Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

TIlE INDILN AS. COLONIST.
`---=---o=,.-
In view of the present controversy In
reference to Indians izl the Transvaal,
their record in other codonles is a matter
of great interest at thistle moment. The
discussion alluded to raisen questions of
vital importance to the Empire. Pro
bhably no dependency of the Empire has,
a correspondent of the '"Pall MallOGazette"
points out, had a wider experience of this
class of immigrant thllat Blritish Gulana.
That experience, moreover, has tile mertt
of extending over a period of half a cen
tury, nrought over under a system of
lndmlenture, which hias been a subject of
frequent reference during rec'ent years,
the ludian coolie (male and female) pro
vides thie libour for the sugtr estates of
the colony. HIls term of indenture com
pleted, the coolie in many cases elects to
mane the colony his Iprmanent home.
So largely has this custom developed that
the Indian now constitutes one-half the
population of British Gulana, and It is
roughly estimatedl that,n, irrospectlve-. of
those engaged on the plantations, there
are now about one uInmdred tllousand
free immigrants earning an independent
livelihood.
Devoting themselvoe s to thoe.tillago of
the soil, their industry In connection
with rice cultivatlo. ranks among Ithe
marvols of tropcal olniculture. In 1000
about six thousand ocres wore thus cul
tivated. To-day the number of acres
totals nearly twenty-olght thousand.
Again, the import of rice has fallen from
forty-eight million pounds in 1895 to six
millions last year. Not only have local
requirements been titus largely provided
for, but an export trade with neiolghbour
ing eolonlea built up, which, from very
small beginnings a year or two ago,
amounted nll 1907 to some six million
pounds. It is confldently predicted that
at this rate of plrogress tile bIme Is not
far distant when the colony will become
tile granary of West Indies. .' The
enterprise displayed by the Indian
immigrant has won for himn universal ad
mliration throughout the colony, and with
an Increasing demand for labour there is
little doubt tlhat sooner or later his ranks
will be augmented. Ils energy and enter
prliso Ihave found scole, not merely In rico
eultlvatnlot, but Il tiii milt and cattle In
dustrics, and n fruit andl vegetable farm
ing. That lIe reaps the reward of hils l?
hours In evident from the latest returns of
tile Government and P'ost-offlce Savings
banks, Tile amount to the credit of East
Indiant immigrtnts lsit oeart totalled,
roughly, £117,000, and the valuo of the
property owned by theol and assessed for
locl taxation was £120,000.
Int view of these facts one is enabled
to iundorstand the culogla iassed upon
thb Indian Imnigranut by the late and pro
sent Governoro of Brillslh Oulana. Sir
Alexander Swettenham, the now famous
ex-Governor of Jamaica, when admilnis
tering the former colony In 1003, In a des
patch'o .Mr. Chalmberlali, then Colonial
Seeretary, expressed Ills regret that "In
stead of merely 150,000 coolies, we hlad
sot ten times that number in the colony."
Again, thLe present Governor of British
Oulttnna, Sir trederick HIodgeon, recently
assured Lord Elgin that "the immlgra
tion of I.ast Indians itlto Dritish tulana
liis boet, and Is, the aalvatlon of the
colony." Ills Excelloecy added that witn
out these Imqllgrants "sugar oestatoes
would have to close down, and many bl
tllnessos would come to ant end."
Happily, In Britsh Gutann, there Is no
quostlion of the Indian .cenompotlog wit
the white 'mani. Tlle.European would not,
If only for cllmatllo reasons, do the agrl
culturtal work so uuccessfUlly accomplish
o1 by the coolie. The solution of the
problom now vexing tile Transvaal would
soem to be le eomlgraltio of tle coolie
to: tropical colonies, to which nature lloea
adapted hlmi and where, In finding scope
for his ontoprlso, hlie will not clash willt
thie white labouror,
$