THE TRANSVAAL AND NATAL. [To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."'
SIR,—Your article of August 25th on the Transvaal and Natal has just reached us here, and while admitting the force of your contentions, may I, as a Natal Colonist, venture a few criticisms upon it? You attach more importance to the remarks of the Minister of Justice than we do here, and state that proposals have come from the smaller State. That is hardly the case yet; and while the Prime Minister has declined to back up his subordinate, the Leader• of Opposition, Mr. Moor, probably the ablest man in Natal, has just issued a manifesto against the change. Elections are now going on, and I do not think one-fifth of the candi- dates are in favour of amalgamation. The reasons why we doubt the wisdom of amalgamation are not entirely local. The change might not be a benefit Imperially ; no doubt it would secure a British majority in the united Colony, but it might be answered by the amalgamation of the Orange and Cape Colonies, which would then have a certain Dutch majority. South Africa would then be split into two very antagonistic bodies, and federation, our real goal, deferred to a very distant future. Then there are some reasons you have not noticed against the change. It is felt that amalgamation means absorption. The main interests of Natal are agricultural. It requires opening up by local rail- ways. The great difficulty is to get produce to market. If we amalgamate • with the Transvaal, there is a danger that everything will be sacrificed to the mining industry, which is at times a little oppressive even now. Another objection is that Natal would have to accept manhood suffrage and electoral districts based on the number of voters in each district. Now half or more of the white population live in two towns, the larger of which, Durban, lives by the transit of goods. The consequence of amalgamation would be that even the small contingent that we should send to the united Assembly would not be really representative of the wants of our community. As for the financial stress, we shall get over that. A good deal of it is due to extravagant and foolish expenditure in the past. The native question is no doubt serious ; but the late explosion has, most here think, cleared the air, made a new rising very improbable, and proved our capability of meeting
Previous page
