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the lines suggested by Mr. Deakin, giving the necessary warning, and at the same time pointing out the necessary advantages. As I said, this is not an active question for us at present. We hope later on we may benefit by whatever conclusions the Conference comes to in the way of helping towards emigration from the Motherland into the Colonies as against the rest of the world. Mr. F. R. MOOR : Lord Elgin, and gentlemen, 1 agree on general lines with what has been stated by my colleague from the Cape Colony. Owing to the large influx of men during the war, and owing to the great destruction of property and wealth during the progress of the war, at the end of that crisis we found South Africa with a large floating population which we could not immediately absorb owing to the condition of things in which we were, and we have really been suffering from a large number of men being unable to get immediate employment. Ido believe the day will come, and I hope to see the day, when we shall be able to absorb a large number of whites from these islands. We are now trying to reorganise the whole position of affairs over there, and more or less to get our house in order, after what I have been describing as the losses contingent on the war. I also am very much impressed with what has been said by Mr. Deakin here which goes to show that the white man can hold his own under certain conditions against the black. I hold very strong views in that respect, and do believe that the white man under the incentive of contract labour will be able to do a great deal more than ever has been attempted yet by white labour in South Africa. We in South Africa have, perhaps, suffered, from a plethora of black or coloured unskilled labour, which in my humble opinion has been misapplied in regard to numbers, and in regard to which there has been a vast waste of labour owing to the unorganised methods we have adopted for employing this labour. Ido not confine myself to any particular industry over there, but men are applied for in far greater numbers, as regards results, than any other country that employs entirely white, more or less skilled, labour. That is so at every turn in the Colony that I represent. I will not commit myself to numbers, but you find three or four black fellows being used where, with skilled intelligent white labour, one man could do it. Thai was impressed upon my mind most strongly in my visit to Australia, and there being able to see how they were managing there with labour-saving appliances, and returning to my Colony, I realised how we were wastinglabour with our crude forms of unorganised labour, owing, to a very large extent, to the vast amount of unskilled labour that was at our doors. Instead of using brains and capital to save labour, we were piling on unskilled labour to do the work regardless of cost, and perhaps in many instances the result of production with that unskilled labour was really more costly than the products of the countries working with skilled labour and properly organised. We find in many of our industries we are being beaten by products from Australia (which we can produce quite as well and in quite as large quantities), owing to our methods and wasteful means of carrying on those industries. Ido hope that the day will not be long delayed before the reorganisation of our economic conditions we shall be able to absorb a larger amount of white labour. We are doing a little now in that direction in the way of assisted passages. The Government has contracts with steamers which have brought down the passage money, and our Government contributes half of that amount in the event of any employer applying to the Government for any particular selected emigrant on this side of the water. Owing, however, to the present surplus of labour, this provision is temporarily suspended. I have nothing further to add. We feel that we have to reorganise our methods and our conditions to bring ourselves up to the position of advancement of the other Colonies of the Empire. I believe, sincerely, we shall

Sixth Day. 25 April 1907,

K.MICi ration. (Dr. Jameson.