the quay and resist ‘by force, if necessary’ the landing of the Asiatics. It is furthermore said that those participating in the Demonstration intend to prove that they are in earnest, and that the men of Durban can organize an orderly yet emphatic demonstration in contradistinction to a riotous mob. The opinion is that the Indians would not land, and if the ships do bring them inside, those on board will at once recognize the futility of attempting to land when they see the crowd in opposition. Be that as it may, the present Demonstration resembles more the Knight of La Mancha’s mad tilt against the windmill than the action of soberminded Englishmen. The Colonists have become crazy and fanatical, and have lost much of the sympathy which they otherwise would have enlisted. There is nothing more ludicrous, we are told, than a British community in a state of excitement. In the words of Thomas Hood: ‘Evil is wrought by want of thought, as well as want of art,’ and the Europeans are undoubtedly prejudicing their cause in the action they are now taking.—The Johannesburg Times.
- The opposition to the immigration of Indians to Natal is by no means the least momentous incident of Mr. Chamberlain’s term of office. The interests affected are so large, and so intimately concern Great Britain, that it is slight exaggeration to say the settlement of the difficulty is the most serious problem submitted to him during that time. The discarded immigrants are the representatives of a great population which has been taught to believe itself protected and nurtured by those who now refuse to grant a footing in a new land. India has been encouraged to look upon itself as a favoured daughter of the Empire, and, under the quixotic rule of various Viceroys, it has been taught to assert its independence in a way that is unhealthy for the uneducated Oriental to contemplate. Theory has broken down in practice. The frugal Indian, imported because of his power to assist the Colonist in working his country at a profit, has established himself as a dangerous trade competitor, has himself developed into a settler and a producer, and threatens to oust his old employer from the market. The problem which presents itself to Mr. Chamberlain is, therefore, 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; politically, it passes the wit of man to decide which side to favour. —Star, Johannesburg, January 1897.
- The mass meeting held in the Town Hall on Thursday afternoon, on account of the wet weather, instead of on the Market Square as previously arranged, lacked nothing either in number or enthusiasm. That hall, crowded with the manhood of Durban, the grimy son of toil sitting cheek by jowl with the professional man, showed unanimity among all classes of the population, and gave evidence of a stern determination
