“Orange River, 7th August 1837.
“Sir,—I beg to submit to your Excellency a statement of what I have observed since I left Capetown and set out on my journey beyond the Orange river. I there met more than three thousand persons, lately inhabitants of the Colony, who have left their country and gone to a foreign land, even to a desert. I have spoken to many old men amongst them, with the view of ascertaining their reasons for leaving their native country, and they give the following as the principal causes:
“1. The laws made for this colony by Parliament, however inapplicable to the people and their condition, must be implicitly obeyed.
Causes of the Emigration.
“2. We were put to great expense for the measurement, of our farms prior to their grant, and for a small farm must pay an annual rent of from forty to two hundred rixdollars. (£3 to £15.)
“3. All power of domestic coercion of our apprentices in our houses and on our farms has been taken away from us, which has brought the apprentices into such a state of insubordination as to expose us to the risk of the loss of property and even life. Neither have we the right to defend ourselves against these people who live at our expense, and if they think proper go to a magistrate and make a false oath, without witnesses, upon which we are seized by black and white constables, in the same manner as murderers, and brought before the court, to the great injury of our reputation; whilst if they lose their cause, then the costs are paid from the government chest, to which we must pay heavy taxes annually; and if we are condemned, we must then pay a fine out of our own pockets or be sent to prison. On this point your Excellency is aware how I myself was treated in the late Kaffir war and whilst I was in presence of the enemy and my property left unprotected;[102] which vexatious treatment has also had great influence on many of the inhabitants.
“4. The, slaves who were our property, who cost us much money, and for whom we paid every government due, have been taken from us upon an appraisement made by order of Parliament, and have become free for a third part of the money at which they were valued, and our power of maintaining order and discipline having been taken away, the masters and mistresses are scandalously treated.
Historical Sketches.
“5. The last Kaffir invasion is also one of the causes. The Kaffirs have for many years murdered and plundered the inhabitants, and government has always held out hopes of improvement in this respect, if we would remain at peace with them; and now, to crown the whole, we are accused of being the cause of the war, and must lose all our cattle, as well as put up with our other losses.
“I have stated but a few of the points upon which the greatest stress is laid by the colonists who have emigrated. To state every point would go too much into detail; but these will be sufficient to show why the people are discontented.