Microform Collections in Stauffer Library
SOUTH AFRICA: THE WAR OF 1899-1902 AND THE CHINESE LABOUR QUESTION
Description
This microfilm collection contains material from the John Burns Library on the Anglo-Boer war (1899-1902) and on the post-war labour issues or the "Chinese Labour Question". It is a compilation of pamphlets, leaflets and articles published in the decade following the pre-war Jameson Raid of 1895-96.
Issues covered include: Rights of the Uitlander [outlander: "Before the war of 1899-1902: a foreigner settled or sojourning in the South African Republic." -- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.]; control of black labour; the Boer attempt to overthrow the British right to suzerainty; and issues of forced labour and slavery in the Transvaal. Material has also been copied from the Royal Commonwealth Society Library and is in the form of articles from the leading journals of the time in Great Britain, the U.S., and Australia.
Microform Location and Call Number Stauffer Library Compact Shelving at Microfilm DT no.011
Guide/Index Location and Call Number Stauffer Library Reference & Compact Shelving at Z3608 .A4 S68 1983t
Collection Status Complete (10 of 10 Reels, plus Guide)
Notes
The South African War (or second Boer War) of 1899-1902, the costliest war of the 19th Century both in terms of money and lives, left large regions of farmland devastated, several major towns held under British siege conditions, and production in the former Boer (Dutch Afrikaners) republics severely disrupted. In addition to the Africans suffering from having been caught between the British and Dutch armies, drought conditions immediately following the war led to further dislocation in the countryside. Sir Alfred Milner, governor of the Cape Colony and one of the main actors in the Transvaal War (or first Boer War) of 1880-1881, was involved in the new administration and devised "an ambitious plan for encouraging British immigrants to redress the balance between Dutch (or Afrikaner) and British in South Africa, for expanding education, subsidizing new municipal councils, and rebuilding the country". -- from the Guide, page 3
To finance this plan, Milner looked to the gold mines that had led to the colonisation and conflicts in South Africa. However, the mines could not return to full production, because the African labour force (whose suffering as a result of the war did not gain attention for another 70 years) resisted attempts to have their wages reduced and new production routines imposed on them. "[T]he Chamber of Mines claimed a shortage of 129,000 black labourers in 1903, and that figure would rise to 365,000 by 1908. Proposals for the use of white unskilled labour [were] rejected, and ultimately Milner persuaded the British government to sign the necessary treaty with China for the importation of 60,000 labourers between 1903 and 1907. ... For nearly five years much of the more arduous underground work was performed by Chinese labour [who worked for longer contracts and less pay], and when eventually these men were repatriated, African labour had lost its bargaining position, and accepted the new working conditions and lower rates of pay." -- from the Guide, pages 3-4