The Transvaal Labour ‘Problem’ and the Chinese Solution

‘That racial chasm that yawns eternally in our midst’: the British empire and the politics of Asian migration, 1900-14

“…59 John Burns, the standard-bearer of Edwardian radicalism, criticized 'Chinese slavery' in the Transvaal as much on racial as on humanitarian grounds. 60 Many self-styled imperialists were aware that past haggling over immigration restrictions had created an impression in the dominions that the British public was hostile or indifferent to exclusion, and were determined to dispel this idea. Hence Leo Amery, who served as colonial editor of The Times after his return from South Africa, tried to steer the paper towards a more explicit endorsement of the 'White Australia' policy.…”