Certainly the record monthly output of gold has long been passed. More gold has been produced each month than was ever produced before, even during the pre-war period. But these record outputs mean nothing. Even at 1s. 6d. a day the Chinese labourer has been proved to be an expensive luxury. He costs nearly 50 per cent. more than the Kaffir. The expenses of nearly every mine where Chinese labour has been employed have gone up; the expenses of every mine where Kaffir labour is employed have gone down. Mr. F. H. P. Cresswell had something pertinent to say on this topic in the admirable address on the Chinese labour question which he delivered the other day at Potchefstroom. Dealing with the argument that white labour was prohibitively expensive, and that in order to work low-grade mines coolies must be employed, the indefatigable fighter of the yellow man observed-- "I have picked out at random a number of mines, and I find that the mine showing the best results, the only one showing other than very bad results with coolies, is the Van Ryn Mine. This mine in the June quarter of 1904 was working at a cost of 24s. 5d. per ton, and milled 30,000 tons in that quarter; they were then using native and, I believe, no unskilled whites at all. A year before that they were milling 24,500 tons, at a cost of 28s. 2d. per ton, with 1,000 natives. In the June quarter of 1905 it worked at a cost of 21s. per ton, and milled 60,000 tons. In that quarter it was using some 2,000 coolies." Here is an instructive list which was compiled by the _Pall Mall Gazette_ on September 8 last:-- MINES WITH CHINESE LABOUR EXPENSES GOING UP June 1905. Avge., 1904. s. d. s. d. Durban Roodepoort Deep 28 2 27 5 Geldenhuis Deep 22 11 19 1 Glen Deep 24 0 20 8 Nourse Deep 28 9 26 7 Rose Deep 21 9 17 2 Jumpers Deep 27 9 23 0 MINES WITH KAFFIR LABOUR EXPENSES GOING DOWN June 1905. Avge., 1904. s. d. s. d. Ferreira Deep 21 7 26 5 Crown Deep 19 3 20 2 Langlaagte Deep 22 2 20 9 Ever since the beginning of the war, we seem to have been watching in a bewitched trance for the coming of the boom. Some people described Johannesburg as the enchanted city waiting for the spell to be removed for the boom to come. It has never come; and it never will come as long as Chinamen are employed to do the work that can be done by Kaffirs or white men.