CORRESPONDENCE.
THREE SOUTH AFRICAN QUESTIONS. (To THE EDITOR OP TIIR "SPECTATOR:1 ST,—The parent who watches day by day the growth of a child is often precluded, by reason of accustomed vision, from observing accurately the marked periods of development. Not so the family friend who sees the child at intervals ; for periods of absence clearly define to him the stages of progress. As with human life, so with that of a country; a man, though
he may lack 'experience born of continual contact, may nevertheless be in a fair position to judge of its fortune. This, Sir, must be my excuse for venturing to trouble you with a letter on the present position in South Africa. Slow as it may seem, the war has indeed progressed since the close of November, 1900. Then trains were weekly derailed; now four months have gone by without a single instance of one being thrown off the line.* Then "hard tack" was the diet of the soldier, now canteens in the villages are the order of the day. Then commandeering was the practice, now com- merce is the law. Should victory continue to march as per- sistently as it has done of late, we may well look forward to the war being terminated by the close of the ensuing winter (i.e., end of October). Where the Boers can now muster four or five hundred strong they will be able to gather at the rendezvous only forty or fifty men; where the enemy can muster the latter number now they will not be able to put in an appearance at all.
In this prophecy there appears little need for pessimism. The British people may be tired of the war, but they possess the means and the determination to see the thing through. Any failure to spurt at the finish of the long race would put a disastrous end to our Imperial policy. To hearken to terms of conciliation may be very well, but until those who are now fighting against us know when they are beaten there must be no cessation of the battle. On this condition alone will be secured the lasting peace of South Africa. To suppose that when the Mauser has become silent there will be no further trouble would be the greatest of errors, for hand-in-hand with the gradual resumption of peace the minds of men will turn from those strategic difficulties which oppose Lord Kitchener to those of a political character which confront Lord Milner. The most pressing of these difficulties, perhaps, is the language question. There are few things in this world which keep nations so far apart as a strange tongue. It was because men could not under- stand one another that the Tower of Babel fell. On the cessation of the war, and whilst South Africa is still in the military grasp, English should be proclaimed as the one and only language officially recognised south of the Zambesi. Dutch, except for religious observances, should be prohibited from use in addressing the Houses of Parliament and from being spoken by officials of the Government in the perform- ance of their duties. Second undoubtedly in importance is the native question, which, though in name symbolising but one difficulty, refers in the abstract to three,—the liquor question, the labour question, and native polygamy.
It must be understood that the native is inferior in every way to the white man, and that though he may have absolute freedom of person under British rule, he must not at present enjoy the franchise. The native must be taken in the spirit of a child and legislated for accordingly : things which are not good for him he must not be allowed to have, for the simple reason that while still living in a semi-savage condition he knows but the animal cravings for self-satisfaction. It would never do, while black is in vast preponderance over white, to risk the future of South Africa through want of wise legislation. The prohibition under martial law of the sale of liquor to natives has proved most beneficial, therefore when the war is over it should still remain a sine qua non that the sale of liquor to natives shall be an offence in the eyes of the Magistrate. The labour difficulty is very much harder to solve. The ordinary South African native knows not the dignity of toil and will not apply himself to work. The coloured man requires no luxury, his food is simple; in a land of sub-tropical climate, and of vast extent, everything neces- sary is provided at his door. What little labour may be required is performed by his womankind, for this, in the savage's opinion, is the sole use of a wife ; such things as household duties and the bringing up of a family never enter his head. If Africa is to be developed this delusion cannot continue. Having accepted the responsibilities of Empire, it would not be worthy of British policy to allow the land and people to remain in idleness. The native must be made to work, and there appear but three ways of accomplishing this. One is to bring into force a Labour Conscription Act, by which it shall be enacted that every kraal or location must furnish per
• " To-day the fast weekly express to Johannesburg resumes running after • lapse of two and a half years."—Extract Daily Press.
annum so many labourers for agricultural, mining, or indus- trial purposes. The services of these men would, of course, be paid for, but at a rate lower than that extant in the voluntary labour market.
The organisation required for carrying into effect such legislation would of necessity be great, and therefore ex- pensive; but the results of the labour extorted would amply repay the money laid forth. Requisitioned labour seems a. more favoured method than that which has sometimes been suggested. for making the native industrious : viz., to educate him, so that by progressive civilisation his wants may in- crease, and correspondingly his need for money, which remunerative work can alone supply.. The educated native always drifts to the town, and it is an accepted fact that town life and civilisation have done the Kaffir and the Zulu no good. The third way of solving the labour difficulty, which has much to recommend it, is the imposition of a Hut. tax. It is well known that the native enjoys polygamy, and that he looks upon the acquisition of a wife more from the point of view of a dower in oxen than a matter of love, and therefore a tax might be judiciously imposed in an increasing amount on every additional wife's hut beyond that of the first.* By this means the great progenity of the black races would be curbed, though never in any way threatened with extinction. If the tax were sufficiently heavy, the savage would find it the wiser policy, as well as the more economical, to reduce the number of his women slaves; and since the needs of life would remain as ever the same, he himself would be compelled to work. The question of labour, however, will never be satisfactorily solved until there is a large working white population in South Africa. This does not refer to settlement in the cities, but to settlement on the land. The class of Colonist required is not that which will find its way into the mining camp or the Stock Exchange, but which will rest content with the cultivation of the soil.
The difficulties of a Colonist scheme are twofold. The first is, where are the right sort of men and women to come from ? And the second is, how, are they to be settled upon the land ? From an Imperial point of view, it is wrong to look to Australia and Canada to supply the needed personnel. Those countries require "youth" every bit as much as South Africa; and therefore they cannot be expected quietly to acquiesce in a constant drain of young men from their back blocks or their ranches. Moreover, what temptation is there that will induce such men to leave homes where markets are fast developing for a land as yet bare in railways and harassed by droughts and pests ? Far better they should stay where they are than risk their fortunes by gambling in mining shares. To look to the Army for the supply is useless. Excellent men as our soldiers are, they make but poor Colonists, because during the years of life soldiers devote to the Service they lose the habit of working with their hands; and further, through being quartered in towns, they become imbued with a desire for sociability, a thing not in keeping with the lonely life of the Colonies. Many members of the Auxiliary Forces are the right sort for South Africa; but it is not likely they can be obtained in sufficient numbers. The majority of the youthful farming class in the United Kingdom work on their fathers' farms; if they cease to do this labourers must be hired in their stead ; consequently in these days of increasing taxation and agricultural depres- sion the idea of emigration is not likely to find favour in their homes. Colonisation, to bear fruit, must be constant, not done once and for ever, but a steady supply of fresh blood maintained through all time. This can alone be secured by training, not by seeking for the ready-made pioneer.
A good basis on which to rear young Colonists would be for the Corporations of all large cities at home to maintain a municipal farming estate, this place to have affiliated with it a free veterinary, a stud for horses, and a stock-breeding establishment; also to be in possession of all patterns (including the latest) of agricultural and farming appliances. To this school young men of the city desirous of living a Colonial life, and of respectable parentage, should be allowed to come and serve a farming apprenticeship. After two or three years of a practical education in riding, driving, ploughing, shoeing, shearing, and harvesting, &c., "the young Suggeded by the Bev. J. Darragh, of Johannesburg, in a monthly Maligasina„
ideas" should be granted by the Government a free kit and a passage to South Africa. On arrival the Colonial authorities should take charge of the "new chums," and apprentice them to a further short term of service under the care of specially selected farmers. After this was completed they might be offered facilities for settling in groups on small holdings within Government irrigated districts. It should be under- stood that while serving apprenticeship at home service with some Yeomanry regiment was obligatory. The scheme ought to prove nearly self-supporting, since the estates should be eligible for technical education grants, and should reap a fair profit on the produce of the soil. In South Africa the money for advancement to the young settlers on the creditof the Government should be forthcoming in the shape of a Dividend-tax on the country,—that is to say, a tax might be levied according to scale on the profits made annually lpy individuals on money invested in mining concerns. The greater the percentage of profits made the heavier the tax should be. It is only right that the capitalist who bleeds the ground should infuse into it new populi supreme lex.
The three great political questions above dwelt upon may perhaps at the present time loom more large than others ; but they by no means comprise all the difficulties which coa- front the statesmen of South Africa. In a land where the future promises to be great, where the development is rapid, it would indeed be strange if difficulties did not crop up. Perhaps it is well they do, for without opposition legislation and statecraft lose all interest, and lack of public interest is [We publish Lord Graham's interesting and suggestive letter, but we must express strong dissent from many of his views. We agree that till self-government is restored English should be the official language, but we would do nothing to persecute the Dutch tongue. As to the native, we agree fully about the liquor prohibition; but nothing in the nature of forced labour, which is the very worst form of slavery, should be tolerated. His settler suggestions are interesting, and we do not see why teaching the art of colonisation is not a form of technical education which could be established in the United Kingdom. We cannot open our columns to any dis- cussion of Lord Graham's three points.—En. spectator.]
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