THE PROTECTORATES
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—Mr. Bagnall in the very first paragraph of his article on the Protectorates seems to me to reveal that he has caught the spirit of so many white South Africans, i.e., that the natives don't really count except as hewers of wood, &c. He says " an overwhelming majority of South Africans call for the incorporation " of the Protectorates. Does he mean by that two million South Africans or eight million ? If he means eight million, that is if he includes the natives, I am afraid I must contest his statement. I do not believe that the majority of the natives wish to see this incorporation till things improve in the Union. And if my letter bag is an indicator, there is a large number of white South Africans who are not in favour of immediate transfer. It is a very common custom to use " South Africans " for whites only.
I have heard a lecturer say that South Africa had more motor- cars per head than any country except the U.S.A. He referred to a population of under two million. He forgot the six million on whose back the gold mining, diamond mining, and farming industries are carried. A South African Cabinet Minister at lunch one day said " Oh you can't do so and so in a country with our population." I said " What is our population ? " He said " Two million." I said " What about the natives." He said "Oh, I don't count them." This is true of a great many others I fear.—Yours, &c.
The Close, Winchester. J. ARTHUR SouniAmProx,
formerly Bishop of Johannesburg.
Previous page
