BOOKS.
THE FIRST PREMIER OF NATAL.* THE Colony of Natal, though it includes what is perhaps the most delightful region of South Africa, and has been the scene of some of the Most stirring events in British Colonial annals, has hitherto lacked a historian. It is true that one of the best books—perhaps the beat book—ever written on South African history, Mr. Justice (Mode's History of the Great Boor Trek, originated in lectures delivered in Natal on the events which led to the foundation of the Colony, but the Great Trek is rightly considered as belonging to the story of South Africa as a whole. Dr. Thears interests lie in Cape Town rather than in Maritzburg. Various travellers, and a few soldiers, have described Natal, or dealt with episodes in its records, with varying success, and Mr. Russell's Natal is an excellent epitome, but still the country caret vats saoro. - This is in many respects strange, for in interest and picturesqueness of history few portions of the Empire can rival Natal, even if we exclude the events of the past year. Pietermaritzburg commemorates in its name two of the - Voortrekkers, Pieter Retief and Gerrit Merits. Weenen keeps alive the mourning of the Dutch women whose hus- bands were treacherously massacred by the Zulus. On the memories of Isandhlwana and Majuba we need not dwell. The present Colony of Natal was the scene of the foundation of the first Boer State, of the first armed conflict between British troops and the emigrant farmers, of most of the deeds of blood wrought by the great Zulu Bing, Chaim; later on, of much of the fighting in the Zulu War of 1879 and the Boer War of 1:4:1. Elandslaagto„ Glencoe, Coleus°, Ladysmith, will not soon be forgotten. Natal has been the first Colony to deal decisively with the vexed ques- tion whether our Asiatic subjects are to have free access to all parts of the Empire. In constitutional law, the various legislative experiments have their interest, and the treatment of the chief Langalibalele is a "leading case." From- an ecclesiastical point of view, Natal has-the distinction of having been the See of Bishop Coleus°, and of having, in consequence, seen the local Anglican community very sharply divided against itself.
Such a history is full of controversial questions, and largely embittered by unhappy memories. At the present moment the Colony is realising that it has suffered much for its loyalty to the Empire, and is anxiously awaiting the final settlement. The fact lends special interest to the "Recollections" of Sir John Robinson, but his book would in any case stand high on its intrinsic merits. He has a literary gift which is rare among the men who are doing the practical work of government in our younger Colonies, and "the parish pump," to use his own phrase, has not swamped his wider interests. This is not the place to discuss Sir John Robinson's career as a statesman ; we need only say that he deserves well of South Africa and of England, and that he has earned the leisure which he turns to such pleasant uses. But it is impossible to avoid some comparison between his career and that of the first Premier of Cape Colony, Sir John Molten°, whose Life we reviewed some time ago. Each left England when young, each threw himself into the struggle for Colonial self-government, and each became the first Minister of an autonomous Parliament. But whereas the Cape politician became a thorough Afrikander—we use the word in no invidious sense—absolutely identified with local issues, the Natallan is above all things a citizen of the Empire. The difference in the way of looking at things is forcibly brought home when we read Sir John Robinson's weighty encomium on Sir Bartle Frere, the man whom Molten°, chiefly from sheer want of political insight, did his best to hamper. • • A Lifetime in South Africa: being the Recollections of the First .Prennier of Natal. By Sir John Robinson, Loudon: Smith, Elder, and Co. LlOs. 614 Sir John Robinson has not set himself to write a systematio history, but his book is really a very complete record of the public events of his life. He went to Natal as a boy of eleven, and before very long was helping his father in journalistic work. In 1856 an essay from his pen on South African confederation appeared in a Cape paper. The scheme was more feasible then than it has ever been since, if only Sir George Grey had been given a free hand. From journalism he passed to practical politics, which for thirty- seven years claimed all his time. Like most small com- munities, Natal was a hotbed of personal rivalries and commercial jealousies; in fact, its politics to-day, in times of peace, hinge chiefly on the divergent interests of he farming and the commercial sections. It is, therefore, worth noting that when responsible government came in 1893, Mr. Robinson was by general consent hailed as the only possible Premier. He possesses apparently too much modesty and too much humour to give any hint of the kind to his readers, for whose benefit he quotes with evident relish the description given by a political opponent of a speech of his as "one of the finest specimens of flatulent verbosity, misrepre- sentation, humbug, and high-falutin' that had ever been listened to in this world" ! Natal polities have their humorous aide. In the old days an aspirant might have to canvass one hundred and fifty voters spread over a constituency the aim of Yorkshire. In 1868 the Speaker of the Legislative Council went, during recess, on a trading expedition into the wilds of the Transvaal, and vanished, reappearing only at the end of the next Session. He had lost his cattle and had no horses ! And, unfortunately, it was impossible to discover a precedent in English Parliamentary history, as our early Speakers were not given to disappearing into, let us say, Connemara. When the Robinson family emigrated, the voyage to Natal took one hundred and seventeen days. The Boer Republics had not yet been formally recognised, the Zulu power was unbroken. Natal was practically virgin soil, and the hopes of the infant community reposed on cotton. Cotton has long since given place to sugar, tea, and fruit ; a large "coolie" population has been imported to work the plantations ; the indoluitable Zulus are, to judge by their good conduct in the present war, contented subjects of the Empire. Most unfore- seen of all possible developments, the prosperity of Natal, fostered by a spirited railway policy, has rested very largely on the carrying trade to the Transvaal,—in 1850 a practically unknown region whence the Boers were beginning to expel the Matabele. Natal has abundant coal, and Natalia.ns have done their fair share beyond their own borders in pioneering work, and in developing the mineral wealth of South Africa. The sub-tropical climate has had no effect on the energy of the race, and if as yet they have produced no art, and practi- cally no literature, this very book proves that the Colony is not altogether absorbed in things material.
We cannot follow in detail the many political questions raised, but we recommend the book as thoroughly trust- worthy and admirably sane. Its author, of course, knows as much as any man living of the inner side of African politics. We must, however, dwell for a moment on the relations between the Cape and Natal, for this is one of the least satis- factory points in the South African situation, and we have reason to think that it is not appreciated in England. Sir John Robinson is, perhaps, to some extent a partisan, but he states his facts clearly, and we must agree that the Cape has not been a good neighbour to Natal, which it regards as an inconvenient off-shoot. There has in the past been friction over the intervening native territories (now definitely secured to the- Cape), but a more serious fact is that the larger Colony has in past years deliberately put very great pressure on the. smaller (and if Sir John Robinson had chosen to speak out all that he knows about Mr. Rhodes's policy, he would surprise a good many of his readers) to force it into a fiscal system which is founded on the particular needs of Cape Colony. We have no intention of taking sides, and should be the last to deny that Cape Town has a right to its own opinions. But the important fact is that some ten years ago the two British Colonies were on unfriendly terms, and each was practically trying to enlist the services of the South African Republic oil its own side. Natal is far more English in feeling and race than Cape 'Colony, but on the other hand it was, commercially
speaking, almost entirely deliendeat on the Transvaal trade. It is unpleasant to think of Mr. Kruger as arbiter holding the scales between two British Colonies, and, one may fairly say, wooed in a somewhat undignified manner by both. But that evil time has gone; Natal is now a member of the South African Customs Union, and the Transvaal trade will flow at last in its natural channels, unhampered by political barriers. It is to be hoped that the old bitterness will die out. Mean- while, we must remember that the Natal Parliament, which in 1899 stoutly upheld the Imperial cause when the Cape Ministry, through no fault of Mr. Schreiner or Mr. Solomon, was lukewarm, represented a community which was, in the last. resort, exposed to Boer invasion, and, had peace been preserved, at the mercy of any tariff policy that Pretoria might adopt.
As regards the future outlook, Sir John Robinson is hopeful, alike for his own Colohy and for South Africa. He knows how hollow the peace has been for the last ten years, and be believes that the fatalism of the Dutch character will induce the Boers to accept the inevitable. They have appealed to the God of Battles, and they will accept His verdict. The best of them realise that their rulers abused the fifty years of independence granted them by England : the worst of them will soon understand that it is useless to kick against the pricks". The two races have much in common: the Boer motto, " Eendragt maakt magt," stands already for the fusion of French and Dutch emigrants, and will not always exclude Englishmen. If our statesmen have the courage to disregard the trivialities of those orators who dislike the words "Crown Colony," and have the wisdom to keep a firm band onthe baser elements of both nationalities, South Africa will justify the sacrifices made. And when at last we have a united Dominion under' the Imperial Crown, not the least honoured among the names of those who began the building willhe that of Sir John Robinson.
Previous page
