Hopes and Grievances in the Wake of the Anglo-Boer War
"Questions Affecting the Natives and Colored People Resident in British
."
Statement by the Executive of the South African Native Congress, 1903 [?]
To the Right Hon.
Joseph Chamberlain, P.C., M.P.,
His Majesty's Secretary of State
for the Colonies.
HONOURED SIR,
We are glad of the opportunity afforded us of approaching you and through you the British Government in the manner prescribed by the constitutional forms of the country for the expression of public opinion and feeling.
The loyalty of the Native people of
is satisfactorily testified to by the reports of the official heads of Native Departments in their recent Blue Books. We fully confirm them now. Much as our people have suffered through the late war, their confidence in the justice of that war made them all the more willing to bear the hardships imposed upon them in common with the Mother Country. We would not lose this opportunity of testifying their indebtedness to His Excellency Viscount MILNER and his able administrators in the great work of repatriating the Native refugees, and for all that has been done in protecting, housing, and feeding them in the Concentration Camps. The cause of the sufferers can be confidently left in the generous hands of the Imperial Government in its anxiety to do the best for all classes.
The Church
The question of loyalty raises the larger question of the indebtedness of the Native races to the Government and people of
. How much is implied in the thought that out of the self-sacrificing faith of the Christian nations, foremost among who are the people of the British Isles, the Gospel of Salvation, has been brought to the people that sit in darkness and the shadow of death, cannot be adequately expressed. No mere words can describe the spiritual blessings brought by the Messengers of Peace and good will from the Church Catholic in fulfillment of the Divine commission.
The strides which education and Christianity are making, are giving rise to fresh impulses, and creating a demand for reforms in the religious and educative methods of the past, but the old conservatism looks askance at the movements generated by these impulses both in Church and Mission field. Some of the clergy have failed in great part to catch the spirit of the times, and charges involving the loyalty of the people have been made, and being taken up by the anti-Native Press have been freely used to create suspicion and alarm. Doubtless much blame is attachable to the conduct of untrained men taking upon themselves responsibilities for which many of them are eminently unfitted by character and culture, and entering the mission field as preachers and teachers when their own knowledge is circumscribed. Thus complaints are rife of interference with vested interests, of the invasion of ecclesiastical rights, of trespassing within Ministerial preserves, of setting up opposition churches and mission schools, of proselytizing parishioners, and in other ways creating schism and division amongst the churches. These church secessions are responsible for much bitterness, but as they have been interpreted as aiming at the eventual overthrow of the established authority of the Government and the white clergy, it would perhaps be well for us to emphasize the fact as already explained to the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, that these movements are purely a matter concerning those churches affected, and have no anti-racial significance. The black races are too conscious of their dependence upon the white missionaries, and of their obligations towards the British race, and the benefits to be derived by their presence in the general control and guidance of the civil and religious affairs of the country to harbor foolish notions of political ascendancy. The idea is too palpably absurd to carry weight with well-informed minds, and tends to obscure the real issues and to injure the people as a class. The common law of the country is amply sufficient to protect the rights of the individual or the Church.
Education
The parlous condition of education in
may be judged by the anomalous attitude of former Ministries under Responsible Government towards Native Education. Through the retrograde influence of the Africander and British anti-Native party the education of the native and colored people has been hampered and the instructions of the Government of the day to the Education Commissions of 1891, and the findings of the Commissions of 1896 and 1900, as recorded in the reports of the Education Department will amply bear out this serious assertion.
At the present time, under the improved management of the Supt.-General of Education the disparity between the grants allowed per pupil to white and black, as shown by the Education Report, will be seen from the following table: --
First Class Public
School (White) . . . . . . . . £3 17 4½
First Class Public
School (Black) . . . . . . . . 12 2¾
Third Class Public
Schools (White) . . . . . . . £2 1 3¼
Third Class Public
Schools (Black) . . . . . . . 13 3½
The salaries paid to teachers are scandalously illiberal, forcing many to adopt other means to obtain a livelihood. Sir Langham Dale, the distinguished predecessor of the present Superintendent-General of Education, expressed the spirit that animates this attitude thirty years ago when he remarked (we quote from the Education Report for 1900):
"I do not consider it my business to enforce education on all the aborigines, it would ruin
. If I could produce 60,000 educated Tembus or Fingoes tomorrow, what could you do with them? Their education must be gradual."
The President of the Education Commission (Sir J.D. Barry) reported (inter alia) as follows in 1900:-
"The schools for aborigines have practically all been promoted, and are maintained and managed by Church associations. The teachers, who are for the most part natives, are also indebted to these Church associations for any special training they have had for their work. The school age children of the aborigines cannot number less than 200,000, but the whole of the schools frequented by the children have never had a tenth of that number on their collective rolls at any one time. It cannot, therefore be said that so far as facilities for schooling are concerned there has been any tendency to make the education otherwise than 'gradual.' But while, speaking generally, school destitution is very noticeable, there are complaints that school areas in some cases 'overlap,' that is to say, schools promoted by competing agencies are needlessly numerous in parts.
"It is part of the Colonial system of public education that trade-classes are to be allowed for native day schools. But it is to be doubted whether any single native day schools have such an adjunct. Probably in none of the 269 schools has any serious effort been put forth to provide 'manual training' for the boys. In their case the whole of the four hours daily attendance required by the byelaws of the Department is devoted to 'literary' work. Time-tables compiled on this plan are in some disfavor, for nearly every witness who had anything on the question of 'native' education to say to the Commission--and its witnesses included some missionary superintendents of native schools urged that manual training ought to form an essential part of the native course.
"We cannot but think, said the Commissioners, that Sir Langham Dales' dread of the ruin to South Africa lurking in some thousands of 'educated Tembus or Fingoes' a dread in the entertaining of which Sir Langham Dale by no means stands alone amongst colonists--owes its origin and justification to the character of the education supplied to the children of these people.
"Meanwhile, said the Commissioners, we perceive first that in matters pertaining to their education the aborigines are not supposed to have any opinions that are worthy of notice; secondly, that the methods sanctioned for the education of this class are either on their trial or are already widely condemned; and thirdly, that the State, while assuming only a minimum of responsibility for the character of the education, year after year votes money for carrying it on."
The Natives have much to learn and unlearn, and the power of resistance to the will of the ruling caste having been effectually broken down, they are now applying themselves to the newer conditions imposed upon them by Christianity and civilisation with a common faith in the necessity of British rule, as the best and most liberal system for the Government of the various tribes and the settlement of their conflicting interests. There is, therefore, no longer a Native problem, but the Problem of the Ruling Caste, how to govern and educate on those broad and impartial lines which, while insisting on a policy of judicious firmness without prejudice, of sympathy without weakness, and justice with moderation will, at the same time, ensure the protection of the weak and law-abiding, and be a terror to evildoers.
The Judicial Aspect
Of the administration of justice by the High Courts, there is no complaint. Occasionally grave charges are made against the Natives, such as those of rape on white females, and ill behavior and rudeness in the public streets and thoroughfares. Of the more heinous and revolting crime of rape, it may be said that it has no sanction by tribal systems, and we therefore view with regret the attempts that are being made in the North to bring the law under subservience to mobocracy. The comparative absence of such crimes is a testimony of the abhorrence in which the Natives hold them generally, and they would support the enforcement of the severest punishments conformable to justice, irrespective of class. On the other hand the frequent cold-blooded murders of Natives, so uncommon even among the most barbarous races, and the difficulty of securing convictions under the Jury System, is having a marked effect in lowering the high prestige of the Bench, and the seasonable remarks of the Judge President of the High Court of Kimberley will be welcomed by the friends of law and order. We are glad to pay our respectful tribute to the high character of the Colonial Bench by quoting briefly from the learned Judge's charge to the Jury in a recent murder trial: --
His Lordship reminded the Jury that inflexible justice must be administered, not only between the European race in this country but between men of European races and those who were not. The basis upon which the Empire was built up was not material force or numerical strength and accumulated wealth. These things singly or collectively would not hold the Empire together. It was the fact that equal justice was meted out to all, irrespective of race or creed. The question of the administration of inflexible justice, irrespective of colour, was one in connection with which every citizen of the Empire, when called upon, must do his duty.
We think that no fair-minded man will deny that the Jury System of South Africa has too often degenerated into a mockery from its frequent abuse in cases between White and Black. It was pointed out by the late Professor ANDREW SMITH of Lovedale, "That a certain ignorant class, despising perjury as jurymen and actuated by race-hatred are resolved to allow none of their party to suffer for murdering a Native. Such shameful crimes as the murder of helpless prisoners in the Langeberg Campaign and the brutal massacre of friendly Natives by Geluk Burghers, in which no verdict from the jury could be obtained, creates a profound impression on the Native population and encourages the establishment of a bitter and lasting hatred such as exists between White and Black in the United States of America. It has been thought that it would be better for the Natives if the Jury Trial were abolished altogether, but to destroy the Palladium of Liberty -- the gift of the Anglo-Saxon race -- to mankind is not popular." The learned Professor suggested that a remedy might be found in a High Court of Justice, after the manner of Court of Cassation in
, which has the power to review the verdict of juries, to quash sentences and to deal with all cases, where there is a violation of justice. The business of this tribunal would be to deal with cases where the verdict of juries to acquit or condemn were in gross violation of the evidence, or where the sentence was not in accordance with justice. And the Judges in the Circuit Courts could bring cases before such a Court, the Public Prosecutor, by the advocates for the accused, or by others. We commend this question to the serious consideration of the British Government.
Civil Appointments
It was the wish of Sir Bartle Frere that the natives should be encouraged to fill responsible positions in the Civil Service, and to aid in the administration of the country. There is a tendency to narrow down their position to one of preferential treatment on colour lines. While we can cordially appreciate the necessity of preserving the race ascendancy of the whites in a country inhabited by a preponderating colored race, such as the Bantu, the employment of men of thorough training, character, and abilities to positions of trust and responsibility should at least find more favor in the future than it has in the past, The opinion of President Roosevelt in the recent agitation over this question in America will perhaps be interesting, in its appositeness to these remarks.
It seems to me that it is a good thing from every standpoint to let the coloured man know that if he shows in marked degree the qualities of good citizenship -- the qualities which in a white man we feel are entitled to reward -- that he will not be cut off from all hope of similar reward.
Colonists can lose nothing by taking a more liberal if careful view of the issues involved in questions of this nature.
Administration
The natives of
are naturally Imperialistic in their sympathies, having come through the experiences of early Colonial history, and the frequent wars and tragedies that have been enacted in this country in which they were by no means the least sufferers. Throughout the severe trials which our race has undergone in the past nothing impressed us more than the high sense of fairness, Justice, and humanity displayed by Governors of British birth in their administrative capacities. There are, for example, the names of Lord Glenelg, Sir Andries Stockenstrom, Sir George Grey, Sir Bartle Frere, and others who, in the midst of difficulties, opposition and the strongest prejudices, contrived to maintain the traditional prestige of the Imperial power in the fulfillment of its obligations to the native races of this country, while at the same time conserving the highest interests of the white races and the Empire. How much also the natives owe to the untiring zeal and humanitarian sentiment of the much abused Exeter Hall party and the Aborigines' Protection Society, and similar associations, which it is now the fashion to condemn indiscriminately, it would be hard to realise. With all their defects, whatever they are, we cannot cease to cherish the memories of those courageous men.
It is interesting to enquire if the British ideal is being maintained. To our mind Colonial prestige has suffered a decline through the deteriorating influences of a low standard of Government in the neighboring Dutch States, previous to the late war, and which has been unfavorably reflected in the administration of Native affairs in this and the sister Colonies of Rhodesia and Natal. To adduce examples of this decline in the Cape Colony we need not revert to matters so remote as the disarmament of the Basutos, which resulted in the failure of the peaceful mission of that great Imperial patriot, the late General Gordon, or the deliberate infringement of the Habeas Corpus Act, by the arbitrary arrest and detention in gaol of the Pondo chief, Sigcau, whose anomalous position at the present time is worthy of the special attention of the British Government.
The principle involved in the Langberg campaign, whereby the doubtful precedent of confiscating native lands and selling them to Boer farmers, and apprenticing the prisoners, male and female, to the Western Province farmers was established, although confiscation of the lands of the Dutch rebels was held to be illegal.
The case of Fleur and his Griqua accomplices in a seditious agitation in or about 1896, does not contrast reasonably in their sentence of fourteen years' imprisonment which they are now expiating on the breakwater, with the Cape Treason Bills, and the amnesty of Boer rebels and the disfranchisement of others, who had no votes, for a period of five years, as a punishment for the serious crime of rebelling against the established authority.
Or the provisions of the labour clause in the Glen Grey Act, which can only be interpreted as a concession to the forced labour party, when applied generally, but if applied to a particular class of youthful idlers, loafers, and vagrants who by their increase may become a menace to the country, revenues derived from any taxation which may be placed on such, ought to be expended on local improvements and should not go into the General Treasury. The completion of the survey of Native lands under the Glen Grey Act should discover this class of Natives, who cannot otherwise be properly distinguished under tribal tenure. In this form a "gentle stimulus" cannot be reasonably opposed looking to the existing conditions.
Recent Events
Coming to more recent events it cannot have escaped the notice of attentive students of Colonial policy how public feeling is being influenced against the native, and the formidable attacks by press and platform, which aim at the destruction of the liberties granted to them by the benign rule of the British Government.
Much as the natives can respect all reasonable legislation which will safeguard the power of the ruling caste in the social and political affairs of the country, and which will conduce to the preservation of order and the general improvement of the Native people as laboring factors in the country, they cannot view without misgivings the persistent attempts of prominent public men, backed by a powerful section of press, both here and in Great Britain, to bring about a subversion of their constitutional rights.
The Franchise
In a communication which we sent to you, Honored Sir, in May last, through His Excellency the Governor of the Cape Colony, the principle of the "open door" under the formula of "equal rights to all civilized men" which was favoured by the sagacious statesman, the late Right Hon. CECIL JOHN RHODES, was advanced in relation to the Franchise as the only sound construction to our mind of the Constitution, and we took up the ground that as the power of the British Government was potential, it was bound to protect the rights of all classes in the reconstruction and admission of the newly-formed States into the Union.
We must record a firm but respectful dissent to the interpretation of Great Britain's duties at this crisis by any one section, however powerful, against the fundamental interests of any other section, however weak. That responsibility lies entirely in the hands of the British Cabinet, in the same manner as it has borne it in the crisis that ended in the Boer War. If, as the Boer leaders say, the Natives must be taught that there is to be no alteration in the political relation of the whites to the blacks, it might be remarked that there is no colour distinction in the realm of morality and justice. We pointed out that under the proposed Federation the terms of Section VIII of the Articles of Peace appeared to justify the belief that the Imperial Government desires to vest in the Federal States the right to decide the vital question of the Enfranchisement of His Majesty's Native and Coloured subjects in
. The question also occurs of the status of those qualified voters of the Cape Colony who enter those States, and the application of the principle of taxation and representation of these and also those Native residents of the States who may be fully qualified by education, property, and domicile, to vote as free citizens. Your advice, Honored Sir, to the citizens of Maritzburg that it was necessary for unity on common objects, and to beware of speaking with a divided voice upon such matters as Customs, Railways, and Native Administration in case their influence would be weakened in the Councils of South Africa, suggests the thought whether in view of the expressed utterances of the Premier of Natal on this subject which agrees with that of the Boer Leaders, viz., that there must be no political equality granted to the Natives, these views are to be the criterion for the guidance of public opinion to the rest of the South African States and the British people in arriving at the ideal of unity upon which you so eloquently touched.
We are of course aware that while no good ground exists which might be construed as an abuse of the Franchise by the Natives, but on the contrary their choice of representatives in Parliament has been generally creditable and wise a powerful agitation has been proceeding to deny these rights to the Natives, and the recent agitation for the suspension of the Constitution of the Cape Colony has been interpreted as aiming at that object among others. The extreme advocates of this policy are prepared to put it to the test under the new Federation. Herein lies the germ of much future trouble.
The idea is thus expressed by the Secretary for Native Affairs of Natal, and it is supported by the utterances of most of the candidates for Parliamentary honors in the elections of 1901.
They should manage their own affairs, he said, and regenerate a desolated country, and let Dutch and English tender their advice to
to let them manage their own affairs, and especially the Native Question. If they were to be dominated by outsiders, and to have the constant interference they had in the past he felt that there would be still further trouble between the Dutch and
, and between
, the Dutch and Natives.
The Times of Natal, in endorsing these sentiments, also remarked: --
But these things once accomplished the new order once firmly established on a lasting basis, there would be no room for the direct Imperial factor in
. The official legend of Downing Street will pass away like a tale that is told.
The voice of Mr. MOOR is merely the first articulate echo of public opinion, and that opinion will become more pronounced as time goes on. Those who read the signs of the times will acknowledge the truth of what we say. Up to the present the wave of Imperial patriotism has carried us over all obstacles, but we cannot always remain on the crest of the wave.
That there is some reason to suspect a collusion of sentiment and premeditated design between the extreme British anti-Native Party in South Africa and the Bond or Dutch Party, which aims at the elimination of the Imperial Factor to the ruin of the subject races of His Gracious Majesty, will be seen from the following comments by Ons Land, Mr. HOFMEYR'S organ: -
The new Colonies are directly governed from Downing Street, and Mr. CHAMBERLAIN is directly responsible for their administration. If his visit has the object of as speedily as possible putting an end to the present condition of affairs and giving self-government to the inhabitants of those colonies, then we cannot do otherwise than rejoice at the visit. If, however, the object is to strengthen the domination of Downing Street over the internal affairs of
, then we anticipate little well as the result. This latter course, unfortunately, appears to be the impression of many in
, for latterly much has been heard of the new Imperialism, and they seem to be departing from the principles upon which the great over-sea colonies have had the management of their affairs.
It is a singular commentary upon the wisdom that would call upon the Natives at this period of the world's history to defend the use of rights, which are firmly established upon the impregnable basis of human liberty and justice. It is plain, therefore, from the statements quoted that an imperium in imperio may be created sui generis within the realm of British operation and policy, by the advocates of deprivation, on the one hand, and of a moderate Franchise on the other, which may materially affect the future relations of the people of this country.
The Labour Question
In regard to the Native Labour question it is commonly asserted that there are sufficient and more than sufficient, able-bodied men in the country to do all the work needed, but living in absolute idleness, and not helping in the slightest degree to advance the progress of the country. It is also apparent that more labour is absolutely essential to the development of the natural industries of
. There is just sufficient truth in the former statement to mislead the unwary, for it raises the inference that the native will not work. To say the native will not work is to argue against the visible progress of the country, which has in great part been built up, with the aid of native labour whatever its deficiencies may be. On the contrary, the natives are willing to work. They have been accustomed to obedience under their own chiefs, and the changing conditions from barbarism to civilization with its increasing necessities are forcing them out to work in greater numbers every year, although it must be recognized with regret that the evil of adding to their hereditary defects the vices of European civilization is a deteriorating factor in the economy of the land. The labourer or servant should be made to strictly observe his contracts, but he should also be protected in them, and contracts should be made with individuals, not the Chiefs, and properly drawn up before responsible officials in order to safeguard the rights of all parties and to prevent fraud.
Roughly, there are two classes of labourers, the husbandman who tills his own land, and the hired labourer or servant. Both these are as yet unskilled and their greatest misfortune is that they have not yet become accustomed to the strenuous life, the practical, consistent, and constant exercise of their best faculties of body and mind. To develop these to the best advantage it is necessary that there should be administrative co-operation, but when we look around to see what has been done we find that, apart from the attempt made by that distinguished statesman, the late Cecil John Rhodes, who established a Labour Bureau which met with poor support at the hands of the officials, and which he had not time to properly develop before he died, when it was abolished, no serious attempt has been made to encourage or regulate the supply of labour on right lines by any of our statesmen. The whole question has been left with the mines and the farming community, and the terrible results of the absence of administrative control, in the scandalous irregularities under the old regime at the Rand made such a deep impression on the native mind, that there can be no surprise at the scarcity of labour. The sudden depression of wages before the effects of the war, or the impressions formed of the evil conditions of the old regime had had time to subside was a masterstroke of bad diplomacy, by whomsoever invented. It also reveals the attitude of the mine-owners--a cold, hard, unsympathetic, calculating, determination to reduce wages at any cost. Only the other day a question was asked in the Cape Parliament as to several cases of alleged ill-treatment of labourers under the new regime at the Rand, which drew from the Premier a promise to investigate the matter in the interests of this Colony, which profits largely by money brought down by the labourers who go there. The idea that also has found favour with many that the natives are demoralized by high wages received from the military during the war is as false as the assertion that they live by stock stolen from the farmers. Such views may mislead the ignorant, or suit the sinister designs of the forced labour party, but they add nothing to a satisfactory solution of the difficulty, and in view of the increasing poverty that sees extensive districts threatened with starvation through the failure of crops, are positively injurious. In this relation, Sir, we have noted with satisfaction your statement in the British House of Commons, "that no policy of actual physical compulsion brought to bear on the black to work, would have the slightest support of the Government." These attempts to precipitate the British Government to a policy of force have been watched with keen anxiety by the natives and their friends, and we deprecate the attempts inspired from interested sources to denounce the natives as a class in the sweeping manner so fashionable with the prejudiced press. The natives are willing to be led. They are accustomed to obedience. They cannot throw off the lethargy of ages in a day. However much we may deplore their unreadiness to meet the changed conditions brought about by the influx of an increasing white population, with its higher and more expensive standards of living into a country accustomed to the simple habits of a pastoral life, and the demands which the former make on the latter for a cheap labour supply in order to support their more expensive habits, nothing constructive or useful to our purpose can be got from mutual recriminations. The capitalist demands cheap labour. The laboring man has not, in this or any other country, had a satisfactory interpretation of the term.
For
, labour troubles are just commencing, and the statesman who will deal successfully with them must first sweep his mind clear of the prejudices that have been heaped around it. It is not a race question, although radical differences in life and language, and such questions as general treatment, rates of wages, accommodation, food, etc., etc., give rise to more bad feeling on this, and the Master and Servant question, than any other subject, for it touches the country on its tenderness spot--the economic and the attempts to reconcile low wages with high living, we may readily believe from the example of other countries will continue to agitate the country long after the present generation has departed.
Again the Department of Native Affairs in the Cape Colony, unlike Natal, has no available statistics of a complete and reliable kind to guide us in framing a correct estimate as to the number of able-bodied men available for work, the number engaged in remunerative occupations of their own and who, therefore, do not require to take service, the number of idlers and vagrants, the amount of taxes directly paid to the Government by the Native people, their contribution to the Commonwealth by indirect means as producers and consumers, and as customers on our railways, telegraphs, postal and other sources by which the Government coffers are advantaged. These and other statistics should be the common textbook and guide to the formation of sound and authoritative opinions. The Secretary for Native Affairs of Natal, speaking on Native taxation in 1898, said: --
It was said that Natives do not contribute enough to the revenue, but there was something to be said on the other side from the point of view of themselves. The sum of £1,000 had been received in passes from Natives leaving the Colony and coming into it, and from the figures at his disposal he made bold to say that of the Natives of a working age in Natal there were not 10 per cent, who did not put in work somewhere during the course of twelve months. By indirect taxation the Natives had contributed nearly £110,000 as compared with £5,000 contributed by Europeans with indirect taxation. Apart from what they contributed in the purchase of clothing, agricultural implements, &c., the Natives contributed £140,000 to the revenue. The Natives also contributed largely to the revenue of the railway. During the last eight months of the last year they had traveled on the Natal line to the number of 170,000, bringing in revenue of £30,000. There was very nearly half of the Native population of the Colony on their railways as passengers within eight months. He was sorry they had forced labour in Natal, because he did not believe in it, regarding it as a slight upon industry. Until they shook themselves free from this incubus he feared they would not hold their own with those countries that had free labour.
Possibly later statistics would show still better results, and we are of opinion that the Cape Colony natives proportionally would improve upon these.
We can assure you, Sir, that the intelligent native mind is impressed with the extreme importance of the great issues lying at the root of the labour supply, involving as it does the vital interests of the industrial, commercial, and economic life of the country as well as the highest interests of the natives themselves, as the principal laboring factor.
But one thing we should like specially to remark is the desire, often expressed, that conferences on the labour question should not be left entirely in the hands of the mining fraternity. We advocate co-operation. No practical schemes, which leave the natives out of consideration in matters affecting them, can be satisfactorily dealt with in that manner. We suggest an Imperial Commission, which would include the labour question in a larger investigation of the condition of Native Affairs in South Africa, with a view to securing some measure of uniformity between the laws of the different states, and the systems of civil and municipal administration and management of the native subjects of His Gracious Majesty, and to find, if possible, a grand solution of the whole question, in view of approaching Federation.
One remarkable feature is that while merchants are not loud in complaining of the scarcity of native labour, the mine owners and farmers are loudest in their outcries. This is explained by the difference in wages, the former paying more, while the latter are not paying a living wage (vide Report of the Cape Commissioners Messrs. Halse and Visser, on the treatment of farm hands in Australia, as compared to native treatment in Cape Colony). After all is said and done the question whether this country can supply all the labour required for present use and future developments would be best answered by satisfactory statistics controlling the labour supply at the different centers in order to deal practically with surplusage. These, we have already said, are not available, but we would again urge the necessity of a Commission on which the natives should be represented.
We believe that there is room for cooperation between the different administrations and the mine managers to develop on proper lines the labour supply south of the Zambezi, and we are glad to observe from your speech to the mining magnates that you also impressed this view upon them, although from the attitude of mine managers it is to be feared that their impatience would contribute materially to the difficulty of a proper solution of the question on broad and rational lines. Their haste inclines to prejudice the rights of the laboring classes. We also think that in dealing with this question satisfactorily, the cooperation of the educated leading natives should be sought, and they should also be allowed to take part in the deliberations of such conference.
Polygamy
On the effect of Polygamy on the labour market, we attach little importance, for numerically Polygamists are not large classes, and as an independent class they are generally capable of maintaining themselves without going out to work in the same manner as the aristocracy in
. We attach more importance to the results of the custom in degrading the womenfolk and by the force of example on the young manhood destroying all legitimate desire for self-improvement, and the cultivation of the higher arts of civilization and the moral and religious elevation of the people. The only remedy for this is education and Christianity; but here again we are faced by defects of administration, which were called attention to by amongst others, the late Bishop BRANSBY KEY of revered memory, who pointed out to the Commission on "Native Laws and Customs" in 1881, "that the Government and administration of the Native tribes lacked "executive force," besides other notable authorities who impressed upon the Commission the necessity of the gradual abolition of polygamous marriages. Although the Commission made it an instruction that evil customs should be gradually abolished, there are evidences of administrative failure to carry out this wish. The effect of this neglect is now being felt on the labour question and other matters.
Locations
The location system of the country does not encourage the Natives to migrate with their families to the laboring centres, as the Natives are taxed in the locations without security of tenure, which kills all ambition to improve their surroundings or to aspire to a higher state of life. In many cases it is to be feared that such taxes are applied to other purposes than the improvement of the sanitary condition of the locations and the efficient regulations of the municipal needs of the inhabitants, the result being generally seen, in the lamentable spread of diseases, the high death-rate, and the depraved moral status of the people who occupy these locations. In place of pure and healthy townships we have a condition of squalor, which is already a bye-word in many cases.
The Liquor Question
Closely associated with the Master and Servants' question, and labour generally, is that of liquor. The connection between liquor and crime is shown by the fact that one-half of the serious crimes with which the Circuit Courts have to deal are the result of drink, even in the Transkeian Territories, where restrictive measures short of total prohibition are in force. Its effects on the morale of the Native people in lowering their respect for authority, and their manners and behavior, and its demoralizing consequences generally, are such as no sane country would tolerate without incurring serious loss and injury. Ministers, Magistrates, and others testify to the debasing effects of drink on the mass in authority, and there is an almost unanimous opinion on the part of the public, that the traffic must be restricted in its operations. The efforts of the Temperance Societies and the Missionary bodies show encouraging signs of success, and the work of these devoted people has been greatly aided by the measure known as the Innes Liquor Bill, which falls short of total prohibition. But the question is aggravated by the conduct of Licensing Boards, and legislation, which gives the power of "local option" to the Divisional Councils upon which the Native taxpayers are not represented. Total prohibition of the sale of liquor is strongly advocated by many, but on this subject there is a division of opinion, some fear being expressed that the objectionable feature of class-legislation would thus be introduced as an injurious precedent. Much satisfaction is expressed at the stringent regulations enforced by the new regime at the Rand for protecting the Natives, and the industries, against wholesale demoralization. It is felt, however, that something more is needed in the Cape Colony to deal effectively with liquor and Kaffir-beer in the best interests of the country.
Native Government
The beneficial results of Magisterial authority are most strikingly apparent in the cessation of tribal wars, and their presence is a corrective to sedition, insubordination, and lawlessness among the more turbulent tribes. At the same time it is noticeable that in the Native Territories, the administration, to quote a well-known authority, "lacks executive force."
The personal influence of the Magistrates in the encouragement of that progress which is indispensible to the "material wellbeing, increase in knowledge, and improvement in conduct," is, with a few exceptions, wanting. The premature concession of Responsible Government has doubtless resulted, as in other things, in a lack of sustained effort such as that recommended by the Native Laws and Customs Commission of 1881 to be observed, and the Government has not been able in the multitude of its responsibilities to give effect to those reforms which are so necessary to the proper administration of Native affairs in regard to the improvement of the laws and the social condition of the people.
On a general survey of Native policy in
, the necessity of endeavoring to arrive at some connected system between the States in order to give more uniformity of administration is made more apparent by the condition of Native affairs in the otherwise progressive Colony of Natal.
Amongst intelligent Natives the conditions there are a bye-word, and may not incorrectly be described, we think, as one of "nursing barbarism in the lap of civilisation." The system of Native government in the Sister Colony affords cause for grave anxiety, and appears to call for more extended inquiry.
The land laws both there and in the Cape Colony and the other States, in so far as they apply to the Natives, require careful revision with a view to the protection of the people in their tenure and individual rights which at present is on an unsatisfactory footing.
It appears that in Natal the Government is alienating large tracts of land from the Natives, who are to remain in future as squatters on land formerly held by them, giving their services without payment to the farmers for the right of occupation. This system appears to be in direct conflict with solemn treaties entered into by the British Government to protect them in their possession. A double profit is thus secured to the farmer in the labour and the product besides the advantage of owning the land and practically enslaving the people. The disabilities placed in the representation of the intelligent Natives on the Franchise are also a subject of remark.
Unity
Speaking of Unity it is painfully apparent that this sentiment conveys nothing more to some of the leaders of public thought in this country, as well as a large class of the European public than of uniting Briton and Boer so as to present what is called a "solid front" to an alleged "black menace."
The cardinal principle of reconciliation between the whites is said by the leaders of Dutch thought to lie in the concession of complete' self-government being accorded to the people of this country.
These two schools of thought, although differing on the question of race predominance, meet on the common ground of antagonism to the Natives, and this feeling has been fostered by the actions in legislation and utterances on the public platform and Press of leading public men. On the simple question of admitting the Native subjects of the King to participate in some degree in the defence of the Empire we have the recommendation of our Premiers of the Cape and Natal to the conference of Premiers in London, which is suggestive of the political ostracism of His Majesty's Native Subjects. Added to this is the recommendation to raise the strength of the defensive forces of the Cape Colony ostensibly for the protection of one class--the whites, against the other class--the blacks.
Just as we believe that the Unity of the Natives for the purpose of attempting to overturn the established authority of the white man is the "chimera" of ill-informed minds, and an idea which is belied by traditional tribal disunity, so also do we believe that the conception of uniting the white races in a league against the Native as a class is bound to failure.
We were of opinion that conditions had undergone a change, and that the Natives were no longer to be looked upon as a class for special and exclusive treatment, or to be governed by a policy of continued suspicion. We thought that they were now to be received with confidence within the political family circle as true citizens of the Empire, and that the doors of the Temple of Peace would be thrown widely open that they also might enter freely in with their white brethren to share in the coming prosperity which has been so eloquently described by the great advocates of the Commonwealth.
To say that the Natives feel perfectly secure in the protection of their liberties, would, in face of the examples already advanced, be misleading and contrary to fact. In the honesty and integrity of British feeling towards them, and the Christian conscience behind it. Yes! In the loyal execution of the dictates of that feeling by those Colonial Statesmen at present charged with the duty of giving expression to it under the systems of Responsible Government at present in vogue in the Cape and Natal, we say No! In them that sense of security has been greatly shaken, and the confidence which the Natives are accustomed to give to those in authority has been sadly abused in the desire to pander to a mistaken sentiment of suspicion and enmity against them for party purposes and other selfish aims.
How the British Government is going to reconcile such sentiments and aspirations that are powerfully supported in this country with its solemn pledges of protection to the weaker races is the cardinal question for us. How those who have been traditionally opposed to the Natives in their conduct and government in the past, such as the Dutch anti-Native class, and the other class of British anti-Natives who support them, arc to be granted absolute control of the Natives under the new Federation before they have furnished satisfactory evidence of a change in their attitude and feelings, is a question that will interest others besides the Natives themselves, and it should engage the serious attention and jealous regard of all true lovers of constitutional liberty.
It is not sufficient for the Boer leaders to say that the Natives must be treated with justice and fairness. Our experience in the past leads us to know how little we can expect from such professions on their part, and we have the experience of other countries before us, and especially of the Southern States of America where, on the authority of such men amongst others as ex Governor PINCHBACK in a review of the political status of the Afro-American people, he says: --
It is noticeable that wherever coloured men have been deprived of the ballot, unjust class-legislation has speedily followed, race antagonism has been intensified, and lawlessness and outrage against the race increased.
The time does not appear to us to be ripe for
to entirely divest herself of her obligations of Empire, or for the British people to seek to be relieved of their trust. However desirable the unity of the white races may be, and we are conscious of its necessity in the best interests of the ruling caste any conception of Unity which is founded on the political extinction of the Native element towards which a section of public feeling appears to be drifting in South Africa would, to our mind, be unwise and in the highest degree unstatesmanlike. Our own conception of our duties as loyal subjects is sadly deficient in the ignorance of the mass of the people which will call for strict management in which the support of the intelligent Natives will be cordially pledged to the British Crown in maintaining law and order, and that Ideal of Policy which has been so well expounded by a contemporary, English writer, and by the great American Statesman, WILLIAM J. BRYAN: -
A Britain worthy of the name of great--great as the mother of free communities beyond the sea-great in her loyalty to her old traditions as the land of religious liberty, the home of constitutional freedom--great as the protector of the weak against the strong, the champion of the oppressed against the oppressor--great, not by reason of the extension of her military frontier but in the strength of her moral position; Britain, great for CHRIST and for humanity.
It must be by beneficent laws, it must be by a just government, which a free people can love and upon which they can rely that the nation is to be preserved. We cannot put our safety in a great navy; we cannot put our safety in expensive fortifications along a sea-coast thousands of miles in extent, nor can we put our safety in a great standing army that would absorb in idleness the toil of the men it protects. A free government must find its safety in happy and contented citizens, who, protected in their rights and free from unnecessary burdens, will be willing to die that the blessings which they enjoy may be transmitted to their posterity.
His Majesty's black and colored subjects must be made to feel in a way they have never felt before, that the question of social equality and other impediments which are drawn across the trail are not made the lever for the subversion of the highest civic and political rights which, conformable to constitutional limitations, and the predominance of the ruling caste, are freely and impartially extended to all classes under the benign rule of His Gracious Majesty EDWARD VII.
Source:
Karis, T & Carter G. M. (1972). From Protest to Challenge: A Documentary History of African Politics in South Africa, 1882-1964, Volume 1: Protest and Hope, 1882-1934. Stanford University: Hanover Press.
