LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE COLOURED VOTE IN THE TRANSVAAL.
[To THE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR:') SIR,-I have read with interest a suggestion made publicly in the columns of the Cape Times. I cannot agree that we
should make any attempt by means of a legal quibble to evade the obligations which we entered into at Vereeniging in regard to enfranchising the natives of the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony. The actual words of the clause in the Treaty of Vereeniging dealing with this question are as follows :—" The question of granting the franchise to the natives shall not be decided until a representative Constitu- tion has been granted." It seems to me that in the spirit and letter this clause means that the decision as to the enfranchise- ment of the native is to be left to a responsible Government. On the other hand, I am convinced that neither in the spirit nor in the letter did the framers of the Treaty of Vereeniging include coloured persons in the term "native."
Some little while ago, when the question arose as to whether half-castes, British Indians, and other coloured persons, not aboriginal inhabitants of South Africa, were included in the term "native," Mr. Lyttelton, in answer to a question in the House, gave the rather ambiguous reply that ho understood that the Boers took the term " native " as meaning all coloured persons. On the other hand, certain correspondence took place between General Louis Botha and the Imperial Government some time before the Vereeniging Conference. General Botha inquired what the intentions of the Government were in the matter of the native franchise, and the following reply was given him :—" As regards the extension of the franchise to Kaffirs in Transvaal and the Orange River Colony, it is not the intention of his Majesty's Government to give such franchise before a Representative Government is granted to these Colonies, and if then given, it will be so limited as to secure the just predominance of the white races. The legal position of coloured persons will, however, be similar to that which they held in the Cape Colony." Mr. Chamberlain in the reply sent to General Botha added the "following words :—" We cannot consent to purchase peace by leaving the coloured population in the position in which they stood before the war, with not even the ordinary civil rights which the Government of Cape Colony has long conceded them." I am in receipt of a letter from Lord Milner touching on this point, and it may interest you to know exactly what lie says. He writes as follows :—" With reference to the first point in your letter, I may say that, personally, I have always held that the word `native' in the Terms of the Surrender meant natives, and not coloured people. I certainly consider that the universal use of language in South Africa makes a clear distinction between the two, and I have never myself heard Cape boys—much less Asiatics—spoken of as ' natives.' If the question had been raised during the negotiations, I have no doubt the matter would have been cleared up in this sense, but I am bound to say that, unfortunately, the point never was raised ; therefore it is free to any of the negotiators to contend that he meant by natives' all classes of coloured people. In that case the question must be left to be decided by the general judgment, and I cannot but think myself that any- body approaching it impartially, and especially anybody acquainted with the use of the words `natives' and 'coloured people' in South Africa would give the article—for which I must, of course, bear my full share of the responsibility—the meaning which I always believed and intended it to have. You will see, there- fore, that as far as the interpretation of the article is concerned I am in complete agreement with your views, as expressed in the paper which you have kindly sent me."
This correspondence seems to prove conclusively that at any rate the British parties to the Treaty of Vereeniging had no intention whatever of including coloured persons in the term " native." Since, however, the position of these coloured men to-day hangs upon the interpretation of the word "native," it spay not be inappropriate if I place before you certain facts bearing upon the terminology customarily in use in South Africa.
In the Dutch translation of the terms of Vereeniging contained in General Christian De Wet's book entitled " The Three Years' War," " the word used is "Naturellen," which corresponds exactly with English word " native." Now the Dutch translation of " aboriginal " is to be found in the word " Imboorling," and the expression for the coloured man is "Kleurlingen." It seems strange, therefore, considering that these terms were discussed at very great length and in detail, that if the Boer delegates had meant to include all coloured persons they should not have asked for the use of the word "Kleurlingen," or coloured person.
The main point at issue centres about the word "native," and since the word "Naturellen" is used in the Dutch translation there need be no doubt as to the fact that the Boer delegates thoroughly understood its meaning. Furthermore, it is the word "native" with whith we have to deal, and not the word "Naturellen," for upon p. 453, Appendix B, of General De Wet's book we find that during the discussion upon the terms of peace Lord Milner said : "If we come to an agreement, it will be the English document which will be wired to England on which His Majesty's Government will decide, and which will be signed." Commandant-General Botha asked : "Will the Dutch translation be annexed?" Lord Milner replied : "I have no objection to the addition of the Dutch translation, but this is the document which you are prepared to lay before the English Government." The Native Affairs Commission before commencing its labours proceeded to define this very word, and the discussion which followed brought out the facts, to put the matter simply, that in Natal, the Cape Colony, and Rhodesia—that is to say, in what was before the war British South Africa—the term "native" did not include coloured persons, but was strictly confined to aboriginals and persons both of whose parents were aboriginals. In the Liquor Law of the Transvaal of 1893, and in Law No. 8 of 1893 of the Orange Free State, the word "Kleurlingen," or coloured person, was substituted for the word "Naturellen," or native, in order to give the law greater scope. It is obvious, therefore, and I do not think the point can be reasonably disputed, that both in the conquered Republics and in British South Africa it was clearly and popularly understood that there was a difference between the expressions " native " and "coloured person," and between the words "Naturellen" and "Kleurlingen." If, therefore, the Republican delegates to the Conference that preceded the Peace of Vereeniging had meant to include coloured persons in the term " native," it is extraordinary that they did not use the expression "coloured person " in order clearly to define their meaning. It may be argued that if the British delegates to the Vereeniging Conference did not intend that coloured persons should be included in the term "native," they also should have clearly defined their position. This, however, seems unreasonable in view of Mr. Chamberlain's very clear exposition of the Imperial Government's intentions in regard to the coloured folk, and of the fact that the following clause embodying Mr. Chamberlain's ideas was inserted in what are knewn as the Middelbnrg pro- posals :—" As regards the extension of the franchise to Kaffirs in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, it is not the intention of His Majesty's Government to give such franchise before a Representative Government is granted to those colonies, and if then given it will be so limited as to secure a just predomix lace of the white race. The legal position of coloured persons will however be similar to that which they hold in the Cape Colony." Here, if it were needed, is positive proof that not only British but Boer delegates differentiated in their own minds between the native or Kaffir and the coloured person, and that both sides accepted and understood such a distinction.
I have searched very carefully the minutes of the discussions which preceded the signing of the Peace of Vereeniging, and both in the discussions between British and Boer delegates, and in the records of the debate amongst the Boer delegates themselves, I am unable to find any expression of opinion or controversy which would illumine this point. In their grief at the surrender of their independence, and at the utter failure of all the high hopes which possessed them when they undertook the war, the Boer delegates seem to have considered the enfranchisement or non-enfranchisement of the natives and coloured persons a matter of very minor importance; and since the Boers did not bring up the question of the status of the coloured person, it is easily understood that the British delegates were content that the matter should be left in the hands of the Imperial Government to deal with in terms of Mr. Chamberlain's declaration, or as they might otherwise think fit.
This, then, sums up the evidence at our disposal in regard to this all-important matter. The Baer delegates to-day may, of course, allege that they considered that the term " native " included coloured persons ; but the weight of evidence is against them, and I for one decline to believe any such state- ment. The Imperial Government intuit consider how far it is justified in accepting their interpretation of this clause. At the same time, it is most earnestly to be hoped that Ministers will think over this matter most seriously, and that in doing so they will not forget the tremendous responsibility placed upon them to do their very best for, and to maintain as far as their obligations will allow, the rights and privileges of as loyal and patriotic a body of subjects as they have within the boundaries of our world- wide Empire. There is something pathetic about the unswerving and unquestioning adherence to their Imperial allegiance which these coloured men give. The Union Jack is to them no mere commercial asset. Indeed, they are worse off to-day in the Transvaal than they were under the Vierkleur, for then the Imperial Government did interest itself in them and in their affairs, and now the Imperial Government proposes to hand them over to the tender mercies of the white Colonists, and to surrender all right of interference on their behalf. But of course the sympathy of the existing Administration in England will be with these men, and to endeavour to rouse a feeling on their behalf by a recapitulation of their virtues (of which, as I have said, loyalty is not the least), and the unfair disabilities under which they suffer, would be a work of supererogation.
My object in this letter has been to show that, in spite of the terms of Vereeniging—it would be more fair to say on account of the terms of Vereeniging—the Imperial Government have the right, if they have the courage, to insist that those coloured people who are not aboriginal natives or who are not members of the Bantu tribes shall be allowed to share the enfranchisement of their white fellow-Colonists. In this matter there is no reason why we should not accept the definition of the native laid down in Ordinance 58 of 1903, which defines the native as a person both of whose parents belong to any aboriginal tribe in South Africa.
—I am, Sir, &o., A BRITISH SOUTH AFRICAN.
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