told the Transvaal Indians
in May, 1903, *' gives you a right to be here, and a
right to come and go. Therefore to me registration
seems a protection to you as well as a help to the
Government, and in any law passed I should like to
see registration included." But it must be admitted
that the British-Indian contention that the exist-
ing safeguards were ample without re-registration
carried a good deal of weight. The special report on
the Permit System drawn up at Lord Milner's
request at the close of 1903 proved that there was
" no large number of unauthorized Asiatics in the

PREFACE XI

Colony" — indeed only ^z£;o Asiatics are mentioned as
being found without permits . Again Lord Milner told
the Indians that " once on the register your position
is established, and no further registration is necessary,
nor is a fresh permit required^ Yet within three
years re-registration, with the taking of finger
impressions, is demanded. It is certain that the
first Parliament in the Transvaal will attempt to
pass new legislation against Asiatics, but it is doubt-
ful if the Home Government will assent. The British
Indians were taken over with the other burdens of
the Colony, and probably little can be done save
rigorously to exclude a further influx — unless the
principle of buying them out be adopted.

The Japanese protest regarding the San Francisco
schools raises another difficult point, and a similar
controversy must sooner or later arise in a British
Colony. At the moment Colonial feeling sides with
the people of the Pacific Slope.

The agitation which South Africa's anti-British
Indian legislation arouses in India, and the possi-
bilities of friction with the Eastern Powers upon
similar grievances in Australasia, are unfortunate,
but there seems to be little prospect of a satisfactory
compromise.

All one can suggest is that the whole question
should be discussed at the Imperial Conference in

xn PREFACE

London in April next (when India will be represented)
with the idea of seeing whether Colonial feeling
favours the appointment of a Royal Commission,
representative of the whole Empire, to frame a
pohcy which would obviate the constant recurrence
of th€ friction of the past few years. But it would
have to be recognized from the outset that the Colonies
would never agree to any lowering of the barriers now
erected against Asiatic immigration. Why the
Colonies feel compelled to adopt such an attitude
I have tried to explain in the following pages.

L. E. N.
P. O. Box 3996,
Johannesburg.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
AN EMPIRE PROBLEM

PAGE

Importance of the Asiatic Question to the
Empire — A Commercial Danger — Difference
BETWEEN European and Asiatic Immigration
— The Racial Barrier — Europe's Need of
more Markets — Asia's Opportunity of Exer-
cising Pressure — The Problem from a
Colonial Standpoint — Countries suited to
English Immigrants — Eliminating the Col-
our Prejudice against Asiatics — The Cor-
rect Standpoint ..... i

CHAPTER II

THE VALUE OF THE ASIATIC

The Cry for Unskilled Labour — An Old Diffi-
culty— Importance of Asiatic Labour — The
Case of the West Indies — Natal's History —
Progress Made — Why the Transvaal needed
Chinese — What Asiatic Labour has Done —
"State-aided Colonization" . . .13
xiii

XIV CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAPTER III

TERMS OF CONTRACT

Importance of the System of Contract used —
Transvaal and West Indies and Natal Con-
trasted— Malaya — Statistics Showing the
Number of Free Indians compared with
Indentured — Safety of the Rand System,
and Danger of the West Indian and Na-

TALIAN ........ 20

CHAPTER IV

ASIATIC COMPETITION

The Grip of the Asiatic — Rise in the Social
Scale — The Indians in Natal — Remarkable
Growth— What they Save — How they Oust
the White Man — Statistics of Occupations
— Disabilities which Reduce Competition —
Indians and the Kaffir Trade — Its Value —
Asiatic Traders in the Cape Colony — How
AN Indian Undersells a White Man — Some
Transvaal Figures — Black Lists and Boy-
cotts ........ 24

CHAPTER V

BRITISH INDIANS IN THE TRANSVAAL

A Question of peculiar Difficulty — Imperial
Government's Power — The Controversy

CONTENTS XV

PAGE

WITH THE Boer Republic — British Indigna-
tion— Promises and Pledges — After the
War— Indians' Strong Case— Strength of
Colonial Opposition — Transvaal National
Convention — Progressive Party's Views —
What the Indians Claim . . . '53

CHAPTER VI
THE CASE OF AUSTRALASIA

Australia's Opposition to Asiatics — The Chinese
Invasion — Drastic Legislation — China
Protests — A Heated Controversy — Austra-
lasian Principles Enunciated — New Zea-
land's Trick — Sir Henry Parkes uses Strong
Language — A White Man's Country . . 70

CHAPTER VII

SOME OF THE DANGERS

Why Asiatic Immigration is a Danger — Lowering
THE Standard of Living — South Africa's
Special Difficulty — Doing White Men's
Work — The Case of the Land — The Asiatic
less Valuable to England than the English-
man— Contributions to Revenue — Sir Henry
Parkes' Dictum . . . . .81

CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAPTER VIII

WHAT IS THE REMEDY

The Greatest Problem before the Colonies —
Huge Areas rendered Useless to Great
Britain — Restriction Acts in Force —
Natal's Back Door Open — Repatriation Es-
sential— Government of India's Demands —
Lord Milner's Solution — Sir Arthur Law-
ley — Lord Selborne — Three Vital Princi-
ples 93

APPENDICES

I. — British-Indian Claims and Complaints in

the Transvaal io8

II. — Arguments For and Against Asiatic Com-
petition 121

III. — The Wrong Policy— Two " Hard Cases " . 130
IV. — The Asiatic Population of Natal . .136
V. — Despatches of Lord Milner and Sir Arthur

Lawley 139

VI. — Lord Elgin and the Transvaal Indians . 163

CHAPTER I

AN EMPIRE PROBLEM

Of all the problems which face the British Colonies
to-day, none presents more difficulties or excites
stronger feeling than that of the status of the
Asiatic. Unfortunately it is not a local question,
capable of settlement by purely local legislation.
The final word in the control of the native races lies
with the Imperial Government : in the case of the
Asiatic this reservation is even more important.
The political changes of the last five years have
raised the position of the Asiatic into an Empire
problem — perhaps even a World problem. It is
complicated by Great Britain's alliance with an
Asiatic Power ; it is affected by the fact that mil-
lions of the Eastern races are British subjects and
claim the privileges which the Empire boasts it
confers ; it calls into question — by contrast — the
morality of our past policy in the East, and empha-
sizes the divergence between promise and practice
found in our own territories to-day.

In England the question is looked upon as some-
thing remote, a theory for academic discussion
and the application of abstract principles, rather
than a vital problem calling for a practical solu-
tion. Few people realize how closely it may affect

1 B

>&»' V THE ASIATIC DANGER

« • • » «

the Mother Country. Lord Durham said that the
great waste lands of the Empire were " the rightful
patrimony of the English people, the ample appanage
which God and nature had set aside in the New
World for those whose lot had assigned them but
insufficient portions in the Old." ^ But unrestricted
Asiatic immigration must inevitably limit the
capacity of the outer areas of the Empire to absorb
her surplus population ; it means a serious check
to the growth of England's trade with a large
section of the colonies ; it might easily lead to a
commercial war which would cripple half her
manufactures.

Old ideas of Asia must be modified to-day. One
is still inclined to judge the East by the Chinese
wars and the futilities of Chinese administration.
One is still apt to cherish the behef that a beneficent
Providence has placed the white nations for ever
in an economic position which can never be
seriously assailed. But there are already apparent
the beginnings of a renewal of the old struggle
between West and East. Only it is assuming
a new form. The real Asiatic Peril is the acquisi-
tion, by commercial pressure and trade treaties, of
the right of entry to lands now closed. It will be
a repetition, less brutal, and probably slower and
more subtle, of the policy of Europe towards Asia
in the nineteenth century. The cloud to-day is
no bigger than a man's hand. In a generation it
may darken the whole political horizon.

The Englishman who has never lived in Asia, or
1 ** Report on Canada."

AN EMPIRE PROBLEM 3

in a country in which there has been a considerable
influx of Asiatics, does not grasp two things. It
is not easy to convince him that the Asiatic inevit-
ably underlives and undersells the white man. It
is not less difficult to make him understand that
Asiatic immigration cannot be classed with any
other. It differs essentially from the lowest class
of European immigration. The alien problem in
England is simplicity itself contrasted with the
Asiatic question in Africa or Australasia. The
masses of Southern and South-Eastem Europeans
who have entered the United States will in time
be absorbed in the population. The process may
take a varying length of time with different nationali-
ties ; but in the end there emerges the American
people, even if their national character becomes
modified by the infusion of alien blood. But no
white race can absorb the Asiatic. The Eastern
peoples always remain apart. You can never get
rid of what Meredith Townsend called " the dull,
unconquerable, unmitigable distaste of Asiatics for
white men." It is not unreciprocated. Deep down
beneath the strongest ideas of theoretical justice
and the desire to admit no prejudice, there is a
similar barrier. At the moment when Europe rang
with the praise of Japanese valour, capacity, and
high qualities, a baron, a naval captain, and a
University professor — cultured men trained to
Western ways — complained publicly of the " hu-
mihating circumstance " they were subjected to
on a steamer of one of the great European lines.*
* Baron Suyematsu's letter to the Times, January, 1906.

4 THE ASIATIC DANGER

The social chasm between the natives of India
and the white men who rule widens instead of
closes. The line which is so rarely crossed is more
marked to-day than it was a century ago. Ignor-
ing for a moment the effect of Asiatic immigration
upon the white man's work, it is well to realize that
the introduction of a considerable number of
Eastern people means that the difficulties of
administration increase. Particularly is this the
case in a country which already possesses a large
native population. Natal finds the problem of the
Bantu sufficiently complex without having to face
a body of Asiatics more numerous than the white
men, who remain, and always will remain, dis-
tinct.

But before considering the question in detail,
there is another factor which must be included in
a broad survey of modem conditions. We have the
competition — what this really implies will be shown
later. We have this separation, this racial barrier,
which means that the Asiatic population must
always remain apart. But in addition we have the
awakening of Asia, a movement which involves a
keener resentment than obtained in the old days
of that which is regarded as unjust. There is a
vague yet growing sense of commercial power. The
idea is gaining ground that a weak spot has been
found in the armour of Europe. The Swadeshi
movement in India, foolish and inadequate as was
its excuse, quasi-political as was its motive power,
and rapid as was its decline, was not without sig-
nificance. Still more important was the boycott

AN EMPIRE PROBLEM 5

of American- goods in China ; for the very energy
with which the United States protested proclaimed
a moral victory for the East. A lesson was learned
which will not be forgotten. To-day it is seen
how and where a blow can be struck. A lever has
been found which may be used for the forcing of
many a closed door. Asia, be it remembered, is
in the strong position of the purchaser. Self-con-
tained, self-supporting without hardship to her
people, she can, if need be, dispense with the
manufactures of Europe and America. But to the
Western nations, ever increasing their manufactures,
ever demanding more raw material and more
markets for that which they make, the supplying
of the myriads of the East is a matter of vast im-
portance. " External markets," said Mr. Balfour
recently, " are now more than ever necessary." ^
And, after all, " it is better to sell at ten per cent,
to Hindoos or Chinese than at forty per cent, to
the people of Brazil." To-day India buys more
from England than any other part of the Em-
pire : the aggregate purchases of Asia from the
white nations are anywhere between one hundred
and two hundred millions sterling a year. Yet this
trade is only in its infancy. The simple wants of
the Asiatic are slowly increasing. He relies more
and more upon the suppHes of Europe, allowing
many an indigenous industry to languish. Com-
petition for this trade grows yearly keener. Here
lies the danger to the Colonies — the temptation to

^ February 13, 1906.

b THE ASIATIC DANGER

the Home Government. What if a quarrel threaten
with some Asiatic purchaser because a closed door
is found in some not too well known colony ? What
if a concession is hkely to reward the nation which
gives way a point in admitting the Asiatic to some
distant land. Could those at Home who are crying
out for markets resist the temptation of gaining
an advantage even at the sacrifice of the interests
of a colony thousands of miles away, and in defiance
of the wishes of a people whose ideals are not under-
stood ? These are points which must not be over-
looked. In the agitation against Chinese immigra-
tion in Austraha in 1888, Lord Knutsford, the
Colonial Secretary, remarked in a telegram to Sir
W. C. F. Robinson (South Australia) : " Having
regard to political and commercial interests of
Empire, and particularly to commercial interests of
Australasian Colonies, no avoidable obstacles should
be placed in the way of trade with China, which is
likely to afford valuable market for products of
Australasian Colonies."

The danger is not an imaginary one — it is in-
creased by ignorance of the real effect of Asiatic
competition on a white race. For Asia, too, needs
room for her surplus population. The checks of
war have gone, the ravages of pestilence and famine
grow yearly less ; but the races multiply as freely
as ever. The population of Southern India is
doubling itself in 88^ years. The cultivated area
grows at the rate of 7*94 per cent, in a decade. But
there is a limit to the land available. Subdivision
cannot go on indefinitely. There must be an out-

AN EMPIRE PROBLEM 7

ward movement. How long can the barriers erected
by the Western nations withstand the pressure —
the pressure of poUtical exigencies, the pressure of
commercial ambition, the pressure of the demand
of the thinly peopled lands for cheap labour ?
There is a growing irritation amongst British Indians
at the restrictions now imposed. One of the best
informed writers ^ who urge the claims of the
Indian community in South Africa recently said : —

*' Are three-quarters of the population of the
Empire to be aggrieved by reason of British
breach of faith ? Are the ' frontiers of the
Empire ' to be endangered by the dissatisfac-
tion of three hundred millions of his Majesty's
Indian subjects because Imperial pledges are
disregarded and Imperial promises are callously
broken at the bidding of a few fanatical pro-
vincials ? Is India to become a menace to the
Empire because its people are debarred from
their rightful share in the privileges and respon-
sibilities of British citizenship in any part of
the King's dominions ? How long will the
East bear such treatment ? "

The claims of the British Indians in the colonies
are urged with a good deal of energy by the Indian
National Congress Party both in India and England.
Their arguments appeal peculiarly to Members of

1 Mr. H. S. L. Polak, English Editor of Indian Opinion,
in the Empire Review, June, 1906.

8 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Parliament who know India but not the Colonies ;
they are the joy of those who always rush to
the support of any one who opposes the Colonies,
whether they are Zulu rebels or undesirable aliens.
The suggestion that Englishmen who happen to
live in a Colony are capable of managing their
own affairs is denounced as pandering to the vices
and brutalities of a degenerate race. There has
of late been a growth of the spirit of interference
— despite the laying down of some excellent prin-
ciples by Lord Elgin — and if this policy continues
a conflict with the ever increasing strength of
Colonial Nationalism is inevitable. The extra-
ordinary campaign of calumny against the Colonists
in Natal bodes ill for a satisfactory solution of the
Asiatic question.

The problem, from a Colonial standpoint, is
this :—

Can we safely admit the Asiatic ?

What is the effect of this immigration ?

Are restrictive measures essential, and if so,
where ?

These are the questions which must be faced.
They are problems of peculiar importance to the
British Empire, and they are problems upon which
some definite policy is essential.

One great Colonial land lies within the sphere of
influence of the most enterprising and the most over-
crowded of the Eastern Powers ; another is already
largely dependent on Asiatic labour, and yet com-
plains that the white man is being displaced by the

^AN EMPIRE PROBLEM 9

British Indian and the Chinaman. These lands are
suitable for white men ; intended, one might almost
say, to relieve the pressure on England. Are they
to become the homes of powerful white nations,
adding to the strength of the British Empire,
refuges for those who find that the Mother Country
has no adequate place for them ; or are they to be
lands in which a diminishing white population is
condemned to a hopeless struggle for bare existence
against an ever growing mass of Asiatics — people
loyal to the Empire, thrifty, law-abiding, hard-
working, if you Hke, but people who can never do
the work for great Britain which would be done by
white men ? Years ago Professor Seeley wrote :
" Now that Great Britain is already full, it becomes
fuller with increased speed ; it gains a million every
three years. Probably emigration ought to proceed
at a far greater rate than it does, and assuredly
the greatest evils would arise if it were checked."
The danger of checking this outward movement,
at least to the British Colonies, exists to-day.

The first essential to a calm discussion of the
Asiatic difficulty is to eliminate the question of
colour. Admitting that a self-governing Colony
has the right to say who shall cross its borders, it
has no moral right to impose petty restrictions on an
educated man because his skin happens to be brown.
One must get away from the Colonial attitude
of classing the Asiatic with the rawest of "red
blanket " Kaffirs. That there can never be union
— hardly sympathy — between the white and the
coloured races I admit. But the cause is not colour,

10 THE ASIATIC DANGER

though colour may be in most cases the outward
sign. The British Indian is often as Hght com-
plexioned as the Southern European ; the China-
man is sometimes whiter than the Colonial. Yet
the instinctive dislike to union remains — that almost
undefinable something which always has existed
and always will exist. But the old distinction of
colour will have to be abandoned if the question is
not to give rise to ever increasing friction. One
must face the fact that in the future the Eastern
nations will negotiate with the West on different
lines to the diplomacy of half a century ago. The
new methods cannot be conducted on the basis of
the resolutions of the National Convention of
Asiatics at Pretoria. Lord Milner clearly saw the
danger when he said to the first congress of municipal
bodies in the Transvaal in 1903 : —

"... The greatest danger of every sound
poHcy is its exaggeration and its travesty, and
if we are strongly and successfully to resist the
influx of Asiatics into this country in a form
in which it may endanger our civilization with-
out appreciably reHeving the over-population
of other countries, I say again let us take the
strong unassailable grounds of the social and
economic reasons which exist for opposing that
immigration, and do not let us base our
opposition purely on the weak ground of
colour. It is a matter of the very widest im-
portance. The time may come when this
Colony and South Africa generally may wish

AN EMPIRE PROBLEM II

to enter into relations, commercial or other-
wise, with the rulers of the great Asiatic states
— with British rulers in India, for instance, or
with the native rulers of the great Empire of
Japan. It is possible — it would be possible —
for a South African statesman dealing with
them to defend legislation restricting the in-
discriminate influx into this country of Asiatics
whom we do not want, of Asiatics of the low
class, of Asiatics who come here to take the
bread out of the mouth of white men who
adequately perform the work that they would
perform ; but it would be impossible to enter
into any sort of relation with the Asiatic world
if we are going, in this country, to adopt
sweeping and indiscriminate legislation against
Asiatics, or, in upholding that legislation, to
use language which is insulting to Asiatics as
Asiatics."

The policy of Sir Harry Parkes, too, was based
on the right principle when he said : —

" They (the Chinese) are a superior set of
people. We know the beautiful result of many
of their handicrafts : we know how wonderful
are their powers of imagination, their endur-
ance and their patient labour. It is for these
qualities I do not want them to come here.
The influx of a few million of Chinese here
would entirely change the character of this
young Australian Commonwealth. It is because
I believe the Chinese to be a powerful race,

12 THE ASIATIC DANGER

capable of taking a great hold upon the country,
and because I wish to preserve the type of my
own nation in these fair countries, that I am,
and always have been, opposed to the influx
of Chinese.''

This is the standpoint from which one must view
the problem of the Asiatic in the Colonies — an
economic standpoint. Looked at in this light, what
is the history of this immigration, and what lesson
does it teach ? Has the Asiatic been of value ? If
so, do the advantages conferred by his labour out-
weigh the disadvantages of his competition ?

CHAPTER II

THE VALUE OF THE ASIATIC

" The greatest difficulty confronting the colonist
from the earliest days of the Spanish West Indian
settlements till the times of the Johannesburg gold
mines of to-day has always been the scarcity and
inconstancy of the labour supply." — Egerton's Origin
and Growth of the British Colonies.

There is a tendency, especially in South Africa
and Australasia, to refuse to admit that the Asiatic
immigrant is of the slightest value. The matter is
generally dismissed with a hasty declaration that
an influx of Indians or Chinese is a " curse to the
country." But a little investigation shows that
this is not the case. Where this immigration is
found to the largest extent the ahens did not creep
in uninvited and unobserved. Their services were
secured after careful consideration, and in many
parts to-day the only regret is that greater numbers
cannot be obtained. The shortage of unskilled
labour is not some unusual product of twentieth
century conditions, though probably the spread of
education and civilization in their present forms
will render the difficulty even more acute than it
is to-day. The Commission sent out from Spain
to inquire into the labour problem in the West

13

14 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Indies dates back to 1517 ; in South Africa, where
the trouble is now most marked, it began on that
pleasant Sunday morning in April, 1652, when the
Dromedaris, the Goede Hoop, and the Reiger cast
anchor in Table Bay and Jan van Riebeek began
to trade copper bars and tobacco with the Gorin-
ghaiquas and the Goraichouquas. It was van Rie-
beek who first propounded a scheme for importing
Chinese into South Africa ; it was Wagenaar, his
successor, who in urging a similar proposal upon
the Council of Seventeen, roundly declared that
twenty-five industrious Chinese families would be
of as much service to the Company as fifty families
of such Europeans as were established at the
Cape.i

To-day large tracts of the British Empire depend
almost entirely upon the British Indian or the
Chinese for their prosperity. The Chinese form
the industrial backbone of the Straits, Malaya, and
Borneo ; Punjabis built the Uganda Railway ; the
Kanakas laid the foundation of the sugar industry
in Northern Queensland ; Chinese did much of
the " spadework " on the western side of North
America.

As an example of what Asiatic labour can do
under the best conditions, take the case of the West
Indies. Sixty odd years ago — after the liberation
of the slaves — there was reached a crisis such as

^ As late as 1874 and 1876 the Cape House of Assembly
passed resolutions suggesting the importation of Chinese
or Indian labourers.

THE VALUE OF THE ASIATIC 15

that which forced the Transvaal to secure Chinese
cooUes for the Rand mines. Indeed the words of
the House of Commons Commission of that time
with regard to the West Indies might have been used
to describe the condition of the Transvaal in 1903 :
" The principal causes of diminished production and
consequent distress are the great difficulty ... in
obtaining steady and continuous labour, and the
high rate of remuneration which they give for the
broken and indifferent work which they are able to
procure." The West Indies were saved by the
British Indian. The conditions of contract were
liberal, inducements were offered to the newcomers
to settle in the country ; and the West India Com-
mittee recently wrote of these immigrants : —

"These coolies have become a most impor-
tant and useful portion of the population. The
Colony has derived incalculable benefit from
their industrious and law-abiding citizenship,
and they in turn have become prosperous to
an extent hardly possible in their own country."

Professor Alleyne Ireland in his Tropical Coloniza-
tion gives carefuUy prepared statistics proving that
the West Indian Colonies which imported Asiatics
have prospered far more than those which decided
to rely upon their own inadequate and unreUable
labour resources. Indian labour saved British
Guiana and Trinidad from the economic stagnation
of Dominica.

The history of Natal reveals a similar story.
Nearly fifty years ago, when Sir George Grey, the

l6 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, visited Natal,
the Durban Corporation presented an address which
included the following passage : —

" Independently of measures for developing
the labour of our own natives, we believe your
Excellency will find occasion to sanction the
introduction of a limited number of coolie or
other labourers from the East in aid of the new
enterprises on the coast lands, to the success of
which sufficient and reliable labour is abso-
lutely essential ; for the fact cannot be too
strongly borne in mind that on the success or
failure of these rising enterprises depends the
advancement of the Colony or its certain and
rapid decline. Experimental cultivation has
abundantly demonstrated that the issue depends
solely on a constant supply of labour." ^

The sanction asked for was granted. " Certain
and rapid decline " was averted. The first ship-
ment of coolie labour reached Natal on November
i6, i860. Much has happened since then in the
history of the British Indians in the Garden Colony
of South Africa. At one time the people of Durban
went down to the harbour (as did the inhabitants
of Sydney and Capetown in the days of the convict
ships) prepared to resist the landing of the Indians
by force. But to-day there is no cessation of the
demand for indentured labour. Indian coolies work

1 Durban : Fifty Years of Municipal History. — W. P. M.
Henderson.

THE VALUE OF THE ASIATIC VJ

the sugar and tea estates of the coast ; Indians
develop the coal mines ; Indians perform an in-
creasing share of the work on the farms ; for the
farmers who at first viewed them with distrust are
now as anxious to retain them as the planters.
Since the advent of coolie labour the white popula-
tion has more than doubled, the value of land has
increased, the cost of living has gone down. It is
the Indian coolie who gives Natal the cheap fruit
and vegetables which are the envy of the Transvaal,
who has brought under high cultivation large tracts
which, but for his presence, would to-day be barren.
The Umbilo Valley near Durban (recently swept by
flood), and some of the land near Maritzburg, bear
testimony to his industry. Mr. Maurice S. Evans,
M.L.C., of Durban, who is now heading a move-
ment for the cessation of indentured coolie labour,
admitted in a little book he wrote some time
ago, that the Indian is a better cultivator than
the Kaffir, that he is steady, thrifty, and law-
abiding.

In the case of the Transvaal the demand was
equally strong. It is not my intention to review
the labour problem in South Africa, or to attempt
at this date to explain a situation which is so
woefully misunderstood in England. But certain
figures must be given to show the genuineness of
the mine owner's claim that it was essential to
indent upon Asia for unskilled labour. The
Transvaal Labour Commission placed the labour
shortage on the mines at 129,000, and estimated
that an additional 196,000 labourers would be re-

i8

THE ASIATIC DANGER

quired in five years. Their figures for the Colony
of the Transvaal alone were these : —

Natives at work.

Natives still wanted.

Agriculture .
Mining ....
Other Industries
Railways.

27,715
68,280
69,684
16,250

52,285
129,364

No data available
39,750

This gave the shortage for the Transvaal alone
at 221,399. Yet the Labour Commissioners found
themselves forced to declare (the majority, at least,
did) that " the belief which was so generally and
confidently entertained that there is in Central and
Southern Africa an ample supply of Native labour
for all our needs, and that only organization and
capital are necessary to secure it, has been com-
pletely dispelled." The South African Native
Affairs Commission placed the shortage of unskilled
labour in all British South Africa at 307,528. More
than one-third of the gold industry of the Rand is
now dependent on Chinese labour, and practically
the remaining two-thirds on imported labour from
Portuguese East Africa. To get rid of the inden-
tured Chinese would mean the dismissal of 6,405
Europeans, the stopping of 3,135 stamps, and conse-
quently the throwing out of operation of plant and
machinery worth over eleven millions sterhng.

The Chinese have saved the greatest industry in
South Africa ; the British Indian has enabled Natal
to prosper. And the demand is always greater
than the supply. Natal agents " search every nook

THE VALUE OF THE ASIATIC I9

and comer " of Madras for immigrants willing to
come to the plantations, and are forced to accept
men who " do not compare favourably with the
class of Indian recruited in years past." ^ British
Guiana finds that its recruiting agents in Calcutta
cannot obtain enough coolies to satisfy the requisi-
tions of the planters — only 1,295 were indentured
in 1904-5 against 2,932 in 1903-4 — and talks of
appointing an official in Madras also.

The value of cheap Asiatic labour is undeniable.
By its aid colonies which seemed to be on the verge
of ruin have prospered ; new industries have been
built up ; invariably has it led to a more highly
developed cultivation, to cheaper production, and
to increased comfort for the white population.
Yet this is not the last word. M. Leroy Beaulieu
condemned the system as creating a new alien popu-
lation with a different religion and different ideals
of social life. Professor Egerton takes a similar
stand. Writing of the West Indies, he says : " It
was not until the introduction on a large scale of
Asiatic coohes that the labour problem was, in a
great measure, solved." But he added this reflec-
tion : " In a few generations it may be found that
the importation of coolie labourers has in effect
become a great measure of State-aided coloniza-
tion."

And to show what that means in the great Colonies
involves an inquiry into the effect of Asiatic com-
petition in a country fitted for white men.

^ Report of the Protector of Immigrants, Natal, 1904.

CHAPTER III

TERMS OF CONTRACT

We have seen that the presence of large numbers
of Asiatics in certain Colonies has not been due to
the Indians or Chinese pushing their way into lands
where they were not desired. They have been
recruited, actively searched for, at great trouble
and expense, because their services were absolutely
needed.

We have seen, too, that these services have been
of immense benefit to the Colonies concerned. But
it is necessary before considering the effect of this
immigration on the white population, and its pos-
sible danger to the best interests of the Empire,
to see under what conditions these Asiatics are
obtained. This is really the crux of the whole
question. Roughly there are two systems, the old
indentures used in the West Indies, and the new
contracts under which the Chinese have been brought
to the Transvaal.

The chief differences are these : —

Transvaal. West Indies.
I. The Chinese coolie in i. The British Indian in
the Transvaal must not be the West Indies can be em-
employed in skilled labour. ployed as a tradesman and

TERMS OF CONTRACT

21

2. The Chinese coolie in
the Transvaal must be sent
back to China at the ter-
mination of his indenture.

3. The Chinese immigrant
in South Africa may be ac-
companied by his wife or
not at option.

mechanic, or in other skilled
work in the factory, during
his indenture. There is no
restriction whatever after
his indenture ceases. Dur-
ing his indenture he fre-
quently saves money and
purchases cattle, which are
looked after for him during
his work at the estate.

2. The British Indian in
the West Indies has the
option of remaining in the
colony as a free man. He
can receive Crown lands in-
stead of his half return pas-
sage. He is encouraged to
remain on the estate, where
he receives free housing,
medical attendance and pas-
ture for his cattle.

3. The Indians in the
West Indies must be accom-
panied by 40 per cent, of
women.

The Natal indentures are, with a few exceptions,
relating to the encouragement of coolies to remain
in the colony, the same as those in the West Indies.
In Natal the coolie who has completed five years
on the estates or mines has three courses open to
him : —

1. He can return to India.

2. He can re-indenture at a higher wage.

3. He can remain in the colony as a free man
on paying a licence of £3 a year.

22 THE ASIATIC DANGER

The case of contract labour in the Malay States
need not be considered. The conditions are ex-
tremely varied, and the short sea passage makes work
in the Straits peculiarly attractive to the Chinese.
The wages are lower than in the Transvaal, but
there are the additional inducements of being able
to engage in trade on the termination of a period
of service, and the possibility of acquiring pro-
perty and land. A system of co-operation, in which
the labourer shares in the profits of the venture, is
also widely adopted, and very often the coolie has
to buy his stores from the shop of his employer.

The effect of these different indentures is plainly
visible in the population of the colonies concerned.
In the West Indies and Natal the Government of
India's conditions have resulted in a large perma-
nent East Indian population. The immigrants are
y mainly lower class Madrassis and Bengalis, who find
that they are much more comfortably off in their
new homes than amidst the competition of over-
crowded India. In the West Indies the land hunger
of the Asiatic is easily satisfied, and if the man is
enterprising enough, he can — as in Natal — become
a trader. The result is that the indentured coolie
stays as a free man. In Natal it is found that the
number who return after the expiration of the first
contract is only ten per cent., and the number going
back at the end of a second term is still smaller.
Natal to-day has 100,000 Indians ; but 70,000 are
free. British Guiana to-day has 105,000 British
Indians in a population of 278,000 ; but only 20,000
are indentured on the estates. Jamaica has 12,500

TERMS OF CONTRACT 23

British Indians ; but only 1,819 are now indentured.
Trinidad has 90,000 East Indians. In Fiji the
Indians number 25,000. Between 1901 and 1904
they increased 5,685 ; but the native population
decreased by 4,334. A Times correspondent
wrote in 1906 : " In the Fiji Islands it seems as if
they (the Indians) are about to replace the natives
and become the permanent population."

In accepting the Asiatic on the conditions of the
West Indies and Natal, a colony resigns itself to
an ever growing Asiatic population.

The difference between the forms of contract is
vital. It destroys at once the arguments which are
so often based upon a belief that the conditions in
the West Indies and on the Rand are analogous.
The white population of the Transvaal would never
for a moment think of accepting Asiatic labour
upon Trinidad conditions. The Transvaal system
makes the indentures terminate in the land from
which the coolies are drawn ; it insists that they
shall be engaged upon nothing save unskilled mine
labour. Under the Rand contracts there is no
competition with white men, no permanent trace
would be left if the 50,000 odd cooHes were repa-
triated to-morrow. The Chinese could work the
Rand mines for a decade and then return to China,
and not one white storekeeper or one white artisan
would have been affected. Whatever the objections
to Chinese indentured labour on the Rand may be,
it is certainly not a system of " State-aided coloniza-
tion," as is that under which Asiatics are obtained
for Natal and the West Indies.

CHAPTER IV

ASIATIC COMPETITION

What is the effect of a considerable immigration of
Asiatics into another country ? This phase of the
question is apt to be overlooked in England, where,
as Sir Arthur Lawley pointed out some years ago,
the climate forms a barrier to such an influx, and
the amount of unskilled labour available is an addi-
tional safeguard. England cannot understand the
anxiety with which South Africa and Australasia
view the competition of the coloured races. It has
had no experience of it.

The Asiatic invariably obtains a grip of the country
he enters. He may arrive as the humblest hewer of
wood and drawer of water, but he does not remain
in this servile position — or at least his children do
not. Mr. Maurice S. Evans, in his Problems of
Production in Natal, says : " It is interesting to note
that signs are present that the rising generation of
Indians, bom in Natal, differ from their parents, the
indentured coolies. With some education they,
not content with the plain work and hard fare of
their parents, aspire to a higher social position,
and are usually waiters, clerks, and storemen." This
is the reason why the demand for Asiatic labour

ASIATIC COMPETITION 2$

never ceases. Ten thousand may suffice to-day.
But the leakage is great. At the end of the term
of contract a great number turn to other vocations.
The land hunger of the Indian impels him to obtain
ground for cultivation ; or the spirit of the trader
drives him to invest in a hawker's basket and
continue his thrifty, hard-working life till he can
establish himself as a petty storekeeper or even a
merchant on a considerable scale.

Here again much depends on the great climatic
difference which creates the two classes into which
Asiatic labour falls — that of the tropical and the non-
tropical colonies. In the tropics the white popula-
tion with whom the British Indian or the China-
man could compete is exceedingly small. There
is no outcry against him, because the capacity of
the tropics to provide employment for white men
depends mainly upon the size of the coloured
population. In the West Indies the Asiatic is
encouraged in every possible way to become a unit
of the country. In the year 1904 alone the British
Indians in Trinidad purchased 4,898 acres of land.

But take the case of lands which are climatically
suitable for supporting white populations, and study
the result of Asiatic immigration, and one begins to
understand why the feeling against the newcomers,
even when their economic value as unskilled
labourers is recognized, is so strong.

Natal forms the best example. Although the
coast belt may be regarded as tropical, and there-
fore, perhaps, better for Asiatics as labourers than
white men, the great bulk of the colony is eminently

26

THE ASIATIC DANGER

suited for white settlers. Mr. Maurice S. Evans
writes : "As on the coast, all the manual labour
on the up-country farms is done by natives or
Indians, but not for any climatic reason or on account
of any physical conditions. The up-country climate
of Natal is a magnificent one for Europeans ; the
adult can enjoy perfect health, and families of
children are reared as healthy and strong as country
children of Northern Europe. Manual labour on
the farm could well be done by Europeans, to the
benefit and not detriment of their health and con-
dition. The reason why this is not done is social
and racial, and would probably rule if Natal, with
her present proportion of blacks to whites, was
situated 50 degrees north latitude instead of 30
degrees south. The white man will not work along-

/ side or on even terms with the native or Indian ;

^we must accept this fact as one unlikely to be
altered, and in speaking of the present state of the
country take it as an axiom. Formerly all these
farmers employed natives exclusively, now many
supplement the native by Indians, or use the latter
altogether."

The 1904 census in Natal showed that there was
a total population of 1,108,754 classified as follows : —

Males.

Females.

Total.

Europeans or whites.

56,758

40,351

97,109

Indians and Asiatics .

63,497

37.421

100,918

Mixed and others

3,610

3.076

6,6^6

Natives in service

69,746

10,232

79,978

Natives in native areas

357»020

467*043

824,063

ASIATIC COMPETITION

27

The male Asiatics outnumber the male Europeans
by 9,000 odd. And with what rapidity an Asiatic
population grows when it is brought in under the
conditions obtaining in Natal is shown by the fol-
lowing table : —

1 Europeans.

i

Indians.

Census 1891 . ...
Census 1904 . . . .

46,788
94,226

41,142
100,749

European increase .
Asiatic „

lOI

144

•38 per cent.
•88 „ „

Thus for every 100 Europeans in Natal in 1891
there are now 201*38, and for every 100 Indians
there are now 244-88. The Census Committee
comment : "It is appalling to consider what the
Indian figures may be in the near future at this
abnormal rate of increase as compared with the
European races with our present Indian population
of over 100,000."

There is however no slackening of the demand.
In 1902 requisitions for 19,000 men were received,
and in 1904 no fewer than 10,144 still remained to
be allotted. At the end of 1905 applications for
another 30,000 were received by the Indian Immi-
gration Trust Board. The Protector of Indian
Immigrants in his Report for 1904 states that the
introductions of Indians into Natal in that year
"far exceeded the number introduced for several
years past." The birth-rate amongst the Indians

28 THE ASIATIC DANGER

is 3071, and thus it is clear that if the importation
of coolies proceeds at the rate reached in the past,
the Indian population in Natal in 1916 will be over
250,000. The Indians who arrive in Natal prefer
to remain there. The Protector reports : " The per-
centage of those who re-indentured during 1904,
after completing their second term of indenture
(being the first who have done so), is barely seven
per cent., evidently indicating that the longer
absence from India has had the effect of weaning
the Indians from any desire to retain the privilege
entitling them to a free passage back." The Indians
who indenture only do so because a high wage
enables them to save money to purchase land or
to start as a trader. They do not re-indenture on
the tea and sugar estates, where wages range from
i6s. to 30s., but prefer the coal mines, where they
can earn from 40s. to 45s.

The hard-working Indian can prosper in Natal
as he never could in Madras or Bengal. The bulk
of the immigrants are of poor class, yet the 1,672
who returned to India in 1904 declared their savings
at £20,077 — and only 874 were men. Fifty-five
had saved £100 or over. The average was £16 ys. 6d.
as against £18 los. id. in 1903, but the decrease was
accounted for by the larger proportion returning
as imfit for work. The average for indentured
Indians alone exceeded that of 1903. In the Trans-
vaal Legislative Council in 1903 Mr. Loveday esti-
mated that £500,000 was sent out of the sub-conti-
nent every year by Asiatics to their relatives in
the East.

ASIATIC COMPETITION

29

But the bulk of the Indians do not return. Here
is the Natal classification in 1904 : —

Men.

Women.

Children.

Total.

Free Indians . .
Indentured

20,318
20,225

10,077
8,302

26,581
2,576

56,976
31,004

40,543

18,280 29,157

87,980

It will be seen that the total given here is far below
the total found in the Census report. The 13,000
odd additional must be classed with free Indians, for
the number indentured is well known. This num-
ber " unaccounted for " is a more prominent feature
of the Protector of Immigrants' Report each year.
What is the work done by this large body of ex-
indentured labour ? Take first the case of agricul-
ture. The Indian has a keen desire to purchase
land, and when he obtains it he makes more use of
it than either the white man or the Kaffir. That
the price of fruit and vegetables at Durban and
Maritzburg has gone down is due almost entirely
to the cultivation of the Asiatics. But he is doing
more than performing work which was formerly
left undone. He is taking up work which, in the
climate of Natal, could be and should be performed
by the white man. The most important interest
in Natal is the agricultural industry. In it, accord-
ing to the last census, there are engaged 39,782
persons, divided as follows : —

Indians 32,436

Europeans ..... 7,346

30

THE ASIATIC DANGER

This is an extraordinary proportion. The tendency
is brought out in other returns. For instance,
75-85 per cent, of the Asiatics are in the rural dis-
tricts, whilst only 39*23 per cent, of the Europeans
are so returned. Small wonder that even the cau-
tious Census Committee, in reviewing the position
indicated by these figures, remarks that this is
" a condition of things regarded by many as dis-
tinctly opposed to the best interests of the Colony."
The tables ^ dealing with occupations show how the
grip of the Asiatic has affected agriculture. The
most striking figures are appended : —

Europeans.

Asiatics.

Cultivators . . . ^ . . .

39

3>o3i

Farmers and assistants

6,606

2,412

Farm labourers .

107

16,142

Fruit farmers .

39

700

Gardeners

113

3»644

Fruiterers

17

151

Produce dealers

III

34

Poultry farmers .

26

22

Planters (general)

96

133

Dairy farmers and assistants .

131

20

It must be remembered that the heading Farmers
and Assistants includes the 3,200 farmers who,
according to the Government publication. Notes
on Agriculture in Natal , hold a great deal of the
land of the colony.

1 This table and all others relating to Natal are compiled
from the 1904 Census report, which was issued this year.

ASIATIC COMPETITION 3 1

It is the Indian who supphes the bulk of the fruit
and vegetables to the towns. Mr. Maurice S. Evans,
whom I have already quoted — he is a public man
who knows Natal from end to end, and has also
travelled all over the world studying agricultural
methods — says : —

"... The Indian is a very much better culti-
vator of the soil than the native. Accustomed at
. home to small holdings and intensive culture,
he brings his habits to Natal, and though in
the presence of different conditions, of more
space, less crowding, better markets, he varies
his methods and perhaps gets more careless,
he still obtains a larger share from his holdings
in proportion to their size than the native or
even the European. The Indian cultivators
live principally on the coast, though they are
now scattered all over the country in small
numbers, wherever fertile land can be obtained
not too far from a market. On the coast they
grow principally mealies, beans, tobacco, bana-
nas, some other fruits which come quickly
into bearing, such as granadillas, and near the
towns vegetables of all kinds. The Indian
wants full value from his plot, and has no eye to
scenic beauty, so he ruthlessly cuts down every
tree or shrub upon it. He wants quick re-
turns, hence as a rule does not plant fruit trees.
From the nature of the crops grown and the
absence of shade of all kinds, these lands have
a bare sun-stricken appearance, detract from

32 THE ASIATIC DANGER

the beauty of the country, and may possibly,
if extended much more, have a deteriorating
effect upon the cUmate.

" Indians both rent land and hold it freehold,
and their holdings of both classes are extend-
ing year by year. Large areas in the coast
country of Victoria, north of Durban, have of
late years been acquired by syndicates of Euro-
peans and retailed acre by acre to these people,
who are keen to buy, and are willing to pay
prices which no European could afford for occu-
pation and cultivation. As a matter of fact,
in this Garden County of the Garden Colony,
the European population cultivating or in inti-
mate connection with the soil is probably
smaller in number than it was thirty years ago,
while the Indian is gradually taking up the
land upon which was reared in those days
families of Europeans — colonists of the best
stamp. What will be the outcome is causing
anxious thought to many in Natal, who look
beyond the present day and its present profit."

But the Asiatic has another fault — from the
white man's standpoint. He is ambitious. The
plantation coolie may die a cooHe ; his son may
become a landowner, or a small trader or store-
keeper, even a merchant on a considerable scale.
In Natal Indian competition is not confined to agri-
culture. The loudest complaints come from the
trading class. Practically the entire native trade
in Natal has passed into the hands of the British-

ASIATIC COMPETITION

33

Indians. The following figures show the position
in respect to a number of trades in Natal in 1904 : —

Europeans.

Asiatics.

Storekeepers (general) ....

658

1,260

Storekeepers' assistants

1,252

1,323

Bakers and confectioners .

213

78

Butchers and assistants

306

42

Grocers and assistants

425

75

Restaurant-keepers ....

64

26

Even in clerical work the Asiatic has begun to
make his presence felt. This is a department in
which the figures will grow steadily as the Indians
become more educated and the Indian children now
at school begin to search for a means of livelihood.

To-day only 12,128 males of the 100,000 odd
Indians in Natal can read and write. But they
provide the following competition : —

Europeans.

Asiatics.

Agents (various)

Accountants and bookkeepers .

Clerks (various)

Civil servants

Commercial travellers ....

339

851

1,611

1,465

196

15

69

174

21

2

And lastly comes the general labour, skilled
and unskilled, of the colony. One more table will
show the trades or vocations in which the Asiatic is
competing most keenly with the white man : —

Bricklayers and assistants.
Blacksmiths and assistants

Barmen

Brick and tilemakers .
Boot and shoemakers .
Barbers and assistants
Brewers and assistants
Bookbinders and assistants
Billiard markers
Carpenters and assistants .

Cooks

Coachmen and grooms

Cycle dealers and mechanics

Carriers and carters

Cigar and cigarette makers

Domestic servants .

Engine drivers (loco and stationary)

Fishermen

Firemen and stokers .

Hawkers

Jewellers and assistants
Labourers (general)
Labourers (railway)
Municipal employes

Messengers

Miners

Mineral water manufacturers

assistants

Mine labourers ....

Painters

Printers and compositors .
Plumbers and tinsmiths .
Photographers and assistants
Porters (hotel and general)
Pumpmen (Natal railways)
Pointsmen (ditto) .

Quarrymen

Tailors and assistants .
Tobacconists and assistants
Waiters

and

Europeans.

1,056

251

98

108

118

68

47

33

2,328

147
92

37
^37

II

1,083

516

100

652

19
105

353
164
141

3
208

69

661

448

356

99

96

16
266

47
100

Asiatics.

122
30
37
23
66

131
27
13
II

196

457
117
12
262
104
2,132

57
108

257

1,487

381

13,799

610

543

99

185

21
600

79
61
81
12

133
32

138
56

126
22

658

34

ASIATIC COMPETITION 35

It has been contended on behalf of the British-
Indian population that the extent to which the
progress of the white traders is hampered by this
competition has been exaggerated. It would not
be wise, perhaps, to adhere too closely to the census
figures. In some cases they are open to explanations
which tend to modify a first impression of the effect
of Indian competition. But they show a marked
tendency. They argue a not inconsiderable cur-
tailment of the openings available for the white
population. The British-Indians to-day own over
10,000 acres of land, and cultivate nearly 50,000
acres. As traders they would be a still greater
menace, but for the Act passed in 1897 placing the
power to issue or refuse general dealers' licences in
the hands of an official of the Municipality. This
measure was carried on the suggestion of Mr. Harry
Escombe. Outwardly it carefully avoids class
legislation, for in theory it applies equally to Euro-
peans and Asiatics. But in practice it operates
against the Indian storekeepers. No white man
is refused a licence ; Asiatics often suffer what they
regard as injustice. There is no appeal from the
decision of the Licensing Officer, and they can only
protest and submit. In Durban the Act has been
admittedly utilized in order to prevent Indian mer-
chants opening shops in the principal streets. The
Licensing Officer is the servant of a body of white
storekeepers. He knows their views, and, whatever
his personal opinion may be, he can hardly be
expected to sacrifice his appointment by opposing
those who employ him. As a protective ^measure

36 THE ASIATIC DANGER

to the white trader the Act is valuable. From the
standpoint of expediency the system may find sup-
porters. In reality it is simply class legislation.
However, the point to be remembered is this. The
state of things revealed by the Census would be even
more marked but for an Act which was passed before
the Indian community realized what its effect would
be. How it operates may be seen from the follow-
ing cases, reported in one of the leading European
papers of the colony ^ : —

*' I. Mr. Hoondamal, who has been trading
in the Colony for some time, wished to change
premises, and to remove from Grey Street to
West Street (Durban). The shop was abso-
lutely free from objection from a sanitary
standpoint. It belonged to an Indian landlord,
and it was in a block of buildings which have
been devoted to Indian traders for several years.
Mr. Hoondamal had a fancy-ware business,
and dealt in Oriental silks and other fancy
goods. He did not come into competition with
any European. His shop was kept in a scru-
pulously clean condition, but the transfer from
one premises to another was rejected by the
Town Council.

"2. Mr. Dada Osman had been in trade in
Vryheid for several years before the war. The
place he was trading in was considered a loca-
tion or a bazaar during the Boer regime. After
Vryheid was annexed to Natal, the Licensing

1 Natal Witness.

ASIATIC COMPETITION 37

Board refused to renew his licence, unless he
would go to another location far away from
town, where it was impossible for him to do any
business at all. Mr. Dada Osman's business
in Vryheid has therefore proved a very serious
loss to him. In this case, as also in the previous
case, many certificates from Europeans of good
standing were produced to show the respect-
ability of the apphcants. It should be remem-
bered that Mr. Dada Osman's was the only
Indian store in Vryheid. To add to the misery
of the position, the an ti- Asiatic laws of the Trans-
vaal have been taken over bodily for this dis-
trict of Natal. A British Indian, therefore,
staying in Vryheid, not only has to undergo
the disabilities that the Natal laws impose on
him, but has added to them the disabilities that
the Transvaal laws have created for him.

"3. Mr. Cassim Mahomed has been trading
for three years on a farm near Ladysmith. For
some time his was the only store. Recently,
a European firm, by name Burdett & Co., have
opened a store near by. Mr. Cassim Mahomed's
servant, in his absence, was trapped and
charged with a breach of the law as to Sunday
trading, the servant having sold to the traps a
piece of soap and a little sugar. Armed with
this conviction, Messrs. Burdett & Co. opposed
Mr. Cassim Mahomed's application for a renewal
of his licence. The licensing officer listened
to their objections, and refused to renew the
licence. There was an appeal to the Board,

38 THE ASIATIC DANGER

which confirmed the decision of the Licensing
Officer. The Court said that it was not guided
by any prejudice : it proposed to treat Mr.
Cassim Mahomed as it had treated a certain
European. This was incorrect. This Euro-
pean was himself convicted of having sold
opium, in contravention of the law, to the
Indians working at the mines in his neighbour-
hood, and other allegations were made against
him. There is an ocean of difference between
the technical breach of the Sunday Law by the
servant of Mr. Cassim Mahomed and the breach
of the opium law of the Colony by the European
personally. Mr. Cassim Mahomed, too, pro-
duced excellent references from European firms
of good standing."

The paper also points out that when this Dealers'
Licences Act was passed, the late Sir Henry Binns
strongly protested against it, saying that it was an
un-British measure, and that the ousting of the
ordinary jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was a
dangerous principle. " Experience has shown the
justness of these prophetic words. The administra-
tion of the Act was, in its initial stages, marked by
an excess of zeal in restricting British-Indian trade.
The licensing officer at Newcastle refused to renew
all Indian licences — that is, nine in number. It
was after very great expense and trouble that six
of them were renewed. As a result, and owing to
pressure from the Colonial Office, the Government
issued a warning to the licensing authorities that.

ASIATIC COMPETITION 39

unless they administered the Act with prudence and
moderation, and respected existing Hcences, the
Government might be obliged to amend the law, and
restore the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court."

The law is undoubtedly harsh. But in attempt-
ing to estimate the extent of Asiatic competition
it is necessary to point out that had no such legisla-
tion been passed the Indian storekeepers would be
doing more of the trade of the colony than is the
case to-day.

Eleven districts of the thirty-eight magisterial
divisions or centres into which Natal is divided
return no Indians. But in the Inanda Division
the Indians form 70*58 of the population, in the
Verulam Local Board area 52*83 per cent., in the
Umlazi Division 34*44 per cent., and in the Lower
Tugela 26*90 per cent.

Sir Arthur Lawley, when Lieutenant-Governor
of the Transvaal, remarked in an official despatch :
" So prevalent is the Indian element in that country
(Natal) that the moment one crosses the Transvaal
border he loses the impression that he is travelling
in a European country at all. . . . Natal has an
immense native population^ which twenty years ago
was served in the way of trade only by Europeans.
Traders of this class formed an important element
in the white population of Natal. To-day this class
of trader has vanished altogether, and their business
is now entirely in the hands of the Asiatics." It is
claimed on behalf of the Indian community that
this competition is trifling, that the Indian firm is
but a " petty trader's concern." " The Indian

40 THE ASIATIC DANGER

storekeeper," said Mr.H.S.L.Polak, " acts as a con-
necting link between the native and the poor white
on the one hand, and the wholesaler on the other ;
and as such is an invaluable economic factor in
the commercial welfare of South Africa."

It is difficult to estimate what the extent of this
*' Kaifir truck "is. From a statistical standpoint
the official publications relating to the natives all
over South Africa are lamentably incomplete. A
few sentences from the annual reports of the Resi-
dent Magistrates ^ throw some light on the point : —

Ixopo Division. — " During the last seven years
several Asiatic retail licences have been cancelled
and many applications refused."

Klip River Division. — " The bulk of the trade
of the native population is still in the hands of the
Indians, who appear to be gradually displacing the
European traders."

Umgeni Divison. — " The bulk of the trade con-
tinues to be centred in the hands of the Indians
and Indian hawkers. It is the Indians they prin-
cipally deal with and dispose their surplus produce
to."

Umvoti Division. — " In the country districts
there are nine stores owned by Europeans and eleven
by Asiatics."

Ndwedwe Division. — " I believe I am correct in
stating that we are in the unique position of being
the only Division in the Colony where the Asiatic
has not gained a footing as a trader or retail dealer."

1 Natal Blue Book on Native Affairs, 1904.

ASIATIC COMPETITION 4I

Newcastle Division. — " Most of the Kaffir store-
keeping is in the hands of Indians and Arabs, who
appear to have done a good business."

Inanda Division. — " The native trade of the Divi-
sion is almost exclusively in the hands of the Indian
and Arab storekeepers, who are not only in the
villages but scattered all over the country ; and as
natives are buying more and more European com-
modities, their requirements are ever on the increase,
and the native trade must be a growing one."

Anything which induces the natives to display
more energy and enterprise must be welcome, and
few colonials object to the experiments which natives
have made in storekeeping. In practically every
case, however, the stores have failed, and in most
instances the reason assigned in the Blue Book is
that the native trader cannot compete with the
Indian. It would appear, then, that the Asiatic
immigrant is not only driving out the white trader,
but is also checking a tendency on the part of the
native which would hasten the spread of civilization.
But in any case the Kaffir trade is not the small
affair some people imagine. In 1903 the value of
the goods imported into the colony of Natal for
the Kaffirs was estimated at £302,778. The
Kaffir is always charged heavily for his goods
by the storekeeper, and a declared value of
£300,000 for Customs purposes probably means
that the goods were actually sold for £500,000
to £600,000. The Natal Industries Commission
looked forward to a native trade based on an
expenditure of £1 per head. This would mean

42 THE ASIATIC DANGER

roughly £1,000,000 from the Natal natives alone.
Add to this the Indian coolie trade, and also that
done with the poorer whites, and it is clear that the
Indian traders are capturing a splendid field — and
would have secured even more of it but for the
restrictions mentioned, against which protests are
raised. Zululand, too, is a closed land to the Asiatic
trader, no licences being granted to non-Europeans.
In considering the plea of the British-Indians that
the volume of trade passing through their hands is
trifling, one must do more than regard the trade done
to-day — one must also allow for the increase which
would be found in that trade if the restrictions (just
or unjust) were swept away.

The figures relating to Asiatic competition in
the other British Colonies in South Africa are less
striking, because immigration has been restricted,
and there has been no back door of indentured
labour as has been open in Natal. Those who
minimize this competition usually write as though
these restrictions did not exist. Mr. Polak 1 esti-
mates the proportion of free Indians in the whole
of British South Africa as only one in sixty-two,
and points out that there are eleven white people to
every one Indian. This calculation is more in-
genious than fair. It is obvious that excellent
statistics, from the British-Indian standpoint, can
be arrived at by taking the colonies in which Asiatic
immigration is practically prohibited. But what
would be the figures had there been no restrictive

^ Empire Review, June, 1906.

ASIATIC COMPETITION 43

legislation ? In Natal, simply through the con-
tract system, by which an Indian can earn the right
to remain by working five years for a European,
the Indians already outnumber the whites. What
would be the proportion in twenty years were the
doors flung open, as some Enghsh pubUcists have
suggested, and as apparently the Indian National
Congress desires ? Even under the present system
there will be 250,000 Indians in Natal in 1916. With
the policy of the Open Door in all the colonies the
proportion of eleven to one in favour of the European
would one day be reversed.

To obtain the fullest information regarding
Asiatic competition in the Cape Colony and the Trans-
vaal one must await the issue of more complete re-
turns than are now published. Certain statistics,
however, are available which show the tendency is
similar to that in Natal. In the Cape I leave out
the Malay population of some 16,000, which is the
result of the old slave trade.

The Asiatic traders in the Cape Colony manage,
as in other parts, to exist through periods of depres-
sion which ruin many of the European storekeepers.
The crisis through which the colony is passing is
undoubtedly largely due to over-trading. The in-
flux of traders has been greater than the growth of
trade warranted, as will be seen by the following
figures : —

44

THE ASIATIC DANGER
INCREASE OF TRADERS.

General
Dealers,

Importers.

Agents.

Total.

Increase per cent,
as compared
with 1898.

1898

7,858

616

240

8,714

1902

II»I37

1,036

346

12,519

43-7

1903

12,852

1,115

406

14,373

65 0

1904

13,444

1,032

319

14,795

697

1905

13,496

837

316

14,649

68-1

INCREASE OF TRADE.

1898
1904
1905

Importations retained

in Cape Colony for

consumption.

;{ 1 0,48 1, 000

;^I 2,832,000
;^ I 3,096,000

Increased per cent,
over 1898.

Increase per cent, in
number of licences
granted over 1898.

22-4
25-0

697

68-1

The increase in the number of traders has been
three times as great as the increase in the amount
of trade. To throw the whole blame on the Asiatic
would be absurd. The European was as much at
fault. The point is that in these conditions the
Asiatic holds his place whilst the European goes
under.

In the five largest towns in the Cape Colony —
Capetown, East London, King William's Town,
Kimberley, and Port Elizabeth — the number of
general dealers' licences issued to Europeans in 1905
was 5,222. But on May i, 1906, only 3,920 Euro-
peans had taken out licences. That is to say, 1,302
Europeans had been forced out of business. Now

ASIATIC COMPETITION 45

in 1905 there were 1,012 general dealers' licences
issued to non-Europeans. But on May 6, 1906,
there had been no decrease. On the contrary, the
licences numbered 1,059. ^^ these five towns, there-
fore, in one year, the increased competition had
had the following effect : —

1. Licences to Europeans decreased 1,302.

2. Licences to non-Europeans increased 44.

In two years the Indian traders in the Cape sent
to India £250,000 in money orders alone. And
" despite the large number of Russian and Polish
Jews in the country who are in the habit of remitting
home very considerable amounts, the annual remit-
tance to India through the Post Office exceeds that
to the rest of the world put together, the United
Kingdom included, without making allowance for
the large proportion remitted to the Homeland in
connection with the parcel trade." ^

The European complains that it is impossible for
him to compete with the Asiatic without lowering
his standard of living — without, in fact, descending
in the scale of civilization. Here is a sketch of
the Indian trader's progress as seen in South
Africa 2 : —

" The evolution of the Indian from a newly-
arrived lascar practically penniless to a trader
owning one or more shops, is interesting to
consider. Sleeping on boxes in the proportion,
perhaps, of a dozen in one room, and able to
subsist on little other than a small quantity of

^ South African Trade Journal, June 2, 1906.
2 Ibid.

46 THE ASIATIC DANGER

rice daily, he is able to save a considerable por-
tion of the profit he earns from the hawking of
fruit. In two years' time or less, he has saved
some £50 or so. He hires a small room from a
shop, at say £3 to £4 per month. By paying half
cash he obtains goods to the value of his total
capital from one firm of merchants, and on the
strength of the invoices he obtains credit from
others to a like amount. His trade is chiefly
cash, and before long he is able to take j$ days'
credit and then 90 days ; and by the end of
two or three years he may have several shops
open. His orders are now considerable, and
he is able to command prices from the merchant
which would surprise the smaller white trader.

"Combination among the latter class to pre-
vent ruinous cutting of prices means playing
into the hands of the Indian.

" If a merchant, feeling uneasy at the largeness
of an Indian's outstanding account, curtails
supplies, his customer distributes his orders
among other merchants, and in reply to the
merchant's inquiries, says he is better suited
elsewhere. Probably the matter ends in the
Indian getting even better terms than before
from the merchant. Should the merchant re-
quire a guarantee, another Indian is easily
forthcoming, and the man he thus obliges
guarantees him with other firms.

"The outset of his career in the country has
thus been marked by a method of hving which
is a danger to the health of the community, not
merely through the dirt and overcrowding in
the rooms where he herds for the night with his
fellows, but through the distribution among the

ASIATIC COMPETITION 47

inhabitants of fruit which has not merely been
handled by him, but frequently has passed the
night in those same surroundings.

"As a trader, he is able to compete with
the respectable white shopkeeper with over-
whelming advantages on his side.

" To an assistant he will pay from £1 to £2 per
month, he himself can live on comparatively
a few shillings a month, and he will keep open
perhaps nineteen hours out of the twenty-four.
He systematically infringes the Sunday Closing
Act and the Half-Holiday Act, and not infre-
quently evades the latter measure by hawking
from door to door.

" Against such methods as these, competition
on the part of the respectable white trader is
rendered impossible. Even the coloured shop-
keeper has been driven to the wall, a loss re-
sulting, inter alia, to the larger shopkeeper, who,
to no inconsiderable extent, played towards him
the role of wholesale man.

" It is probably not far off the mark to say that
the Indian, through his methods of living, his
cheap assistance and so on, can do nearly twice
as well as the white grocer on half the turn-
over."

At a recent meeting of the Worcester Chamber of
Commerce it was stated that one Indian controlled
twenty-nine shops in Capetown alone.

The figures given however do not relate solely
to British-Indians. The registered Chinese popula-
tion of the Cape Colony on December 31, 1905, was
1,300, of whom 1,088 lived in the following centres :

48 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Capetown (including Wynberg), Port Elizabeth (in-
cluding Uitenhage), Kimberley (including Beacons-
field), and East London. Their occupations ^ included
the following : —

General dealers and shopkeepers

. 460

Laundry owners and assistants

• 345

Shop assistants .

. 335

Bookkeepers and clerks

. 92

Gardeners

. 58

Cooks . . . . ,

• 33

Carpenters . . . .

20

There is not likely to be an increase in these figures.
The Chinese Exclusion Act in the Cape has been in
operation since 1904, and since the first registrations
of Chinese there has been a decrease of ninety-three
in the Chinese population of the colony.

In the Transvaal there is also at the moment
some difficulty in gauging the extent of Asiatic
competition, as the Census figures relating to occu-
pations deal simply with " Coloured." In the days of
the Republic, however, a petition from the British-
Indians to the Marquis of Ripon stated that there
were 200 traders, whose liquidated assets would
amount to nearly £100,000. Three firms were de-
clared to " import directly from England, Durban,
Port Elizabeth, India and other places." There
may be fewer Indian traders to-day than before the
war, but the general impression is that they do more
of the trade of the colony than was formerly the
case.

* Cape Immigration Report, 1905.

ASIATIC COMPETITION

49

In 1905 the number of general dealers' businesses
existing in Johannesburg was as follows : —

Europeans

Indian

Chinese

3*484
270

255

4,009

Sometimes, however, more licences are granted than
there are businesses.

In recent years the number of Asiatic licences
issued in the Johannesburg district have been : —

Total licences.

Asiatics.

Percentage of
Asiatics,

1904 . .
1903

3,799

3,418

535
397

14-13
1 1 61

In addition the Municipality of Johannesburg
issued in 1905 the following licences to Asiatics as
distinct from general dealers' licences : —

D«crip.i™. 0.0.^X3.

Number
Dec, 31, 1904.

Number
Nov, 28, 1905.

Hawkers ....

Bakers

Butchers ....
Kaffir eating-houses .
Dairies ....
Laundries
Restaurants .

1,684

1,438

40
9

1,202
2

33
3
3

44
6

Totals . . .

1,684

1,487

1,293

50

THE ASIATIC DANGER

This table is interesting as corroborating Mr.
Evans' remarks as to the tendency of the Indians
in Natal to enter a higher business grade. The
hawker of to-day is the storekeeper of to-morrow.
The fall in the number of licences issued in Johan-
nesburg between the dates given — 391 less — is
probably due to the fact that there has been a
migration to the small country towns away from
the Golden City.

There has undoubtedly been a good deal of misap-
prehension concerning the number of Asiatics in the
Transvaal to-day. During his recent tour Lord Sel-
bome was assured by deputation after deputation
that the influx was still proceeding. He gave em-
phatic assurances that this was not the case, and in-
quiries made go to show that the total is probably less
than in the pre-war days. The figures given of the
number of Asiatic stores in the country towns have
also been exaggerated. But the latest statistics, ob-
tained in March, 1906, by the Transvaal represen-
tative of Indian Opinion (and still uncontradicted),
give :—

British-Indian Traders.

Before the War.

To-day.

Pietersburg
Potchefstroom

23

22

35
19

Indian Opinion offered to give the names of the
traders and forfeit £50 if the figures were wrong.

ASIATIC COMPETITION 5 1

Yet at a public meeting in June, 1906, at Krugers-
dorp a speaker declared the figures were : —

Before the War.

To-day.

Pietersburg
Potchefstroom

14
12

49
64

It may be that in the latter figures the big dis-
tricts of which these towns are the headquarters,
and not the towns themselves, have been taken ; but
this does not explain the discrepancy before the
war. But taking the smaller figures as correct, they
do not get rid of the statement made at the Trans-
vaal National Convention of Asiatics that thirteen
or fourteen European stores in Potchefstroom, and
many more in other country towns, had been com-
pelled to close down owing to this competition.
The Post Office reports also afford indirect evidence
that the Asiatics in the Transvaal are doing well,
for from October i, 1903, to October i, 1904, a sum
of £118,859 was remitted to India in postal or-
ders alone from Johannesburg, Pretoria, Pietersburg
and Potchefstroom. Sometimes charges are made
against the Indian traders of dishonest practices and
suspicious insolvencies. These, however, are not
substantiated, and should not receive credence.
The greatest compliment to the upright dealings of
the Indians is the fact, admitted publicly both in
Pretoria and Durban, that the Indian can get credit
from the wholesale firms when white traders are

52 THE ASIATIC DANGER

refused. Naturally this does not increase the love
of the white trader for his Asiatic rival.

That Asiatic competition is a serious factor in
the commercial life of the smaller towns of the
Transvaal is clear from the amount of feeling the
question arouses. In some cases Vigilance Associa-
tions have been formed, largely to watch the Asiatic
traders. Public meetings have been held at which
resolutions have been passed demanding the re-
moval of the Asiatics to locations. In one case a
boycott was resolved upon, and pickets were placed
before the Indian stores to see who purchased at
them ; at another place a " black list " was drawn
up of all property owners who had let premises to
Indian traders — who, by the way, usually offer
higher rents than Europeans. The latest idea was
embodied in the following resolution carried by the
Krugersdorp Town Council : —

{a) " That in future no tender for Municipal
work or supplies be accepted from any person,
persons or company, hiring or leasing business
premises to Asiatics, (b) That notice of
motion be given to the Transvaal Municipal
Association : That legislation be enacted at
the earliest possible date, vesting in local
authorities the allocation of trading stands and
residential premises to Asiatics.

CHAPTER V

BRITISH INDIANS IN THE TRANSVAAL

" In all the towns of the Transvaal the Asiatic
question overshadows all others, and I fear that unless
we are able to reconcile the opinion in England with the
opinion held in this country the Government will be
landed in a serious deadlock." — Sir Arthur Lawley,
Lieut. -Governor of the Transvaal, 1904.

In the immediate future one is more likely to hear
of a particular phase of the Asiatic problem in the
Colonies than of the general question. The discus-
sion which must inevitably arise concerning the
status of the British-Indians in the Transvaal may
result in the establishment of a precedent according
to which other colonies will be expected to model
their laws. But a satisfactory solution appears
impossible. To meet the claims of the Indians
would involve the overruling of Colonial opinion ; to
consent to the enactments of a local legislature
would call forth loud protests against injustice from
the Indian community. The difficulties are in-
creased by the promises made by the English Gov-
ernment in the days before the war, and by what
was at least believed to be the voice of the British
population in the Republic. Whatever may have
been said before the war, it is clear that British

63

54 THE ASIATIC DANGER

opinion in the Transvaal to-day is even more op-
posed to the British- Indian trader than was the poKcy
of the Dutch. The Boer farmer wishes to buy
cheaply, and, as students of the debates in the old
Volksraad will see, the country view is that " the
European storekeepers charged poor people very
high prices for the staff of life, while the coolies
charged much less." ^ Broadly speaking, however.
Sir Arthur Lawley was perfectly right when he
wrote in 1904 : " The Asiatic question overshadows
all others." It is a subject on which — like the native
question — the Colonists would certainly resent in-
terference from England. Yet the last word must
lie with the Imperial Government. " Unfortu-
nately," said an official in the Transvaal Legislative
Council three years ago, " the question of the status
of the Asiatic is not a local one capable of settlement
by local legislation." Lord Milner elaborated the
point when replying to a deputation on the subject
of the Constitution. 2 He said : —

" There is one restriction which always ex-
ists in any colony, whether it be a colony under
Crown Colony Government or with represent-
ative institutions, or with full self-government.
That is, of course, the ultimate power of the
Crown to veto any measure. That would no
doubt continue. It is universal, and I should
like attention to one point for the illumination
of the public, who seem to be suffering from

1 Proceedings in the Volksraad, November 4, 1896.

2 January 10, 1905.

BRITISH INDIANS IN THE TRANSVAAL 55

extraordinary delusion with regard to it : and
that is that the power of veto resting in the
Crown is absolutely the same whether you have
Responsible Government or whether you have
Representative Government. You do not get
rid of the veto by having Responsible Govern-
ment. You do not increase the veto by having
Representative Government. I say this es-
pecially with regard to such questions as native
affairs or Asiatic affairs. ... If a measure was
to be passed here dealing either with Asiatic
affairs or with native affairs which, whether
the Home Government approved of it or not,
appeared to it to be a measure which infringed
the right of British subjects and which therefore
the Home Government ought to veto, it would
equally veto it under Responsible Government.
As far as dealing with native affairs or Asiatic
affairs is concerned, you will have exactly the
same powers under the one system as under the
other."

The question, however, stands somewhat apart
from the general principle of Asiatic immigration, or
even of the restrictions which may be placed on
British-Indian subjects. Hitherto the problem has
been considered on the broadest lines. The Indian
coolies in Natal happen to be British subjects ; but
they might have been Chinese-British subjects from
Hong Kong. The British-Indians in the Transvaal
are, so to speak, more than British subjects. Special
interest was taken in their case in the old days of

56 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Krugerism, special protests were raised on their be-
half, special pledges were given. The general ob-
jection to Asiatic immigration applies to them ; but
it must be modified by the peculiar circumstances
of the case. The controversy has been a long one,
yet it needs to be studied to understand why prin-
ciples which can be applied to newcomers from
India cannot honestly be said to govern this par-
ticular and exceptional instance.

Article XIV of the London Convention of 1884
provided that all persons, other than natives, con-
forming themselves to the laws of the South African
Republic —

(a) Will have full liberty, with their famihes,
to enter, travel, or reside in any part of the
South African Republic.

(b) Will be entitled to hire or possess houses,
manufactories, warehouses, shops and premises.

(c) May carry on their commerce either in
person or by any agents whom they may think fit
to employ.

Indian traders had entered the Republic some
three years before this, and their increasing number
directed attention to their presence — " they aroused
the jealousy of white traders, and soon there sprang
up an anti-Indian agitation, initiated by Chambers
of Commerce wherein the British element was pre-
dominant." ^ The Republic attempted to enforce
restrictive regulations, and the Indians, as British

1 Statement of the British-Indian Community to the Trans-
vaal Constitution Committee (see Appendix I).

BRITISH INDIANS IN THE TRANSVAAL 57

subjects, appealed to the English Government
against what they claimed was a violation of
Article XIV of the London Convention.

The Volksraad passed Law 3 of 1885, of which the
world has heard much. This applied to " the per-
sons belonging to one of the aboriginal races of
Asia," and prohibited them from being owners of
landed property, also stipulating that those who
entered the country should pay a registration fee,
and that the Government should have the right to
pJoint out to them their proper streets, wards, and
locations /or residence (" ter bewoning "). The Re-
public proposed to apply this law to what were
known as the " Arab " traders and to coolies indis-
criminately ; and the British-Indians approached
the Imperial Government. After some correspond-
ence a Proclamation was issued from Pretoria
modifying the law by inserting the words " for
sanitary purposes." The Repubhc, however, still
wished to bring the higher class Asiatics within the
scope of the measure, and also claimed that the term
" for residence " meant that the Asiatics could be
compelled not merely to reside in but to trade in
places set apart for them. Eventually the matter
was referred to arbitration, and the Chief Justice of
the Orange River Colony set aside both claims, and
ruled that the interpretation of Law 3 of 1885 rested
with the ordinary tribunals of the country. Ulti-
mately a test case was taken before the Supreme
Court of the Republic, and by two to one the judges
decided that the words " ter bewoning " covered a
merchant's place of business. The way was thus

58 THE ASIATIC DANGER

clear for removing all the Asiatic traders to locations.
The law, however, was not enforced, the explanation
offered in the Volksraad being that if the Executive
fixed a location in one place, " the coolies would
flock to the place where there was none." ^ Much
was heard on both sides. One petition against the
Indians alluded to " the dangers to which the whole
community is exposed by the spread of leprosy,
syphiHs and the like loathsome diseases, engendered
by the filthy habits and immoral practices of these
people." 2 In a memorial presented to the Volks-
raad of the Orange River Colony, a copy of which
the Pretoria Chamber of Commerce sent with
approval to the Transvaal Government, was the
following passage : "As these men enter the State
without wives or female relatives the result is obvi-
ous. Their religion teaches them to consider all
women as soulless and Christians as natural prey."
On the other hand, a Dutch petition, signed by 484
burghers, stated that the withdrawal of the traders
would be a hardship ; and another, signed by 1,340
Europeans, declared that the sanitary habits of the
Indians were equal to Europeans, and that the
agitation was due to trade jealousy.

Unfortunately the complaints of the Indians were
used for political purposes. It may be that the
opinion of the Transvaal was misrepresented in
England ; it may be that in the heat of a great
struggle the Uitlanders made use of weapons with-
out very closely examining their real effect. But

1 Volksraad Debate, November 3, 1896.

2 Transvaal Green Book, No. 2, pp. 19-21.

BRITISH INDIANS IN THE TRANSVAAL 59

certain it is that words were used and promises made
which do not coincide with the opinion of the
Transvaal to-day. This is not the place to discuss
the controversies which led to the war. All that
needs to be remembered is that the real feeling of
the white population in the Transvaal did not justify
th^ tenor of some of the utterances of English
statesmen. At Sheffield in 1899 Lord Lansdowne
said : —

" Among the many misdeeds of the South
African Republic I do not know that any fills
me with more indignation than its treatment of
these Indians. And the harm is not confined
to the sufferers on the spot ; for what do you
imagine would be the effect produced in India
when these poor people return to their country
to report to their friends that the Government
of the Empress, so mighty and irresistible in
India, with its population of 300,000,000, is
powerless to secure redress at the hands of a
small South African State ? "

From Press and platform came many similar ex-
pressions. As Sir M. M. Bhownaggree said in the
remarkably able statement of the Indian claims he
submitted to the Colonial Secretary a few years
ago : " Those of us who are specially interested in
this subject were led by the assurances of Cabinet
Ministers to cherish the anticipation that the war
had for one of its main objects the rescue of British-
Indians from the harsh treatment to which they
were exposed by the late Boer Republics."

6o THE ASIATIC DANGER

But to-day the Indian community complain that
they are more harshly treated than in the days of Paul
Kruger's rule. One thing, however, was decided in
their favour. A case was brought before the Trans-
vaal Supreme Court to see whether the words " ter
bewoning " in Law 3 of 1885 meant for residence
only or included for business purposes. The deci-
sion of the Boer Court was reversed, and thus it
followed, to quote one of Mr. Alfred Lyttelton's
despatches, " that every Asiatic now resident in the
Transvaal (except those brought in under inden-
ture under a special Ordinance) is as free to carry on
trade where he pleases as is a subject of English or
Dutch origin." This decision led the Home Gov-
ernment to refuse to sanction certain location pro-
posals put forward by the Transvaal Legislative
Council, and lately the subject, Hke others, has been
set aside to be dealt with by Responsible Govern-
ment.

Morally and logically the Indians have a very
strong case. Vested interests have been acquired
under the protection of the British Government.
The indignation of that Government at the sHghtest
hint of hardship or oppression to its humblest sub-
jects moved the world to admiration. The Indians
had every reason to believe that after the war the
grievances upon which the support of the Home
Government had been received would be instantly
removed. The grievances still remain. Is it to be
wondered at that the Indians cannot now resist the
temptation of asking what will be the " effect pro-
duced in India " when they return and report that,

BRITISH INDIANS IN THE TRANSVAAL 6l

having now the power to redress the complaints
which filled Lord Lansdowne with such indignation,
the Government of the King-Emperor does nothing
at all — or rather, enforces harsh laws which the
Boer RepubHc, under our pressure allowed to
remain in abeyance ? They point to the burden
of Empire which the poor Indian peoples sup-
port, and ask what does South Africa, with all its
gold and diamonds, contribute compared to the
millions demanded annually from the despised
"cooHes," who are not deemed fit to walk on a
pavement or ride on a tram ?

But the Transvaal does not attempt to argue with
the subtle-minded educated Indian on these points.
It pins itself stubbornly to the tale of white traders
driven out of the small towns by Asiatic competition,
and echoes Sir Arthur Lawley's reply to the revived
pledges : "If the redemption of the pledges upon
which Sir M. M. Bhownaggree depends both in letter
and in spirit means that in fifty or a hundred years
this country will have fallen to the inheritance of
Eastern instead of Western populations, then from
the point of view of civihzation they must be num-
bered among promises which it is a greater crime to
keep than to break." A very convenient reply to
many things — ^but what if Mr. Kruger had used it ?

The British-Indians cry out that if the Dutch
scourged them with whips, the British scourge them
with scorpions. Since the establishment of British
rule, laws which in the old days were allowed to fall
into abeyance have been enforced. In the case of
Nabob Motan v. The Transvaal Government, in the

62 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Transvaal Supreme Court in May, 1904, by which it
was ruled that it was illegal for revenue officers to
refuse to grant trading licences to Asiatics for pre-
mises situated in any part of the town, the Chief
Justice, Sir James Rose-Innes, said : —

" It does strike one as remarkable that, with-
out fresh legislation, the officials of the Crown
in the Transvaal should put forward a claim
which the Government of the Crown in Eng-
land has always contended was illegal under
the statute, and which in the past it has strenu-
ously resisted."

But whatever was said in England, and whatever
was the language of the petitions signed in the
Transvaal — the organizing of petitions has become
a fine art in the Transvaal — there can be no doubt
that the great mass of Colonial opinion is dead
against the Asiatic. The National Convention on
Asiatics held in the Opera House, Pretoria, in
November, 1904, was one of the most representative
gatherings ever witnessed in the Transvaal. It was
attended by 160 delegates of Municipahties, Cham-
bers of Commerce, Agricultural Societies, Farmers'
Associations, Ratepayers' Associations, the Wit-
watersrand Trade and Labour Council, etc. The
resolutions were as follows : —

I. " That m the opinion of this Convention
the serious delay that has occurred in deaHng
with the question of the status of the Asiatics
has been and is highly prejudicial to the best

BRITISH INDIANS IN THE TRANSVAAL 63

interests of the Transvaal, and increases the
difficulty of arriving at a satisfactory settle-
ment.

2. " That having regard to the enormous
preponderance of the native races in this
country, the difficulties surrounding the settle-
ment of native policy, and the necessity for
protecting the existing European population
and encouraging further European immigra-
tion, this Convention affirms the principle that
Asiatic immigration should be prohibited ex-
cept under the provisions of the Labour Im-
portation Ordinance."

(Note. — The original resolution moved was
" except under restrictive legislation." The
more drastic amendment, however, was carried,
only a dozen or so opposing.)

3. " That this Convention having regard to
the importance of arriving at a permanent and
conclusive settlement of the whole question and
of preventing any further attempts to reopen
the matter, urges upon the Government the
advisability of removing into bazaars all
Asiatic traders, compensation being provided
for such as may have vested interests which
have been legally acquired."

{Note. — An attempt was made to do away
with the reference to compensation.)

4. " That this Convention, recognizing the
grave danger resulting from the continued issue
of trading Ucences to Asiatics permitting trade
outside bazaars, requests the Government to

64 THE ASIATIC DANGER

take immediate steps to pass the necessary
legal enactments to prevent any further issue
of such licences."

5. " That with regard to the appointment
•of any proposed Commission to deal with the
Asiatic question, this Convention urges upon
the Government the necessity for including
therein men other than officials, with a thorough
knowledge of existing conditions in South
Africa."

6. " That this Convention affirms its opinion
that all Asiatics should be required to reside in
bazaars."

The spirit of the National Convention was shown
by the voting in the last resolution. Originally it
read " subject only to exemptions made in accord-
ance with the last paragraph of Government Notice,
No. 356, of 1903, viz. : With regard to the residence
of Asiatics, which by the law above mentioned is
confined to those streets, wards and locations which
may be set apart for the purpose, His Excellency
has decided that an exception shall be made in
favour of those whose intellectual attainments, or
social qualities and habits of life, appear to entitle
them to it, and has accordingly resolved that any
Asiatic who shall prove to the satisfaction of the
Colonial Secretary that he holds any higher educa-
tional certificate from the Educational Department
in this or any other British Colony or Dependency,
or that he is able and willing to adopt a mode of
living not repugnant to European ideas nor in con-

BRITISH INDIANS IN THE TRANSVAAL 65

flict with sanitary laws, may apply to the Colonial
Secretary for a letter of exemption which shall en-
able him to reside elsewhere than in a place especi-
ally set apart for Asiatics."

But the Convention threw out the exemption
clause, and thus bound itself down to the principle
that an educated British-Indian, even if he happened
to be a member of the House of Commons, or a
Prince deemed socially worthy of entertaining the
future King and Queen of England, should be
forced to reside in a location with the Madrassi
waiters from a railway restaurant or the Bombay
hawker from the gateway of a mine compound.

More moderate but sufficiently drastic are the
principles laid down by the Transvaal Progressive
Association, which claims to have 40,000 members.
Its recent manifesto included the following : —

"The following questions affecting Asiatics
have been considered : —

" Immigration restriction,

''Trading licences,

" Residence in bazaars,

" Regulation of travelling by railway ;

" and the following are the recommendations
adopted : —

(i) Immigration Restrictions.

"It is desirable that the immigration of Asi-
atics into the Transvaal should be absolutely
prohibited except in the case of indentured
labourers who are subject to repatriation on
the expiration of the terms of their contracts,

66 THE ASIATIC DANGER

and to the other provisions of the Labour Im-
portation Ordinance, power being reserved to
the Colonial Secretary to grant exemption to
individuals under special and exceptional cir-
cumstances. At the same time the practical
impossibility of passing into law a prohibitive
measure framed on the above lines, and specially
directed against Asiatics, is recognized.

"It is therefore recommended: That a
general Immigration Ordinance be passed in
the Transvaal, framed on the lines of those in
force in other Colonies.

(2) Trading Licences.

(a) '* That the issue of new trading licences to
Asiatics, entitling the holders to tradfe outside
bazaars, be prohibited by legislation, but that
Asiatics who held such licences prior to the war
be allowed to renew the same in respect of
existing establishments, but be not allowed to
transfer such licences to other Asiatics.

(b) "That municipal authorities be em-
powered to require the removal to bazaars of
Asiatics who are trading within their area out-
side bazaars, subject to such authorities under-
taking the payment of compensation for vested
interests.

(c) " That full power be given to municipal
authorities to control the issue of hcences to
Asiatic hawkers within their districts, and to
regulate such hawkers.

british indians in the transvaal 67

(3) Residence in Bazaars.

(a) " That all Asiatics be required to reside in
bazaars or other localities appointed by the
Government, with the exception of Asiatics
holding letters of exemption.

(b) " That the Colonial Secretary be author-
ized to grant a letter of exemption to any Asiatic
who shall prove to the satisfaction of the
Colonial Secretary that his status and mode
of life entitle him to such exemption.

(4) Regulation of Travelling by Railway.

" That Asiatics be provided with such accom-
modation on the railways as they are prepared
to pay for, but that such accommodation be
separate from that which is provided for white
persons.'*

These regulations form a minimum restrictive
policy which would satisfy the bulk of the white
population.

Now what do the Indians claim ? ^ Generally
they ask for equal rights with the white inhabitants
so far as trading, residence and locomotion are con-
cerned. That is to say, they want all the civic
rights as distinguished from the social and political.
They recognize that the white man must dominate
the sub-continent, but they object to be placed on
a level with the Kaffir. In particular they claim : —

1 A full statement of the British-Indian claims will be
found in Appendix I.

68 THE ASIATIC DANGER

The right to reside in any part of the colony, sub-
ject to strict municipal supervision and the ordinary
municipal bye-laws.

The right to receive licences to trade, subject to
control by the local bodies, so that over-trading may
be avoided, and those who may not conform to the
habits of the predominant race may be largely pre-
vented from trading.

The right to own landed property in any part of
the country.

The right to move about freely, that is, the usual
facilities for the use of public conveyances in com-
mon with the white inhabitants.

In other words, the Indians claim the repeal of all
class legislation so far as they are concerned, and
therefore of the anti-Asiatic law of 1885, Lord
Milner's bazaar notice, the laws relating to the use
of footpaths, etc. They contend that for a law-
abiding people, as the Indians are admitted to be,
the ordinary laws of the country provide ample safe-
guards against abuses. The charges of dirtiness
and of non-compliance with ordinary sanitary rules
— which they do not admit — could be enforced by
the strict carrying out of the existing laws ; in fact,
there would be no objection to locations for coolies
if a wide exemption clause was permitted. The
great bugbear to the Colonial is the Indian trader,
but the Indians claim that the case will be fully met
if they consent to the control of licences being given
to the usual local bodies, subject, in exceptional
cases, to review by the Supreme Court — an im-
portant modification of the Natal law.

BRITISH INDIANS IN THE TRANSVAAL 69

Existing licences must be scrupulously respected,
but even here exceptions could be made in cases in
which the licence-holders do not keep decent stores
separate from their lodgings, and do not have their
books kept in the English language. The latter
point meets the objection of some white firms, that
the books of the Indian traders cannot be under-
stood by any judge, and that a loophole is thus
provided for ingenious frauds at the expense of
wholesale firms. On the question of the owning of
land, too, the Indians would agree to a clause against
speculative dealing.

But however reasonable these claims may seem
to the Home public, the colonists are not to-day
prepared to concede them. The British-Indian prob-
lem in the Transvaal is indeed one of special diffi-
culty. The pledges of the past cannot be calmly
thrown aside. How strongly the conditions of to-
day are resented in India is shown by the fact that
the Government of India refused to allow the
Transvaal to recruit 10,000 coolies to work on the
railways, " while the position of the British-Indian
traders resident in the Transvaal remained in so
unsatisfactory a state." How this problem might
be solved, as part of a general policy towards Asiatic
immigration, is suggested in another chapter.

CHAPTER VI

THE CASE OF AUSTRALASIA

" Cabinet Ministers recognize difficulties as to
Australian complications and rccisonable grounds for
Chinese attitude, and as loyal subjects of Queen of
England, do not wish to embarrass, but question of
Chinese immigration has an irresistible disturbing
force which they fear that those who are not on the spot
cannot adequately appreciate." — Telegram from Lord
Carrington (New South Wales) to Lord Knutsford
(Colonial Secretary), June 12, 1888.

Although — perhaps because — Australia has prac-
tically no native population which counts in the
labour market, the Colonies have as a rule been
strongly opposed to the introduction of Asiatics.
Taking the Great South Land as a whole, there has
never grown up that spirit of helplessness without
cheap coloured labour which is so characteristic of
South Africa. The need for workers has been as
great as in other countries, the temptation to obtain
a supply at the expense of the future of the conti-
nent has been ever present. At some periods there
were signs of wavering. The squatters in the north,
feeling the pinch of an ill-supplied labour market,
were eager to secure any one — Polynesians, Indians,
Chinese, Japanese, or even English convicts. In

70

THE CASE OF AUSTRALASIA 7I

Queensland Sir Samuel Griffiths, who had long
opposed indentured labour, changed his pohcy, and
the introduction of the Kanakas was followed by a
distinct revival in material prosperity. The ending
of the experiment was opposed in the territory con-
cerned, and no doubt the estates would be more
prosperous to-day could the islanders be obtained
as freely as in the past. Other districts had their
advocates of imported labour, and it is interesting
to remember that Sir Henry Parkes, subsequently
the most vigorous opponent of the whole system,
once sent to Madras for Eurasian compositors to set
up his Empire newspaper. Experiments with Asi-
atics were tried in various places, but did not prove
strikingly successful, and the bulk of the population
was decidedly opposed to this form of immigration.
As far back as 1854, Sir Charles Hotham, the second
Governor of Victoria, after a tour round the gold-
fields, reported to the Home Government that he
thought the introduction of Chinese into the colony
undesirable. The mines, however, attracted an in-
creasing number of Chinese, and gradually legis-
lation of a drastic character was adopted. The
favourite restrictive method was a poll tax of £10
and a law that only one Chinese should be brought
by any ship for every loo tons of registered tonnage.
The influx, however, was considerable, and twenty
years ago a great battle was fought over Chinese
immigration, during which certain principles were
laid down which it is well to remember to-day.

In the years 1886-7 the Chinese Government dis-
played considerable activity in protesting against

72 THE ASIATIC DANGER

the Colonial enactments which had been passed
against its subjects. In July, 1886, a long letter of
complaint was addressed to Lord Rosebery regard-
ing the Chinese Regulation Act of 1884 in British
Columbia, in which it was alleged in the preamble
that the Chinese " are not disposed to be governed
by our laws, are dissimilar in habits and occupation
from our people, evade the payment of taxes justly
due to the Government, are governed by pestilential
habits, are useless in cases of emergency, habitually
desecrate graveyards by the removal of bodies there-
from, and generally the laws governing the whites
are found to be inapplicable to the Chinese, and such
Chinese are inclined to habits subversive to the
comfort and well-being of the community." Lew
Ta Jen claimed that " it would be contrary to inter-
national usage to make them (the Chinese) the sub-
ject of an invidious legislation, or to impose on them
burthens from which the inhabitants of the country,
and more especially other foreigners following the
same vocations, are exempt."

Chinese Commissioners had visited the Australian
Colonies to inquire into " the condition of Chinese
subjects residing in these parts of Her Britannic
Majesty's Dominions." The correspondence which
followed^ contains very clear statements of both
sides of the case, and as the arguments are appli-
cable to Asiatic immigration generally, the main
points may be quoted.

1 Correspondence relating to Chinese immigration into
the Australian Colonies, 1888 (c. 5448).

THE CASE OF AUSTRALASIA 73

In the first note to the English Government the
Chinese Minister in London remarked : —

" In the Crown Colonies it has not been found
necessary to treat Chinese subjects differently
from the subjects of other Powers, and it is
difficult to understand why it should be other-
wise in those Colonies to whom a certain
amount of self-government has been conferred.
It has never been alleged that Chinese immi-
grants were unruly. For, not only in Hong
Kong and the Straits Settlements, but also in
Australia, the Colonial Governors have re-
peatedly borne testimony to the orderly con-
duct of the Chinese population, and to their
value in developing the Colonial resources.
There does not, therefore, appear to be any
sufficient reason for their being deprived of the
immunities accorded to them by the treaties and
the law of nations, or to their being treated
differently from the subjects of other Powers
residing in the same parts of Her Britannic
Majesty's Dominions."

The different methods adopted by Crown Colonies
and those with a certain " amount of self-govern-
ment," arose, of course, from the varying propor-
tion of white people due to climatic influences. The
Crown Colonies consist in the main of tropical
areas in which there is no room for any considerable
white population, and yet in which the demand for
labour is great. The very fact that other colonies
had received a measure of self-government indicated

74 THE ASIATIC DANGER

that there was a growing white population, which
in its turn presupposed a more temperate dimate
and room for additional Europeans. From the
Chinese standpoint the case was admirably stated
by Lew Ta Jen. But his argument was based upon
the principle that Chinese immigration is on the same
footing as any other immigration and must be
governed by the same laws. As the Colonies would
not accept these premises, there was never any
approach to agreement, and the dispute raged for
months. Popular feeling in Australia was raised to
fever heat by the " Chinese scare " which sprang up.
The Government Resident at Port Darwin in South
Australia notified to the Government at Adelaide
that large vessels flying the Chinese flag and freighted
with Chinese labour to work the ruby mines were
approaching his district by way of North Australia.
The result was panic legislation, Sir Henry Parkes
rushing his Chinese Restriction Bill through the
New South Wales Assembly in a day and the authori-
ties refusing to permit Chinese immigrants to land.
The Supreme Court decided against the authorities
and eventually the legislation was modified ; but
whilst the agitation lasted some very strong lan-
guage was used, and the whole controversy showed
what great importance is attached to the question
in the Australian Colonies. The arguments em-
ployed by these colonies are appHcable to-day.

On behalf of New South Wales, which had more
Chinese than the other colonies. Lord Carrington
advanced seven reasons for restricting Chinese
immigration. He wrote on April 2, 1888 : —

THE CASE OF AUSTRALASIA 75

" We desire ... to impress upon Her
Majesty's Imperial advisers the more prominent
phases of the Chinese question as it specially
and almost exclusively affects the Australian
section of the British people : hrstly, the Aus-
tralian ports are within easy sail of the ports of
China ; secondly, the climate, as well as certain
branches of trade and industry in Australia,
such as the cultivation of the soil for domestic
purposes, and tin and gold mining, are pecu-
liarly attractive to the Chinese ; thirdly, the
working classes of the British people in all the
affinities of race are directly opposed to their
Chinese competitors ; fourthly, there can be
no sympathy, and in the future it is to be appre-
hended that there will be no peace, between
the two races ; fifthly, the enormous number
of the Chinese population intensifies every con-
sideration of this class of immigration in com-
parison with the immigration of any other
nation ; sixthly, the most prevaihng determina-
tion in all the AustraUan communities is to
preserve the British type in the population ;
seventhly, there can be no interchange of ideas
of religion or citizenship, nor can there be inter-
marriage or social communion between the
British and the Chinese. It is respectfully
submitted that the examination of these prin-
cipal phases of the question can only lead to
one conclusion, namely, that the Chinese must
be restricted from emigrating to any part of
Australasia."

76 THE ASIATIC DANGER

In a memorandum submitted on behalf of the
Colony of Victoria — where the Chinese increased
from 2,000 in 1854 to 42,000 in 1859 — stress is laid
on another side of the question : —

" Members of the European family of nations
forming our community become amalgamated
with the general population ; they bring their
wives and children with them ; their habits of
life, their style of civilization, their religion and
morals, and their physique are so much in an
equality with our own that they blend readily
with the population and are heartily welcome.

" The Chinese stand out in marked contrast.
They come without their women and children,
apparently having no intention to settle, and
occupy an isolated position in every community
where they are found ; the * Chinese quarter '
in our cities and principal towns is proverbial ;
it is always distinct and often notorious.

" Nor is it the mere fact of this isolation, but
the impossibility of its being otherwise.

" The Chinese, from all points of view, are
so entirely dissimilar as to render a blending
of the peoples out of the question.

" They are not only of an alien race, but they
remain aliens. Thus we have not a coloniza-
tion in any true sense of the word, but practi-
cally a sort 01 peaceful invasion of our land by
Chinese."

These views were generally approved in Austral-
asia. The feeling in Northern Queensland in favour

THE CASE OF AUSTRALASIA 77

of Kanaka labour, and the desire expressed in parts
of Western Australia for Chinese, carried little
weight with the mass of the colonists. The
majority were anti-Chinese. The Australasian
Conference which sat at Sydney in June, 1888, com-
prised representatives from New South Wales, South
Australia, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, and
Western Australia. The following resolutions were
carried : —

1. " That in the opinion of this Conference the
further restriction of Chinese immigration is essential
to the welfare of the people of Australasia.

2. " That this Conference is of opinion that the
desired restriction can best be secured through the
diplomatic action of the Imperial Government and
by uniform Australasian legislation.

3. " That this Conference resolves to consider a
joint representation to the Imperial Government
for the purpose of obtaining the desired diplomatic
action.

4. " That this Conference is of opinion that the
desired Australasian legislation should contain the
following provisions : —

(a) " That it shall apply to all Chinese, with
specified restrictions.

(b) " That the restriction should be by limitation
of the number of Chinese which any vessel may bring
into any Australian port to one passenger to every
500 tons of the ship's burthen.

(c) *' That the passage of Chinese from one Colony
to another without consent of the Colony which
they enter be made a misdemeanour."

78 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Tasmania dissented to the first and fourth resolu-
tions and Western Austraha did not vote on them.
The second and third, however, were carried unani-
mously.

" In so serious a crisis," read the concluding para-
graph of Lord Carrington's official report of the Con-
ference, " the Colonial Governments have felt called
upon to take strong and decisive action to protect
their peoples ; but in doing so they have been
studious of Imperial interests, of international
obligations, and of their reputation as law-abiding
communities. They now confidently rely upon the
support and assistance of Her Majesty's Government
in their endeavour to prevent their country from
being overrun by an alien race, who are incapable
of assimilation in the body politic, strangers to our
civilization, out of sympathy with our aspirations,
and unfitted for our free institutions, to which their
presence in any number would be a source of con-
stant danger."

The keenness of the alarm of the moment, and
the strength of the feehng that this was a matter
for the Colonies to decide, are shown by two inci-
dents. In May, 1888, the New Zealand Govern-
ment republished proclamations declaring that
strict quarantine would be enforced in reference to
all vessels arriving from the places mentioned or
having " received any person or thing whatsoever
from or out of any vessel coming from or having
touched at any of such places." These proclama-
tions declared that : —

I. " The Empire of China and the British Posses-

THE CASE OF AUSTRALASIA 79

sion of Hong Kong are infected with the disease
called smallpox.

2. " The Island of Sumatra is infected with the
disease called cholera.

3. " The Island of Java and the Islands of the
Eastern Archipelago are infected with the disease
called cholera, and that Mauritius is infected with
the disease called smallpox."

And Sir Henry Parkes, speaking on the Chinese
Restriction Bill, 1888, in the New South Wales
Legislative Assembly, put the case for Austraha as
strongly as any one could : " In this crisis " (he said)
" of the Chinese question, and it is a crisis, we have
acted calmly with a desire to see clearly the way
before us ; but at the same time we have acted with
decision and we don't mean to turn back. Neither
for Her Majesty's ships of war, nor for Her Majesty's
representative on the spot, nor for the Secretary of
State for the Colonies, do we intend to turn aside
from our purpose, which is to terminate the landing
of Chinese on these shores for ever, except under the
restrictions imposed by the Bill, which will amount,
and which are intended to amount, to practical
prohibition."

Yet whether the tropical part of Queensland
would have become more prosperous, and whether
it would ultimately have become of greater or less
value to the Great South Land had there been an un-
interrupted supply of cheap Asiatic labour, must
remain a matter for controversy. It is argued that
even here white men can do the rough work. Sir
Henry Parkes, in his autobiography, recollects Sir

8o THE ASIATIC DANGER

Samuel Griffiths replying to the argument that
white men could not do the unskilled labour in this
part of the continent by interposing sharply, " Who
says they can't do it ? — I say they can ! " ^ But it
was Sir Samuel Griffiths who eventually consented
to import coloured labour — a change of policy which
was followed by a marked revival in the prosperity
of that part of the colony.

It may be that the determination of Australia not
to import cheap Asiatic labour has retarded develop-
ment. Probably less land is cultivated than would
have been had the poHcy of Natal been followed ;
perhaps industries would have developed faster.
But it must also be remembered that Australia has
shown a tendency to adopt a selfish attitude towards
white immigrants. The inducements which have
drawn hundreds of thousands to Canada have been
withheld. There has often been evidence of a desire
to limit the influx even of an English population.
But there is a change to-day. Within the past two
years Australia has begun to realize that, unless she
possesses a numerically strong white population,
she may in some distant period fall a prey to the
growing Asiatic Powers at her gate. The old selfish
policy will be abandoned. And now that there
is this wish for more white men there must be a
sense of gratitude to those who fought the battle in
the eighties and determined that the vacant spaces
should not be filled up by an alien race. At least
Australia deserves praise for having acted up to the
ideal of a White Man's Country.
^ See Preface.

CHAPTER VII

SOME OF THE DANGERS

" . . . If the unnaturalized Chinese should at any-
time become as numerous, or nearly as numerous, in
any colony, as the residents of European origin, the
result would be either an attempt on the part of the
Chinese to establish separate institutions of a character
which would trench on the supremacy of the present
legislative and administrative authorities, or a tacit
acceptance by them of an inferior social and political
position which, associated with the avocations that
the majority of them would probably follow, would
create a combined political and industrial division of
society upon the basis of racial distinction. This
would inevitably produce in the majority of the re-
mainder of the population a degraded estimate of
manual labour similar to that which has always
existed in those communities where African slavery
has been permitted, and thereby call into existence a
class similar in habit and character to the ' mean
whites ' of the Southern States of the American Union
before the Civil War. Societies so divided produce
particular vices in exaggerated proportions, and are
doomed to certain deterioration." — A. Inglis Clark,
Attorney-General of Tasmania, 1888.

That Asiatic immigration on a large scale is a serious
menace to the prosperity of a White Man's Country
will probably be admitted. A greater degree of
progress at the beginning of such an experiment
does not prove that there is no ultimate danger. We

81 r-

82 THE ASIATIC DANGER

may accept Darwin's theory that the prosperity of
Australasia in the early days was directly due
to convict labour, without pledging ourselves to
support that system for all time. The labour of
the Indians brought to Natal undoubtedly gave
rise to a distinct forward movement in the tea and
sugar industries, but this success does not imply
that prosperity will continue to be attained in pro-
portion to the number of indentured labourers
imported. There comes a point at which a country
must throw aside the crutch of contract labour or
consent to be for ever crippled.

The danger in Australasia is clearly defined. The
ideal of a White Man's Country has been adopted,
and although progress of late years has been slow,
that ideal is the best for the Colonies. A large influx
of cheap coloured labour is inevitably ruinous to
the white workman. There arises that prejudice
which in South Africa will sometimes prevent a
starving man from doing what he contemptuously
calls " Kaffir's work." The white carpenter, the
white mason, the white plumber, all insist upon
having a native to carry their tool bag and do the
roughest labour. With a big Chinese population in
Australia the same system would spring up. The
next stage would be that the Chinaman would become
sufficiently expert to do the work, and the white
man be compelled to join the ranks of the unem-
ployed, or accept a Chinaman's wages and live down
to a Chinaman's standard. It is useless to talk
about education and the advance in the scale of
civilization to a working class forced to compete

SOME OF THE DANGERS 83

with Asiatics. Free Asiatic immigration must
inevitably mean a lower standard of living for the
white working classes — if there is any chance of
living at all.

But where there already exists a large native
population the danger is intensified. There may
eventually be reached the state of things which
exists in Fiji,^ where Indian coolies do the bulk
of the work and the original inhabitants are being
displaced and forced to emigrate.

In South Africa the danger of Asiatic immigration
is peculiarly great, for it means not only decreased
openings for white men, but also another obstacle
placed in the way of the advancement of the native
population. The native problem is the greatest
question South Africa has to solve. In British South
Africa the black population numbers 4,652,662, of
whom 899,726 are males, between the ages of fifteen
and forty. South of the Zambesi the natives num-
ber probably seven millions. In British South Africa
this native population " has to derive its sustenance
from a soil which is not everywhere fertile, and the
native agriculturalist has to contend with the same
drawbacks of drought and pestilence that beset the
European farmer." 2 The native does not always
waste his land. He is not invariably the lazy
person he is generally supposed to be, even if his

1 In June, 1906, there landed in Calcutta 350 returned emi-
grants from Fiji (including over 100 women and children).
The men (less than 250 in number) brought Rs. 127,000 in
savings, one man having Rs. 12,205 — over ;^8oo.

* South African Native Affairs Conunission's Report.

84 THE ASIATIC DANGER

energies do not take the direction the white folk
would like. In Natal over sixty per cent, of the
natives — ^men and women — are breadwinners. Un-
doubtedly large tracts of land are not cultivated.
But more of this land belongs to the European than
to the native. The Kaffir, as travellers in South
Africa notice, cultivates in patches. This does not
arise from ignorance. The native's knowledge is
empirical, but it is usually sound, and he does not
walk an extra quarter of a mile because he wants
exercise. The land is poor. In a Report by the
Commissioner for Native Affairs relative to the
acquisition and tenure of land by natives in the
Transvaal (July, 1904), I find this statement : —

'* Nearly all the land suitable for agriculture
and available for native purposes has already
been taken up. There is therefore but little
arable ground in reserve for the expanding
and surplus native population unless artificial
means of irrigation are employed."

In Natal, according to an ofiicial publication,
" the ordinary Crown lands of the Colony are not
suitable for settlement by newcomers." The South
African Native Affairs Commission recommended
that the purchase of land by natives should
in future be limited to certain areas to be defined
by legislative enactment, but the Natal delegates
dissented, one of their reasons for doing so being
this :—

" That Asiatics and other coloured races not

SOME OF THE DANGERS 85

of African descent may purchase land any-
where, whereas by this resolution the natives,
who are the aborigines of the country, will be
excluded from this privilege except in limited
areas selected, probably, for their unhealthi-
ness and unsuitability for irrigation and culti-
vation and other kindred reasons."

What is to be the future of this huge native popu-
lation if the land is to be filled up — as it is being
filled up in Natal — by an ever increasing Indian
population ? The Garden Colony contains to-day
900,000 natives, where after the devastating wars
of Dingiswayo, Chaka and Dingaan there were
probably left not 10,000. This population grows
rapidly — ^between 1891 and 1904 the increase was
33 '45 P^r cent. In the great native areas the
tribes are always growing bigger. True there is
a shortage of unskilled labour. But this has been
caused by the sudden upspringing of great industrial
enterprises in a country where the native population
is pastoral and agricultural. South Africa cannot
live for ever on these industries. The life of the
Rand itself, worked at the rate it is worked to-day
(and the pace must be maintained owing to its
financial obligations), is not unlimited, and when the
Rand begins to be worked out the whole life of the
sub-continent will be changed. In that day, when
the native population wiU be far bigger, would it be
well if large areas were in the hands of the Asiatics ;
if the unskilled labour on farm and in factory was
performed by aliens ? The native question in South

86 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Africa is already sufficiently difficult without com-
plicating it by having to deal with half a million
or a miUion aliens from across the Indian Ocean,
who will blend with no race. The recent trouble
in one corner of Natal has shown South Africa what
a tremendous task it would have if there was wide-
spread discontent and rebellion between the Zam-
besi and the Southern Sea. For the satisfactory
solution of the native problem it is better that the
number of the Asiatics should be as small as possible ;
it is the white population which must be increased.
The manner in which the Asiatic competes with
the European is obvious from the figures given.
I know that it is claimed by the Indian community
" that European progress can, in Natal at any rate,
continue side by side with that of the Indian ; in-
deed, may even be dependent upon the latter's pro-
gress." 1 But the undoubted prosperity of Natal
is not altogether due to the Indian ; the through
traffic to the goldfields has had something to do
with it. Admitting that the immigrants have
enabled the colony to develop its industries and
prosper, it is extremely doubtful whether that
measure of prosperity will continue without serious
disadvantages. The coolie is at once the salvation
and the danger of Natal. Even the coast lands
are not useful only to the Indian — many European
fruit farmers and vegetable growers are still trying
to gain a living there to-day despite the competition
of the ex-indentured labourer. But granting that

1 Indian Opinion (Durban), March 24, 1906.

SOME 01- THE DANGERS Sy

100,000 Indians have done good service for Natal,
what will be the effect of 300,000 or 600,000 ? The
native trade which used to support many white
families has almost gone ; many industries are being
encroached upon ; in time the Indian clerk may be
a feature of Natal business life. And yet in Natal
to-day there are 31,500 white children under sixteen
years of age. What is to be their future if the Indian
works the farm, owns the store, and performs skilled
labour in the factory ? Already one finds in Natal
newspaper advertisements [requiring Indian engine
drivers and Indian mechanics. Cheap labour is the
demand, and the Indian steps into the place of the
white man who cannot exist on such wages, and
of the native who will not. On the Natal Railways
last year there were employed 1,136 indentured
Indians and 2,098 free Indians — more Indians than
there are natives on the system. And in his report
the General Manager remarked : —

" Free Indian labour has been more plenti-
ful, and this, together with the fact that the
Immigration Department has been able to keep
up a fairly good supply of Indentured men,
has enabled the Department to reduce the rates
of pay hitherto given to Free men."

The same tendency is found in agriculture. The
openings for the white population are becoming
more and more curtailed. How is it there are only
39 white cultivators to 3,031 Asiatics ? And 103
white farm labourers to 16,142 Indians ? And
39 European fruit farmers to 700 Asiatics similarly

88 THE ASIATIC DANGER

engaged ? There are several reasons. There is
the evil of absentee landlordism, by which men own-
ing large areas live in England on the rents drawn
from natives and Indians, and make no attempt to
develop their estates for the benefit of the white
population ; there is the magnet of the Rand, which
has drawn so much capital from Natal in the hope
of quicker and larger profits ; there is the old pre-
judice against manual labour in a land of blacks.
These evils produce others. Owing to absentee
landlords and the sending away of capital to the
goldfields, Httle has been done in the direction of
the application of science to the agriculture of the
colony. Farming in Natal is thus described in the
recently issued Report of the Industries and Tariff
Revision Commission : —

" Farming in Natal as properly understood
in these days is at the very beginning of its
career. If the land and climate combined are
to have a fair chance of yielding the latent
wealth with which Nature has endowed this
fertile Colony, then the primitive methods of
the past must be abandoned, and new. ones
must be adopted on approved fines."

Evidence was brought before this Commission of
the enormous carrying capacity of the land if only
treated on proper principles. But the most isolated
Indian raiat is not more conservative and hard to
move than a certain class of Colonial farmer. All
over South Africa is found this lack of science, these
rough ways. They spoil Colonial fruit, they handi-

SOME OF THE DANGERS 89

cap Colonial wool, they make it easier for the butcher
to deal with imported meat. Yet slowly these old
methods will be abandoned. There are already
signs of an awakening. The natives, too, cannot
for ever exist in the way they do to-day. The
pressure of population will drive them off the land
or force them to adopt different ways of cultivation
to make the land produce more. But will the rapid
growth of the British Indian population help this
movement ? At the outset it may. Yet as time
goes on the pressure of the Indians must be felt
more and more. If they do not drive out the white
men already in Natal, they will at least undertake
so much of the work of the colony that no fresh
European blood will be needed. As an outlet for
England's surplus population Natal will be useless.

And again must be emphasized the point that the
spreading of the Indian over South Africa has been
accomplished in the face of strong local prejudice
and specially devised legislative enactments. What
if these barriers are removed or made less for-
midable ?

There is one other point — the danger to the
Empire by the lessening of the value of a colony
to the English manufacturer. The West Indies
have proved that the indentured Asiatic can increase
the purchasing capacity of a tropical country. But
the white man remains the biggest buyer.

In the end the colony with the largest Asiatic
population where white men should dwell will be
of least value to the Empire. It is an economic
axiom that the white man consumes more than the

90 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Asiatic. The trade of a colony with a big white
population must be more remunerative to England
than that of a colony where a decreasing white
population is struggling hard against the competi-
tion of the Eastern peoples. The following table
shows the approximate returns of contributions to
public revenue in relation to the internal trade of
Natal, and in combination with the oversea and over-
berg trade, for a period of ten years : —

Per Head of Population.

Europeans or Whites (in-
cluding " mixed or other ")

Indians and Asiatics.

i

5.

d.

£

s.

d.

1895 . . .

19

8

4

I

2

1896

23

5

6

I

3

I

1897

34

13

4

0

3

1898

27

2

II

2

8

1899

27

6

3

3

3

1900

21

II

0

S

7

1 901

32

0

II

10

4

1902

33

17

9

14

2

1903

40

6

3

10

8

1904

34

10

7

5

II

£ s. d.
Average per head for ten years — Europeans, etc. 30 1 1 4

„ „ „ „ Asiatics ..164^

The native average for the same period was . o 9 6 J

An Indianized Natal or an Australia overrun by
Chinese or Japanese would be of less value com-
mercially to Great Britain than if the lands were in-

SOME OF THE DANGERS 9I

habited by white races. And added to this must
come the question of defence. In the rebeUion of
the natives in Natal this year it was pointed out that
the adult male natives in the colony exceeded the
adult whites by 150,000. The putting down of the
outbreak threw a severe strain on the military and
police forces of the country. Will the situation not
be more difficult the greater is the Indian population,
with its corollary the lessened openings for white
men who could form part of the militia ? Or must
Asiatics be admitted to the privilege of taking a
share in the defences of the colony ?

Looked at from all standpoints, with special
regard to the future, the presence of a large Asiatic
population in those colonies which can be considered
as White Man's Country is a distinct danger to the
colony concerned and to the welfare of the Empire
itself. The attitude of Sir Henry Parkes is the
safest : —

" . . . It is our duty to preserve the type
of the British nation, and we ought not for any
consideration whatever to admit any element
that would detract from, or in any appreciable
degree lower, that admirable type of nation
ahty.

" We should not encourage or admit amongst
us any class of persons whatever whom we are
not prepared to advance to all our franchises,
to all our privileges as citizens, and all our social
rights, including the right of marriage. I
maintain that no class of persons should be

92 THE ASIATIC DANGER

admitted here, so far as we can reasonably
exclude them, who cannot come amongst us,
take up all our rights, perform on a ground
of equality all our duties, and share in our
august and lofty work of founding a free
nation.

" We cannot patiently stand to be treated
with the frozen indifference of persons who con-
sider some petty quarrel in a petty state of
more importance than the gigantic interests
of these magnificent Colonies."

CHAPTER VIII

WHAT IS THE REMEDY ?

** The reference made to . . . international engage-
ments induces me to observe that the exceptional
legislation that has been adopted by the majority of
the Australasian Colonies on the subject of Chinese
immigration does not violate any recognized rule of
international comity ; on the contrary, it is a funda-
mental maxim of International Law that ' every State
has the right to regulate immigration to its territories
as is most convenient to the safety and prosperity
of the country, without regard to the Municipal Law
of the country whence the immigration proceeds ' "
{see Ferguson's Manual of International Law, vol. i.
p. 130, and Calvo's Droit Intern., vol. 1. liv. viii.). —
Attorney -General of Tasmania, 1888.

The danger of Asiatic immigration on a large scale
is the most important problem which affects the
Colonies as a whole. The present generation has
the power of influencing the conditions under which
the next must live. But on question of defence, on
tariffs, on taxation and other matters the error of
to-day can be neutralized by the legislation of to-
morrow. Yet once throw the door open to the East,
once admit Asiatics in the mass, and a country has
accepted a burden which must ever grow heavier.
Under the Natal system it is difficult to prevent
the ousting of the white artisan. In 1896 the Ton-

94

THE ASIATIC DANGER

gaat Sugar Company in Natal applied to the Immi-
gration Trust Board for the following Indian
artisans : —

Bricklayer,

Platelayer,

Plasterer,

House painter,

Carriage builder.

Wheelwright,

Carpenter,

Blacksmith,

Fitter,

Turner,

Iron moulder.

Coppersmith.

The application was granted, but the indignation
aroused in the colony was so great that it was with-
drawn by the Sugar Company. And even if the
contract coolie is confined to unskilled labour, the
free Indian is under no restrictions, and his com-
petition reduces the number of openings available
for white men. " The vegetables, fruits and fish
that adorn a Natal dinner table are grown, caught
and hawked by coolies ; the table linen is washed
by another coolie ; and in all probability the guests
would be served by coolie waiters and partake of
fare provided by a coolie cook." ^ It is sometimes
argued that the white man ought not to have to do
the rough work, that his proper position is that of

* D. F. News, January, 1897.

WHAT IS THE REMEDY? 95

overseer or idler. In a speech made at Stanger in
Natal, in 1897, a Mr. Clayton * said : —

" He was pretty confident that his children,
rather than have to work any land he might
be able to leave them, would prefer to let it to
Indians at reasonable rents."

If this is the principle to be generally accepted,
it would be well to at once cease all efforts to attract
European immigrants to South Africa, for there are
quite sufficient whites there now to do all the super-
vising necessary. But if Canada had imported
cheap Asiatic labour to do the rough work on the
land, would it be a country with the grand prospects
it has to-day ? If Australasia had freely admitted
the Chinese and the Japanese, would it be of any
value at all to the surplus population of Great
Britain — would it even be able to provide work for
the people it has ? Difficult the question un-
doubtedly is, especially when the people against
whom barriers are erected are British subjects.
" The problem," wrote the Johannesburg Star nine
years ago when dealing with the Natal agitation,
*' which presents itself to Mr. Chamberlain is there-
fore by no means easy of solution. Morally, Mr.
Chamberlain is bound to uphold the righteousness
of the Indians' position ; economically, he is forced
to admit the justice of the Colonists' claim ; poli-
tically, it passes the wit of man to decide which side
to favour."

1 Memorial to Mr. Joseph Chamberlain from the British-
Indians in Natal re Anti-Indian Demonstration.

96 THE ASIATIC DANGER

The need for some solution of the problem is
greater to-day than it was at the time of the Natal
agitation in 1896, when the colony had only 50,000
Indians compared with the 100,000 to-day. The
back door has been open so long that Natal's Indian
population has become the biggest obstacle to South
African Federation ; indeed, judging by the feeling
in the inland colonies it will be an insuperable
barrier. On the other hand, it is unfair to overlook
the good which Indian competition and Indian
labour has done. The Natal Commissioners who
reported on Indian trading twenty years ago pointed
out how their " tact and energy " had reduced the
price of rice from 21s. per bag to 14s., and remarked :
" It is said that Kaffirs can buy from Arabs at from
25 to 30 per cent, lower rates than those obtaining
six or seven years ago." The Commissioners added :
" We are content to place on record our strong
opinion, based on much observation, that the pres-
ence of these traders has been beneficial to the
whole Colony, and that it would be unwise, if not
unjust, to legislate to their prejudice."

Yet it must be remembered that testimonials of
this character related to a period when Asiatic
competition was less marked than it is to-day.
Conditions have changed since then. There has
arisen that ideal of Colonial Nationalism which
can never be realized if the white population is
restricted by the presence of a mass of Asiatics.
Admitting all the good work done by the Indians in
Natal in the past does not logically bind one to
support further immigration on the same scale.

WHAT IS THE REMEDY ? 97

Granted that the existing Asiatic population is hard-
working, thrifty and law-abiding, one may still
believe that a further influx would be harmful.

What, then, are the restrictions needed ? Up to
last year the restrictions in the different White Man's
Colonies of the Empire were based on the same prin-
ciples. The prohibitive clauses are these : —

Australia.

Immigration Restriction Act, 1901, Clause
3 (a). — " Any person who when asked to do so
by an officer fails to write out at dictation and
sign in the presence of the officer a passage of
fifty words in length in a European language
directed by the officer."

New Zealand.

Clause 3 (i). — " Any person other than of
British (including Irish) birth and parentage
who when asked to do so by an officer appointed
under this Act by the Governor fails to him-
self write out and sign in the presence of such
officer in any European language an applica-
tion in the form numbered two in the schedule
hereto or in such other form as the Colonial
Secretary from time to time directs :

" Provided that any person dissatisfied with
the decision of such officer shall have the right
to appeal to the nearest stipendiary magistrate
who shall make such inquiries as he shall think
fit, and his decision thereon shall be final."

H

98 the asiatic danger

Cape Colony.

Immigration Act, Clause 2 [a). — "Any person
who when asked to do so by a duly authorized
officer shall be unable through deficient educa-
tion to himself write out and sign in the char-
acters of a European language an application
to the satisfaction of the Minister."

Natal.

Immigration Restriction Act of 1903, Clause
5 (a). — " Any person who when asked to do so
by any duly authorized officer shall be unable
to himself write out and sign in the characters
of some European language an application to
the satisfaction of the Minister.*'

These clauses have proved effective, with one
exception. The system of indentured labour pre-
vaihng in Natal means that the back door of South
Africa is left wide open. Asiatics pour in as in-
dentured coolies and at the end of five years become
free men. With the Chinese labourers on the Rand
there is not this leakage. The indentures terminate
in China, and not a man is entitled to remain in the
colony, or to compete with white men. The Chinese
are brought in under special conditions to meet an
exceptional difficulty. They are well housed and
fed, and they can earn anything between 30s.
and several pounds a month — one hammer boy
makes about £120 a year, but he is an abnormal
worker — whereas at the Raub mine in Pahang the
Chinese underground men receive only is. a day

WHAT IS THE REMEDY ? 99

and the surface hand lo^. and have to find
their own food and housing, whilst at Rawang in
Selangor the Chinese tin workers receive is. id. a
day and find their own food and supplies. Nothing
shows more clearly the ignorance of South African
opinion which prevails at Home than the suggestion
that the Chinese should only be allowed to work the
mines under contracts similar to those prevailing in
the West Indies. The British Guiana contracts, as
has already been seen, are more likely to induce
permanent settlement than even those in Natal.
The free labourer idea would mean that in an aston-
ishingly short space of time the Transvaal would
have 100,000 to 150,000 Chinese. It might be an
admirable thing for the mine shareholders ; but it
would be inflicting a punishment on the white people
of the colony which nothing could justify. It is
difficult to see upon what Hne of reasoning, or
principle of justice or policy, it is thought necessary
that the Chinese coolies should be free to settle down
in the Transvaal and undertake any kind of work.
The essentials are just and kind treatment, fair
conditions of labour, and the prevention of those
outrages which at first marred the experiment.
The coolies to-day have the opportunity of earning
more money than they could in any other part of
the world, and at the end of their term could if they
chose take home a sum which would make them
men of importance in their own districts. Why for
the sake of a gratuitous sentimentalism insist upon
conditions which can bring only incalculable injury
upon the whole of South Africa ?

100 THE ASIATIC DANGER

There are two important considerations in dealing
with the Asiatic question in the Colonies. The first
is to prevent a further influx into those lands which
may be fairly regarded as White Man's Country. In
the West Indies the difficulty is not the same. The
Asiatics have increased the prosperity of a land
which cannot absorb a surplus white population —
whether time will show that even here a mistake
was made one cannot prophesy. But in South
Africa, Australia, Canada, and British Columbia the
door must be gently and firmly closed against a
horde of Asiatics who must always remain a
community apart. This can be done by insisting
that the indentures of contract labourers shall
terminate in the country from which they came.
There is nothing harsh or unjust in this. It is
simply a business proposition in the real interests
of the country. The labour supply in South Africa,
inadequate as it is to-day, will in time, by the
natural increase of the large native population and
the gradual training of the Bantu to more regular
work, become sufficient. The 50,000 or 60,000
Chinese who now keep the Rand mines going are
not wanted for all time ; the Indian labour which
swarms over Natal may be useful to this generation,
but it will sadly trouble a future. The attitude of
the Indian Government is not set sternly against
a system by which indentures terminate in India.
When the Transvaal opened negotiations for 10,000
coolies from India to work on the railways " under
an indenture providing for their repatriation on
the termination of their period of service " the objec-

WHAT IS THE remedV.? .'''.'...;;'• ibi '

tion was not to the proposed form of contract. The
words of Mr. Lyttelton's despatch are : " ... The
Government of India was not prepared to meet the
wishes of the Transvaal Government while the
position of British-Indian traders resident in the
Transvaal remained in so unsatisfactory a state "
(Cd. 2239). The Government of India asks for
the following conditions for the Indians in the Trans-
vaal : —

1. " The abohtion of registration for Indians
generally, and the substitution therefor of a
measure for keeping undesirable persons out of
the Colony.

2. '* Securing that locations for Asiatics should
be restricted to those classes for whom they are
required on sanitary grounds.

3. "Allowing business to be carried on outside
locations.

4. "Replacing the restrictions on the acquisi-
tion of real property by Asiatics by a general
law against speculative acquisition.

5. "Exempting better-class Asiatics from all
special restrictions and allowing them to have
Indian servants to reside with them."

These conditions would not perhaps meet with
the approval of the Transvaal, but probably the
Indian Government could be induced to accept slight
modifications, especially regarding the servant
question, which would be open to abuse, as the
Chinese abused the regulations in Austraha, and
all Asiatics break those which exist to-day in

I02 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Portuguese East Africa. But somewhat upon these
lines a reasonable solution could be arrived at, pro-
viding first for the exclusion (or if admitted as
indentured labourers, the repatriation) of future
masses of Asiatics ; secondly, giving easier condi-
tions to the Asiatics already in the Colonies, especi-
ally the better-class population. The rulers of
South Africa have favoured some such solution.
Lord Milner wrote in May, 1904 : —

*' I thought it would be possible, by giving to
Asiatics of a superior class a special status,
and treating them virtually hke Europeans, to
avoid, at any rate, the appearance of race legis-
lation. I still believe that, if the European,
and especially the British, population in this
country could be induced to see the matter in
a reasonable light, such a course would provide
not indeed a perfect, but a fairly satisfactory,
solution of the difficulty. It is not, in my
opinion, an influx of Asiatics of the upper and
middle classes (professional men and merchants,
as distinct from small traders) which really
threaten this community. If by treating this
class liberally we could induce the Government
of India to acquiesce in the virtual exclusion
of the petty trader class, who are out of place
here, and at the same time to agree to the intro-
duction, under conditions ensuring their ulti-
mate return to their native country, of Indian
labourers whom we greatly need, and who could
earn in this country such wages as they can

WHAT IS THE REMEDY ? IO3

obtain nowhere else in the world, I believe
that the arrangement would be beneficial both
to the Transvaal and to India.

'* This view is consistent with the opinions I
hold on the colour question generally. I think
that to attempt to place coloured people on an
equality with white in South Africa is wholly
impracticable, and that, moreover, it is in
principle wrong. But I also hold that when
a coloured man possesses a certain high grade
of civihzation he ought to obtain what I call
' white privileges,' irrespective of his colour.
I have on more than one occasion given expres-
sion to these views. They are very unpopular
in the Transvaal at the present time, but I do
not despair of their ultimately prevaiHng."

Sir Arthur Lawley was, in the Transvaal, regarded
as " safer " than the late High Commissioner on the
Asiatic question, but his view ran much on the same
lines : —

"Speaking generally" (he said) " I am con-
vinced that a modus vivendi is only possible by a
compromise, and that the basis of a compromise
which will be acceptable to the Europeans of
the Transvaal must be to treat fairly those
Indians who have been allowed to come into
the country, and to let any future immigrants
know the disabihties under which they will be
allowed to enter the Transvaal."

Lord Selborne, speaking at Krugersdorp in Octo-
ber, 1905, said : —

104 THE ASIATIC DANGER

" As regarded the Indians already in the
country before the war the British Government
over and over again pressed on the Government
of the South African RepubHc measures for the
amehoration of the condition of the British-
Indians already in the country, and asserted
its duty to protect them. They might approve
or disapprove of that action of Her late Majesty's
Government. So far as he was aware it was
undoubtedly approved by the general body of
the British public opinion in South Africa.
Now, he asked them, as fair men, would it be
consistent with honour if now that the country
belonged to the British Empire the Govern-
ment, and himself as representing the King,
were to turn round and deal with the British-
Indians in the country differently to the
manner in which they always pressed President
Kruger to deal with them ? "

LordSelborne admitted : " It is a matter of distress
to me, of sorrow to me, that in any respect the
splendid theory of absolute equality between all
British subjects should in practice have to be
departed from." But he also said : —

"It is to the interests not only of South
Africa, not only of the British Empire as a
whole, it is to the interest of India as one of
the most important parts of the Empire, that
this subject should be dealt with, not by force
or on theory, but with the recognition of the
facts, and carrying public opinion in the Trans-

WHAT IS THE REMEDY? IO5

vaal behind it, because after all, true as it is
that the British Indian has a right as a British
subject, it is also equally true that the Trans-
vaaler has a right as a British subject, and any
consideration of this question that only took
in the British-Indian point of view would be
of no avail if the greatest weight were not
also given to the opinion of that British in
whose own country the particular controversy
has arisen."

There would no doubt be objections raised in
India to the recruiting of labour on indentures which
provided for repatriation on the termination of the
contract ; there may be protests, perhaps, in the
future, from India, China, and Japan at Exclusion
Acts. There will also be opposition in South Africa
to the least relaxation of the somewhat harsh laws
aimed at Asiatics. The General Dealers Bill in the
Cape gives the Indian or Chinese trader very little
liberty in his business, and the location proposals in
the Transvaal would inevitably end in loss for which
adequate compensation could not be obtained. But
the essential thing is for the Imperial Government
to support the Colonies in the ideal of a White Man's
Country. South Africa can never be that in the
sense in which Australasia and Canada are, for the
native problem is always present. But it can at
least be kept as white as possible, and the native
question can be complicated as little as possible
by the presence of thousands of Asiatics.

What is needed to-day is the sympathy and

I06 THE ASIATIC DANGER

assistance of the Home Government in maintaining
the united, settled policy of all the great colonies
of the Empire. The tropical colonies — the Planta-
tions— may decide their own course. But do not
impose upon those lands which aim to be a White
Man's Country conditions which would make their
ideal but an idle dream. Three principles should
be borne in mind : —

1. Keep out masses of Asiatics as permanent
residents as far as possible at all costs.

2. If indentured labour is needed, insist upon
repatriation on expiration of contract.

3. Fair, even generous, treatment to those Asiatics
who have under the conditions of the old days
become part of the population of the country.

This is a policy which can be understood. It is
based on the principle of self-preservation, not on
prejudice to colour, or religion, or habits of life.
This is the stand for the Colonies to make. Admit
that the Asiatic has in many parts worked well for
us, in some parts is still welcome to-day. But,
setting aside colour prejudice or narrow-minded
bigotry of race, the Colonies capable of supporting
a white British population must declare that, on the
highest ground, the future of the country and their
Empire, they cannot open wide the door to inferior
masses who, with all their virtues, will underlive
and undersell them. With such a policy there
must be no vexatious restrictions to insult the
educated man — things more irritating and harmful
than the regulation which quietly keeps out thou-
sands of the poorer class. The cultured traveller

WHAT IS THE REMEDY? IO7

of the Eastern world ought not to have to submit
to treatment which is not even meted out to a
pauper immigrant on a New York quay. He should
not have to consent to having his thumb impres-
sions taken like a criminal, or be threatened, as the
extremists of the Transvaal threaten him, with
instant removal to a location, no matter whether
he be a judge of the Indian Bench or the prince of the
Rajput family considered sufficiently civiUzed to
entertain the future King and Queen of England.

An influx of Asiatics inevitably means first a
lowering of the standard of Hving for the white
worker, and then his gradual elimination ; it means
that the country becomes of no value to the Empire
as a home for the surplus population of the United
Kingdom ; and in the end it means that it becomes
a diminished commercial asset, and a greater strain
upon the defensive forces of England.

The Asiatic immigrant in the West Indies or
Malaya or Borneo may be of more value than the
native ; but the Asiatic immigrant in Australasia
or South Africa or Canada can never be as valuable
to the Empire as the white man. To encourage
the Asiatic at the expense of the Englishman is a
policy which can only end in the loss of the Colonial
Empire.

APPENDIX I

BRITISH-INDIAN CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS

The following is the full text of the Statement and Adden-
dum submitted by the British-Indian Deputation to the
Transvaal Constitution Committee : —

1. The British Indian Association has always admitted
the principle of white predominance and has therefore no
desire to press, on behalf of the community it represents, for
any political rights for the sake of them. But past experi-
ence shows that in a colony enjoying self-government,
communities that have no voice in the choice of representa-
tives have been very largely neglected.

2. There is in the Transvaal at the present moment
an estimated population of over 12,000 British-Indians.
Before war, the adult Indian population was 15,000.

3. The first Indian settlers found their way into the
Transvaal in the early eighties.

4. They were then free from restrictions of any kind
whatsoever.

5. But by their successful enterprise, they aroused the
jealousy of white traders, and soon there sprang up an anti-
Indian agitation, initiated by Chambers of Commerce
wherein the British element was predominant.

6. As result, the Government of the late President
Kruger approached Her late Majesty's Government for
permission to pass legislation restrictive of the liberty of
British-Indians. They proposed to interpret the term
" Natives," occurring in the London Convention to include
Asiatics.

106

BRITISH-INDIAN CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS IO9

7. This contention Her Majesty's advisers rejected, but
they were not unwilling for " sanitary reasons " to sanction
legislation restricting Asiatics as to their residence to
bazaars or location with the proviso that British-Indians
of the trader class should be left entirely free.

8. As a result of these negotiations Law 3 of 1885 as
amended in 1886 was passed.

9. Immediately it became known, a strong protest went
up from British-Indians.

10. It was then realized that the Law was, contrary to
the expectations of Her late Majesty's Government, sought
to be enforced against all British-Indians.

11. Then followed a series of strong representations by
Her late Majesty's Government, addressed to the late Boer
Government, culminating in the matter being submitted to
the arbitration of the then Chief Justice of the Orange River
Colony.

12. Between 1885 and 1895, therefore, the Law 3 of 1885
practically remained a dead letter although the Boer
Government always threatened to enforce it.

13. The award of the arbitrator did not define the legal
position. But it left the question of interpretation of
Law 3 of 1885 to the Courts of the late Republic.

14. British-Indians again appealed to the British Govern-
ment for protection.

15. Mr. Chamberlain, whilst he declined to disturb the
ward, did not abandon the case for the Indian subjects of
Her late Majesty. In his despatch dated September 4, 1895,
he stated : —

" In conclusion, I would say, that whilst desirous loyally
to abide by the award, and to allow it to close the legal and
international question in dispute between the two Govern-
ments, I reserve to myself the liberty later on to make
friendly representations to the South African Republic as
to the traders, and possibly to invite the Government to
consider whether, when once its legal position has been
made good, it would not be wise to review the situation
from a new point of view, and decide whether it would not

no THE ASIATIC DANGER

be better in the interests of its own burghers to treat the
Indians more generously, and to free itself from even the
appearance of countenancing a trade jealousy which I have
some reason to believe does not emanate from the governing
class in the Republic."
This was in 1895.

16. Owing then to such representations, which continued
up to the time of the war, the Law in question was never
effectively enforced, and Indians traded and lived where
they liked, in spite of the prohibition contemplated by it.

17. But an enforcement of the Law being imminent in
1899, it was, among other things, a subject for discussion
at the Bloemfontein Conference, which preceded the war.
The subject was considered so important by Lord Milner,
that when the question of franchise to the Uitlanders
seemed to admit of a settlement. Lord Milner cabled that
the question of the status of coloured British subjects was
still outstanding.

18. Lord Lansdowne declared that it was a contributory
cause of war.

19. At the close of the war, and at the time of the
Vereeniging compact, His Majesty's Government informed
the Boer representatives that the status of coloured persons
should be the same in the two colonies as at the Cape.

20. But to-day the position is worse than before war.

21. The Progressive party, from which at least Indians,
as fellow-loyalists and fellow-sufferers before war, may
claim a fair measure of justice, has stated it as an item of
its programme that the liberty of British-Indians should be
specifically restricted. If its desires were carried out, the
position, bad as it is to-day, would be much worse then.

22. From the Dutch party it is now impossible to expect
any measure of reasonableness.

23. Under Responsible Government, then, British-
Indians and others similarly situated, unless they are
specially protected, stand practically little chance of
justice being done to them.

24. It would, therefore, seem that the granting of the

BRITISH-INDIAN CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS III

franchise to British-Indians would be the most natural
means of protecting their interests.

25. It has been urged that the treaty of Vereeniging
precludes the possibility of any such provision being made.

26. But it is respectfully submitted that the term
" natives," whatever else it may mean, can never include
British-Indians.

27. The statute-book of the colony is replete with laws
which deal with the " natives," but which admittedly do
not apply to Asiatics or British-Indians.

28. The fact that Law 3 of 1885 deals specially with
Asiatics and does not apply to the " natives," shows, too,
that the Transvaal laws have almost invariably distinguished
between " natives " and " Asiatics."

29. Indeed, whereas natives can, owing to the meaning
that the term has borne, hold landed property in the
Transvaal, Asiatics cannot.

30. Thus, therefore, so far as the Vereeniging compact is
concerned, there appears to be no justification whatever
for depriving the Indians of the franchise.

3 1 . But the Committee of the British-Indian Association
is well aware of the almost unanimous hostility of white
races against provision being made in the Constitution for
a grant of the franchise to British-Indians.

32. If, therefore, such a grant be considered impossible,
it is absolutely essential that, apart from the orthodox
reservatory clause as to the power of veto over all class
legislation, there should be a special clause which shall
be a living reality, and which, instead of being exercised
only on the rarest occasions, should ensure the fullest pro-
tection to the British-Indian settlers as to their right to
own landed property, freedom of movement, and freedom
of trade, subject to such safeguards of a general nature as
may be considered necessary, and are made applicable to
all, irrespective of race or colour.

33. Then, and only then, will it be possible, apart from
the inherent right that every British subject should have
to ordinary civil rights in British dominions, for His

112 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Majesty's advisers to redeem the promises specifically
made to British-Indians as to their status in the Transvaal.

34. Much of what has been stated above applies to the
position of British-Indians in the Orange River Colony.

35. There the Indian has no rights, save as a domestic
servant. An elaborate anti-Asiatic law deprives him of
practically all civil liberty.

(Sd.) Abdul Ganie, President B.I. A.

E. S. CCOVADIA.

H. C. Ally.
Ebrahim H. Khota.
E. M. Patel.
E. M. JossEP.
J. A. Patel.
M. K. Gandhi.

APPENDIX " A "

For authorities in support of the facts cited in the fore-
going statement, the Deputation beg to refer the Con-
stitution Committee to the following : —

1. Transvaal Green Book, No. i of 1894.

2. Transvaal Green Book, No. 2 of 1894.

3. Blue Book on Grievances of British-Indians in the
Transvaal, published in 1896.

4. Blue Book containing Correspondence relating to
British-Indians in the Transvaal. — Cd. 2239.

5. Laws and Volksraad Resolutions, etc., relating to
" Natives and Coolies " (a separate Government publica-
tion).

6. Chapter XXXIII, p. 199, Laws of the Orange River
Colony.

APPENDIX " B "

The following is a comparison of the position of British-
Indians in the Transvaal under Boer and under British
rule : —

BRITISH-INDIAN CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS II3
Before the War. Under British Rule.

(i) Indians were free to
enter the country without re-
striction.

(2) Payment of registration
fee not enforced.

(3) Landed property could
be held in the names of Euro-
peans.

(4) Indians held 99 years'
leases for landed property in
location or bazaar in Johan-
nesburg.

(5) No separate inquisitorial
Asiatic Department.

(6) Many harsh legislative
restrictions allowed to remain

(i) No Immigration per-
mitted other than of bona fide
refugees who left on the eve of
the war, and they are only
admitted gradually and after
long delay for the consideration
of their applications. Permits
are required even for little
children, and every Indian has
to attach his thumb impression
on these documents.

(2) Registration fee of £3,
on pain of fine not exceeding
;^ioo, or imprisonment for not
more than six months, strictly
enforced. Attempt is being
made now to exact registra-
tion fees from Indian women,
and to require them to take out
permits.

(3) The law against Asiatics
holding real property strictly
enforced, even in cases where
land is required for religious
purposes.

(4) These leases have been
expropriated under the In-
sanitary Area Commissioners'
Report, without the owners'
receiving equal title elsewhere
in Johannesburg in a suitable
position.

(5) Office of Registrar of
Asiatics established ; is ar-
bitrary in procedure and de-
lays the settlement of indi-
vidual applications, permits,
etc.

(6) Inoperative Boer enact-
ments brought into force, and

114 THE ASIATIC DANGER

inoperative owing largely to rendered more stringent by-
British intervention. Ordinances or Executive Or-
ders, and British Indians of-
fensively classed in legislation
with Kaffirs, savages, and semi-
civilized races.

ADDENDUM

The following addendum was prepared at the instance
of the Constitution Committee : —

1. The Commissioners seem to be under the impression
that British-Indians have full rights in the Transvaal.

2. Unfortunately, as will appear from the schedule at-
tached to the statement, British-Indians have very few civil
rights — we venture to recapitulate the civil disabilities : —

3. (i) British-Indians cannot own landed property, in-
cluding even long leases, except in locations or streets set
apart for them.

(2) There are no streets set apart, but there are locations
far away from town, like the Continental Ghettos. And
in these, too, except in one or two places, Indians are only
monthly squatters. In Pretoria and Potchefstroom alone
do they receive twenty-one years' leases. In Germiston,
they have even received notices not to receive any tenants
on their stands. The notice reads as follows : —

** You are hereby notified that you are not permitted
to sublet rooms to natives or others. Such sub-letting
to any person is a breach of the contract under which
you are allowed to hold a stand, and renders you liable
to have your stand permit cancelled, and yourself ex-
pelled from this location."

(3) So much is this prohibition carried out in practice,
that Indians are unable to have their mosques transferred
in the names of Indian trustees.

(4) Indians have to pay a registration fee of £-^ on
arrival in this country. The Government has now threat-

BRITISH-INDIAN CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS II5

ened even to require women and children to take out
registration certificates.

(5) Indians in Pretoria and Johannesburg are pro-
hibited by law from walking on the footpaths. They, how-
ever, do make use of them on sufferance. An attempt was
only recently made to prevent them from using the foot-
paths.

(6) Indians are not allowed to make use of the tram cars
in Pretoria.

(7) They are prevented in Johannesburg from riding on
the ordinary cars, but special trailer cars are occasionally
run for coloured people.

(8) It was contended on behalf of the Indians, that, under
the ordinary bye-laws, they could insist on riding on the
tram cars. The Town Council opposed the contention on
the ground that certain smallpox regulations that were
promulgated by the late Dutch Government in 1897 were
still in force. The matter was twice tested before the magis-
trate at Johannesburg, and each time the Town Council
lost. It has therefore now met the Indians by cancelling
the bye-laws regulating the traffic on the tram cars. In
order to gain its end, the Town Council is now running the
Municipal cars without any bye-laws whatsoever. Whether,
under the common law, Indians will be able now to make
good their right or not is an open question.

It is worthy of note that the above-mentioned cancelling
bye-law was surreptitiously published in the following
manner : —

" Prior to the 9th May, 1906, in accordance with Section 22
of Proclamation 16 of 1901, a notice had been published
in a newspaper circulating in the Municipality setting
forth the general purport of these proposed amendments
and stating that they were open to inspection at the office
of the Council."

On the 9th inst., a meeting of the Town Council was held.
The notice was apparently advertised in such a manner as
to render it almost a matter of impossibility for parties
concerned to challenge the proposed amendments, owing

Il6 THE ASIATIC DANGER

chiefly to the fact that no report of them had appeared in
the ordinary columns of the newspapers, and to the further
fact that, as will be seen, the proposal came through the
Works Committee, instead of the Tramways and Lighting
Committee, which would ordinarily concern itself with
Tramway Regulations as it has done in the past.

On the occasion of the aforesaid Council meeting, the
Works Committee brought forward the proposed amend-
ment, on the following pretext : —

" Since the Tramway System was taken over by the
Municipal Council, the Traffic Bye-laws applicable to
tram cars are no longer required as they were only
intended for application to private tram cars. It is
proposed, therefore, that the Bye-laws should be
amended accordingly."

The proposals were submitted at the end of a long agenda,
when even the most vigilant councillor might have been
lulled into a sense of security, especially in view of the
seemingly innocuous nature of the preamble, and passed
without comment. A notice appeared in the Government
Gazette of the i8th inst. adopting the proposed cancelling
bye-law, and giving it the force of law. The whole matter,
therefore, was settled practically behind the backs of the
British-Indians within a period of nine days, for all practical
purposes, without warning.

(9) Attempt is now being made to expropriate what is
known as the Malay Location in Johannesburg, which has
a large Indian population, and to send the Indians to a
place thirteen miles away from Johannesburg.

(10) Whereas formerly Indians were free to immigrate
into the Transvaal, at present the Peace Preservation
Ordinance, which is purely a political law, is being wrested
from its legitimate purpose to prevent Indians from entering
the Transvaal. Not only are new Indians being prevented
from entering the country, but the following exceptional
hardships are imposed on all residents of the Transvaal : —

BRITISH-INDIAN CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS II7

(a) There are no published regulations regarding the
administration of the ordinance.

(b) It changes according to the whims or prejudices of
the officials administering it.

The following is, therefore, the practice in vogue to-day :

(I) Indians who were in the Transvaal before war and
who paid £^ for registration, are prevented from returning
unless they can prove absolutely that they left on the out-
break of hostilities.

(II) Those who are allowed to enter the Transvaal have
to put their thumb impressions upon their applications, as
also upon their permits, and they are required to put them
each time they enter the Transvaal. This is applicable to
all Indians without regard to their position and without
regard to the fact whether they can sign their names in
English or not. An England-returned Indian gentleman
who spoke English well, and who is a very well known mer-
chant, was twice obliged to put his thumb impression.

(III) Wives and children under twelve years of such
Indians are now required to take out separate permits.

(IV) Children, twelve years old or over, of such Indians
are not allowed to join or accompany their parents.

(V) Indian merchants are not allowed to import any
trustworthy clerks or managers unless the latter are them-
selves such as fall within the first clause hereinbefore re-
ferred to.

(VI) Even those who are allowed to enter have to wait
for months before they are permitted to enter the country.

(VII) Even temporary permits are refused to Indians
of respectability. Mr. Suliman Manga, who is studying
for the Bar in London, wishing to pass through the Trans-
vaal on his way to Delagoa Bay, was refused a permit when
his case was considered as of a British subject. When it
became known that he was a Portuguese subject, for fear,
evidently, of international compUcations, he was granted
a temporary permit.

(VIII) Such is the terrible position of British-Indians
who are resident in the Transvaal. It is growing daily

Il8 THE ASIATIC DANGER

worse, and unless the Imperial Government is willing and
ready to protect them, the ultimate result can only be slow
extinction.

(ii) The following facts will show what the Europeans
of the Transvaal will do, if they are left to themselves : —

The National Convention, which specially met to con-
sider the Asiatic question, passed the following resolu-
tions : —

(ist) " That having regard to the preponderance of
the native races in this country, the difficulties sur-
rounding the settlement of native policy, the necessity
for protecting the existing European population and
encouraging further European immigration, this Con-
vention aflftrms the principle that Asiatic immigration
should be prohibited except under the provisions of
the Labour Importation Ordinance.

(2nd) " That this Convention having regard to the
importance of arriving at a permanent and conclusive
settlement of the whole question and of preventing any
further attempts to reopen the matter, recommends
that the Government be invited to take into con-
sideration the advisability of removing into bazaars
all Asiatic traders, compensation being provided for
such as may have vested interests which have been
legally acquired prior to the war.

(3rd) " That this Convention, recognizing the grave
danger resulting from the continued issue of trading
licences to Asiatics permitting trade outside bazaars,
requests the Government to take immediate steps to
pass the necessary legal enactments to prevent any
further issue of such licences and that with regard to
the appointment of any proposed Commission to deal
with the Asiatic question, this Convention urges upon
the Government the necessity for including therein
men, other than officials, with a thorough knowledge of
existing conditions in South Africa.

(4th) " That this Convention affirms its opinion that
all Asiatics should be required to reside in bazaars."

BRITISH-INDIAN CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS II9

(a) The following is the declared poHcy of the Progressive
Party :—

The restriction of immigration of Asiatics into the Trans-
vaal, except in the case of indentured labourers who are
subject to repatriation at the expiration of their contract,
and the regulation of Asiatic trading licences.

(6) The people of Potchefstroom once met together,
created a disturbance, and even broke the windows of
Indian stores.

(c) The Europeans of Boksburg wish to remove Indians
from their present location, which they occupied before war,
to a site far away from town where trade is utterly impos-
sible, and they have more than once threatened to use
physical force should an Indian attempt to open a store
outside the location.

(12) In the main statement, the Deputation has urged
that past experience shows that the deprivation of the
franchise and the orthodox power of veto have been totally
inadequate to protect Indians.

(13) We will venture now to give instances : —

In Natal, after the grant of Responsible Government,
Indians were virtually deprived of the franchise. The late
Sir John Robinson, in supporting the Bill, said that by
disfranchising Indians, every member of the Natal Par-
liament became a trustee for Indians.

Soon after the Bill became an Act of ParHament, the
trust was thus discharged : —

(a) An annual poll-tax of £^ was imposed on all in-
dentured Indians who entered after its promulgation, to
be payable on the termination of their indentures, unless
they returned to India or re-indentured themselves.

(6) An Immigration Restriction Act was passed pro-
hibiting all who did not possess a knowledge of one of the
European languages from entering Natal unless they were
formerly domiciled in the colony.

(c) A Dealers' Licences Act was passed which gave abso-
lute powers to the Town Councils or Licensing Boards to
control trade Hcences. It ousts the jurisdiction of the

120 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Supreme Court. Ostensibly applying to all traders, it is
enforced only against Indians. And under it, no Indian,
however well established, is ever secure as to his Ucence
from year's end to year's end.

Against all this legislation, the Imperial Government has
felt powerless to protect British-Indians.

(14) Whether Indians are granted the franchise under
the Constitution or not, a special clause protecting vested
interests is absolutely necessary.

(15) No colony on the eve of receiving self-government
has presented the features that the Transvaal and Orange
River Colonies present.

(16) All the causes for which the war took place have
not been removed. Anti-Indian legislation of the Trans-
vaal was one of the causes.

(17) Promise made by the Home Government that Indians
and other coloured people in the two colonies should be
treated the same way as those at the Cape, has not yet been
redeemed.

(18) Negotiations were actually pending between the
Home Government and the Local Governments as to the
removal of the disabilities of British-Indians when His
Majesty's new Ministers decided to grant Responsible
Government to the two colonies, and the negotiations have
therefore been suspended or dropped altogether.

(19) The position at the Cape is that Indians have equal
rights with the Europeans, i.e. : —

(a) They have the same franchise rights as the Europeans.
(h) They are under the same Immigration Restriction
Act as the Europeans.

(c) They have equal rights with the latter to hold landed
property and to trade.

(d) They have full freedom of locomotion from place to
place.

Dated at Johannesburg this 29th day of May, 1906.

APPENDIX II

ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST ASIATIC
COMPETITION

AGAINST

The following article appeared in the Rand Daily Mail
(Johannesburg) in July, 1906 : —

" There has of late been some controversy regarding the
real extent of Asiatic competition in South Africa. Denial
follows assertion with monotonous regularity, but the im-
partial investigator meets with little in the nature of
irrefutable evidence. On the one hand we hear of the
enormous growth of Asiatic trading and the closing down
of European businesses to an ominous — though indefinite —
extent. On the other we find the representatives of the
British-Indian community declaring that the case has been
exaggerated, and that in reality the presence of the Asiatic
is beneficial to the country. Into the larger question of
whether the advantage of cheaper labour in Natal more
than compensates for the disadvantages of Indian trading
we cannot for the moment enter. But in view of the
certainty that the Transvaal as a self-governing colony
will attempt to deal with the trading question — how far it
will be allowed a free hand in the matter remains to be
seen — it is interesting to see what is the precise evidence at
the present time. It must be admitted that many of the
figures which have been published are inaccurate. Some of
the statistics given to the National Convention, and re-
peated again and again in meetings at Potchefstroom,
Krugersdorp, and other towns, have been proved to be

121

122 THE ASIATIC DANGER

incorrect — a fact which, however, does not seem to prevent
their still being quoted with the utmost complacency and
confidence. When the Census reports for the whole of the
colonies are issued the data available will be more com-
plete. Yet even here the totals must be handled with some
degree of caution, for the actual volume of trade done is
not necessarily in the same ratio as the number of licences
held.

" However, take the evidence as it stands. The Natal
Census shows that there are in that colony 658 European
general storekeepers, and 1,260 Asiatics similarly engaged.
Many of the latter no doubt trade on so small a scale that
no white man could live upon the profits secured. But the
aggregate volume of business done by these 1,260 traders
must be very considerable. Nor must it be forgotten that
the competition would be still more overwhelming but for
the Act passed in 1897, at the instance of Mr. Harry Es-
combe, giving an ofiicial of a municipality power to refuse
to grant a licence — and from his decision there is no appeal.
In theory, of course, the Act applies equally to Europeans
and Asiatics. There is no outward evidence of class legis-
lation ; and at the time the British-Indian community
probably did not realize its full meaning. For in practice
no European is denied a licence, whereas the autocratic
power given to the Municipality — power which lies with a
white Town Council — often presses harshly on the Asiatic.
The measure may or may not have been justified by
expediency, but the point to remember is that in attempting
to gauge the real operation of Asiatic competition allowance
must be made for the restraining influence of this law. It
may be argued that it is only fair to allow Indian traders to
serve the Indian population which has built up the prosperity
of the tea and sugar estates. But it is certain that the
1,260 general dealers cater for more than the Indian com-
munity, and it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that a
large volume of trade which was formerly in the hands of
the white population has passed into their hands.

" Turn to the Cape Colony. Amongst the causes of

ASIATIC COMPETITION ARGUMENTS 123

depression in South Africa the over-trading of the past few
years has been probably the greatest. In 1898 the Cape
had 8,714 general dealers, importers, and agents. In 1905
there were 14,649. There was an increase of 68* i per cent,
in these vocations, whereas the imports retained in the
colony for consumption only increased 25 per cent, in the
same period. In these figures lies the secret of the depres-
sion. To blame the Asiatic for all this over-trading would
be absurd. But the position of the non-European traders
there throws some light on the larger problem. Figures
were quoted in the Cape Parliament last week relating to
the five largest trading centres in the colony — Capetown,
East London, Kingwilliamstown, Kimberley, and Port
Elizabeth. Last year in these towns 5,222 general dealers'
licences were issued to Europeans. On May i this year
the number had decreased to 3,920. In these five towns
no fewer than 1,302 white men had gone out of business in
a year. Now, in 1905 the licences issued to non-Europeans
totalled 1,012, and on May i the aggregate was 1,059.
Thus, whilst 1,302 Europeans had been forced to give up
their licences, non-European traders thrived to such an
extent that forty-four more entered the ranks of the general
dealers. The reply may be that it was the failure of the
Europeans which made suitable openings for the Asiatics.
This may be so ; but it does not destroy the argument that
the growth of Asiatic trading had in the first place some-
thing to do with the falling out of the white men. It was
stated at a recent meeting of the Worcester Chamber of
Commerce that one Indian in Capetown controlled twenty-
nine shops. The Indian and Malay population alone cannot
support the thousand odd Indian stores in the five towns,
and undoubtedly a large share of the business done is with
the white population. In the Transvaal the figures often
quoted for Potchefstroom and other towns are wrong.
But it is admitted that there are thirty-five Indian store-
keepers in Pietersburg, and nineteen in Potchefstroom, and
it would be idle to deny that this competition has driven
out white traders. Johannesburg possesses 270 general

124 THE ASIATIC DANGER

dealers' businesses owned by Indians, and 255 owned by
Chinese. The volume of business done cannot be estimated
with any degree of accuracy. In the days of the Republic
a petition presented to the Marquis of Ripon by British
Indians stated that there were 200 traders whose liquidated
assets would amount to nearly ;^ 100,000 ; and since that
time Asiatic trading has vastly increased. We do not
agree with those who charge the Indian or Asiatic store-
keepers with filthy habits. Eleven years ago a petition
signed by European firms in the Transvaal declared that
the Indian traders * keep their business places, as well as
their residences, in a clean and proper sanitary state — ^in
fact, just as good as the Europeans.' After all, dirt is
not a monopoly of any race, and the ordinary powers of
the sanitary authorities should be sufficient to deal with
any cases of bad sanitation, whether the offenders belong
to the Eastern or the Western peoples. Nor do we think
the allegations of dishonest dealing can be sustained.
Within a year it has been pubUcly complained in Pretoria
and Durban that European wholesale houses give credit
to Asiatics whilst refusing it to Europeans. One can hardly
believe that wholesale houses prefer to be cheated by
Indians than to trust honest Europeans.

" In considering the problem of Asiatic trading one must
get rid of these prejudices and face the question from the
standpoint of what is best for the country as a whole. It
is impossible to prove that Asiatic competition does not
press heavily on the European storekeepers in many parts
of South Africa ; it is equally impossible to avoid the con-
clusion that but for the checks which are now enforced —
against which the Indian community protests with a good
deal of justice — that competition would be far more severe.
The claim of the white population is that these restrictions
are not sufficiently drastic ; the retort of the British-Indian
community is to quote the pledges given by EngUsh states-
men before the war — pledges which committed the country
to a line of action which was certainly not based upon local
feeling. One must endeavour to remove gross injustice ;

ASIATIC COMPETITION ARGUMENTS 125

but would the Home government be justified in refusing
to permit any legislation demanded by the entire white
population because of the statements made by the poli-
ticians of a former generation ? If we are to be bound
absolutely by the past we must carry out to-day the spirit
of Sir G. Napier's Natal Proclamation of 1842 : * That
there shall not be, in the eyes of the law, any distinction
whatever founded on mere distinction of colour, origin,
language, or creed, but that the protection of the law in
letter and substance shall be extended impartially to all.'
Theories of policy have changed since then. The latter-
day policy is summed up in the words of Sir Arthur Law-
ley's despatch : ' If the redemption of the pledges upon
which Sir M. M. Bhownaggree depends both in letter and
spirit means that in fifty or a hundred years this country
will have fallen to the inheritance of Eastern instead of
Western populations, then from the point of view of civil-
ization they must be numbered among promises which it
is a greater crime to keep than to break.' Lord Selborne
plainly told the British-Indians that the opinion of the
Transvaal must carry the greater weight. In the end the
local view must govern legislative action, care being taken
to ensure a due consideration of vested interests. It will
be impossible to force upon the Transvaal a policy to which
the bulk of the inhabitants are strongly opposed. The
Asiatic community — whether British subjects or not —
should recognize the growing demand for Home Rule in
the Colonies, and not make demands which they know will
never be willingly conceded. With a little more modera-
tion on both sides an unfortunate dispute may be avoided.'

A REPLY

The case for the British-Indian is given in the following
reply which appeared in Indian Opinion, Natal : —

" In another column, we publish an able and eminently
fair article on this subject, appearing in the leading columns
of the Rand Daily Mail of Monday last. The writer has

126 THE ASIATIC DANGER

obviously written with great moderation and restraint,
and we could wish most sincerely that all who argued the
case against the Indian did so in the same temperate and
statesmanlike spirit. Several points arising out of this
article merit more than passing comment, for the issues
presented are so serious as to demand the close application
and attention of all who are moved with a desire to do
justice fearlessly, and to put forth all the practical Christi-
anity that is in them. We have felt all along that the
spirit moving the opponents of Indians in South Africa is
one depending far more on bitter race-prej udice and colour-
hatred than on reasons based upon a proper appreciation
of the economic features of the situation. We are glad to
find that the Rand Daily Mail once for all brushes aside
the foolish exaggerations given currency to at that pre-
posterous meeting held under Mr. Loveday's (Sgis in 1904,
dubbing itself falsely a ' National ' Convention. When
* National ' comes to bear the meaning ' parochial ' and
' pettifogging,' perhaps we may grant that the Con-
vention was right in its choice of an epithet. So that, for
the present, we are to take it that statistics as presented
and facts as set forth by the Convention are not to be taken
seriously, and that its gross and harmful exaggerations
have to be recorded against those who have stopped at
nothing to vilify a steady, peace-loving, and thrifty section
of Empire-builders,

" However, to take the arguments urged by the writer
of the article under comment, it is stated that so far as the
Natal general dealers are concerned, they cater for more
than the Indian community. Granted — but what of that ?
Who are their clientele ? It is found that Indian petty
traders deal with poor whites who, otherwise, would be
unable often to procure even necessaries, let alone luxuries.
Again, the Indian ti ader has dealings, often on a considerable
scale, with natives. The native is unable to pay much for
the commodities of which he is in need ; he is a hard bar-
gainer, and if he cannot get what he requires at the price
that he is willing to pay, he goes without. Now, from the

ASIATIC COMPETITION ARGUMENTS 127

point of view of the South African colonist, the man who is
able to create a demand for the products of civilization
amongst the natives, and so offers inducements to them to
hire their services out for a longer period, is performing a
public service, and is deserving of the title rather of a
benefactor of, than that of a danger to, the white com-
munity. There is a great deal of mystery about that
blessed word ' competition.' Under existing economic
conditions, competition is the very breath of trade. But
there is competition and competition, and the burden of
the charge made against the British-Indian is that his is
unfair competition — a charge which, we maintain, has
never yet been borne out. The head and forefront of our
offending is not that we unfairly compete, but that we are
foreigners, that our colour is brown, and that our habits
are not similar to those which tradition and custom have
imposed upon Europeans. Where the Indian trader is to
be found, he supplies a much-needed demand, else should
we never hear the constantly reiterated charge of undue
competition. He trades often on a most diminutive scale,
and the mere fact that he holds a general dealer's licence
does not necessarily make him a general dealer. Big
words are often used to exaggerate the importance of small
things, and we are sure that, were the situation to be in-
vestigated in a spirit where humour could have free play,
there would be many a hearty laugh at the expense of those
who have unconsciously been led astray by a term that
seems to include men whose wealth approximated to that
of Croesus rather than to that of the picker up of uncon-
sidered trifles.

" Our remarks apply as much to the Transvaal as to
Natal. How can there possibly be over-competition of
Indians in a town such as Potchefstroom, where there are
actually fewer Indians and more European traders than
before the war ? When we consider that, to-day, the
Indian population of the Transvaal is considerably less than
it was before the war, whilst the European population has
increased beyond belief during that same period, it is obvious

128 THE ASIATIC DANGER

that the outcry against British-Indians is a false and a
shallow one, and one, moreover, that is only urged by in-
terested parties who desire to serve their own ends, and
who are supported by men ever ready to be ' taken in ' by
a statement sufficiently often repeated. When we come to
the Cape Colony, where one of the Indian storekeepers is
stated to control no less than twenty-nine separate shops,
we are tempted to search the records of the ' National '
Convention for authority for this statement of ' fact,' or,
on the other hand, to inquire how much larger than match-
boxes those stores are ! Truly, we are come to a sorry pass
when such * terminological inexactitude ' is resorted to.
Compared with the bulk of internal and external trade
done by the European population, that done by British-
Indians is insignificant, whilst that of other Asiatics or so-
called Asiatics, with whom we have no immediate concern,
must be a negligible quantity. Let us consider the con-
dition of affairs. In Natal, there exists an Immigration
Restriction Law which does not recognize the great Indian
languages. Result — large numbers of Indians are, even if
they wished to enter the country, debarred from so doing.
There is a General Dealers' Licences Act, which makes the
Town Council, composed of the Indian trader's business
rivals, the final court of appeal, a condition of affairs which
would not be tolerated in the United Kindom or in any
place in which considerations of justice reigned supreme.
In the district of Vryheid, the unfortunate British-Indian
is subject both to the harsh laws of Natal and those of the
Transvaal. At the Cape, a similar Immigration Restriction
Law obtains to that enforced in Natal, with the additional
restriction that if an Indian's wife and family be not resident
in the country, he is not regarded as being domiciled in the
colony. In the Orange River Colony, no Indian is per-
mitted to remain in the country, except in a servile capacity.
" And in the Transvaal, things are no better. A Peace
Preservation Ordinance is wrongly forced from its real
intention, and, for political purposes, is used in practice
to prevent the entry of Indians, even when entitled to be

ASIATIC COMPETITION ARGUMENTS 129

in the country. Law 3 of 1885 prevents their holding land,
and obliges traders to possess themselves of registration
certificates. Numberless other restrictions are imposed,
but what we have already shown demonstrates our point.
The writer of the article urges moderation on both sides.
We agree. Our moderation consists in this — British-
Indians desire treatment as free men, not as pariahs. They
ask for free entry, on equal terms with non-Indians, into
the Colonies, freedom to trade, freedom from the galling
insults and degradations imposed by Law 3 of 1885. On
their side they are willing to abide by a general immigration
restriction law, and the granting of licences by the Town
Councils, subject to appeal to the Supreme Courts. Can
they, in justice to their own cause, in justice to their children,
in justice to the great heritage of Empire that has become
theirs and which they have helped to purchase with their
blood and treasure — can they ask less than this ? British-
Indians demand no poHtical rights. They ask for nothing
in the shape of social equality. But they have a right to
insist upon the bestowal upon them of their just civil rights
and the withdrawal of restrictions and restraints which can
only have the effect of perpetuating the feeling of bitter-
ness that must inevitably arise under a sense of oppression
and injustice. For British-Indians to ask less than this
would be to proclaim themselves as deserving of all the
cruel hardships and insults inflicted upon them."

K

APPENDIX III
THE WRONG POLICY— TWO "HARD CASES"

T IF following extracts are two instances of the wrong
nolicy to pursue against the Asiatic — the policy which
irritates ani does not the slightest good. They explain
themselves : —

r £E apan.se merchant

The following is a leading article from the Transvaal
Leader, November 29, 1905 : —

"FOR SHAME"

" A letter appeared in the Star of yesterday from Mr.
Nomura, one of the leading merchants of Japan, which
raises questions of such importance that we cannot refrain
from commenting on it. Mr. Nomura, who has exhibited
various articles in European, American, and Australian
cities, came to South Africa on the same errand. He
had a passport signed by the Japanese Minister of
Foreign Affairs, and endorsed by the British Consul at
Kobe, and was further armed with credentials from the
Commercial and Industrial departments of his Govern-
ment. On arrival at Durban he sent forward his goods
to Johannesburg, where they have been much admired.
He himself, however, was detained at Durban, where
his finger-prints were taken, pending the receipt of
a permit to enter the Transvaal. After six weeks the
Permit Office of the Transvaal refused him permission to
enter the Transvaal.

180

THE WRONG POLICY — TWO HARD CASES I3I

" This is Mr. Nomura's plain story, and we venture to
say that it is one which should make every inhabitant of
this colony blush with shame. A gentleman of high
standing in his own country, the reputation of whose firm
is world-wide, vouched for by his own Government and by
the British Consul in his native town, comes to this country
on a most legitimate and proper errand, only to be subjected
to indignity and to be refused admission. The officials of
the Permit Office will have to explain why a delay of six
weeks occurred before they could make up what they are
pleased to call their minds, but this slothfulness, scandalous
as it is, is only the smallest scandal connected with this
affair.

" We can see every day proofs of the utter incompetence
of the Permit Office to perform its duties. People of a
low type are constantly admitted ; notorious criminals
find no difficulty in entering the Transvaal, though a
reference to the Criminal Investigation Department would
be both easy and efficacious. From time to time a few
wretched Asiatics are sent over the border, living examples
of the vigilance of the Permit Office, while depravity struts
through the town hall-marked by its approval. And then
comes a gentleman of character and position applying for a
pass to pay a flying visit to Johannesburg on business,
only to be insulted and refused. The officials of the Permit
Office have only themselves to thank if nasty things are
said, and if ugly rumours gain credence as to their methods
and motives of selection. This case, however, will not be
entirely without advantage if it leads people to ask whether
it is worth while to squander some thousands a year on an
office which is worse than useless. Something might be
said for it if it protected us from the incursions of paupers,
of men of criminal antecedents, and of men who live on a
traffic which we need not specify, but nothing is to be said
for it when it allows the town to be flooded with these, and
then, to justify its existence, perpetrates an act of gross
injustice, and one which might easily have serious inter-
national results.

132 THE ASIATIC DANGER

" The Japanese are a highly civilized people who have
set an example of business aptitude, of organizing ability,
and of patriotic devotion to the whole world. They are
the allies of Great Britain, whose interests in the East
they are pledged to maintain, as we are pledged to defend
theirs. The nation is proud to honour them. At the
Trafalgar celebration nothing was more prized than the
message from Admiral Togo, whom the United Kingdom
will receive next year with a respect and admiration which
would be accorded to few white men. Though, indeed, we
are almost ashamed to allude to questions of colour in this
connection. It may be quite right — we think it is — for a
country to reserve the right of saying under what conditions
foreigners may reside and trade within its borders, and of
regulating their admission, but that does not hinge entirely
on colour, and is at all events utterly distinct from the
question of a temporary visit. Moreover, it is only bigotry
or ignorance which can refuse to recognize those distinctions
of position, character, and education, which are as patent
and well-marked in Oriental countries as in Europe. Mr.
Seddon, indeed, proposes to exclude Japanese from New
Zealand, but, without any disrespect to that fine Colony,
we venture to claim a wider and more cosmopolitan outlook
for the inhabitants of the Transvaal. Even exclusive
Australia has admitted Mr. Nomura, and yet the Transvaal
is dragged by some incompetent officials into the absurd
position of keeping him out. Mr. Nomura is about to
appeal to the British Foreign Office, and we most sincerely
hope that his representations may be successful. In the
meantime we desire to emphatically condemn the action
of the Permit authorities, to apologize for the indignities
which have been put upon this Japanese gentleman, and ^
to express our abhorrence of the whole wretched affair."

THE INDIAN STUDENT

The following is a leading article from the Rand Daily
Mail of April 17, 1906 : —

" It will probably seem curious to many people that a

THE WRONG POLICY— TWO " HARD CASES " I33

man who claims to be a Portuguese subject should be
granted a privilege which Transvaal officialdom has refused
to the very same man when he was supposed to be a British
subject. But this is what happened in the case of Mr.
Suliman Manga, which has been takenup by Indian Opinion i
and as a certain principle is involved it is well to note the
mysterious workings of the official mind. Briefly the facts
are these. Mr. Manga, who is the son of a well-known
Indian at Delagoa Bay, is a member of the Middle Temple.
Returning from his legal studies in England, he landed at
Durban, and, desiring to visit his parents at Lourenco
Marques, applied for a temporary permit to pass through
the Transvaal on his way there. The Transvaal officials
refused to grant it, and an application to the Colonial
Secretary was also answered in the negative. Mr. Manga
thereupon went to Delagoa by sea, but, being still anxious
to see the Transvaal, renewed his request to the Protector
of Asiatics there. For the third time he met with a refusal,
and, as in the other instances, he was not informed what
precise danger would threaten the Transvaal were he to be
within its borders even for a day or two. But then Mr.
Manga remembered that he was a native of Portuguese
territory in India, and, claiming to be a Portuguese subject,
he appealed to the Portuguese Government. Then the
Open Sesame was discovered. The British Consul at
Delagoa promptly granted a temporary permit, and the
man who was rejected with contemptuous silence as a
subject of the British Empire crossed the Transvaal border
as a citizen of Portugal. Verily the ways of officialdom are
remarkable.

" Now we object to an influx of Asiatics into the Trans-
vaal as much as the most vigorous orator at the National
Convention. No one could hold more strongly than we
do to the conviction that the Transvaal can be made in a
large measure a white man's country. No one would more
emphatically protest against Asiatic labour being imported
save under the Labour Importation Ordinance ; no one
could desire a more formidable barrier to the indiscriminate

134 THE ASIATIC DANGER

immigration of Asiatics than the one we should be pre-
pared to erect. But it is quite another thing to approve
of the purblind ineptitude displayed by officialdom in the
case of Mr. Manga. The refusal to allow Mr. Nomura, the
Japanese merchant, to enter the colony was a brilliant
effort of administrative foresight compared to the rejec-
tion of Mr. Manga one day as a British subject and his
admittance the next as a Portuguese. Mr. Nomura had
at least the desire to trade. Mr. Manga had nothing to
sell ; he would compete with no man ; all he wanted was
to pass through the Transvaal on his way to visit his rela-
tions at Delagoa Bay. He asked only for a temporary
permit. Had it been broken we will give the Transvaal
authorities credit for sufficient intelligence to have sooner
or later discovered the fact. But there was not the faintest
ground for suspecting that the temporary character of the
permit would not be strictly observed. The refusal was
simply an instance of that gratuitous stupidity which has
more than once affected Transvaal officials when dealing
with Asiatics. Lord Milner was in a prophetic mood when,
addressing the first Municipal Congress three years ago, he
said : * The greatest danger of every sound policy is its
exaggeration and its travesty.' Lord Selborne has more
than once expressed regret that it should be necessary to
curtail the movements of British-Indian subjects in a
British colony. That the necessity does arise, and must
be provided for, we agree. That the necessity involves
the refusal of the grant of a temporary permit to an Indian
lawyer to cross through the Transvaal we cannot admit.
The colony cannot be made into a twentieth century
Forbidden Land. Maintain the vital principle by all means,
even if it is necessary to use the language used by Australia
twenty years ago. Refuse to allow fresh immigrants to
enter and compete with the white population. But in the
name of commonsense do not let us make the Transvaal
a laughing-stock of the world by comic opera methods such
as have been displayed by the Permit Office in the case
of Mr. Manga. Seven years ago Lord Lansdowne, speak-

THE WRONG POLICY — TWO HARD CASES " I35

ing of British-Indian disabilities in the Transvaal, said :
* What do you imagine would be the effect produced in
India when these poor people return to their country to
report to their friends that the Government of the Empress,
so mighty and irresistible in India, with its population of
300,000,000, is powerless to secure redress at the hands of
a small South African State ? ' What will be ' the effect
produced in India ' to-day if it becomes known that a native
of Portuguese Goa is treated in a British colony with a
consideration which is denied him when he says he is a sub-
ject of the British- Indian Empire ? Here at least is an
instance of that ' exaggeration ' and ' travesty ' which Lord
Milner warned the colony against as the greatest danger
of a sound Asiatic restriction policy."

At Volksrust the magistrate fined an Indian boy under
eleven years of age ;^5o, or three months' imprisonment,
for being in the Transvaal without a permit. The Supreme
Court quashed the conviction.

At the same Court an Indian woman was dragged from
her husband's side and ordered to leave the Colony
within seven hours. She refused to go, and the prosecu-
tion against her was ordered to be withdrawn.

APPENDIX IV

THE ASIATIC POPULATION OF NATAL

The following return shows the distribution of the " Euro-
peans or Whites " and the " Indians and Asiatics " in Natal
(the Asiatics other than Indians only number a few
score) : —

Magisterial Division or Centre.

Klip River .

Lion's River .

Ixopo

♦Alexandra County .

Upper Umkomanzi .

Newcastle ....

Mpendhle ....

Dundee . . . .
* Inanda ....
1 Lower Tugela

Bergville ....

Estcourt ....

Mapumulo

Umgeni ....

New Hanover

Umlazi ....

Alfred County

Camperdown .

Europeans or Whites

Males. Females.

632
900
479
542
517

1.375
312

1,129
828
523
293

1.497

33

617

859

3.359
274
508

475
664

397
411
433
956
202

831
730
434
235
1,160

19
484

777

2,885

208

442

Indians and A^atics.

Males. Females.

1,044
897
102

3.986
469

1,051
167

1,682
12,636

6,274

77
988

4

1,245

648

13.403

43

589

362

381

36

2,368

176

444

68

310

8,838

4.754

34

333

719

247

9.595

8

224

^ Coast districts.
136

THE ASIATIC POPULATION OF NATAL

137

Europeans or Whites.

Indians and Asiatics.

Magisterial Division or Centre.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

Umvoti County ....

569

410

217

90

Ndwedwe .

17

12

I

—

Utrecht . .

1,033

909

I

—

Krantyzop

194

154

26

10

* Umzimkulu .

S40

372

950

438

Umsinga .

•

150

IIO

34

28

Vryheid . .

1. 533

1.309

4

—

Paulpietersburg

493

477

—

—

Weenen County

437

291

52

II

Polela . . .

363

237

117

109

Underberg

216

157

58

12

Estowe, Zululand

325

250

47

33

N'qutu,

79

67

I

—

Nkandhla,

96

42

—

—

Emtomjaneni, „

210

145

I

—

Nd wand we, „

51

24

—

—

^ Umfolosi, „

32

II

4

I

1 Umbombo,

17

6

2

—

Hlabisa,

66

27

5

—

1 Imgwavuma, ,,

24

7

—

1 Umlalazi,

96

67

18

8

Mahlabatini, „

29

22

—

—

Municipality of Pietermaritz-

burg . .

8.134

6,952

3.588

1,692

* „ ,, Durban

18,777

12,525

10,509

5.122

„ „ Ladysmith

1,284

985

781

355

,, „ Newcastle .

614

552

348

167

,, Dundee

685

627

313

95

♦Local Board, Verulam .

189

174

448

252

Grey town . .

545

572

191

80

Utrecht . .

296

246

—

—

Vryheid . .

779

565

31

13

^ Coast districts.

138

THE ASIATIC DANGER

The figures are summarized thus : —
Rural Districts

Males.

Females.

Europeans or Whites ....
Indians and Asiatics ....

21,247
46,903

16,849
29.637

Urban Districts

Males.

Females.

Europeans or Whites ....
Indians and Asiatics ....

35.511
i 16,594

1

23.502
1 7.784

APPENDIX V

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY

Two of the best written and most important official de-
spatches on the Asiatic question — or in this particular case
the British-Indian question — were written by Lord Milner,
High Commissioner of South Africa and Governor of the
Transvaal, and Sir Arthur Lawley, Lieut. -Governor of the
Transvaal (now Governor of Madras), in reply to Sir M. M.
Bhownaggree's letter to the Colonial Secretary. These
two despatches sum up the Asiatic problem very fairly.
They are as follows : —

GOVERNOR VISCOUNT MILNER TO Mr. LYTTELTON

{Received May 7, 1904.)

Governor's Office, Johannesburg,
April 18, 1904.
Sir,

I have the honour to enclose a despatch from the Lieu-
tenant-Governor of the Transvaal, in whch he reviews the
whole position as regards British-Indians. Of course, the
proposed legislation on this subject will not apply to British
Indians only, but to Asiatics generally. At the same time
it is the fact that the majority of Asiatics in this Colony
are British subjects from India, and it is owing to this fact
that the Government of the Transvaal is placed in a position
of peculiar embarrassment in dealing with the Asiatic
question.

Sir Arthur Lawley has stated so fully the extent and the
causes of the strong anti-Asiatic feeling among the Euro-

139

140 THE ASIATIC DANGER

pean population of this Colony, that I need not myself
dwell upon that factor in the problem. I can only say that
I agree with Sir Arthur Lawley's statements with regard
to it, and believe that he has not in any way exaggerated
the caution with which, in view of this feeling, it behoves
the Government to approach legislation on the subject of
the status of Asiatics.

I must frankly confess that I am greatly disappointed
with the position in which I find myself placed in this
matter. I have always felt, as strongly as any one, the
necessity of preventing an indiscriminate influx of Asiatics
into this Colony, and I agree with all that Sir Arthur Law-
ley says as to the danger to the white population, and in-
deed to the whole political position, which such an influx
would involve. We need a great increase in the white
population of the new Colonies, and it is obviously desir-
able that this increase should be mainly British. But it
is just with the British townsman that the Asiatic trader,
who has flooded Natal, and who would certainly flood the
new Colonies if he were allowed to, most seriously competes.
But while upholding the policy of restrictions on Asiatic
immigration, I always hoped to be able to carry it out in a
manner sufficiently considerate of the feelings of our Indian
fellow-subjects, and of the difficulties of the British and
Indian Governments in the matter, to mitigate, if not alto-
gether to remove, the objections which any system of re-
striction was certain to excite. In particular, I thought it
would be possible, by giving to Asiatics of a superior class,
a special status, and treating them virtually like Europeans,
to avoid, at any rate, the appearance of race legislation.
I still believe that this would be the best course. I believe
that if the European, and especially the British, population
in this country could be induced to see the matter in a
reasonable light, such a course would provide not,
indeed, a perfect, but a fairly satisfactory, solution
of the difficulty. It is not, in my opinion, an influx
of Asiatics of the upper and middle classes (profes-
sional men and merchants as distinct from small

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY 14!

traders) which really threatens this community. If by
treating this class liberally, we could induce the Govern-
ment of India to acquiesce in the virtual exclusion of the
petty trader class, who are out of place here, and at the
same time to agree to the introduction, under conditions
ensuring their ultimate return to their native country, of
Indian labourers, whom we greatly need, and who could
earn in this country such wages as they can obtain nowhere
else in the world, I believe that the arrangement would be
beneficial both to the Transvaal and to India.

This view is consistent with the opinions which I hold
on the coloured question generally. I think that to attempt
to place coloured people on an equality with whites in South
Africa is wholly impracticable, and that, moreover, it is
in principle wrong. But I also hold that when a coloured
man possesses a certain high grade of civilization, he ought
to obtain what I may call " white privileges," irrespective
of his colour. I have, on more than one occasion, given
expression to these views. They are very unpopular in
the Transvaal at the present time, but I do not despair of
their ultimately prevailing.

For the present, however, there is no prospect whatever
of their prevailing, certainly as far as Asiatics are concerned.
There is, perhaps, more chance in the case of the coloured
people of South African birth. And no doubt their claim
is a stronger one, inasmuch as they are natives of the
country, and have no choice but to live here, while the
Asiatics are strangers forcing themselves upon a com-
munity reluctant to receive them. Be that as it may, I
am satisfied that it would not be possible for the Lieutenant-
Governor and the Executive Council of the Transvaal, in
view of the almost unanimous opposition of the white popu-
lation, to introduce legislation more favourable to Asiatics
than that which is now proposed. This legislation does
carry out, to a certain extent, the idea of creating a cate-
gory of " exempted " Asiatics, id est, of relaxing, in the
case of Asiatics of the better class, most of the personal
restrictions imposed upon Asiatics generally. But it is

142 THE ASIATIC DANGER

very far from putting " exempted " Asiatics on the same
level as Europeans, as personally I should like to put them,
and as I at one time hoped, not only with the view of meet-
ing the wishes of the Government of India, to be able to
put them.

There is another respect, in which the proposed legisla-
tion with regard to Asiatics, as sketched by Sir Arthur
Lawley, falls short of what I have, in previous communica-
tions, and notably in my telegram of the ist February,
indicated as being the length to which the Transvaal
Government was prepared to go in meeting the wishes
of the Indian Government. I refer to the question of allow-
ing Indian as well as European languages to be used in the
education test, to which would-be immigrants are to be
subjected. Sir Arthur Lawley and the Executive Council
now think, and I am disposed, on reconsideration of the
point, to agree with them, that, in making this concession,
we should be going too far. I am not sure that it would not
result in the admission of a very large number of Asiatics
of the class whom it is desirable, as far as possible, to ex-
clude. But apart from that, there is another and a very
serious difficulty, which I admit did not occur to me in the
first instance, but which was suggested by your telegram
of the 7th March, 1 and that is that, in admitting Indian
languages, we should be departing most seriously from
the provisions of the Immigration Laws of both the Cape
Colony and Natal, and breaking down the principle of
uniformity of action with regard to the immigration ques-
tion between the different Colonies. This would, in my
opinion, be a most serious evil. Moreover, we have, on
many occasions, declared our intention of passing an
Immigration Act framed on the same lines as those of the
two self-governing Colonies. If the Government of the
Transvaal were to introduce into the Legislative Council
an Immigration Ordinance differing materially from those

^ Not printed.

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY I43

of the sister Colonies, and above all, differing from them
in the direction of giving greater encouragement to Asiatic
immigration, it would have to face such a storm, both in
the Legislative Council and outside, as it has never had to
face yet, even on this subject, and it could only carry the
proposal, so to speak, at the point of the bayonet.

It is quite true that, in the present state of public feeling,
any proposal whatever for dealing with the position of
Asiatics, short of the absolute exclusion of future immigrants
and the relegation of the Asiatics already in the country
to bazaars selected for them by the local authorities, will
meet with much opposition, and may have to be carried
in the Legislative Council by the votes of the official mem-
bers alone. But on such a question as that of dealing
fairly with the Asiatics already here, I should not scruple
to employ, though I should regret the necessity of employ-
ing, the official majority to vote down popular opposition.
We are entitled to use that majority in order to enable us
to carry on the ordinary work of Administration, and to
ensure the safety and good government of the Colony as
long as we are responsible for them. We are entitled to
use it to fulfil our obligations, and to do justice to even the
most unpopular section of the community. But when it
comes to a question, not of some administrative act of
immediate necessity, or of the fulfilment of a particular
obligation, but of permanent and organic legislation, then
I think that the principle, so often enunciated by His
Majesty's Government, of dealing with the Transvaal,
though a Crown Colony, as if it were self-governing, ap-
plies. That being so, while we should be justified in legis-
lating, even contrary to pubUc opinion, to protect the
vested rights of Indians already here, we should not, in
my judgment, be justified in regulating the Asiatic question,
in so far as it is, res integra, in a manner opposed to the
views of the vast majority of the European population.
And certainly it requires no referendum to ascertain those
views with regard to Asiatic immigration or the status of
Asiatics. No doubt, even if this were a self-governing

144 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Colony, His Majesty's Government would refuse assent,
as it has done in the case of other self-governing Colonies,
to legislation involving manifest injustice to any race of
men or grossly conflicting with the principles of Imperial
policy as regards His Majesty's British Indian subjects.
But legislation, such as is now proposed by Sir Arthur
Lawley and the Executive Council of the Transvaal, is
yet not legislation which, if adopted by a self-governing
Colony, His Majesty's Government would demur to. It is,
indeed, far more favourable to the Indians than any legis-
lation likely to be passed here when this Colony obtains
responsible Government, though I believe, if passed now,
no Ministry holding power under a system of responsible
Government will care to interfere with it.

I ought, perhaps, to state definitely, though I think it
is sufficiently clear from Sir Arthur Lawley's despatch
that it is the intention of the Transvaal Government, if
you approve, to introduce, in the forthcoming Session of
the Legislative Council, two measures bearing on this
subject : —

I. An Immigration Ordinance on the lines of the Acts
passed in the Cape Colony and Natal. This Ordinance,
though applying to immigrants generally, and not ex-
pressly directed against Asiatics, will, in practice, have
the effect of limiting the influx of Asiatics of the lower class.

II. An Ordinance dealing with the status and privileges
of Asiatics already resident in the country, or who may
hereafter become resident here.

The provisions, which it is intended that this latter
Ordinance should contain, are clearly laid down in the
enclosed despatch from Sir Arthur Lawley.

The immediate object of my present communication is
to ask whether His Majesty's Government would be pre-
pared to approve of the Transvaal Government introducing
legislation on these lines in the next Session of the Legisla-
tive Council, Whatever difference of opinion there may be
with regard to this question, no one, who has been resident
in this country during the last two years, would be inclined

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY I45

to doubt that some immediate settlement is absolutely-
necessary . The present uncertain condition of affairs is
bad for everybody. It exasperates the European popula-
tion against the Asiatics, while the Asiatics themselves
are subject to the most harassing and unfair uncertainty
as to their future prospects. The controversy has now-
lasted incessantly since the first establishment of British
power in the Transvaal, and I have no hesitation in saying
that every month that it lasts makes it more difi&cult for
the Government to carry any measures which are even
moderately favourable to the Asiatic population. No
doubt the feeling against them has been greatly aggravated
by the recent outbreak of plague in the coolie location in
Johannesburg. Had that outbreak been of a more serious
and protracted character, the position would have become
very grave. I think it would have required a stern exer-
cise of the powers of Government to prevent the white
population, especially in the smaller country towns, from
taking the law into their own hands, and attempting at
once to force all Asiatics, regardless of social position or
vested rights, into locations selected by the local authori-
ties, which would, in many cases, have been wholly un-
suitable for their reception. This fever of excitement is
now subsiding, but the permanent effect of the plague out-
break in confirming the anti- Asiatic sentiment throughout
the country cannot be ignored. Even before the plague
broke out, the anti-Asiatic agitation was steadily gathering
force. That agitation will, in my opinion, go on and grow
more and more formidable unless the position is cleared up,
as it only can be cleared up, by fresh legislation.

But while asking for the assent of His Majesty's Govern-
ment to the proposed Ordinances, not because I think them
good, but because I think them the best we can carry, and
because any definite settlement of the question would
be better than the present chaos, I can hardly expect that
these measures will satisfy the Government of India. It
is deeply to be deplored that the Government of India
should refuse to permit its subjects of the labouring class

146 THE ASIATIC DANGER

to come to this country, where they might earn in a few
years, and with a certainty of good treatment while here,
wages which would relieve them from poverty for the rest
of their Hves. But if, in the opinion of the Government of
India, it is impossible to allow coolie immigration into the
Transvaal, unless the laws of the Transvaal with regard to
Indians generally are framed in a liberal spirit, then I fear
there is nothing for it but for us to renounce, for the time
being, the hope of coolie immigration.

If my opinion could be expected to carry any weight
with the rulers of India, I should strongly advise that,
notwithstanding what they must consider the unsatisfac-
tory character of our Asiatic legislation, they should, never-
theless, not prohibit the immigration of Indian coolies into
this Colony. And I should do so on the ground that,
while such immigration would benefit the coolies, the refusal
to allow it could not possibly be of advantage to any other
class of Indians. This, however, is only the expression of
my personal views. I do not suppose that the Govern-
ment of India is likely to share them. But, while regret-
ting the probable failure of our attempts to meet the Govern-
ment of India in the matter, I feel that, coolies or no coolies,
it is necessary for the peace and good government of this
Colony to get the question of the status of Asiatics settled
without much further delay. And as the settlement now
proposed by Sir Arthur Lawley is, in my opinion, the best
we can arrive at without flying in the face of the whole
white community, and causing a serious strain to the good
relations of this Colony with the Mother Country, I strongly
recommend His Majesty's Government to allow us to carry
it into effect.

I have, etc.,

MILNER,

Governor.

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY I47

Lieutenant-Governor, Transvaal, to Governor.

Lieutenant-Governor's Office, Pretoria,

April 13, 1904.
My Lord,

The necessity for introducing legislation with regard to
the status of Asiatics, and particularly British Indians,
residing in the Transvaal becomes more urgent every day.
Two incidents have recently occurred which have an im-
portant bearing on the whole question.

Having decided that all Asiatic traders should be re-
moved to bazaars set apart for them in the various towns,
with the exception of those who had bond fide established
businesses before the outbreak of war, the Government
refused to issue licences to certain traders who had not com-
plied with the condition of removal into a bazaar.

In so acting the Government relied on the provisions of
Law No. 3 of 1885. The validity of their action has now
been challenged, and a test case will shortly be brought
into the Supreme Court to decide whether under that law
the Government have power to prohibit trading and resi-
dence except in places pointed out by the Government.

I am advised by the Attorney-General that in his opinion
the decision of the late High Court on this point will prob-
ably be reversed by the Supreme Court, and that it will
be impossible for the Government to carry into effect the
restrictions upon Asiatics in regard to trade and residence
which they deem necessary.

The second incident which has brought the whole ques-
tion into prominence is the outbreak of bubonic plague in
the location set apart for coolies in Johannesburg.

The Government have already experienced the greatest
difficulty in securing the assent of the local bodies in the
various towns to the establishment of bazaars within the
municipal area, and it has been necessary for them to over-
ride the prejudices of the local authorities, and insist that
the sites for these bazaars should be easily accessible and
suitable for trading purposes. The clearest indications

148 THE ASIATIC DANGER

are already apparent that, in consequence of the outbreak
of plague in Johannesburg there will be most bitter opposi-
tion from the white residents to any settlement of the ques-
tion which is not based on the location of Asiatics in bazaars
outside the towns. What was before merely a difficulty
has now, owing to the outbreak of the plague, become almost
an impossibility.

Owing to these two incidents, the question has become
intensely acute, and I would, therefore, urge upon Your
Excellency the desirability of securing the consent of His
Majesty's Government to the introduction during the next
Session of the Legislative Council of a measure embodying
the policy laid down by the Transvaal Government in
Government Notice No. 356, of 1903,^ and referred to in
your despatch to the Right Honourable the Secretary of
State of the ist February, 1904.

The legislation which it is proposed to introduce would
contain the following provisions in regard to Asiatics,
which term is taken to include British Indians : —

1. It is proposed to exempt from the necessity of resid-
ing in a distinct Asiatic quarter those Asiatics who satisfy
the Colonial Secretary that they are possessed of intellectual
attainments, social qualities, and habits of life such as to
fit them for a mode of living in accordance with European
ideas.

Asiatics to whom such exemption is granted will have
the right to live anywhere. If they come under the cate-
gory of the next succeeding Section (2) they will be allowed
to trade outside bazaars, but otherwise not.

They will be exempt from registration ; otherwise they
will not be exempt from the existing disabilities on coloured
people.

Servants of exempted Asiatics, will be allowed to live with
their employers.

2. In regard to Asiatics already here, the vested interests

1 Printed in [Cd. 1684].

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY I49

of those who had established businesses here before the
war will be recognized and licences will be renewed to
trade under the same conditions during the residence in
this Colony of the licensee ; that is to say, it is not proposed
to disturb those traders who had been allowed to establish
themselves here before the war.

3. With the two exceptions above enumerated all
Asiatics Uving within muncipal boundaries will be required
to live or trade within bazaars set aside for the purpose.
All Asiatics will be prohibited from holding land outside
bazaars, but this prohibition will not apply in respect of
land which is now set aside, and used for religious pur-
poses.

4. All Asiatics entering the Transvaal shall, unless
specially exempted, take out a certificate of registration
at a charge of /j.

5. It is not proposed to put any restriction upon the
issue of hawkers' licences, provided that sanction is given
to the introduction of an Ordinance which will limit as
far as possible the immigration of this class of Asiatic.

I realize very fully that legislation of such a restrictive
nature may not at first sight commend itself to His
Majesty's Government, but the events of the past twelve
months have convinced every member of the Executive
Council that any modification of such restrictions as are
now proposed can only be insisted on in the face of most
strenuous opposition by the public of this Colony. The
attitude of the Commercial Community in the Colony has
been made evident by constant resolutions adopted by
every Chamber of Commerce throughout the Transvaal.
In the course of debates which took place in the
Legislative Council on the question of the granting of
the Municipal Franchise to British Indians, and again,
on the question of the renewal of licences to British
Indian traders, the non-official members were — with the
exception of Mr. Hosken — unanimous in condemning
any policy which did not impose severe restrictions
on all Asiatics. The revelation of this strong feeling

150 THE ASIATIC DANGER

has impressed the Government with the hopelessness of
securing the acquiescence of the public in any further con-
cessions to the British Indian than are contained in Law
3 of 1885.

The case for the British Indians is fully stated in a letter
addressed by Sir M. Bhownaggree to Mr. Chamberlain,
dated the 15th September, 1903,^ which will doubtless be
before His Majesty's Government when this matter comes
up for consideration.

It is I think desirable that if possible the sentiments of
the white population in regard to this matter should at the
same time be clearly understood. I have no hesitation in
saying that in all towns in the Transvaal the Asiatic
question overshadows all others, and I fear that unless
we are able to reconcile the opinion in England with the
opinion held in this country the Government will be landed
in a serious deadlock.

I do not seek to justify the prejudices which exist ; I
merely desire to set them forth.

They cannot be ignored. They have got to be reckoned
with.

It is true that the British Government have laid down : —

" that there shall not be in the eye of the law any
distinction or disqualification whatever founded on
mere distinction of colour, origin, language, or creed,"

but the history of South Africa has been such as to set
up an impassable barrier between the European and the
coloured races. The introduction and establishment of
a white race into this country has only been effected after
constant warfare with savage tribes, who have from time to
time rebelled against the dominion of the white man.
These outbreaks have invariably been accompanied by
murders and outrages of a revolting description, of which
many men now living have been actual eye-witnesses.
These episodes cannot be effaced from the memory of any

^ Enclosure in No. i .

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY 151

South African, and have engendered a feeling of animosity
against the coloured man which cannot be eradicated by-
legislation.

Of course, in theory, the white residents of South Africa
should easily differentiate between the uncivilized negro
of South Africa and the British Indian, who has always
been a temperate, law-abiding, citizen, but in the mind of
the average Colonial, and particularly of the Dutch, a man
is either a *' white man " or a " coloured man," and the
nicer distinctions of racial origin are completely lost sight
of.

Under the old Grondwet the line was distinctly drawn
between coloured and white. It is there stated there
shall be no equality berween coloured and white, and
though in the eye of the law they are equal, there is not
in this country one man in a hundred who would agree to
recognize the coloured man as capable of admission to the
same social standard as the white.

I do not urge that these sentiments are reasonable, but
they imbue the mind of every South African, and find ex-
pression in the universal cry of " A white man's country."
The result of any attempt to ignore them would be attended,
I feel sure, with most deplorable results.

Sir M. Bhownaggree's argument is to the effect that
England has bound herself by explicit and repeated pro-
mises to place her Asiatic subjects on a footing of equality
with British subjects throughout the Empire ; that in the
Transvaal such equal rights have been denied by the
jealousy of European rivals, and that the Imperial Govern-
ment is bound to intervene to redeem its pledges. Such
a view might esLsily become impressed upon the minds of
the English Public, but the consequence of an attempt
to enforce it in this country would, in my opinion, be
disastrous. Trade jealousy undoubtedly exists, but it is
really prompted by the instinct of self-preservation in the
minds of the European trading community. The problem
does not begin and end with a shopkeeper's quarrel, but
is more far-reaching than the questions whether this

152 THE ASIATIC DANGER

country shall be governed by Englishmen or Boers, or
whether its mines shall be worked by Kaffirs or Chinese.

Sir M. Bhownaggree's argument is almost entirely his-
torical, and he begins by reciting certain specific under-
takings given in this country and elsewhere. When bring-
ing the Indian Peninsula under the sovereignty of the
British Crown, the Imperial Government pledged itself to
make no distinction in law either in favour of or against
any race or colour.

In the Proclamation of 1843, preliminary to the annexa-
tion of Natal, the same principle was expressly embodied.

There would have been no difficulty in multiplying
instances of such declarations. The British Government
enforced the observance of these principles upon the late
Republican Government of the Transvaal, and so endorsed
their promises by action.

In considering the position in which we are placed to-day
we must remember not only the state of opinion which
existed in the earlier half of the nineteenth century on the
subject of racial equality, but also the events which have
happened since. Pledges such as those contained in the
proclamation of Sir Charles Napier were made at a time
when large sections of the British nation had not come
into touch with coloured races as they have to-day. It
was commonly supposed that all races irrespective of race
or colour were capable of the same civilization, and under
this idea pledges were then made which the British Govern-
ment has since struggled in the face of insuperable diffi-
culties to carry out.

It was in accordance with this policy that the British
Government resisted by every means in its power the im-
position by the Transvaal Republic of restrictions upon
British Asiatics. The British Government were merely
adopting the policy which, as a matter of course, they
would have adopted in any country where the rights of
British subjects were being overridden, but I do not think
that the consequences which must ultimately result from such
a policy were reaUzed at that time. To-day, the Government

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY 153

cannot fail to perceive the effects on the social composition
of the country, which have already resulted from the con-
cessions made to British Indians in the past, or to see clearly
what will be the consequence of making still further con-
cessions. The nature of these consequences may be learned
by examining three typical examples — Johannesburg,
Pietersburg, and Natal.

In these three instances the growth of the Indian popula-
tion has been very different in proportion to the difference
of the facilities afforded them. In the Transvaal the Re-
publican Government were able to obey in some degree the
instincts which prompt a Colonial population to check
Indian immigration in spite of external pressure from the
Imperial Government. But in this country, unlike countries
where governments are more firmly established, law was
strongly or weakly administered in proportion to the pres-
sure which the local European population were able to
apply. In Johannesburg there existed a strong com-
mercial community with a well-organized Chamber of
Commerce, and a class of customers whose standard of
living is exceptionally high. In this town, therefore,
Indians, though numerous, never became a very important
element in the population. In the centre of the town
there exist indeed a few Indian shops, but the great bulk
of the Asiatic population confines itself to hawking vege-
tables and conducting a pedlar's trade amongst the Kaf&rs
on the mines. The general aspect of the town is that of
a European community, and would remind the visitor
more of London or Birmingham than of Cairo or Bombay.
But in a remote community like Pietersburg, the case is
very different. While the town supports a few substantial
wholesale merchants almost the entire retail trade is in
the hands of Indians. There are a few large stores belong-
ing to European merchants which are the retail depots of
wholesale establishments. In addition to these there is
one retail store in the hands of a small English trader.
With these exceptions, and leaving aside hairdressers,
chemists, and shops of a special nature, the whole of the

154 THE ASIATIC DANGER

retail trade round the square is in the hands of the Indians.
In fact, the white men supported by the trade carried on
round the Market Square in Pietersburg are numerically
in the minority. The town from a commercial point of
view ha^ a hybrid appearance, the Indian element being
rather more prominent than the European. But the most
serious feature in this town is the increasing predominance
of the Indians. A long list might be furnished of small
white traders who once had stores round the Square, and
have now been crushed out of existence. The total white
population of Pietersburg is estimated at 1,684. The
registers of the Asiatic Department show no less than 135
Indians almost entirely adult males, and practically all
engaged in the business of store-keeping.

Sir M. Bhownaggree is evidently writing in ignorance of
the existing circumstances of urban life outside Johannes-
burg and Pretoria when, in Section 18 of his letter to Mr.
Chamberlain, he states that if the Franchise were granted
with educational restrictions : —

*' there is not the shadow of a shade of fear of Indians
dominating the elections or being sufficiently strong
to turn the scale between rival parties in the
MunicipaUties."

To come now to Natal. In that Colony the presence of
the Indian has had an even more injurious effect upon the
growth of a European population than in such a town
as Pietersburg. So prevalent is the Indian element in that
country that the moment one crosses the Transvaal Border
he loses the impression that he is travelling in a European
country at all. Natal has an immense native population,
which twenty years ago was served in the way of trade only
by Europeans. Traders of this class formed an important
element in the white population of Natal. To-day this
class of trader has vanished altogether, and their business
is now entirely in the hands of Asiatics. I hope to be able
to furnish tabulated information, which will give clear

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY 155

evidence of the effect which Indian immigration is having
upon the development of the population.

The population of the South African Colonies may be
divided into three classes. There is, first of all, the class
engaged in official and professional work, and in the con-
duct of large undertakings. In this sphere the European
will always remain supreme ; it is, nevertheless, open to
invasion by Asiatics. On a level with those, but in a cate-
gory apart, are the farmers, almost entirely Dutch in
nationality, whose sphere is unaffected by Asiatic competi-
tion. Secondly, there is the class of retail traders, and small
cultivators or market-gardeners. It is quite possible for
the Asiatic to exclude the European from this sphere alto-
gether. Again, on a level with this second class, but quite
apart from it, are the skilled tradesmen and mechanics,
whose place might be taken by Asiatics, but who can prob-
ably be trusted by combination to maintain their ground.
Thirdly, there is the class of unskilled labourers. This
consists exclusively of Kaffirs whose insufficient number it
is now proposed to supplement by indentured Chinese
coolies. For the present, if not permanently, the white
man steadily refuses to share this sphere with the Kafi&r
races. The statesman would be more than sanguine who
expected to find room in this third division for the expan-
sion of a white population. All we can say with certainty
is that the numbers which can be maintained in the first
two classes are dependent almost entirely on the numbers
obtainable for the third class. The direct practical and
immediate way to make room for white men in this country
is by additions to the labouring classes, which is the
necessary foundation upon which the superstructure of
the other two classes can be built. As you enlarge these
foundations so the two other classes will be enlarged auto-
matically, but not in the same ratio, for the second and
larger class will increase much more rapidly than the first.

Assuming, therefore, that the first duty of statesmen in
this country is to multiply homes for white men, there is
every justification for the enlargement of the labouring

156 THE ASIATIC DANGER

class by the introduction of Asiatics, provided the limita-
tion of their sphere of work to that of unskilled labour is
maintained. But it is very dif&cult to prove that the
admission of Asiatics of the second class enlarges in other
directions the sphere for white men to a degree which com-
pensates for such admission. It may lead to a slight reduc-
tion in the cost of living, and thence to a certain enlarge-
ment of the mechanic class, but no new sphere for white
men is created, which at all corresponds to the space which
is filled up by the intrusion of the Asiatic into the sphere
of commerce and agriculture. The nett result will be that
to which Natal is approximating, where for 73,000 whites
you have a population of 80,000 Indians, and where white
men as small cultivators and retail traders have been well-
nigh eliminated.

Sir M. Bhownaggree regards as most unfortunate the
description of Indians of this country as " Asiatics of a low
i/pe." I have appended to this memorandum a recent
correspondence in which Indian writers themselves lend
colour to this observation. It is evident that it is not the
Secretary of State who has been misinformed by Your
Excellency, but Sir M. Bhownaggree who hcis been misin-
formed by his local correspondent. He remarks for in-
stance that Dr. Porter's evidence as to the insanitary
condition of the coolie location, and as to the danger of an
outbreak of plague from that quarter : —

" was controverted by (Dr. F. P. Marais and Dr.
Johnson) medical men of at Iccist equal authority,
and of larger South African experience."

Dr. Porter's opinion was supported by the Medical
Of&cer of Health for the Transvaal, the Medical Officer
of Health for the Witwatersrand, and Dr. Murray, a medical
man of long South African experience. Dr. Johnson
definitely committed himself to the opinion that plague
was not likely to break out in the location (see questions
6775 and 67 y^ of the Johannesburg Insanitary Area Com-

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY 157

mission Report). The present outbreak of plague originated
in that location. Dr. Marais, on the other hand, steadily-
refused to commit himself to any such opinion, and the
last two weeks have appended a tragic commentary to his
caution on this point. After devoted attendance on sup-
posed cases of pneumonia in the location. Dr. Marais himself
died of the same symptoms on the i8th March, the day before
the outbreak was identified as Pneumonic Plague. Within
a week his wife, three of his four children, and his attendant
succumbed to the disease.

Again, Sir M. Bhownaggree has been led by a petition
to which the signatures of forty Europeans are attached
to question the belief that public opinion is intensely hostile
to the Indian Community. The signatories to the petition
are leading residents of Johannesburg ; and while I do not
question for one moment the genuine nature of their appeal,
the fact must not be lost sight of that, as I have demon-
strated above, the conditions of Johannesburg at the
present time are such that the big European firms can
well ignore the competition of Asiatic traders, and are in
quite a different position from that of the European trader
in the smaller towns. The difficulties experienced by the
Colonial Secretary in establishing Asiatic Bazaars within
reasonable distance of these towns in the face of strenuous
opposition from their inhabitants point to the fact that
Sir M. Bhownaggree has been strangely misinformed.

In my opinion we are face to face with a most difi&cult
problem of modem civilization. The British Empire is
now so extended as to include countries typical of every
climate ; it contains large tropical tracts, some, like India,
thickly peopled, others, like Central Africa, almost destitute
of population, both alike incapable of becoming the per-
manent home of a white nation. It likewise happens to
contain a certain principal share of the temperate countries
still open for settlement by European races. India belongs
to the first class, and is a country in which the European
leads a purely exotic existence. The European element
as compared numerically to the native can never be other-

158 THE ASIATIC DANGER

wise than insignificant, and must always be confined to
the official and military classes, and the higher branches
of commerce and industry. In any other branch there
never was and never will be any question of the European
ousting the native. India has in her climate a protection
more permanent and more effective against social invasion
than any act of alien immigration could ever afford her.

But South Africa is one of the countries inhabitable
alike by Europeans and Asiatics, and it is difficult to con-
ceive any question at the present moment more momentous
than the struggle between East and West for the inheritance
of these semi-vacant territories. Promises have been
made without knowledge or perception of the consequence
involved in their fulfilment.

If the redemption of the pledges upon which Sir M.
Bhownaggree depends both in letter and spirit means that
in fifty or a hundred years this country will have fallen
to the inheritance of the Eastern instead of Western popu-
lations, then from the point of view of civilization they
must be numbered among promises which it is a greater
crime to keep than to break. As India is protected by
her climate against Europeans, so England is protected by
the same agency against the invasion of the Asiatic, to
which this country is subject. But if it were not so would
the faith of these pledges be held to entitle the Indian shop-
keeper to eliminate from English society the small shop-
keeper and farmer ? They would be held by English
statesmen to be no more sacred than a promise which
inadvertently committed a man to suicide. It was pre-
cisely this feeling which the anti-Chinese agitation aroused.
The English electorate then showed themselves sufficiently
strenuous for the exclusion of Asiatics who would reduce,
it was thought, the market for white labour.

I have not touched upon the sanitary dangers arising
from the presence of an Asiatic population, except to correct
Sir M. Bhownaggree's statement. I have preferred to
place the matter upon what I regard as its true footing.
The Europeans who form the Commercial Community

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY 159

of this country are struggling for continued existence which
is threatened by an influx of Asiatics. Owing to past
events, vested interests have been acquired, which it is
impossible for the Government of the Transvaal to ignore,
but if this country in the future is to be a sphere for the
development of an English population, the principles of
our Asiatic policy must in my opinion be such as make
the granting of traders' licences subject to the conditions
enumerated above, and to control the future immigration
of Asiatics by a law similar to that of Cape Colony and
Natal. In considering the provisions restricting the immi-
gration of aliens, it is obvious that as far as possible the
legislation introduced by the various Colonies should be
uniform. Cape Colony and Natal would have a legitimate
grievance against the Transvaal if the laws in force in the
latter Colony were less stringent than those in force in the
former. If such were the case it would be quite easy for
immigrants to enter the Transvaal via Delagoa Bay, and
to make their way into the neighbouring Colonies. It is
quite impossible to control ingress and egress from adjoining
countries divided by a border line so extended as that
which separates the Colonies of South Africa. I do not
for one moment believe that the Legislatures of either
Cape Colony or Natal will consent to the proposal to include
the Indian language in the test to be applied to immigrants
contained in the telegram from the Secretary of State of
the 4th January, 1904.

Even if they are wilUng to do so, I am not, after mature
consideration, prepared to submit such a proposal to the
Legislative Council of the Transvaal although when it was
originally suggested I offered no opposition thereto.

The episodes of the past few weeks have brought the
Asiatic question into prominence, and I think that I am
able to gauge with accuracy the feeling of the people of
this country towards British Indians generally.

The outbreak of plague has demonstrated the bias of
the European population, but I base my judgment rather
on the exhibition of public feeling recently manifested

l6o THE ASIATIC DANGER

in the Legislative Council, in the discussions of every
Chamber of Commerce, and by the whole body of the public
at the time when the Government undertook the task of
selecting sites for bazaars. The British Indian Association
maintains that these sites are quite unsuitable, but they
have, in my opinion, overstated their case.

The objections raised by the townspeople have been also
unreasonable.

I think that the selections have been well made.

Speaking generally I am convinced that a modus vivendi
is only possible by a compromise, and that the basis of a
compromise which will be acceptable to the Europeans of
the Transvaal must be to treat fairly those Indians who
have been allowed to come into the country, and to let any
future immigrants know the disabilities under which they
will be allowed to enter the Transvaal.

The prohibition which exists against the owning of land
by British Indians is due to the same general instinct of
self-preservation which has led to the protests against
Indian traders by the Commercial Community. It is
perfectly true that if it were possible for the Indians to
acquire land and devote themselves to the cultivation
of the soil, the necessaries of life in the way of garden
produce which are now for the moment abnormally costly
would be considerably cheapened, but the community
would infinitely prefer to suffer a temporary disability in
this respect than to see the establishment in their midst
of a race of landowners whom they instinctively regard as
aliens.

At the present time the market is glutted with farms
for sale, and I have no doubt that if the restrictions now
placed upon the acquisition of land by Indians were re-
moved thousands of acres would at once pass into the
hands of British Indians, many of whom have acquired
immense wealth in trade both here and in Natal. The
ignorant Dutch farmer is a credulous person, and just now
is being crammed by unscrupulous people with the most
absurd stories to the effect that the British Government

LORD MILNER AND SIR ARTHUR LAWLEY l6l

is determined to wrest his land from him. The Fencing
Act, the taking of a Census, the Stock Regulations, are
interpreted as insidious means whereby the Government
is seeking to acquire his farm. These stories are, of course,
ridiculous, but they receive ready credence from the un-
educated Boer, and they produce in his mind a sense of
uneasiness, and a desire to " make hay while the sun
shines," and dispose of his land on the first opportunity.
The present would be a most unfortunate moment to bring
into the land market an entirely new speculator, and it is
our duty to save the farmers of the country from this
danger.

For these reasons the Government deem it impossible
to allow the indiscriminate acquisition of land by Indians,
but they are prepared to allow Indians to hold land in
bazaars or any other areas set apart for Asiatics. It
would, moreover, be only reasonable to remove the vexa-
tious provision of the existing law, by which Indians are
prohibited from holding in their own name land devoted
to religious purposes.

I have endeavoured to set forth clearly what I believe
to be the true feeling of the general public in regard to this
question as well as to give an outline of the legislation
which we propose to introduce during the next Session of
the Legislative Council. It embodies the policy contained
in Government Notice No. 356, of 1903, to which this
Government has steadily adhered. As I have already
stated, I anticipate that the proposed restrictions on
British Indians may appear to His Majesty's Government
to be somewhat severe, but I am quite certain that we
shall have the greatest difficulty in carrying in the Legisla-
tive Council even such a measure as I have described.
There is no mistaking the feeling of the public on this
question, and I am confident that great pressure will be
put upon the Government to impose still further restrictions
than those at present proposed, but it would be most
unfortunate if we were after meeting with strenuous opposi-
tion to pass any measure in the Legislative Council which

M

l62 THE ASIATIC DANGER

might afterwards fail to receive the approval of the Secre-
tary of State.

Some legislative measure is urgently necessary, and I
therefore earnestly hope that we may be informed with
the least possible delay whether the Secretary of State
will now give his approval to the introduction of legislation
containing the provisions which I have enumerated above.
I have, etc.,

Arthur Lawley,

Lieutenant-Governor.
His Excellency

The Right Honourable Viscount Milner,
P.C., G.C.B., G.C.M.G., etc., etc.,
Johannesburg.

APPENDIX VI

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS

The following is a verbatim official report of the deputa-
tion of the Transvaal British Indian Association to Lord
Elgin, Secretary of State for the Colonies, on November
8, 1906.

The Deputation consisted of the following gentlemen : —

Lord Stanley of Alderley.

Mr. H. O. Ally) Delegates from the

Mr. Gandhi J Transvaal.

Sir Lepel Griffin.

Mr. J. D. Rees, CLE., M.P.

Sir George Birdwood, K.C.S.I.

Sir Henry Cotton, K.C.S.I., M.P.

Mr. Naoroji.

Sir M. M. Bhownaggree, K.C.I. E.

Mr. Amir All

Mr. Harold Cox, M.P.

Mr. Thornton, C.S.I.

The Earl of Elgin : I should like to say, gentlemen,
that I made this interview a private one because I thought,
from experience of other meetings of the same sort, we
should be better able to discuss the matter friendlily across
the table without the presence of public reporters ; at the
same time, I am quite aware that the Deputation wish to
go into matters of some detail, and therefore I have made
arrangements for a note to be taken, so that anything which
may be said shall be on record. Then I should like to say
one other word. I recognize among the Deputation some

163

164 THE ASIATIC DANGER

of those with whom I have had the pleasure of working in
India, and I hope they have explained to the Deputation,
if it was necessary, that my sentiments would all be in
favour of doing anything I could for the interest of the
British Indians. (Hear, hear.)

Sir Lepel Griffin : My Lord, what you have just said
makes my duty in introducing the Delegates more easy.
We are very much obliged to your Lordship for admitting
this deputation of men who are all known to you as gentle-
men connected with India, who have been most of them
in India themselves, and all are interested in India, and
we are very glad, without any question of party feeling,
because all sides are represented in this Deputation, to
introduce to you the Delegates from South Africa, Mr.
Gandhi who is, as your Lordship is aware, a barrister of the
Inner Temple, and a man who, in the late Boer War, and
in the late rising in Natal, has done most excellent work
for the country in organizing ambulance corps and in other
ways — he practises now in Johannesburg — and Mr. Ally,
his colleague, who is the representative of the Mohammedan
part of the Indian community in the Transvaal, a merchant
of very good position, and the founder and, I believe, the
Chairman of the Islamic Association in the Transvaal. To
those gentlemen I propose to leave any details of the Ordi-
nance which has now been passed and which we are about
to ask His Majesty's Government to veto. But I would
like to say a few words in explaining the matter before the
Colonial Office, and I shall take up the time of your Lord-
ship only for a few minutes. I have been asked to
present this Deputation, principally, I fancy, because
I happen to be the Chairman of the Council of the East
India Association, of which your Lordship is a distinguished
Vice-President, but the question which the East India
Association has so often urged upon successive Colonial
Secretaries and Secretaries for India and Viceroys of India,
is not directly concerned in our presence here to-day. The
bed-rock, as your Lordship is aware, of the East India
Association's protest, that all well-conducted, loyal, and

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS 165

industrious British subjects, whatever their race or colour,
should receive equal rights in all colonies of the British Empire;
that is the bed-rock of justice which has always been refused
in the past, but on which the East India Association,
which is represented largely here to-day, begs to continue
to rely, and from which it must continue to make its pro-
test. That, my Lord, is not precisely the question which
this Deputation desires to put forward this afternoon ;
they are not making any of those large claims which we have
before made ; they only ask that a certain Ordinance, apply-
ing to the Transvaal alone, may not receive the sanction
of His Majesty's Government. A few words only are
necessary on this point. During the Boer Government,
the 'British Indians were treated with considerable harsh-
ness, but their immigration into the Transvaal was not
prohibited, and with the exception of a fee for licence for
adult traders, they were not interfered with. But their
position was an exceedingly uncomfortable one, and many
protests were raised, which, we understood, when the
country fell into the hands of the English, would be redressed.
So far from being redressed, their position is made worse,
and the rules for registration and identification were made
exceedingly more rigorous. The Ordinance, which has
now been passed, makes, whatever people in South Africa
may choose to say, their position infinitely worse and more
degrading. It may be said that, in the Transvaal, these
rules are for the benefit of the Indians, but the toad under
the harrow knows where the harrow grips him, and the
Indians in the Transvaal consider that the new regula-
tions of this Ordinance are a grievance and an insult which
is almost too grievous to be borne ; and I for one most
strongly support their claim and their protest. Under
this Ordinance, every one in the Transvaal is exposed to
the most rigorous investigation ; the impressions of his
fingers are to be recorded on every pass ; no one is allowed
in, man, woman, or child, without registration of so rigorous
a character, that it has been unheard of in any civilized
country within a recollection. Under this regulation, every

l66 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Indian in the Transvaal, whether an adult male, woman, or
whether a child, and even babes in arms, will be obliged to
be registered under such conditions as only ordinarily apply
to convicts in a civilized country ; and evasion, or ignor-
ance, or even forgetfulness on this point is punished by
crushing fines, by imprisonment with hard labour, by expul-
sion, and by ruin. You, my Lord, who have been Viceroy
of India, and whose sympathy is with the country, must
know that legislation of this sort is unheard of under the
British Flag ; indeed, to-day, in Europe I may say, with-
out any exaggeration, that with the exception of the Russian
legislation against the Jews, there is no legislation compar-
able to this on the Continent of Europe ; and in England,
if we wanted a similar case, we should have to go back to the
time of the Plantagenets. And against whom is this legis-
lation directed ? Against the most orderly, honourable,
industrious, temperate race in the world, people of our own
stock and blood, with whom our language has, as a sister
language, been connected. There is no occasion, in the
presence of people connected with India, who know its
history, to say what the Indian community is to-day ; it
is almost an insult to refer to it. And by whom is this
legislation instigated ? I am told, and I believe it, that
it is not by the best part of the British Community in the
Transvaal, who are, I believe, in favour of giving all reason-
able privileges to British-Indian subjects ; it is by the alien
foreign population in the Transvaal, who are, perhaps, to
some extent inconvenienced by Indian traders, who are
so very much more temperate and industrious than them-
selves. It does not come from the English. The legisla-
tion is prompted, and the prejudice against the Indians is
encouraged, by the aliens, by Russian Jews, by Syrians,
by German Jews, by every class of aliens, the very off-
scourings of the international sewers of Europe. The
English residents, against whom I do not wish to say one
word of criticism, are a part, in my mind, of the Transvaal,
but the Transvaal is only a colony by conquest, not by
settlement, and it is the aliens who are opposed to this

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS 167

honourable Indian community. My Lord, I do not wish
to take up more of your time, but what I wish to say is,
that to-day we ask you, as representing His Majesty's
Government, and as we know your sympathies are with
the Indians over whom you have ruled with so much dis-
tinction, to procure the vetoing of this Ordinance. No large
questions are brought before you to-day by this deputation.
They are not asking for poUtical rights ; they are not ask-
ing for gratitude for their great and devoted services in the
Transvaal War, where so many of them lost their lives in
their devotion to England, doing as courageous work as
any one of the members of the armies which were sent by
England, by Australia, or by Canada. Those services have
not been recognized ; on the contrary, they have been
ignored, and further burdens have been placed upon them.
We ask for nothing to-day except the merest, barest justice.
We ask that the whips which the Boers have inflicted upon
us may not be changed into scorpions wielded by the
British Government. I would say, in conclusion, that we
hope everything from the present Government, and for
this reason, that the grievances of the Chinese have received
the utmost sympathy at the hands of the Government,
but so far as this Deputation is concerned, the Chinese and
other alien nations do not count. We ask, not for the Chinese,
but for our own fellow-subjects, and we ask that justice,
if not generosity, may be dealt out to them, and that your
Lordship will save them from insult and oppression. It
was at your Lordship's request that this deputation was a
small one ; it might have been indefinitely extended. This
is a test-case — a question of going forward or going back.
Your Lordship, as a past Viceroy of India, is aware that the
attention of the whole of India, 300 millions of Indians, is
intent to-day upon the decision which will be given in this
test-case, and I beg your Lordship to think and to remember
that, besides the Indians of Indian birth, against whom the
insults of this Ordinance are directed, there are the whole
body of Indian officials, to which I and most of the members
of this Deputation belong, who are insulted with the natives

l68 THE ASIATIC DANGER

of India. Is it not to be supposed that we, who have worked
with, we who have governed, this province of India under
your Lordship and under your predecessors and successors,
have been governing degraded creatures who are placed
lower even than the Zulus and Russian Jews ? No my
Lord ! We trust to you to do what you can to defend the
people whom you have governed so well. And I will beg
you to excuse any exciting warmth in my way of speaking,
because I assure you that any warmth in my words is very
much exceeded by the feeling of shame and resentment which
fills my heart at the way in which the British Indians of
the Transvaal are treated to-day by the settlers (I will not
call them colonists) of that country.

MR. GANDHI.

Mr. Gandhi : Both Mr. Ally and I are very much obliged
to your Lordship for giving us the opportunity of placing
the British- Indian position before you. Supported though
we are by distinguished Anglo-Indian friends and others,
I feel that the task before Mr. Ally and myself is very diffi-
cult, because your Lordship, in reply to the cablegram sent
to you through Lord Selborne, after the great Indian
Mass Meeting in Johannesburg, was pleased to inform the
British India Association that, although you would be
pleased to give us every opportunity of stating our case,
no good purpose was likely to be served, as your Lordship
had approved of the principle of the Ordinance, in that it
gave some measure of relief to the British- Indian com-
munity, though not as much as His Majesty's Government
would desire. We, who are the men on the spot, and who
are affected by the Ordinance in question, have ventured
to think otherwise. We have felt that this Ordinance does
not give us any relief whatsoever. It is a measure which
places British Indians in a far worse position than before,
and makes the lot of the British Indian well-nigh intolerable.
Under the Ordinance, the British Indian is assumed to
be a criminal. If a stranger, not knowing the circumstances

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS 169

of the Transvaal, were to read the Ordinance, he would have
no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that an Ordinance
of that nature, which carries so much penalties, and wounds
the British-Indian community on all sides, must only apply
to thieves or a gang of robbers. I venture, therefore, to
think that, although Sir Lepel Grifi&n has used strong lan-
guage in connexion with the Ordinance, he has not at all
exaggerated, but every word of it is justified. At the
same time, I beg to state that the Ordinance, as amended,
does not apply to British- Indian females. The draft Ordi-
nance undoubtedly applied to females also, but owing to
the very strong protests made by the British- India Associa-
tion, and by Mr. Ally separately, as Chairman of the Hamidia
Islamic Society, pointing out the great violence that would
have been done to female sanctity, if I may say so, the Ordi-
nance was amended so as to take females out of its operation.
But it applies to all adult males and even to children, in that
the parents or guardians have to take out registration
certificates for their children or wards, as the case may be.
It is a fundamental maxim of the British law that every
one is presumed to be innocent until he is found guilty, but
the Ordinance reverses the process, brands every Indian
as guilty, and leaves no room for him to prove his innocence.
There is absolutely nothing proved against us, and yet every
British Indian, no matter what his status is, is to be con-
demned as guilty, and not treated as an innocent man. My
Lord, an Ordinance of this nature it is not possible for
British Indians to reconcile themselves to. I do not know
that such an Ordinance is applicable to free British sub-
jects in any part of His Majesty's dominions. Moreover,
what the Transvaal thinks to-day, the other colonies think
to-morrow. When Lord Milner sprang his Bazaar Notice
on British Indians, the whole of South Africa rang with the
idea. The term " bazaar " is a misnomer ; it has been really
applied to locations where trade is utterly impossible. How-
ever, a proposal was seriously made, after a bazaar notice,
by the then Mayor of Durban, Mr. Ellis Brown, that Indians
should be relegated to bazaars. There is not the slightest

170 THE ASIATIC DANGER

reason why this Ordinance also, if it ever becomes law, should
not be copied by the other parts of South Africa. The
position to-day in Natal is that even indentured Indians
are not required to carry passes as contemplated by the
Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance ; nor are there any
penalties attached to the non-carrying of passes as are
defined in the Ordinance under discussion. We have
already shown, in our humble representation, that no relief
has been granted by this Ordinance, because the remission
of the £-^ fee referred to by Mr. Duncan is quite illusory,
because all we British Indians resident in the Transvaal,
who are obliged to pay £'^ under Law 3 of 1885, and those
who, under Lord Selborne's promises are likely to be allowed
to re-enter the Transvaal, have paid the ^3 already. The
authority to issue temporary permits is also superfluous,
in that the Government have already exercised the power,
and there are to-day in the Transvaal several Indians in
possession of temporary permits. They are liable to be
expelled from the Colony on the expiry of their permits.
The relief under the Liquor Ordinance is, British Indians
feel, a wanton insult. So much was this recognized by the
local Government, that they immediately assured the
Indians that it was not intended for British Indians at all,
but for somebody else. We have no connexion with any-
body else, and we have always endeavoured to show that
the British Indians ought to be treated as British subjects,
and ought not to be included with the general body of
Asiatics with respect to whom there may be a need for some
restrictions which ought not to apply to British Indians as
British subjects. There remains one more sentiment, that
is, in connexion with the land owned by the late Aboobaker.
The land should belong to the heirs by right, but under the
interpretation reluctantly put upon it by the Supreme
Court, that it is only individual in character, and does not
touch the community, the land cannot be transmitted to
the heirs. The Ordinance is intended to rectify the error,
but as I had the honour to represent the heirs, I ventured
to think that even they would not consent to pay for getting

I

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS 17I

this relief at the price, in the nature of the Ordinance for
British Indians ; and certainly the Indian community can
never exchange, for the relief given to the heirs of the land
of Aboobaker, an Ordinance of this nature, which requires
them to pay so great a price for what is really their own.
So that under the Ordinance, in that respect again, there
is absolutely no relief. As I said before, we shall be under
the Ordinance branded as criminals. My Lord, the exist-
ing legislation is severe enough. I hold in my hands returns
from the Court of the Magistrate at Volksrust. Over 150
successful prosecutions of Indians attempting to enter
the Transvaal have taken place during the years 1905 and
1906. All these prosecutions, I venture to say, are by no
means just. I venture to believe that if these prosecutions
were gone into, you would see that some of them were abso-
lutely groundless. So far as the question of identification is
concerned, the present laws are quite enough. I produce
to Your Lordship the Registration Certificate held by me,
and it will show how complete it is to establish identification.
The present law can hardly be called an amendment. I
produce before Your Lordship a registration receipt held
by my colleague, Mr. Ally, from the Transvaal Govern-
ment. Your Lordship will see that it is merely a receipt
for £Tf. The registration under the present Ordinance is of
a different type. When Lord Milner wished to enforce
Law 3 of 1885, he suggested new registration. We pro-
tested against it, but on his strong advice, as a voluntary
act, we allowed ourselves to be newly registered ; and hence
the form produced before Your Lordship. At the time
the registration was undertaken. Lord Milner stated emphat-
ically that it was a measure once for all, and that it would
form a complete titj[e to residence by those who had such
registration certificates. Is all this now to be undone ?
Your Lordship is doubtless aware of the Punia case, wherein
a poor Indian woman, in the company of her husband, was
torn away from her husband, and was ordered by the Magis-
trate to leave the country within seven hours. Fortunately
relief was granted in the end, as the matter was taken up

172 THE ASIATIC DANGER

in time. A boy under eleven years was also arrested and
sentenced to pay a fine of /30 or to go to gaol for three
months, and at the end of it to leave the country. In this
case again, the Supreme Court has been able to grant justice.
The conviction was pronounced to be wholly bad, and Sir
James Rose-Innes stated that the Administration would
bring upon itself ridicule and contempt if such a policy was
pursued. If the existing legislation is strong enough, and
severe enough, to thus prosecute British Indians, is it not
enough to keep out of the colony British Indians who may
attempt fraudulently to enter it ? It has been stated that
the reason for passing the Ordinance is that there is an
unauthorized influx of British Indians into the Transvaal,
on a wholesale scale, and that there is an attempt, on the
part of the Indian community, to introduce Indians in such
a manner. The last charge has been, times without number,
repudiated by the Indian community, and the makers of
the charge have been challenged to prove their statement.
The first statement has also been denied. I ought to
mention one thing also ; that is, the fourth resolution that
was passed at the British- Indian Mass meeting. It was
passed by the meeting solemnly, prayerfully, and in all
humility, and the whole of that great meeting decided by
that resolution that if this Ordinance ever came to be
enforced and we did not get relief, the British Indians,
rather than submit to the great degradation involved in it,
would go to gaol — such was the intensity of the feeling
aroused by the Ordinance. We have hitherto suffered
much in the Transvaal and in other parts of South Africa ;
but the hardship has been tolerable ; we have not con-
sidered it necessary to travel 6,000 miles to place the position
before the Imperial Government. But the straining point
has been reached by the Ordinance, and we felt that we
should, in all humility, exhaust every resource, even to the
extent of sending a deputation to wait on Your Lordship.
The least, therefore, that in my humble opinion is due to
the British-Indian community, is to appoint a Commission
as suggested in the humble representation submitted to

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS I73

Your Lordship. It is a time-honoured British custom
that, whenever an important principle is involved, a Com-
mission is appointed before a step is taken. The question
of Alien Immigration into the United Kingdom is a parallel
case. Charges somewhat similar to the charges against the
Indian community were made against the aliens who enter
the United Kingdom. There was also the question of
adequacy of the existing legislation, and the necessity for
further legislation. All these three points were referred
to a Commission before any step was taken. I therefore
venture to think that a Commission should be appointed,
and the whole question thrashed out before any drastic
measures are taken. I venture therefore to hope that Your
Lordship will see your way to grant this small measure of
relief to the British-Indian community.

MR. ALLY.

Mr. H. O. Ally : My Lord, we are very much obliged
to you for the patient hearing Your Lordship is giving to
the deputation. Mr. Gandhi has stated the case fully before
Your Lordship, and I do not wish to add much to what has
already been said. I am not a lawyer, but as a layman, and
as a resident of old standing in the Transvaal, I do wish to
submit to Your Lordship that the hardships that the present
Ordinance would inflict upon us are unbearable. And I
can assure Your Lordship that, immediately the Ordinance
was introduced into the Legislative Council of the Trans-
vaal, my fellow-countrymen felt, and felt very keenly, to
think that such laws can be passed under a British Govern-
ment. It is what I should never have believed years ago.
Our lot is to-day infinitely worse than under the Boer regime ;
we were able to get protection from the British Govern-
ment during that time. Are we now, under the same
Government, to be persecuted ? When aliens of all classes
are, at the very moment that the Ordinance is introduced,
pouring into the Transvaal, and when they enjoy all the
rights and privileges granted to British subjects, my country-
men, who are always to the fore for the defence of the

174 THE ASIATIC DANGER

Empire, are suffering these serious disabilities and the dis-
abilities threatened by the Ordinance. To-day, in India,
the frontier is guarded by my countrymen, who shoulder
the rifle in defence of the Empire ; and it is very grievous
that they should have to suffer such misery, and that there
should be class-legislation against them of this type. I
appeal for justice, and I appeal to Your Lordship, in the
name of the British traditions, that you will be pleased
to remove the disability that the Ordinance will place upon
us, by vetoing it, or, at least, by granting a Commission.
We are loyal British subjects, and, as such, we are entitled
to the fullest protection. We have not asked for, and we do
not now ask for, political rights ; we are content that the
white man should be predominant in the Transvaal, but
we do feel that we are entitled to all the other ordinary
rights that a British subject should enjoy.

SIR HENRY COTTON.

Sir Henry Cotton : I wish to say one word, my
Lord, if I may. I am here not only as a retired Indian
Official, like many distinguished men I see around me, but
also as a member of the present Parliament and as Chair-
man of a meeting, which sat in the Grand Committee Room
upstairs in the House of Commons, attended by more than
100 Members of the Liberal party. I take this opportunity
of saying that I deeply regret that the invitations to attend
that meeting were not extended to both sides of the House
(Hear, hear). It was an unfortunate oversight, which we
all regret. But that meeting, I say, was attended by lOO
and more members of the House of Commons, and their
feeling was very strong indeed upon this subject ; indeed,
they went so far as to record a resolution that they sympa-
thized with and supported the prayer of the petitioners.
Since that meeting. My Lord, I have been brought in contact
with many members of the House of Commons who were
not present at the meeting, gentlemen on both sides of the
House. Many gentlemen on the opposite benches have
also intimated to me that there is a complete sympathy

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS I75

with the attitude taken up by Messrs, Gandhi and Ally-
on behalf of their fellow-subjects in the Transvaal.

I wish also, in associating myself, as I do completely,
with the observations which fell from Sir Lepel Grif&n,
to remind your Lordship that it was Lord Lansdowne,
for whom we all have the greatest regard and respect, who,
although he is the leader of the Opposition in the House of
Lords, is at all events, as we know very well, a most liberal-
minded statesman, who drew prominent attention in Eng-
land to the grievances which the British Indians in the
Transvaal suffered from under President Kruger's admin-
istration. Nothing, he said, roused so much indignation
in his mind, or so much anger as the ill-treatment which the
British Indians received in South Africa. And he went
further even in his speech — it was a speech delivered at
Shefi&eld two or three weeks after the outbreak of war —
for he said that he regarded with grave anxiety the state
of feeling which must inevitably exist in India, when it was
known that the British subjects of India in South Africa
were so ill-treated and ground down. And he pointed out
the imperative duty of the British Government to improve
their status and position.

Now, My Lord, that was a pledge which was given by
the head of the Opposition in the House of Lords, and I
appeal to you. My Lord, as the representative of the Liberal
Government, in dealing with this matter of South Africa,
that your duty is at least as decisive as Lord Lansdowne
claimed for himself a few years ago. It is true that the
people of India do feel this matter very deeply. It is true
also that the British Indians in South Africa have greater
grievances to complain of now than they had under the
Dutch Government, and the climax has been reached in the
passing of this Ordinance of which Messrs. Gandhi and I
here so grievously complain. Representing as I do a very
influential and large section of the House of Commons, and I
believe the almost unanimous official feeling in India on the
subject, I do trust that Your Lordship will be able to give
this petition your favourable consideration.

176 THE ASIATIC DANGER

SIR M. BHOWNAGGREE.

SirM. Bhownaggree : My Lord, I think the case has been
so ably and clearly put before Your Lordship that there is
not the least occasion for me to go into any details, and if I
feel called upon to address Your Lordship for a very few
minutes, it is simply on account of the interest I took in
this question all through my ten and a half years' career
in Parliament. I want to bring to your Lordship's notice
a few points which perhaps may not be within your know-
ledge.

In complaining of the grievances of British-Indian subjects
in South Africa, I had opportunities of seeing your predeces-
sors, Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Lyttleton, very often on the
subject. My activity had taken the form at last of a long
printed letter, in which I detailed the whole narrative
of the facts, and Mr. Lyttleton thereupon assured me that
the case had been so fairly put, and the demands made so
reasonable, that he hoped to get some relief. I, on the
other hand, knew what the local forces of opposition to a
liberal policy on the part of any Ministry of the Imperial
Government would be, and whilst I thanked him for his
sympathetic answer, I told him it might be necessary to
appoint a Commission to inquire into the whole subject. Sir
George Farrar, who represented the anti-British Indian
interest in the Transvaal Legislature, also happened at the
same time to suggest that the appointment of a Commis-
sion would ventilate the matter, and might bring some
solution of that very difficult problem. Thereupon, I
addressed Mr. Lyttleton again, accepting Sir George Farrar's
offer, and matters were in that train, and I believe Mr. Lyttle-
ton would have ultimately appointed a Commission, but
the Government of which he was a member then, went out
of office. Recognizing the very difficult position in which
the whole question stands, I now urge that a Commission
might be appointed, pending the report of which this Ordi-
nance might at least be held in abeyance, so that you may
have the benefit of judging the whole question by the report
of that Commission.

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS I77

I have only one word to add, my Lord. For five years
Your Lordship has been the custodian and guardian of
Indian interests, and the protector of their rights during a
memorable and distinguished Viceroyalty. To-day as our
leader, Sir Lepel Grifl&n, has well said, the eyes of all India
are focussed on the proceedings which are taking place in
this room, and I am only expressing the sentiments of the
three hundred millions of people in India when I express
the hope that Your Lordship will, on account of the sym-
pathy which you have shown, and which I believe you are
ready to show, and of which even on our entrance into this
room you assured us, allow no other consideration but that
of justice to weigh with you, and will grant the prayer
which these gentlemen have come all this long distance here
to ask at your hands.

MR. REES.

Mr. Rees : I am not going, my Lord, into the subject
of the merits of the case . I think they were amply dealt with
by Sir Lepel Griffin ; nor am I going to speak of my interest
in this subject, which I have often brought before Parlia-
ment myself, but when Sir Henry Cotton spoke of the
meeting yesterday, I should like to say that it was not only
a party meeting, but it was a meeting of a part of a party,
and that I do deprecate with all my heart and soul, in
a matter which is of such serious importance, any endeavour
to make any subject connected with British India a party
subject. I do not think that there can be a more serious
matter than this very serious one upon which we have come
before Your Lordship, viz.: the unfortunate manner in
which our fellow -subjects have been treated in the Trans-
vaaL

MR. HAROLD COX.

Mr. Harold Cox : My Lord, I am in a somewhat differ-
ent position from most of the gentlemen here, because I
am neither an ex-official of the Government of India, nor am I

N

178 THE ASIATIC DANGER

myself Indian by birth, but I did have the honour personally
of serving in India for two years under a Native Prince, and
I look back to that period of my life with the greatest
pleasure. That is one special reason why I am here to-day.
But at the back of my mind, the real reason why I am here
to-day is because I am English, and because I think this
matter is a disgrace to my country. Our country was
pledged, when we went to war with the Transvaal, to do jus-
tice to the British Indians. That justice has not been done,
and I contend that it is not possible for the present Govern-
ment, of which Your Lordship is a part, to ride off on the
plea that the Transvaal is a self-governing colony. It is
not a self-governing colony. It is absolutely subject to
your authority, and whatever is done by you to-day or at
any other time, is done, not in the name of the Transvaal,
but in the name of the English people, and in the name of
the English people, I protest against any injustice being
done to British subjects.

MR. NAOROJI.

Mr. Naoroji : I do not want to take up Your Lordship's
time, and after the able manner in which the whole subject
has been laid before you, I would only join in the appeal that
has been made to you on behalf of my fellow-subjects
under the British flag. If there is one principle more
important than another, it is that of the freedom of
British subjects under the British flag, and I do hope that
the British Government, especially a Liberal Government,
will stand upon this basis.

MR. AMEER ALL

Mr. Ameer Ali : Will Your Lordship allow me to make
one observation only ? Perhaps my recent experience of
India is the most recent of all. I venture to say this : that
the feelings of India are very strong on this subject of the
injury done to British Indians in the Transvaal, and it will

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS I79

be a serious mistake if the subject is put on one side. That
is the only matter I want to present to Your Lordship.

LORD ELGIN'S REPLY.

The Earl of Elgin : In the first place, I would like to
say that I entirely accept the position which Mr. Cox put
upon me. I am responsible, no doubt, for the advice which
is given in this matter and nobody else, and I do not wish
to shirk my responsibility. In the second place, I wish also
to express my adherence to what was said by Mr. Rees, Sir
Henry Cotton, and others, that I regard this as no party
question at all. Sir Henry Cotton quoted from Lord
Lansdowne, but I have before me a despatch from the
Colonial Secretary of the last Government from which I
should like to read one paragraph :

" His Majesty's Government cannot believe that the
British community in the Transvaal appreciate the true
nature of the proposition which some of its members are
pressing upon you. They, as Britons, are as jealous
of the honour of the British name as ourselves, and even
if a material sacrifice were necessary to vindicate that
honour, I feel assured they would cheerfully make it.
His Majesty's Government hold that it is derogatory to
national honour to impose on resident British subjects
disabilities against which we had remonstrated, and to
which even the law of the late South African Republic
rightly interpreted did not subject them, and they do
not doubt that, when this is perceived, the public
opinion of the colony will not any longer support the
demand which has been put forward."

Sir Henry Cotton : May I ask which Colonial Secretary
that was ?

The Earl of Elgin : It was from Mr. Lyttleton, written
in 1904.

Now I understand from the gentlemen who have come
before me to-day that we are not here to discuss general

l8o THE ASIATIC DANGER

sympathies, nor are we to consider anything further than
the rights which the British-Indian communities possessed
in the past. They do not ask at this present moment for
an extension of those rights. That limits the matter, as I
think you wish it to be limited, to the question of this
Ordinance itself.

Sir Lepel Griffin : For the present, my Lord. We are
going to fight the question hereafter.

The Earl of Elgin : Oh, yes, I am thinking of to-day,
and the answer I have to give.

Sir Lepel Griffin : Yes.

The Earl of Elgin : I only make that observation in
order that I may be precise in my answer. The question
therefore is with reference to this Ordinance, and following
up the remark I made just now about its being no party
question, I hope you will accept it from me that it was no
intention of the men at the head of the Transvaal Govern-
ment— they distinctly stated so to me — that they had no
intention whatever, in the legislation they brought forward,
to do otherwise than to improve, rather than to make worse,
the condition of the British-Indian community. I am not
saying that the subject is not perfectly open to your
criticisms, but I wish you to accept from me that that
was the intention with which this legislation was brought
forward. Now, Mr. Gandhi explains that, in some cases,
for instance, in the case of the poll-tax, this concession
which was supposed to be given under the Ordinance was
illusory. I admit that I think there was something in
his statement that most of those who would come under
the restriction I have mentioned would probably have paid
the ;^3 . But at the same time, dealing with this as a matter
of the status of the British Indians in the Transvaal, I can
see that the Government might quite fairly have held that,
in removing the imposition of the poll-tax once for all,
they were pro tanto improving the status of the British
Indians.

Then, with regard to the question of permits or registra-
tion, we have seen one of the permits given under the Boer

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS l8l

Administration. It is merely a receipt for the money.
The Boer Administration, in that respect, as well as in a
good many others, was not so accurate as the administra-
tion which necessarily, with our ideas, obtains under the
British Government, and therefore I am only stating the
view which has been put before me — the view of the Govern-
ment of the Transvaal is this : that as it stood under the
rules of the Boer Government, which they had inherited,
there was great confusion and there were great administra-
tive difficulties, and that, consequently, there was a consid-
erable degree of friction and also there arose considerable
delay in the determination of cases, of which I see traces in
the petition itself. It was for that purpose, as I understand
it, that the Government of the Transvaal proposed to con-
stitute the form of registration ; but according to their
representations to me, there was no intention whatever
of making that form of registration in any way more op-
pressive than the form of permits properly administered.
And, if I may just for a moment — I do not want to go into
all details — follow this question of thumb-marks, I think that
thumb-marks first came into notice prominently when Sir
Henry Cotton and I were associated in the Government
of India under our friend Mr. Henry, who occupies a promi-
nent position in this City now. No doubt the imposition
of thumb-marks was introduced in that case for the detec-
tion of criminals, but I do not know why the imposition of
a thumb-mark in itself should be a very debasing operation.
In fact, as they say, it has always seemed to me a most
marvellous thing that they say they can trace every thumb-
mark ; there might be an advantage over the hierogly-
phics which some of us call our signatures. And there is
this fact, I want just to mention, and to bring to the notice
of Mr. Gandhi, that on the permit which he has handed to
me issued under the present Ordinance, there is a thumb-
mark already imposed under the present Ordinance in
just the same way as it will be imposed under the new
Ordinance.

Mr. Gandhi : Only that that, as I said, is a purely

1 82 THE ASIATIC DANGER

voluntary act done by us on the advice and the instigation
of Lord Milner. He asked us to do that.

The Earl of Elgin : Quite so ; but still here is a
certificate which is an official certificate, and it bears a
thumb-mark.

Lord Stanley of Alderley : It was affixed without
prejudice.

The Earl of Elgin : I do not see why it should not
be affixed to the Registration certificate without preju-
dice.

Sir M. M. Bhownaggree : Might I explain one thing
here ? Whatever Lord Milner asked British Indians to
do was done on the understanding that the whole question
of the treatment of the community was one of consid-
eration between the Colonial Secretary for the time being,
and Lord Milner and the local authorities ; so that they
might have submitted to Lord Milner's injunction in a
respectful way, and, as Lord Stanley just now said, without
prejudice. But this imposes a sort of distinction between
one subject and another in the Transvaal.

The Earl of Elgin : Do not suppose I am taking it
further than this ; I am only saying, here is a document
which at present is in use with a thumb-mark and it cannot
be called debasing.

Mr. Gandhi : It is the " ten finger " mark.

The Earl of Elgin : Is it more debasing with ten
fingers ?

Sir Henry Cotton : It is only required in the case of
criminals.

The Earl of Elgin : I do not want to argue it, but I
think there is just that much to be said. Then there is
one matter about registration. That is, that if the system
of registration was carried out, it would give a final and
indefeasible title, to those who are registered, to their
rights in the Transvaal. That is the position of the Trans-
vaal Government on that matter. And as regards the
carrying of a pass, and any oppressive use of the power of
inspection, I am informed, and I have taken some trouble

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS 183

to ascertain it, that all that would be intended, so far as
checking the Ordinance Certificate is concerned, is that it
would probably be inspected once a year. As regards any
other casual demand for it, it would be, as I am told, exactly
in the same position as this permit is, which, if I am right,
may be demanded from anybody in the Transvaal. That
is the position. I do not want to elaborate too much on this
subject ; I only wish to make this explanation, that those
were the sorts of reasons which the Government of the
Transvaal put before me when they asked my assent to
the introduction of the legislation on these grounds, and it
is distinctly upon my apprehension that these modifications
of the law would in the long run be for the benefit and not
for the oppression of the British-Indian community, that I
gave my assent to the introduction of that legislation. Now,
gentlemen, we are in the position that this is challenged.
I think I ought to say, without in any way challenging the
authority with which Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Ali come here
as the representatives of a large meeting, that I have got
telegrams from the Transvaal advising me of the forwarding
of a Petition from British Indians, which they say has
been lately signed, in opposition to the views which have
been placed before me to-day, and with regard to the
general feeling I have to-day received two more telegrams —
I say two more, because there are a good many others
from different Municipalities in the country — urging the
passing of the Ordinance, and so on. I cannot therefore
entirely subscribe to what Sir Lepel Griffin said about the
opposition, and the nature of the opposition, to this matter.
I regret it more than anybody in this room. I suppose
there could be found, if not in the records of this Office,
at any rate in the records of the India Of&ce, despatches,
with my signature attached to them, protesting, in as
strong language as has been used here, against the restric-
tions on British citizens, and I do not go back from one
single word. But we have to recognize the fact that all
over the world there are difficulties arising on the part
of white communities, and we have to reckon with them.

184 THE ASIATIC DANGER

I do not say that they ought always to succeed ; they
certainly ought not to succeed in points of detail which
would in any way involve oppression. But the fact of
there being that sentiment has to be borne in mind when
we have to deal with matters of this description. I do
not think I have much more to reply to. A reference has
been made to the proposition, towards the end of the
Petition, that at any rate there might be a postponement
for the examination of the subject by a Commission. That,
no doubt, is an alternative which might be adopted ; but
I am not in a position to-day to say whether that is so or
not. Indeed, I think you will easily acknowledge that I
did you the best compliment when I did not endeavour
to make up my mind until I had seen you and heard what
you have to say. That is my position : I have now heard
what Mr. Gandhi had to say. I hope he has put before me
as fully as he desired what he had come so far to say. I
have heard the other gentlemen who have accompanied
him. I will give the best consideration to their repre-
sentations, and I shall think it my duty to make up my
mind with the full responsibility which I have to as-
sume.

Mr. Gandhi : May I make one statement, my Lord,
for one minute ? I have listened with the very greatest
attention, and with very great obligation, to Your Lord-
ship's statement, but I must submit that the information
placed before Your Lordship on some points is not accurate,
and I am in a position to refute that information by docu-
mentary evidence with regard to permits, as Your Lord-
ship used the term in connexion with the Ordinance of
1885, but this is not the occasion when I could do it. But
if your Lordship will ask us to wait upon you, we will do
it. But that just shows that nothing short of a Commission
would place our position accurately before Your Lord-
ship.

Sir Lepel Griffin : My Lord, I beg, on behalf of the
Deputation, to express our best thanks for the exceedingly
kind and courteous way in which you have received us,

LORD ELGIN AND THE TRANSVAAL INDIANS 185

and the patience with which you have listened tp what
we had to say. We were assured before of your full sym-
pathy in this matter, and knew it perfectly well.

The Deputation then withdrew.

INDEX

Account books in English,
69

Accountants, Asiatic, 33

Adelaide, 74

Agents (Indian), S3

Agriculturists, Indian in Na-
tal, 29, 30

America, effect of immi-
gration into, 3

American goods boycotted, 5

Arab store -keepers, 41, 57 ;
ditto traders, 96

Arbitration, Transvaal In-
dian complaints, 57

Asia, awakening, 4

Asiatic peril, 2

— immigration, character
of, 3

Asiatics remain apart, 4 ;
administrative difficulties,
4 ; in Natal, 27 ; in Jo-
hannesburg, 49

Australasia, case of, 70-80

Australasian Conference, yy,
78

Bakers (Indian), 33
Balfour, A. J., on markets,
5

Bazaars, removal into, 63 ;
Transvaal Progressives'
policy, 64 ; Lord Mil-
ner's notice, 68

Beaulieu, Leroy, on Asiatic
immigration, 19

Bengalis, Natal, 22

Bhownaggree, Sir M, M., 59,
61

Binns, Sir Hy., 38

Boers, 54, 59, 61

Borneo, 107

British Columbia, 72, 100

British Guiana, 15, 18, 22, 99

British Indians, Natal (num-
bers), 28

Butchers (Natal), 33

Canada, 95, 100, 105, 107
Cape Assembly and Asiatics,

14

Cape Colony, — Indian tra-
ders, 43, 44. 105 ; Im-
migration Restriction Act,
98 ; Chinese in, 47

Cape Town, 44

Carrington, Lord, 74, 78

Chamberlain, 95

China boycotts America, 5

ib»

i88

INDEX

Chinese immigration, Aus-
tralia, 6 ; Sir H. Parkes-
on, II; in Cape Colony,
47, 48 ; in Johannesburg,
49 ; in British Columbia,
72

Chinese Registration Bill,

79
Civil Servants (Indian), ^3
Clayton, Mr., 95
Clerks (Indian), 24, 33
Colonial attitude, Asiatics,

9

— Nationalism, 8
Colonization, State-aided, 19,

Colour, elimination of, 9
Commercial travellers, 33

— interests, Australia, 6
Compensation, Transvaal, 63
Competition, Asiatic, 24-52
Contracts, Asiatic labourers,

20, 21
Convicts (Australia), 70
Cultivators (Indian), 30

Dairy farmers (Indian), 30

Danger to the Colonies, 5, 6

Dominica, 15

Durban Corporation, 15 ;
agitation against Indian
immigrants, 16

Durban Indian trader's li-
cences, 35, 36

Durham, Lord, 2

East London, 44

Egerton, Prof., on Asiatic

immigration, 19
Elgin, Lord, 8
Escombe, Harry, 35
Eurasian compositors, 71
European immigration, 3,

63
Europeans, Natal, 26, 30, 32,

33
— driven out by Indians,

32. 35. 39.44, 51

Evans, Maurice S., 17, 24,
26, 31

Exemption Clause, Trans-
vaal, 64, 65

Farm labourers. Natal, 30
Farmers, Natal, 30
Farming in Natal, 88
Fiji (natives and Indians),

23. 83
Free labour. Rand, 99
Fruit farmers, Natal, 30
Fruiterers, Natal, 30

Gardeners (Indian, Natal),

30
General dealers' licences, 35
Great Britain, i , 90
Grey, Sir George, 1 5
Grocers, Natal, 33
Griffiths, Sir Samuel, 80
Guiana, British, coolies in,

22 ; contract system, 99

Hawkers, Johannesburg,
49

INDEX

189

Hongkong declared in-
fected, 79
Hotham, Sir Charles, 71

Immigration, Natal, 27

— effect of unrestricted, 2

— America, 3
Inanda, 39

India, 48 ; Southern, 6
Indian agriculturists, 29, 30,

31

— Government and the
Transvaal, 69

— Government's demands,

lOI

— traders, 40, 41
Indians, imitation of, 7 ;

salvation of West Indies,
15 ; in Natal, 16, 18 ;
contracts, West Indies, 20 ;
contracts. Natal, 21 ; Brit-
ish Guiana, 22 ; Jamaica,
22 ; numbers. Natal, 26,
27 ; claims, Transvaal, 67;
complaints, etc., 108-120
Industries (Natal), 41
Insults to Asiatics, 1 1
Ixpopo, 40

Jamaica, coolies in, 22
Japan, relation with, 1 1
Japanese insulted, 3
Java declared infected, 79
Johannesburg Star, 95
Johannesburg traders' licen-
ces, 49, 50

Kaffir stores, 41

Kaffir trade in Natal, 41

— "Truck," 20
Kaffirs and Asiatics, 83

— as workers, 84
Kanaka labour, 77
Kimberley, 44

King William's Town, 44
Knutsford, Lord, 6
Kruger, Paul, 60, 61
Krugerism, 56
Krugersdorp, action of Town
Council, 52

Labour Importation Ordin-
ance, 63
Ladysmith, Indian traders,

37
Land, owned by Indians, 35,

85
Lansdowne, Lord, 59
Law 3 of 1883, 57, 60
Lawley, Sir Arthur, 39, 54,

61, 103, 147-162
Legislation, Lord Milner on,

II
Licences, Indian traders',

35 ; hardships, 36, ^7 ;

Supreme Court's view,

38
Locations,Transvaal scheme,

60
London Convention, 1884,

56
Lower Tugela, 39

Madras, 18, 71
Madrassis, Natal, 22

igo

INDEX

Malay States, labour con-
tracts, 22
Malaya, 14, 107
Maritzburg, 17, 29
Markets, Europe's need of,

5
Milner, Lord, address to
Municipal Congress, 10 ;
Imperial veto, 54 ; bazaar
notice, 68 ; solution of
problem, 102 ; general
policy, 139-145

Nabob Motan v. Transvaal
Government, 61

Natal, — labour shortage, 1 5 ;
first Indians arrive, 16 ;
search for labour, 18 ;
number of Indians, 22 ;
population, 26 ; Indian
immigration, 27 ; agri-
culturists, 29, 30 ; occu-
pations of Europeans and
Asiatics, 30, 34 ; immi-
gration restrictions, 98

Natal Census Committee on
Indian increase, 27

National Convention, Asia-
tic, Transvaal, 62, 63,64

Ndwedwe, 40

New South Wales, 74, 79

Newcastle trading Ucences,
38 ; traders, 41

Occupations, Europeans,
Natal, 30-34 ; ditto Asia-
tics, 30-34

Orange River Colony —
Chief Justice arbitrates,
57 ; memorial against In-
dians, 58

Parkes, Sir Harry, 11, 71,

74. 79, 91
Petitions for and against

Indians, 58
Pietersburg Indians, 50, 5 1
Planters, Natal, 30
Polak, Mr. H. S. L., 40, 42
Polynesian labour, 70
Population, Natal, 26
Port Darwin, 74
Port Elizabeth, 44, 48
Potchefstroom, 50, 51
Poultry farmers (Indian), 30
Produce dealers (Indian), 30
Progressives ', Transvaal,

manifesto, 65
Protector of Indians, Natal,

18, 27, 28
Punjabis, Uganda, 14

Queensland, at Australasian

Conference, 77
Queensland, Northern, 14,

77

Railways, Indians on, 67,

68
— labour on, Z7
Rand mines labour, 85, 98,

100
Recruiting for Transvaal,

69

INDEX

191

Restaurant keepers (Natal),

33

Restrictions, immigration,

65 ; Acts, 97, 98
Revenue from Europeans

and Asiatics, 90
Ripon, Marquis of, 48
Robinson, Sir W. C. F., 6
Rosebery, Lord, 72
Rose-Innes, Sir James, 62
Ruby mines, Chinese for, 74

Seeley, Prof., 9

Selborne, Lord, 50, 103,
104

Social chasm in India, 4

South Africa, — labour short-
age, 18 ; first Chinese
scheme, 14

Southern India, 6

Spanish Labour Commission,

13

Store-keepers, Natal, 33
Storemen (Indians), 24
Straits, 14
Sumatra declared infected,

79
Swadeshi movement, 4
Sydney, 16
Sydney, Conference at, yj

Tasmania, yy

Tongaat Sugar Company, 93
Townsend, Meredith, 3
Traders, Indian, Natal, 35 ;
Cape, 43, 44, 45 ; Johan-
nesburg, 49-50

Transvaal National Con-
vention, Asiatics, 10, 51 ;
Municipal Congress, 10 ;
Labour problem, 17 ; La-
bour Commission Report,
18 ; Chinese labour con-
tracts, 19, 21, 23 ; Asiatics
in, 51 ; natives and land,
84

Trinidad, Indians in, 15, 23,
land bought by Indians,

25
Tropics, Asiatic labour in,

25

Uganda Railway, 14
Uitlanders, 58
Umbilo Valley, 17
Umgeni, Indian traders,

40
Umlazi, 39
Umvoti, 40
United States, low class

immigrants, 3 ; protest to

China, 5

Van Riebeek and Chinese,

Verulam, 39

Victoria (Natal), Indian

landholders, 32
Victoria, 76, yj
Volksraad, 54, 57, 58
Vryheid, Indian trader, 36

Waiters in Natal, 24, 34
.Wagenaar and Chinese 14.

192

INDEX

West Australia, tj

West and East, old struggle
renewed, 2

West Indies — Spanish La-
bour Commission, 13 ;
labour problem, 14 ; Pro-
fessor AUeyne Ireland on,
15

White V. Indian traders,

51. 52, 56
White nations, 9
Worcester (C.C.) Chamber

of Commerce, 47

Zululand,
42

closed to Indians,

RETURN TO the circulation desk of any
University of California Library
or to the
NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
BIdg. 40a Richmond Field Station
University of California
Richmond, CA 94804-4698

ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS

• 2-month loans may be renewed by calling
(510)642-6753

• 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing
books to NRLF

• Renewals and recharges may be made 4
days prior to due date.

DUE AS STAMPED BELOW

JAN 1 0 2001

12,000(11/95)

-d

YB i9234

r

•"546008

UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA UBRARY