“9. I will permit all people residing in my territory to there remain, upon the condition that they recognise my authority as chief, and any persons not wishing to recognise my authority and desiring to quit my territory I will permit to quit and to pass unmolested elsewhere.
“10. In all cases of dispute in which British subjects are involved I will appeal to and abide by the decision of the British Resident of the division in which my territory is situated. In all cases when accusations of offence or crime committed in my territory are brought against British subjects, or against my people in relation to British subjects, I will hold no trial and pass no sentence except with the approval of such British Resident.
“11. In all matters not included within these terms, conditions, and limitations, and in all cases provided for herein, and in all cases when there may be doubt or uncertainty as to the laws, rules, or stipulations applicable to matters to be dealt with, I will govern, order, or decide in accordance with the ancient laws and usage of my people.”
The following letter, addressed to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, and published in The Guardian of December 10th, 1879, by the Dean of ’Maritzburg, contains such valuable and important matter that we quote it verbatim:
The Deanery, ’Maritzburg, Natal,
September 27th, 1879.
Sir,—Though I have not the honour of being known to you, yet, as the affairs of South Africa must necessarily engage the attention of Parliament when it next meets, I venture to hope you will not consider it an intrusion if I lay before you some of the conclusions I have arrived at after thirty years’ residence as a clergyman in Natal. I do so as I know from experience how extremely difficult it is for those who have passed their lives in the midst of a highly organised society, to realise the conditions of a colony, and especially of one which is brought into contact with the undeveloped races of South Africa. The first question that presents itself is, What is the meaning of the apparent antagonism of the native races, at the present time, to the white man? I attribute it immediately to the natives suddenly and unexpectedly finding themselves in the possession of firearms. When the Diamond Fields were first opened out, no restrictions were placed on the gun-trade by the Cape Government, and so soon as this became known the natives flocked there in thousands from all parts of South Africa, hiring themselves out to work, and stipulating to be paid in rifles. Young men everywhere will arm themselves if they can, and especially in a country in which there is abundant room for hunting, and still more so when the young men are savages, and know of no distinction except that which comes from exhibiting prowess in war. I do not myself think they were influenced by any feelings of hatred to the white man, or that there existed any deep-seated conspiracy amongst the chiefs or old men. But the young men suddenly discovered they could obtain firearms, so got them; and having got them, they then desired to use them. Everywhere they were armed, and so everywhere they began to talk of fighting; the leaven had been put in and the whole lump worked. The war which arose is now over, and the Cape Government is engaged in steadily disarming the natives under its rule; its loyal subjects, the Fingoes and the Basutos, as well as the recently conquered tribes. Sir Garnet Wolseley told the Zulus also to bring in their guns; but they have treated his order with contempt, and he has made no attempt to enforce it; the Zulus themselves, I am afraid, will soon adduce this as evidence that they were not beaten. I may say, also, the Natal Governor always placed restrictions on the natives possessing firearms, and, so far as he could, enforced those restrictions on his own natives returning from the Diamond Fields, and they have proved perfectly loyal. Whilst at the time I deprecated the reckless trade allowed by the Cape Government, still it seems to me rather hard, after having allowed the natives to purchase guns, to set to work to disarm them. The wisest course I consider would be to impose a tax on the possession of firearms generally, granting privileges to members of volunteer corps, etc. In that way, without drawing invidious distinctions between white and coloured, our own young men would be exempted from paying by serving as volunteers; and if the tax were a heavy one the natives would be deterred from keeping guns, and, further, the Government would know exactly to what extent they were armed.
To leave, however, the native races in general, and to confine ourselves to the Zulus. They never went to war with us, but we with them; they have always been excellent neighbours; for thirty years they have never been accused of stealing a sheep, or an ox, or a horse from the Natal side. Natal had no quarrel with them nor Cetywayo with us; it has been our misfortune that it has been found convenient to carry on the war from Natal; but Sir H. Bulwer, our Governor, has been true to the colony in insisting that it was no war of ours. If there was any justification of the war, it must be sought in the interests of Transvaal, and then it can only be accepted as a judgment. The Crown had not a shadow of right to annex the Transvaal. True, they were not governing themselves very well in that State; neither, perhaps, is Germany, but we do not annex Germany. We did take over the Transvaal, however, in direct violation of engagements which had been entered into with the Dutch Boers. Shepstone, in his proclamation, was obliged to say that we must read between the lines of that engagement—i.e. the promises of the British Government were worth nothing. The simple fact was that the Cape and Transvaal merchants had been overtrading in that republic; it was bankrupt, so many of them were on the brink of insolvency. I cannot say more without mentioning names, but there was no difficulty in seeing what influences were brought to bear on Lord Carnarvon. The Republic was annexed; farms were accepted at a nominal price in payment of debts, and resold again in London, say at sixpence per acre, which amply repaid the merchant, who thus saved himself, whilst the Boers were left without their independence, and poorer than ever. Had we stayed our hand, finding themselves hopelessly bankrupt, in a few months they might probably have sought our assistance, and then we could have annexed them without their having a grievance; as it is they cannot forget it. I am sorry for them, for they are a simple people. Shepstone went up as Governor, and Cetywayo at once asked to have his old disputes with the Boers arranged—in former days both he and his father, whenever they had had any difference with the Transvaal, always sent messengers in to the Natal Government to advise with it—and Shepstone, the Secretary for Natal Affairs, according to his wont, always temporised, admitting in a half-and-half way that they were right, but advising patience. When, however, he found himself at the Transvaal he suddenly sided with the Dutch, and Cetywayo became greatly incensed and declared himself betrayed. I believe he would at once have invaded the Transvaal, but from fear of us in Natal. He hesitated, however, and according to the old maxim, he who hesitates does not fight; but before he had quieted down Sir B. Frere interfered with his ultimatum, and Cetywayo stood grandly on the defensive. He is a savage, and his ambition was to be a great savage; I do not mean a cruel one, but a powerful, influential savage. He was ambitious, but disliked progress, and such men must fail; so he has fallen, but with dignity. He has never attacked a neighbour, white or black; he has defended his country bravely, and has been guilty of no excesses. It has been our war, not his. Sir B. Frere says most truly that almost everyone he spoke to encouraged him to go to war; but I am afraid he avoided those who, he was told, were against war—and when will not Englishmen advise war? No argument was used, except the one that Cetywayo might overrun Natal at any moment; but he had never shown a disposition to do so, and we were stronger than men would allow. Men who do not trust in the arm of God do not see the defences which surround them. The Tugela, the river which separates Natal from Zululand, was a great protection, as in summer-time, even if fordable, the Zulus would not cross it, lest it should rise in their rear; and in the winter, our dry season, they cannot keep the field, as their naked bodies are quite unable to bear exposure to the cold nights. Moreover, though our own army will never acknowledge it, Cetywayo’s force did not exceed 30,000 naked savages. Of course we are told they were 60,000 or 80,000 strong; but if you casually inquire of any officer who has been in Zululand whether the kraals were thickly dotted over the country, he will tell you artlessly, “No, quite the contrary.” I have again and again inquired of traders as to the density of the population relative to Natal. I have inquired of those who have lived at Ulundi, and have seen Cetywayo’s regiments mustered, and I am confident that 30,000 is the very outside at which the Zulu force could be put. I may return to this. I mention it now to show why I do not agree with Sir Bartle in his view of our position; and certainly I cannot admit, because a neighbour is powerful, that therefore we are justified in going to war with him.
But, now that we have been at war, on what terms is peace to be arranged? In the Cape Colony the natives—as the Basutos, the Fingoes, and others—live in districts to themselves, not intermingled with the white man. The young men leave their homes, and go into the colony, and work for a time in the towns or on the farms; but their home is in Basutoland, Fingoland, etc. The same holds good in the Transvaal. The natives there are on the border; but Natal is the one exception to this rule; in this colony we live intermingled; and a few years ago we were regarded as living in the crater of a volcano. It was thought that the Natal natives, who outnumber the European settlers eighteenfold, might at any moment overwhelm us, so that Cape politicians and others refused to be connected with this colony. In 1876, however, before the rising of the natives on the frontier, I was bold enough to point out to my fellow-colonists that our supposed weakness was in reality our strength. And so it has proved. During the last two years Natal has been the oasis of South Africa; everywhere else the natives have either been in arms, or shown themselves disaffected, if we except the Fingoes; but the position in which they stand to the Kafir tribes around them compels them to be loyal, so they are scarcely to be taken into account.
Whilst, then, throughout South Africa the natives have been a source of uneasiness, the overwhelming native population of Natal (360,000, against 22,000 whites) has been perfectly true to the Government, and the grounds of their loyalty are now, I think, recognised in Natal. They are these: 1. The natives are not, like Englishmen, self-reliant, but naturally dependent; consequently, they use the machinery of Government much more than we do. An Englishman dislikes appealing to a magistrate, as it implies a want of power to take care of himself or to govern his dependents. Not so the native; he habitually leans upon the magistrate. Thirty years ago in Natal the native leant upon his chief; now he has become familiar with the magistrate, who has become a necessity to him. I argue, therefore, that a people will not plot or even desire to throw off an authority which enters into their daily life. 2. Natives who have resided amongst white men feel the need of their presence. The native races cannot develop themselves—nor, when in some degree developed, can they stand by themselves—as their wills are weak, and intellectually they are lawyers, fond of argument, but without imagination; so they can neither plan nor construct. In their independent state they have no criminal law, no commercial code, no municipal one, no law of tenure of landed property; they possess only a few customs regulating marriage and the division of their cattle amongst the family; but, scattered amongst white men, they are able to expand. The effect is seen in many ways—amongst others, in the increase of their families. 3. They are naturally fond of trading. In many ways they may be compared to the Celtic race, as they cannot rise above the tribal organisation; but, unlike the Celt, they are not intellectual; and, unlike him, their natural bent is towards trading. They are good soldiers, but they prefer trading to everything; consequently, on this account, they are unwilling to separate from the white man. 4. The natives never go to war unless they can first send their cattle to the rear; but this they cannot do when distributed amongst the Europeans, and this operates alone as a great check. During the thirty years I have been in Natal we have only had three chiefs give the slightest trouble, and these three have all been on the borders, and so have been able to send their cattle away. I am convinced, therefore, that, if the Government wishes to maintain peace and to develop the native races, it should intermingle them with the Europeans. The Aborigines Society at home will probably object. It is easy to say the white man seeks only to dispossess the native, but whatever the individual motive, the white man is the benefactor by his presence. He may have hunted down the North American Indian and the Aborigines of Australia, but not so in South Africa. Here not only does the magistrate protect him, but the Kafir is a worker, which the North American Indian and the native of Australia is not. The white man wants the Kafir’s labour, and to secure it has to be just and kind. A farm-servant in England is by no means so independent as a Kafir out here. Mix up the races therefore, and to some extent at least the problem of governing and improving the native race is solved. After the defeat at Isandhlwana, new-comers like the military thought our natives might rise; but their wives, children, waggons, cattle, etc., were in the colony, so they made common cause with us, and showed themselves zealously loyal. I consider it, therefore, to be most foolish to try and keep the races apart; we must intermingle them. It was Alexander’s principle and the Roman rule; the present European families have been founded on this method—so we must go on mingling, not separating.