The first Conference on South-African affairs was held at the
Colonial Office on Thursday week. The delegates were addressed by Lord Carnarvon in an exhaustive speech, in which he denied in the strongest terms that he desired to force federation on an unwilling people, or that he regarded the scheme as a stepping- stone towards the independence of South Africa. His desire was to link a number of Colonies and States—it might be with very different Constitutions—into one body, the government of which, however limited its powers, might adopt a general and persistent policy towards the natives, who otherwise might become a for- midable danger to South Africa. The laws about the import of arms, the regulation of vagrancy, the native tenure of land, the sale of spirits to natives, and many other subjects, all require the control of a central government on the spot, which, moreover, will open a wider field to local ambition, and tend to produce poli- ticians of a higher type. The tone of the delegates as yet is said to be not unfriendly to the project, but they are greatly impressed with the many difficulties of detail arising from the great differences in the interests of the Colonies. They are, unfortunately, not quite so impressed with the native danger as Lord Carnarvon is, as they think the mother-country would, in any serious crisis, be sure to defend them, and do not altogether dislike that prospect. Still popular sentiment in the Colonies is decidedly in favour of Lord Carnarvon's plan.
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