there was a shortage of Native labour, the Government 
must legislate to force the Natives to the farms whether 
the farmers were prepared to pay wages or not.” 
SHORTAGE OF LABOUR ON MINES AND 
FARMS : A COMMITTEE APPOINTED. 
On 18th December last Reuter Pretoria reported that 
an inter-departmental committee had been appointed, 
representative of the Native Affairs, Mines, Railways and 
Agricultural Departments to investigate European and 
Native labour resources in South Africa and in a later 
report stated that *“ The principal matter for investigation 
will be the Native labour resources of the country, and 
how far a redistribution can take place so as to make up 
the shortage of about 10,000 Natives on the Rand mines, 
as well as the shortage on the farms.” 
The position which it was desired to rectify was that 
there was a shortage of Native labour on certain farms and 
at the gold mines and at the same time a surplus of Native 
labour in the towns. It is evident that, notwithstanding 
the high cost of living and relatively low wages obtain- 
able in the towns, a large number of Natives prefer to 
take their chances in the towns to going to the gold mines 
or up-country farms. What can be the reasons for this 
preference ? 
THE REASON WHY NATIVE LABOURERS 
PREFER TOWN WORK TO THE GOLD MINES 
Many—in some parts at least of the country the great 
majority—of the Native labourers who flock to the towns 
have already worked in the gold mines. They are not 
returning to the mines because they know that prolonged 
work in the gold mines is ruinous to health. They fear 
miner’s phthisis and consumption. This is an entirely 
reasonable anxiety, as reference to the Miner's Phthisis 
Commission’s reports will show. 
This explanation of the men’s preference for the towns 
is borne out by the Medical Officer of Health of East 
London who says (last Annual Report p. 14) © Twenty- 
eight per cent of the year’s notifications of Tuberculosis