[II.]
SYSTEM OF NATIVE ADMINISTRATION IN NATAL.
When the first colonists arrived, there were, as has been seen, but few aboriginal inhabitants, so few that nothing in the shape of formal government could exist. Gradually, however, refugees from Zululand and various parts of Natal proper began to attach themselves to the British settlers. And so, by 1835, the population at Port Natal had grown to about 4,000. Capt. Allen F. Gardiner, R.N., who arrived in the year referred to, accordingly found it necessary to enter into a treaty with Dingana (May, 1835) in the name of the settlers at Port Natal, wherein the latter engaged themselves "for the future never to receive or harbour any deserters from the Zulu country ... and to use every endeavour to secure and return to the King every such individual endeavouring to find an asylum among them."[20] In the following year, the British Government appointed Gardiner, at his own request, a Justice of the Peace, without, however, providing for the execution of the powers so conferred. The result was a protest on the part of the pioneers, and an immediate and complete failure by Gardiner to assert his authority.[21] A petition from the residents to the effect that Natal, to which they had given the name of "Victoria" in honour of our late revered Queen, then Princess, should be recognized "as a Colony of the British Empire," met with no encouragement from the Imperial Government. And so it happened that practically no regular government existed when the Boers arrived in 1837-39.
The relations between the voortrekkers and the Zulus have been already touched on. Although, with the defeat and death of Dingana, the menace of the Zulu power had been temporarily removed, the installation of his brother Mpande as Paramount Chief meant a continuance of the military and tribal systems, though in a modified degree. The Boers governed on somewhat similar lines such aboriginals as they found already in the country, or those who, since the arrival of the Boers, had fled there from across the Tugela.[22] No reservations were at that time set apart for the occupation of the Natives, the Boer custom being to treat them as squatters when living on lands occupied by Europeans, and require them to render service in lieu of paying rent.[23] No equality as between Europeans and Natives was permitted. Had Boer administration continued in Natal, steps would probably have been taken to prohibit further ingress of refugees; such as were unprepared to serve would, probably, have been refused an asylum and compelled to return to Zululand or to the district between Umkomanzi and Umzimkulu Rivers, if not still further south.[24] As it was, in 1843, when that administration came to an end, there were between 40,000 and 50,000 refugees in Natal (exclusive of some 5,000 or 6,000 original inhabitants), notwithstanding the treaty above referred to.[25] The British settlers at the Port, however, looked upon themselves as wholly independent both of the Boers and of the Zulu King, and accorded the refugees and all others living under their protection similar concessions in the matter of self-government, if somewhat more liberal.
The same disposition to allow Natives to live in accordance with their ancient laws, habits and customs—so long as these were not repugnant to civilized usages—is seen in the Instructions issued in March, 1848, by the Imperial Government to the first Governor. By that time, the Native population had increased to over 100,000. So significant is the 28th clause and so pivotal in the long government subsequently maintained, that it would be well to notice it in its original, though slightly abbreviated, form: "And whereas the said District of Natal is inhabited by numerous Tribes, ... whose ignorance and habits unfit them for the duties of civilized life, and it is necessary to place them under special control, until, having been duly capacitated to understand such duties, they may reasonably be required to render ready obedience to the Laws ..., We do hereby declare it to be our Will and Pleasure ... that, in assuming the sovereignty thereof, we have not interfered with or abrogated any Law, Custom or Usage prevailing among the Inhabitants previous to the assertion of sovereignty ... except so far as the same may be repugnant to the general principles of humanity recognized throughout the civilized world...."
The same Instruction, whilst further declaring that, civil or criminal jurisdiction of the Chiefs had not been abrogated, went on to reserve to the Crown the right of amending Native laws, and providing for better administration of justice among them, "as may be found practicable."
It is not intended here, of course, to trace, step by step the development of Native policy from the issue of the Instruction here quoted to the introduction of responsible government in 1893, and on to the establishment of the Union of South Africa. It will suffice, perhaps, to observe that the key-note thereof has, all along, been to govern these people in accordance with principles inherited from, and followed by, their race from time immemorial. It has been a cardinal feature of this policy "to make haste slowly," on the ground that a change, not spontaneously desired by the majority of the people, is detrimental to their interests. Moreover, it is productive of unrest if forced on by a government pledged to administer the affairs of its own race on lines radically and obviously different. Consequently, in the endeavour to maintain what every humane man will agree is a laudable practice, Natal, by steadily marking time in the interests of the people, and in order to fulfil what, after all, is the greatest function of government, viz. to endeavour to promote the happiness and contentment of all her subjects, has laid herself open to the charge of doing nothing. If what she has done for the Natives in the way of prohibiting cherished habits and customs of untold antiquity; abrogating laws of various kinds long familiar to the people; urging them to hasten to educate themselves and their children in accordance with European, that is, foreign standards; persuading them to forsake their own creeds to adopt one or other of the numerous forms of Christianity—if these be the only evidences of action, then it would seem Natal has not a great deal to advance. But, if there be other standards by which a government that presides over the destinies of a lower race may be judged, if any merit attach to a government which, while it does not actively repress legitimate aspirations, reasonably assists the people, whilst penalizing practices such as witchcraft, putting to death without trial and marrying off girls without their consent, and ordains "that there shall not be in the eye of the law any distinction or disqualification whatever, founded on mere distinction of colour, origin, language, or creed, but that the protection of the law, in letter and in substance, shall be extended impartially to all alike," also "that slavery in any shape or under any modification is absolutely unlawful"; if, we say, there be any merit in these things, then the policy of Natal in the past, if it appears to have been somewhat wanting in energy, has at least been friendly; if it has not caused the people to 'progress' with leaps and bounds, it has at least recognized that natura non facit saltum is as true to-day as it was in the time of Aristotle, and as it will be ten thousand years hence; if it has not sought to impress the European character in all its complexity on a race fashioned in moulds vastly different to those of Europeans, it has preferred to rely on nature to produce such a character as she will produce, regardless of any well-intentioned efforts of impassioned promoters of a civilization which, to say the least, would appear to be not altogether without spot or blemish.
The government of the lower races is a problem of stupendous difficulty, not because of any fear lest, being badly ruled, they will combine à la militaire to wreak vengeance on those they consider their oppressors, but chiefly because of the ever-changing legal, political and social position that has to be accorded them within the limits of the British system, framed, as that was, for people whose members are admittedly on a footing of equality with one another.
But, although government of the Natives mainly in accordance with their own laws and customs has been the outstanding feature of Natal's policy, changes being introduced with care and deliberation as they appeared to be necessary, there have not been wanting occasions on which, instead of being sympathetic, her administration has been cold and artificial; instead of being content with advance in harmony with nature's slow processes, she has imposed laws involving sudden and widespread change; instead of being occasional and simple to understand, the laws have been frequent and to some extent unintelligible, having in view rather the benefit of the higher than of the lower race. Instances of such inconsistency will be given later; for these, indeed, are the stuff out of which the bonfire of the Rebellion was built up. Had Natal been true to herself, had she but steadily adhered to the general principles above outlined, it is not too much to say, there would have been no Rebellion.