blamed if he strongly resents such treatment of his fellow-countrymen, and seeks to effect a remedy. As regards the assault on Mr. Gandhi, it does not, however, appear to have been perpetrated by any of the more respectable portion of the crowd, although the youths who sought to do Mr. Gandhi bodily harm were, no doubt, incited to do so by the unguarded utterances of some of the responsible organizers of the Demonstration. It was owing only to the alertness of the police that Mr. Gandhi escaped without serious injury, and perhaps with his life. . . . But South Africa is evidently passing through a stage in its transition which evolves abortive demonstrations as one of its characteristics. The whole country is still in its boyhood, and there is nothing a boy loves more than to refer his disputes to the gory arbitrement of physical force. Looked at in that way, this week’s doings at Durban may be excused with an indulgent smile. But regarded from any other standpoint, it is open to severe condemnation, as tending to retard rather than to advance the ultimate solution of a most complex political and economic question, not merely of importance to Natal, but to England, India, and the whole of South Africa.— Star, Johannesburg, January 1897.
- Of what avail, then, was it to forbid a landing to the few hundred immigrants on the Naderi and Courland while the system of trading with Indians is in full swing? Years ago, before the present Act of the Volksraad was in force in the Free State, Arab stores were opened in Harrismith, and at once began to undersell the old-established houses by about 30 per cent. The Boers, who of all men protest against colour, flocked to the Arabs, and, while condemning the principle, were not above pocketing the profit. It is much the same in Natal today. The mention of blacksmiths, carpenters, clerks, printers, etc., as being among the passengers, aroused the “working classes”, and their cause was doubtlessly espoused by those who, in other ranks of life, were feeling the pressure of the ubiquitous Hindoo, and yet, probably, none of these men were mindful of the fact that they themselves are helping to make Natal a desirable objective point for the surplus labour of India. 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 prepared by a coolie cook. Let the Natalians be consistent, and begin the work of ostracizing the Indian by dealing with their own poorer classes, in preference to coolies, and leave the question of restrictive legislation to their elected representatives. While Natal remains such a desirable abiding place for the Asiatic, and Natalians continue to profit largely by the cheap labour the dark man brings, the work of minimizing arrivals will certainly be difficult, if not hopelessly
