THE SITUATION IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Speech at Bournemouth, October 5th, 1899.[1]
(Reprinted from ‘Bournemouth Directory.’)
Declaration of war.If the rumour that war had begun was true, then that meeting was held one day too late, but he was glad to think from the latest tidings he had received, and from his own strong belief that the Boers would not take the initial warlike step on the frontier, that at present war had not broken out. His opinion, he confessed, had all along been that there would be no war. If he had been wrong, and the Boers had declared war, he would never believe that the prospects of a satisfactory settlement were diminished by the fact that Her Majesty's Government made it plain that they were prepared to resort to arms to put an end to the state of unrest which had stopped the progress of all South Africa for some years past, and of which the Transvaal Government had been the focus.
Liberal responsibility for the situation.So many mistakes had been made in the past by the Imperial Government in South Africa that it was doubly incumbent on them now to take a comprehensive view of the situation, and not to run, as so many Liberals were inclined to do, in blind blinkers. Liberals had special responsibilities in the matter, because, as was well pointed out in the Daily News, it was a Liberal Government, guided by a great and magnanimous statesman, that gave the Transvaal back its independence in 1881, after three disasters to small bodies of British troops at Ingogo, Laing's Nek, and Majuba, and this at a time when sufficient reinforcements had arrived upon the scene to make it certain that a continuation of the war would have resulted in the ultimate triumph of British arms. It was even said that a Liberal Government was responsible for some of the difficulties with which they were face to face in South Africa to-day; but to this he would retort that it was the action of British officials, for which a Conservative Government was responsible, who, by their delay in granting the free constitution which was promised when the Transvaal was annexed in 1881, had prevented the Transvaal becoming a loyal and contented portion of the British Empire. Mr. Gladstone, in making the concession of 1881, said in his letter to the loyalists of that day, that his policy would secure to the settlers of whatever origin the full enjoyment of their property, and of all civil rights.
Kruger's declaration in 1881.Vice-President Kruger, in his speech to the Raad on behalf of the Triumvirate, delivered in April, 1881, said: 'I deem it my duty to clearly express before you and before the whole world that our respect for her Majesty the Queen of England, for her Majesty's Government, and for the whole English people has never been greater than now, when we have been enabled by this Treaty to give you proof of England's noble and magnanimous love of right and justice.' Further, in the proceedings before the Royal Commission of 1881, which sat in South Africa, President Kruger said that British subjects were on the same footing as burghers as regarded trade—equal protection for every one; and in answer to Sir Evelyn Wood, 'equal privileges as far as burghers' rights were concerned—except as regarded new arrivals, who were required to remain one year in the country before becoming burghers.'
British prestige demanded a remedy for Uitlanders' grievances.How far Mr. Gladstone's intention and Mr. Kruger's pledges had been carried out, might be gathered from Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman's words the other day:—'The Uitlanders have not the municipal government, the police protection, the organized maintenance of order, the even-handed administration of justice, which in all civilised communities are regarded as the very elements of civil right and civil freedom.' The Liberal Party under their great leader was the enemy of injustice and oppression all over the world; on behalf of Irishmen, on behalf of Bulgarians, and in still later days on behalf of the Armenians his voice was always uplifted on the side of liberty and the rights of citizenship. If he had been alive to-day would not his voice have been uplifted on behalf of our fellow-countrymen in the South African Republic, though the very fact that they were our fellow-countrymen seemed to be with some people a reason why no action should be taken on their behalf. At a meeting which he addressed in July last, just before he went abroad, he pointed out that the solution of the Uitlanders' grievances in the Transvaal was bound up, as far as he was able to judge, with the future supremacy of this country in South Africa, and he expressed his confidence in the judgment and capacity of Sir A. Milner to deal with the situation. He would not recall one word he said on that occasion.
His visit to South Africa had enormously strengthened the impression that unless they could ensure the same treatment for Britishers and all other white men in the South African Republic, that the Dutch and men of other than the British race receive in all parts of the world under the British flag, South Africa would be lost to the British Empire, and the present unrest would end sooner or later in a terrible civil war, the more terrible because there would be no paramount Power to hold the balance of power between the two races. He had returned with unabated confidence in Sir A. Milner's policy. He believed that the position in South Africa and the grounds for Imperial intervention were admirably reviewed in the last portion of his celebrated dispatch of May 4th, and he was convinced that in endeavouring to secure from President Kruger, as he did with the most admirable patience at the Bloemfontein conference, the concession of an effective franchise, he was taking the best, and, indeed, the only means to a peaceful solution of the South African question.
Influence of Dr. Leyds.His first feeling, and perhaps his principal feeling, in this Transvaal question, was one of disappointment—he might almost say disgust—that Mr. Gladstone's magnanimous policy of 1881 was not now, and never had been, reciprocated by the Transvaal Government. In the establishment of Dutch as the official language—an entirely foreign language to the Transvaal in the introduction of 'Hollanders'—people coming from Holland—into their administration, and in all other matters, their policy had been anti-British and hostile to the best interests of South Africa as a whole. The central idea of the Transvaal policy—certainly since that evil genius, that bête noire of South Africa (Dr. Leyds) came on the scene—had been to create a Dutch Republic which should first abolish the Orange Free State, then the Cape Colony and Natal, and which would in time become strong enough to exclude British influence from South Africa altogether. The discovery of gold provided funds for carrying out this policy for arming themselves and their neighbours to the teeth«this statement was no mere verbiage, for on his journey down to Buluwayo, Mauser rifles were carried in the same train, and he himself saw an Orange Free State farmer get out of the train at a roadside station with six or seven of the rifles and distribute them to men waiting on the station—and for procuring the assistance of the Government and the Raad of the Free State, whose conduct, in his mind, was otherwise inexplicable. The influx of Uitlanders, on the other hand, had made it impossible that this policy could ever be realised in the sense in which it was intended. The Uitlander population already outnumbered the Boers, and it would certainly, on a moderate estimate, treble its numbers, and might become ten times more numerous within the next ten years.
Difficulties of the situation.If it should prove to be true that the Boers had declared war, it was an absolute proof, to his mind, that the policy, to which he had alluded, had all along been the central idea of the Transvaal Government, and he thought the gratitude of every one was due to Sir A. Milner, for being the first High Commissioner who had really grasped the situation and had done his best to avert the consequences. While he had no sympathy with the Transvaal in this matter, he, like any one else who had studied the history of the Boers, could not help feeling much sympathy with them in their reluctance to grant a franchise which would in time give to others the controlling influence in the State. The concession of an effective franchise, as Mr. Kruger knew full well, would be the beginning of the end the end of the present system of government in the Transvaal. The result of the ill-advised action of the Transvaal Government in past years, in imposing hard restrictions upon the attainment of the franchise by Uitlanders, was the almost total exclusion of the Uitlander population from any share in the administration or in the general government of the country; and from this Uitlander population at least nine-tenths—some said nineteen-twentieths—of the revenue of the country was drawn. Under such circumstances, was the great unrest in the Transvaal a matter for wonder? Reasonable concessions would have strengthened the independence of the Transvaal Government. A large proportion of the Uitlanders did not want British rule, which was absolutely proved at the time of the Jameson raid, when the Reform Committee split on the question of what flag they should hoist, and ended their dispute by hoisting the Transvaal flag, It was an idle contention to say that if it had not been for the Jameson raid, reasonable concessions would have been granted. The refusal to make concessions was the cause, and not the consequence, of the Reform movement in 1895; and the only chance of concessions being granted was during the Jameson raid, when Kruger thought 20,000 rifles were opposed to him, and not merely 2000. That raid was universally deplored throughout South Africa. It had embittered the feeling of the two races, caused many people in Cape Colony to transfer their sympathies from the Uitlanders to the Boers, and, to some extent, been responsible for the change of attitude on the part of the Orange Free State. Many people in South Africa believed that Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Chamberlain were privy to the Jameson raid, but he did not share the belief.
The personnel of the Reform agitation.Coming to his recent personal experiences in South Africa, Mr. Brassey said he was told by many people in Cape Town that the Uitlander grievances were grossly exaggerated, that the Reform movement in 1899, like that of 1895, was being promoted by capitalists by Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Beit, and people of that kind, and that the Uitlanders were the scum of the earth. The first hour he spent in Johannesburg convinced him that the last-named assertion was untrue. As far as he could judge he should say that the population of that town was on the whole above the average of most large English towns. It was true that the population included a considerable number of disreputable persons, such as illicit liquor-sellers, pickpockets, and others of that kind, but in the main the character of the people was as he had stated. In regard to the men who were running the Reform movement, he found they mostly belonged to the professional classes mining engineers, doctors, and lawyers. He had the privilege of meeting several of the men who were taking part in the movement, notably, Mr. Wybergh, the President of the South African League, and he sought to learn how far the grievances were voiced by the miners and other workmen on the Rand, it being arranged by Mr. Wybergh that a deputation of representative working-men should meet him at the offices of the South African League. As the result of this meeting, he assured the audience that he formed an exceedingly favourable opinion of the character of the men who were now conducting the Reform movement in Johannesburg. He believed that they were honest men, taking part in the movement from honest political motives, one of the leaders in fact having given up a valuable position in one of the largest companies on the Rand, in order to take part in the movement. As to how far capitalists were concerned in the movement, his investigations led him to believe that there was to-day none of that corrupting business, that blank-cheque business, that spoilt the Reform agitation of 1895. He did not believe that capitalists were taking an active part in the movement; it certainly was not run or financed by capitalists. The finances of the South African League were not in a flourishing condition, there being a debt of 150l.; and from people he could trust he had ascertained that the majority of the subscriptions was derived from individuals who paid 1l. or 2l. a piece.
Uitlander grievancesUitlander As to how far the grievances were felt by the population, he should say they did not press hardly upon either the capitalists or the workmen, the country being so rich and the wages so high. The political grievances, on the other hand, were, without doubt, very serious, but that they were severely felt by the whole mass of the Uitlander population he was not prepared to assert. A large portion of the population consisted of Cornish miners, and these men, who in England had been accustomed to receive 1l. a week, were not likely to be active political agitators when they were receiving 1l. a day. The most serious of all the grievances of the Partiality of the courts.Uitlanders were, he thought, the uncertainty of the administration of justice, and the uncertainty of the law. By the former he meant that it was unlikely for a conviction to be procured against a Dutch inhabitant of the Transvaal, and that even if a conviction were secured, it was not likely that the whole sentence would be carried out. Mr. Brassey gave instances in illustration, and referred at length to other grievances given in the Blue Book.
In 1897, the Transvaal Government appointed a commission to inquire into the difficulties and grievances under which the mining industry were labouring, all the Commissioners being of high official standing. These men took an immense amount of valuable evidence, and made several important recommendations which Mr. Brassey enumerated and yet these were for the most part ignored or rejected by a small committee of the Volksraad to which the Commissioners' findings were referred. Could they wonder that every one engaged in the mining industry in Johannesburg was disgusted with the Government which treated its Commission in this manner? The Judges' oath.
Restrictions on civil rights.A particular grievance from the point of view of most Englishmen was the judges' law passed in 1897, under which judges, on assuming office, were compelled to take an oath which bound them to carry out any resolution of the Raad, whether they thought it consonant with principles of justice or not. Mr. Brassey referred in terms of disapproval to the Aliens' Expulsion Law, the press law in the Transvaal, and the form of municipal government, stating with regard to the last-mentioned matter, that in the Johannesburg municipality since 1897, half of the elected members had had to be burghers, whilst power was given to President Kruger and the Executive Council to appoint a Mayor for five years, and also to remove him from the post at any time they thought fit.
Amongst other provisions in the Transvaal municipal law, was one that the President need not carry out the resolutions of his Council if he was of opinion that they were contrary to the law of the State.
The educational grievancesTouching upon education in the Transvaal, the speaker said that, under the original education law, English was on equal terms with Dutch, a system under which the language question was easily solved in the Orange Free State. Later, when Dutch became the predominant medium for education, English had the preference over other foreign languages. From 1892 onwards in the State schools no English was taught in the lower standards, and the time devoted to foreign languages in the upper standards was three or four hours per week. It cost 8l. more per annum to educate a child in the Transvaal than in Cape Colony, and, while in Cape Colony 4*4 per cent, of the children reached standard six, in the Transvaal State schools only 0.4 reached that standard. Meanwhile, the Uitlanders had started schools of their own. By a Volksraad resolution of 1892, a capitation grant of 4l. to 5l. per head was given to schools in which children of other parentage than Dutch were taught under the following conditions: (1) That children should satisfy the inspector in a knowledge of the Dutch language and of South African history from the Dutch point of view—a condition rendering it inoperative in many cases; (2) that no child of Hollander or Dutch South African parents, or a child under six, could earn a grant. The effect of this in one school in particular, at Bloemfontein, was that of the 120 children attending it seventy were Dutch and twenty under six, and of the remaining thirty, some would fail to pass. So it was not surprising to know that that school did not earn a sufficient amount from the State to pay it to employ a qualified teacher in the Dutch language. The law passed in 1896 did nothing to mend matters, and, further, under the regulations imposed, the teachers in the State schools must be Hollanders qualified to teach English—by three months' residence in England. In March last an important meeting was held in the Chamber of Mines, at which it was stated that there were over 3000 children on the Rand without sufficient facilities for education, although parents were willing to pay for it. At that meeting, and subsequently, over 100,000l. was subscribed for the purpose of starting a scheme of education for the children of poor Uitlander parents on the Rand, and most of the mine-owners assessed themselves in a large sum of money—a fact which was very gratifying.
Natal's attitude.In other remarks, speaking of Natal, Mr. Brassey said he had sought to discover the reason for the very strong line which the people of this small but very prosperous Colony had taken on the South African question, and said he found that it was because they were exceedingly disgusted with the anti-British attitude adopted by the Transvaal Government for so many years past. The Dutch people in the Colony of Natal, who, until recent years had been loyal subjects of the Queen, had now become in many cases disloyal, and men were throwing up commissions in local Volunteer corps and such like things.
The recent negotiations.Mr. Brassey described the negotiations which had taken place between the Transvaal and English Governments during the last few months, and, in concluding his speech, said it was his deliberate opinion that the Government could not have accepted unreservedly the franchise proposals of August 19th. The fact of the Transvaal Government having successfully kept the Uitlanders in subjection for years past had caused unrest all over South Africa, and unless we asserted our position as the paramount power now, no settlement had a chance of being permanent. He did not wish to enter into a criticism of the conduct of the Government in this matter, but it was quite possible that some of the dispatches might have been more temperately worded if they had been written by an old diplomatist like Lord Salisbury, instead of a new diplomatist of the character of Mr. Chamberlain; but, in dealing with this question, Her Majesty's Government had been extraordinarily patient. He believed Sir Alfred Milner had done his best to avert war, but he thought the Government was in fault in allowing that gentleman's dispatches to Mr. Chamberlain, and Mr. Chamberlain's dispatches to Sir Alfred Milner, to be published.
Mr. Brassey asked his audience whether they had been struck, as he had, with the patience of the Uitlanders, in spite of all they had gone through—tradesmen ruined and the mine-owners losing between them about one and a half million pounds per month—and said he should like to impress upon the Government that it was not very fair to delay much longer. The Government had been rightly patient hitherto, but the present state of suffering could not be prolonged indefinitely.
The only basis for a permanent settlement.The struggle of the Transvaal Government to exclude the Uitlanders from a share in the government of the country was like struggling to stem a flood with a few spadesful of sand. They might deplore the gold discovery and the enormously increased Uitlander population, but the gold was discovered and the population was there, and they had to deal with circumstances as they found them. The only basis upon which the Dutch and British in South Africa could live together in harmony was that of equal rights and equal privileges in whatever part of that country they might live. Men with the longest heads in South Africa prophesied that a great struggle was coming in the not far distant future in which it would be necessary for the Dutch and British to stand shoulder to shoulder as they had in times past. Let them hope sincerely that the present question might be settled before that time came.
- ↑ Mr. Brassey, during the months of August and September, had visited the Transvaal, Rhodesia, Natal, and Cape Colony. War broke out in less than a week after this speech was delivered.