HISTORY

_Discovery and Settlement_.--Bartholomew Diaz, the Portuguese navigator,

discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, and Vasco da Gama in 1497

sailed along the whole coast of South Africa on his way to India. The

Portuguese, attracted by the riches of the East, made no permanent

settlement at the Cape. But the Dutch, who, on the decline of the

Portuguese power, established themselves in the East, early saw the

importance of the place as a station where their vessels might take in

water and provisions. They did not, however, establish any post at the

Cape until 1652, when a small garrison under Jan van Riebeek were sent

there by the Dutch East India Company. Riebeek landed at Table Bay and

founded Cape Town. In 1671 the first purchase of land from the

Hottentots beyond the limits of the fort built by Riebeek marked the

beginning of the Colony proper. The earliest colonists were for the most

part people of low station or indifferent character, but as the result

of the investigations of a commissioner sent out in 1685 a better class

of immigrants was introduced. About 1686 the European population was

increased by a number of the French refugees who left their country on

the revocation of the edict of Nantes. The influence of this small body

of immigrants on the character of the Dutch settlers was marked. The

Huguenots, however, owing to the policy of the Company, which in 1701

directed that Dutch only should be taught in the schools, ceased by the

middle of the 18th century to be a distinct body, and the knowledge of

French disappeared. Advancing north and east from their base at Cape

Town the colonists gradually acquired--partly by so-called contracts,

partly by force--all the land of the Hottentots, large numbers of whom

they slew. Besides those who died in warfare, whole tribes of Hottentots

were destroyed by epidemics of smallpox in 1713 and in 1755. Straggling

remnants still maintained their independence, but the mass of the

Hottentots took service with the colonists as herdsmen, while others

became hangers-on about the company's posts and grazing-farms or roamed

about the country. In 1787 the Dutch government passed a law subjecting

these wanderers to certain restrictions. The effect of this law was to

place the Hottentots in more immediate dependence upon the farmers, or

to compel them to migrate northward beyond the colonial border. Those

who chose the latter alternative had to encounter the hostility of their

old foes, the Bushmen, who were widely spread over the plains from the

Nieuwveld and Sneeuwberg mountains to the Orange river. The colonists

also, pressing forward to those territories, came in contact with these

Ishmaelites--the farmers' cattle and sheep, guarded only by a Hottentot

herdsman, offering the strongest temptation to the Bushman. Reprisals

followed; and the position became so desperate that the extermination of

the Bushmen appeared to the government the only safe alternative.

"Commandoes" or war-bands were sent out against them, and they were

hunted down like wild beasts. Within a period of six years, it is said,

upwards of 3000 were either killed or captured. Out of the organization

of these commandoes, with their field-commandants and field-cornets, has

grown the common system of local government in the Dutch-settled

districts of South Africa.

It was not to the hostility of the natives, nor to the hard struggle

with nature necessary to make agriculture profitable on Karroo or veld,

that the slow progress made by the colonists was due, so much as to the

narrow and tyrannical policy adopted by the East India Company, which

closed the colony against free immigration, kept the whole of the trade

in its own hands, combined the administrative, legislative and judicial

powers in one body, prescribed to the farmers the nature of the crops

they were to grow, demanded from them a large part of their produce, and

harassed them with other exactions tending to discourage industry and

enterprise. (See further SOUTH AFRICA, where the methods and results of

Dutch colonial government are considered in their broader aspects.) To

this mischievous policy is ascribed that dislike to orderly government,

and that desire to escape from its control, which characterized for many

generations the "boer" or farmer class of Dutch settlers--qualities

utterly at variance with the character of the Dutch in their native

country. It was largely to escape oppression that the farmers trekked

farther and farther from the seat of government. The company, to control

the emigrants, established a magistracy at Swellendam in 1745 and

another at Graaff Reinet in 1786. The Gamtoos river had been declared,

c. 1740, the eastern frontier of the colony, but it was soon passed. In

1780, however, the Dutch, to avoid collision with the warlike Kaffir

tribes advancing south and west from east central Africa, agreed with

them to make the Great Fish river the common boundary. In 1795 the

heavily taxed burghers of the frontier districts, who were afforded no

protection against the Kaffirs, expelled the officials of the East India

Company, and set up independent governments at Swellendam and Graaff

Reinet. In the same year, Holland having fallen under the revolutionary

government of France, a British force under General Sir James Craig was

sent to Cape Town to secure the colony for the prince of Orange--a

refugee in England--against the French. The governor of Cape Town at

first refused to obey the instructions from the prince, but on the

British proceeding to take forcible possession he capitulated.[3] His

action was hastened by the fact that the Hottentots, deserting their

former masters, flocked to the British standard. The burghers of Graaff

Reinet did not surrender until a force had been sent against them, while

in 1799 and again in 1801 they rose in revolt. In February 1803, as a

result of the peace of Amiens, the colony was handed over to the

Batavian Republic, which introduced many needful reforms, as had the

British during their eight years' rule. (One of the first acts of

General Craig had been to abolish torture in the administration of

justice.) War having again broken out, a British force was once more

sent to the Cape. After an engagement (Jan. 1806) on the shores of Table

Bay the Dutch garrison of Cape Castle surrendered to the British under

Sir David Baird, and in 1814 the colony was ceded outright by Holland to

the British crown. At that time the colony extended to the line of

mountains guarding the vast central plateau, then called Bushmansland,

and had an area of about 120,000 sq. m. and a population of some 60,000,

of whom 27,000 were whites, 17,000 free Hottentots and the rest slaves.

These slaves were mostly imported negroes and Malays. Their introduction

was the chief cause leading the white settlers to despise manual labour.

_The First and Second Kaffir Wars_.--At the time of the cession to Great

Britain the first of several wars with the Kaffirs had been fought. (The

numerous minor conflicts which since 1789 had taken place between the

colonists and the Kaffirs--the latter sometimes aided by Hottentot

allies--are not reckoned in the usual enumeration of the Kaffir wars.)

The Kaffirs, who had crossed the colonial frontier, had been expelled

from the district between the Sunday and Great Fish rivers known as the

Zuurveld, which became a sort of neutral ground. For some time previous

to 1811 the Kaffirs, however, had taken possession of the neutral ground

and committed depredations on the colonists. In order to expel them from

the Zuurveld, Colonel John Graham took the field with a mixed force in

December 1811, and in the end the Kaffirs were driven beyond the Fish

river. On the site of Colonel Graham's headquarters arose the town which

bears his name. In 1817 further trouble arose with the Kaffirs, the

immediate cause of quarrel being an attempt by the colonial authorities

to enforce the restitution of some stolen cattle. Routed in 1818 the

Kaffirs rallied, and in the early part of 1819 poured into the colony in

vast hordes. Led by a prophet-chief named Makana, they attacked Graham's

Town on the 22nd of April, then held by a handful of white troops. Help

arrived in time and the enemy were beaten back. It was then arranged

that the land between the Fish and Keiskamma rivers should be neutral

territory.

_The British Settlers of 1820_.--The war of 1817-19 led to the first

introduction of English settlers on a considerable scale, an event

fraught with far-reaching consequences. The then governor, Lord Charles

Somerset, whose treaty arrangements with the Kaffir chiefs had proved

unfortunate, desired to erect a barrier against the Kaffirs by settling

white colonists in the border district. In 1820, on the advice of Lord

Charles, parliament voted L50,000 to promote emigration to the Cape, and

4000 British were sent out. These people formed what was known as the

Albany settlement, founding Port Elizabeth and making Graham's Town

their headquarters. Intended primarily as a measure to secure the safety

of the frontier, and regarded by the British government chiefly as a

better means of affording a livelihood to a few thousands of the surplus

population, this emigration scheme accomplished a far greater work than

its authors contemplated. The new settlers, drawn from every part of the

British Isles and from almost every grade of society, retained, and

their descendants retain, strong sympathy with their native land. In

course of time they formed a valuable counterpoise to the Dutch

colonists, and they now constitute the most progressive element in the

colony. The advent of these immigrants was also the means of introducing

the English language at the Cape. In 1825, for the first time,

ordinances were issued in English, and in 1827 its use was extended to

the conduct of judicial proceedings. Dutch was not, however, ousted, the

colonists becoming to a large extent bilingual.

_Dislike of British Rule_.--Although the colony was fairly prosperous,

many of the Dutch farmers were as dissatisfied with British rule as they

had been with that of the Dutch East India Company, though their ground

of complaint was not the same. In 1792 Moravian missions had been

established for the benefit of the Hottentots,[4] and in 1799 the London

Missionary Society began work among both Hottentots and Kaffirs. The

championship of Hottentot grievances by the missionaries caused much

dissatisfaction among the majority of the colonists, whose views, it may

be noted, temporarily prevailed, for in 1812 an ordinance was issued

which empowered magistrates to bind Hottentot children as apprentices

under conditions differing little from that of slavery. Meantime,

however, the movement for the abolition of slavery was gaining strength

in England, and the missionaries at length appealed from the colonists

to the mother country. An incident which occurred in 1815-1816 did much

to make permanent the hostility of the frontiersmen to the British. A

farmer named Bezuidenhout refused to obey a summons issued on the

complaint of a Hottentot, and firing on the party sent to arrest him,

was himself killed by the return fire. This caused a miniature

rebellion, and on its suppression five ringleaders were publicly hanged

at the spot--Slachters Nek--where they had sworn to expel "the English

tyrants." The feeling caused by the hanging of these men was deepened by

the circumstances of the execution--for the scaffold on which the rebels

were simultaneously swung, broke down from their united weight and the

men were afterwards hanged one by one. An ordinance passed in 1827,

abolishing the old Dutch courts of _landroost_ and _heemraden_ (resident

magistrates being substituted) and decreeing that henceforth all legal

proceedings should be conducted in English; the granting in 1828, as a

result of the representations of the missionaries, of equal rights with

whites to the Hottentots and other free coloured people; the imposition

(1830) of heavy penalties for harsh treatment of slaves, and finally the

emancipation of the slaves in 1834,[5]--all these things increased the

dislike of the farmers to the government. Moreover, the inadequate

compensation awarded to slave-owners, and the suspicions engendered by

the method of payment, caused much resentment, and in 1835 the trekking

of farmers into unknown country in order to escape from an unloved

government, which had characterized the 18th century, recommenced.

Emigration beyond the colonial border had in fact been continuous for

150 years, but it now took on larger proportions.

_The Third Kaffir War_.--On the eastern border further trouble arose

with the Kaffirs, towards whom the policy of the Cape government was

marked by much vacillation. On the 11th of December 1834 a chief of high

rank was killed while resisting a commando party. This set the whole of

the Kaffir tribes in a blaze. A force of 10,000 fighting men, led by

Macomo, a brother of the chief who was killed, swept across the

frontier, pillaged and burned the homesteads and murdered all who dared

to resist. Among the worst sufferers were a colony of freed Hottentots

who, in 1829, had been settled in the Kat river valley by the British

authorities. The fighting power of the colony was scanty, but the

governor, Sir Benjamin D'Urban (q.v.), acted with promptitude, and all

available forces were mustered under Colonel (afterwards Sir Harry)

Smith, who reached Graham's Town on the 6th of January 1835, six days

after news of the rising reached Cape Town. The enemy's territory was

invaded, and after nine months' fighting the Kaffirs were completely

subdued, and a new treaty of peace concluded (on the 17th of September).

By this treaty all the country as far as the river Kei was acknowledged

to be British, and its inhabitants declared British subjects. A site for

the seat of government was selected and named King Wiliam's Town.

_The Great Trek_.--The action of Sir Benjamin D'Urban was not approved

by the home government, and on the instruction of Lord Glenelg,

secretary for the colonies, who declared that "the great evil of the

Cape Colony consists in its magnitude," the colonial boundary was moved

back to the Great Fish river, and eventually (in 1837) Sir Benjamin was

dismissed from office. "The Kaffirs," in the opinion of Lord Glenelg,

"had an ample justification for war; they had to resent, and endeavoured

justly, though impotently, to avenge a series of encroachments"

(despatch of the 26th of December 1835). This attitude towards the

Kaffirs was one of the many reasons given by the Trek Boers for leaving

Cape Colony. The Great Trek, as it is called, lasted from 1836 to 1840,

the trekkers, who numbered about 7000, founding communities with a

republican form of government beyond the Orange and Vaal rivers, and in

Natal, where they had been preceded, however, by British emigrants. From

this time Cape Colony ceased to be the only civilized community in South

Africa, though for long it maintained its predominance. Up to 1856 Natal

was, in fact, a dependency of the Cape (see SOUTH AFRICA). Considerable

trouble was caused by the emigrant Boers on either side of the Orange

river, where the new comers, the Basutos and other Kaffir tribes,

Bushmen and Griquas contended for mastery. The Cape government

endeavoured to protect the rights of the natives. On the advice of the

missionaries, who exercised great influence with all the non-Dutch

races, a number of native states were recognized and subsidized by the

Cape government, with the object--not realized--of obtaining peace on

this northern frontier. The first of these "Treaty States" recognized

was that of the Griquas of Griqualand West. Others were recognized in

1843 and 1844--in the last-named year a treaty was made with the Pondoes

on the eastern border. During this period the condition of affairs on

the eastern frontier was deplorable, the government being unable or

unwilling to afford protection to the farmers from the depredations of

the Kaffirs. Elsewhere, however, the colony was making progress. The

change from slave to free labour proved to be advantageous to the

farmers in the western provinces; an efficient educational system, which

owed its initiation to Sir John Herschel, the astronomer (who lived in

Cape Colony from 1834 to 1838), was adopted; Road Boards were

established and did much good work; to the staple industries--the

growing of wheat, the rearing of cattle and the making of wine--was

added sheep-raising; and by 1846 wool became the most valuable export

from the country. The creation, in 1835, of a legislative council, on

which unofficial members had seats, was the first step in giving the

colonists a share in the government.

_The War of the Axe_.--Another war with the Kaffirs broke out in 1846

and was known as the War of the Axe, from the murder of a Hottentot, to

whom an old Kaffir thief was manacled, while being conveyed to Graham's

Town for trial for stealing an axe. The escort was attacked by a party

of Kaffirs and the Hottentot killed. The surrender of the murderer was

refused, and war was declared in March 1846. The Gaikas were the chief

tribe engaged in the war, assisted during the course of it by the

Tambukies. After some reverses the Kaffirs were signally defeated on the

7th of June by General Somerset on the Gwangu, a few miles from Fort

Peddie. Still the war went on, till at length Sandili, the chief of the

Gaikas, surrendered, followed gradually by the other chiefs; and by the

beginning of 1848 the Kaffirs were again subdued, after twenty-one

months' fighting.

_Extension of British Sovereignty_.--In the last month of the war

(December 1847) Sir Harry Smith reached Cape Town as governor of the

colony, and with his arrival the Glenelg policy was reversed. By

proclamation, on the 17th of December, he extended the frontier of the

colony northward to the Orange river and eastward to the Keiskamma

river, and on the 23rd, at a meeting of the Kaffir chiefs, announced the

annexation of the country between the Keiskamma and the Kei rivers to

the British crown, thus reabsorbing the territory abandoned by order of

Lord Glenelg. It was not, however, incorporated with the Cape, but made

a crown dependency under the name of British Kaffraria. For a time the

Kaffirs accepted quietly the new order of things. The governor had other

serious matters to contend with, including the assertion of British

authority over the Boers beyond the Orange river, and the establishment

of amicable relations with the Transvaal Boers. In the colony itself a

crisis arose out of the proposal to make it a convict station.

_The Convict Agitation and Granting of a Constitution_.--In 1848 a

circular was sent by the 3rd Earl Grey, then colonial secretary, to the

governor of the Cape (and to other colonial governors), asking him to

ascertain the feelings of the colonists regarding the reception of a

certain class of convicts, the intention being to send to South Africa

Irish peasants who had been driven into crime by the famine of 1845.

Owing to some misunderstanding, a vessel, the "Neptune," was despatched

to the Cape before the opinion of the colonists had been received,

having on board 289 convicts, among whom were John Mitchell, the Irish

rebel, and his colleagues. When the news reached the Cape that this

vessel was on her way, the people of the colony became violently

excited; and they established an anti-convict association, by which they

bound themselves to cease from all intercourse of every kind with

persons in any way connected "with the landing, supplying or employing

convicts." On the 19th of September 1849 the "Neptune" arrived in

Simon's Bay. Sir Harry Smith, confronted by a violent public agitation,

agreed not to land the convicts, but to keep them on board ship in

Simon's Bay till he received orders to send them elsewhere. When the

home government became aware of the state of affairs orders were sent

directing the "Neptune" to proceed to Tasmania, and it did so after

having been in Simon's Bay for five months. The agitation did not,

however, pass away without other important results, since it led to

another movement, the object of which was to obtain a free

representative government for the colony. This concession, which had

been previously promised by Lord Grey, was granted by the British

government, and, in 1854, a constitution was established of almost

unprecedented liberality.

_The Kaffir War of 1850-1853_.--The anti-convict agitation had scarcely

ceased when the colony was once again involved in war. The Kaffirs

bitterly resented their loss of independence, and ever since the last

war had been secretly preparing to renew the struggle. Sir Harry Smith,

informed of the threatening attitude of the natives, proceeded to the

frontier, and summoned Sandili and the other chiefs to an interview.

Sandili refused obedience; upon which, at an assembly of other chiefs

(October 1850), the governor declared him deposed from his chiefship,

and appointed an Englishman, Mr Brownlee, a magistrate, to be temporary

chief of the Gaika tribe. The governor appears to have believed that the

measures he took would prevent a war and that Sandili could be arrested

without armed resistance. On the 24th of December Col. Geo. Mackinnon,

being sent with a small force with the object of securing the chief, was

attacked in a narrow defile by a large body of Kaffirs, and compelled to

retreat with some loss. This was the signal for a general rising of the

Gaika tribe. The settlers in the military villages, which had been

established along the frontier, assembled in fancied security to

celebrate Christmas Day, were surprised, many of them murdered, and

their houses given to the flames. Other disasters followed in quick

succession. A small patrol of military was cut off to a man. The greater

part of the Kaffir police deserted, many of them carrying off their arms

and accoutrements. Emboldened by success, the enemy in immense force

surrounded and attacked Fort Cox, where the governor was stationed with

an inconsiderable force. More than one unsuccessful attempt was made to

relieve Sir Harry; but his dauntless spirit was equal to the occasion.

At the head of 150 mounted riflemen, accompanied by Colonel Mackinnon,

he dashed out of the fort, and, through a heavy fire of the enemy, rode

to King William's Town--a distance of 12 m. Meantime, a new enemy

appeared. Some 900 of the Kat river Hottentots, who had in former wars

been firm allies of the British, threw in their lot with their

hereditary enemies--the Kaffirs. They were not without excuses. They

complained that while doing burgher duty in former wars--the Cape

Mounted Rifles consisted largely of Hottentot levies--they had not

received the same treatment as others serving in defence of the colony,

that they got no compensation for the losses they had sustained, and

that they were in various ways made to feel they were a wronged and

injured race. A secret combination was formed with the Kaffirs to take

up arms to sweep the Europeans away and establish a Hottentot republic.

Within a fortnight of the attack on Colonel Mackinnon the Kat river

Hottentots were also in arms. Their revolt was followed by that of the

Hottentots at other missionary stations; and part of the Hottentots of

the Cape Mounted Rifles followed their example, including the very men

who had escorted the governor from Fort Cox. But numbers of Hottentots

remained loyal and the Fingo Kaffirs likewise sided with the British.

After the confusion caused by the sudden outbreak had subsided, and

preparations had been made, Sir Harry Smith and his gallant force turned

the tide of war against the Kaffirs. The Amatola mountains were stormed;

and the paramount chief Kreli, who all along covertly assisted the

Gaikas, was severely punished. In April 1852 Sir Harry Smith was

recalled by Earl Grey, who accused him--unjustly, in the opinion of the

duke of Wellington--of a want of energy and judgment in conducting the

war, and he was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Cathcart. Kreli was

again attacked and reduced to submission. The Amatolas were finally

cleared of the Kaffirs, and small forts erected among them to prevent

their reoccupation. The British commanders were hampered throughout by

the insufficiency of their forces, and it was not till March 1853 that

this most sanguinary of Kaffir wars was brought to a conclusion, after a

loss of many hundred British soldiers. Shortly afterwards, British

Kaffraria was made a crown colony. The Hottentot settlement at Kat river

remained, but the Hottentot power within the colony was now finally

crushed.

_The Great Amaxosa Delusion._--From 1853 the Kaffir tribes on the east

gave little trouble to the colony. This was due, in large measure, to an

extraordinary delusion which arose among the Amaxosa in 1856, and led in

1857 to the death of some 50,000 persons. This incident is one of the

most remarkable instances of misplaced faith recorded in history. The

Amaxosa had not accepted their defeat in 1853 as decisive and were

preparing to renew the struggle with the white men. At this juncture,

May 1856, a girl named Nongkwase told her father that on going to draw

water from a stream she had met strangers of commanding aspect. The

father, Mhlakza, went to see the men, who told him that they were

spirits of the dead, who had come, if their behests were obeyed, to aid

the Kaffirs with their invincible power to drive the white man from the

land. Mhlakza repeated the message to his chief, Sarili, one of the most

powerful Kaffir rulers. Sarili ordered the commands of the spirits to be

obeyed. These orders were, at first, that the Amaxosa were to destroy

their fat cattle. The girl Nongkwase, standing in the river where the

spirits had first appeared, heard unearthly noises, interpreted by her

father as orders to kill more and more cattle. At length the spirits

commanded that not an animal of all their herds was to be left alive,

and every grain of corn was to be destroyed. If that were done, on a

given date myriads of cattle more beautiful than those destroyed would

issue from the earth, while great fields of corn, ripe and ready for

harvest, would instantly appear. The dead would rise, trouble and

sickness vanish, and youth and beauty come to all alike. Unbelievers and

the hated white man would on that day utterly perish. The people heard

and obeyed. Sarili is believed by many persons to have been the

instigator of the prophecies. Certainly some of the principal chiefs

regarded all that was done simply as the preparation for a last struggle

with the whites, their plan being to throw the whole Amaxosa nation

fully armed and in a famishing condition upon the colony. There were

those who neither believed the predictions nor looked for success in

war, but destroyed their last particle of food in unquestioning

obedience to their chief's command. Either in faith that reached the

sublime, or in obedience equally great, vast numbers of the people

acted. Great kraals were also prepared for the promised cattle, and huge

skin sacks to hold the milk that was soon to be more plentiful than

water. At length the day dawned which, according to the prophecies, was

to usher in the terrestrial paradise. The sun rose and sank, bat the

expected miracle did not come to pass. The chiefs who had planned to

hurl the famished warrior host upon the colony had committed an

incredible blunder in neglecting to call the nation together under

pretext of witnessing the resurrection. This error they realized too

late, and endeavoured by fixing the resurrection for another day to

gather the clans, but blank despair had taken the place of hope and

faith, and it was only as starving suppliants that the Amaxosa sought

the British. The colonists did what they could to save life, but

thousands perished miserably. In their extremity many of the Kaffirs

turned cannibals, and one instance of parents eating their own child is

authenticated. Among the survivors was the girl Nongkwase; her father

perished. A vivid narrative of the whole incident will be found in G.M.

Theal's _History and Geography of South Africa_ (3rd ed., London, 1878),

from which this account is condensed. The country depopulated as the

result of this delusion was afterwards peopled by European settlers,

among whom were members of the German legion which had served with the

British army in the Crimea, and some 2000 industrious North German

emigrants, who proved a valuable acquisition to the colony.

_Sir George Grey's Governorship._--In 1854 Sir George Grey became

governor of the Cape, and the colony owed much to his wise

administration. The policy, imposed by the home government, of

abandoning responsibility beyond the Orange river, was, he perceived, a

mistaken one, and the scheme he prepared in 1858 for a confederation of

all South Africa (q.v.) was rejected by Great Britain. By his energetic

action, however, in support of the missionaries Moffat and Livingstone,

Sir George kept open for the British the road through Bechuanaland to

the far interior. To Sir George was also due the first attempt,

missionary effort apart, to educate the Kaffirs and to establish British

authority firmly among them, a result which the self-destruction of the

Amaxosa rendered easy. Beyond the Kei the natives were left to their own

devices. Sir George Grey left the Cape in 1861. During his governorship

the resources of the colony had been increased by the opening up of the

copper mines in Little Namaqualand, the mohair wool industry had been

established and Natal made a separate colony. The opening, in November

1863, of the railway from Cape Town to Wellington, begun in 1859, and

the construction in 1860 of the great breakwater in Table Bay, long

needed on that perilous coast, marked the beginning in the colony of

public works on a large scale. They were the more or less direct result

of the granting to the colony of a large share in its own government. In

1865 the province of British Kaffraria was incorporated with the colony,

under the title of the Electoral Divisions of King William's Town and

East London. The transfer was marked by the removal of the prohibition

of the sale of alcoholic liquors to the natives, and the free trade in

intoxicants which followed had most deplorable results among the Kaffir

tribes. A severe drought, affecting almost the entire colony for several

years, caused great depression of trade, and many farmers suffered

severely. It was at this period (1869) that ostrich-farming was

successfully established as a separate industry.

Whether by or against the wish of the home government, the limits of

British authority continued to extend. The Basutos, who dwelt in the

upper valleys of the Orange river, had subsisted under a

semi-protectorate of the British government from 1843 to 1854; but

having been left to their own resources on the abandonment of the Orange

sovereignty, they fell into a long exhaustive warfare with the Boers of

the Free State. On the urgent petition of their chief Moshesh, they were

proclaimed British subjects in 1868, and their territory became part of

the colony in 1871 (see BASUTOLAND). In the same year the south-eastern

part of Bechuanaland was annexed to Great Britain under the title of

Griqualand West. This annexation was a consequence of the discovery

there of rich diamond mines, an event which was destined to have

far-reaching results. (F. R. C.)

_Development of Modern Conditions._--The year 1870 marks the dawn of a

new era in South Africa. From that date the development of modern South

Africa may be said to have fairly started, and in spite of political

complications, arising from time to time, the progress of Cape Colony

down to the outbreak of the Transvaal War of 1899 was steadily forward.

The discovery of diamonds on the Orange river in 1867, followed

immediately afterwards by the discovery of diamonds on the Vaal river,

led to the rapid occupation and development of a tract of country which

had hitherto been but sparsely inhabited. In 1870 Dutoitspan and

Bultfontein diamond mines were discovered, and in 1871 the still richer

mines of Kimberley and De Beers. These four great deposits of mineral

wealth are still richly productive, and constitute the greatest

industrial asset which the colony possesses. At the time of the

beginning of the diamond industry, not only the territory of Cape Colony

and the Boer Republics, but all South Africa, was in a very depressed

condition. Ostrich-farming was in its infancy, and agriculture but

little developed. The Boers, except in the immediate vicinity of Cape

Town, were a primitive people. Their wants were few, they lacked

enterprise, and the trade of the colony was restricted. Even the British

colonists at that time were far from rich. The diamond industry

therefore offered considerable attractions, especially to colonists of

British origin. It was also the means at length of demonstrating the

fact that South Africa, barren and poor on the surface, was rich below

the surface. It takes ten acres of Karroo to feed a sheep, but it was

now seen that a few square yards of diamondiferous blue ground would

feed a dozen families. By the end of 1871 a large population had already

gathered at the diamond fields, and immigration continued steadily,

bringing new-comers to the rich fields. Among the first to seek a

fortune at the diamond fields was Cecil Rhodes.

In 1858 the scheme of Sir George Grey for the federation of the various

colonies and states of South Africa had been rejected, as has been

stated, by the home authorities. In 1874 the 4th earl of Carnarvon,

secretary of state for the colonies, who had been successful in aiding

to bring about the federation of Canada, turned his attention to a

similar scheme for the confederation of South Africa. The representative

government in Cape Colony had been replaced in 1872 by responsible, i.e.

self-government, and the new parliament at Cape Town resented the manner

in which Lord Carnarvon propounded his suggestions. A resolution was

passed (June 11, 1875) stating that any scheme in favour of

confederation must in its opinion originate within South Africa itself.

James Anthony Froude, the distinguished historian, was sent out by Lord

Carnarvon to further his policy in South Africa. As a diplomatist and a

representative of the British government, the general opinion in South

Africa was that Froude was not a success, and he entirely failed to

induce the colonists to adopt Lord Carnarvon's views. In 1876,

Fingoland, the Idutywa reserve, and Noman's-land, tracts of country on

the Kaffir frontier, were annexed by Great Britain, on the understanding

that the Cape government should provide for their government. Lord

Carnarvon, still bent on confederation, now appointed Sir Bartle Frere

governor of Cape Colony and high commissioner of South Africa.

Frere had no sooner taken office as high commissioner than he found

himself confronted with serious native troubles in Zululand and on the

Kaffir frontier of Cape Colony. In 1877 there occurred an outbreak on

the part of the Galekas and the Gaikas. A considerable force of imperial

and colonial troops was employed to put down this rising, and the war

was subsequently known as the Ninth Kaffir war. It was in this war that

the famous Kaffir chief, Sandili, lost his life. At its conclusion the

Transkei, the territory of the Galeka tribe, under Kreli, was annexed by

the British. In the meantime Lord Carnarvon had resigned his position in

the British cabinet, and the scheme for confederation which he had been

pushing forward was abandoned. As a matter of fact, at that time Cape

Colony was too fully occupied with native troubles to take into

consideration very seriously so great a question as confederation. A

wave of feeling spread amongst the different Kaffir tribes on the

colonial frontier, and after the Gaika-Galeka War there followed in 1879

a rising in Basutoland under Moirosi, whose cattle-raiding had for some

time past caused considerable trouble. His stronghold was taken after

very severe fighting by a colonial force, but, their defeat

notwithstanding, the Basutos remained in a restless and aggressive

condition for several years. In 1880 the colonial authorities

endeavoured to extend to Basutoland the Peace Preservation Act of 1878,

under which a general disarmament of the Basutos was attempted. Further

fighting followed on this proclamation, which was by no means

successful, and although peace was declared in the country in December

1882, the colonial authorities were very glad in 1884 to be relieved of

the administration of a country which had already cost them L3,000,000.

The imperial government then took over Basutoland as a crown colony, on

the understanding that Cape Colony should contribute for administrative

purposes L18,000 annually. In 1880, Sir Bartle Frere, who by his

energetic and statesmanlike attitude on the relations with the native

states, as well as on all other questions, had won the esteem and regard

of loyal South African colonists, was recalled by the 1st earl of

Kimberley, the liberal secretary of state for the colonies, and was

succeeded by Sir Hercules Robinson. Griqualand West, which included the

diamond fields, was now incorporated as a portion of Cape Colony.

_Origin of the Afrikander Bond._--The Boer War of 1881, with its

disastrous termination, naturally reacted throughout South Africa; and

as one of the most important results, in the year 1882 the first

Afrikander Bond congress was held at Graaff Reinet. The organization of

the Bond developed into one embracing the Transvaal, the Orange Free

State and Cape Colony. Each country had a provincial committee with

district committees, and branches were distributed throughout the whole

of South Africa. At a later date the Bond in the Cape Colony dissociated

itself from its Republican branches. The general lines of policy which

this organization endeavoured to promote may best be gathered from _De

Patriot_, a paper published in the colony, and an avowed supporter of

the organization. The following extracts from articles published in 1882

will illustrate, better than anything else, the ambition entertained by

some of the promoters of this remarkable organization.

"The Afrikander Bond has for its object the establishment of a South

African nationality by spreading a true love for what is really our

fatherland. No better time could be found for establishing the Bond

than the present, when the consciousness of nationality has been

thoroughly aroused by the Transvaal war." ... "The British government

keep on talking about a confederation under the British flag, but that

will never be brought about. They can be quite certain of that. There

is just one obstacle in the way of confederation, and that is the

British flag. Let them remove that, and in less than a year the

confederation would be established under the Free Afrikander flag."

"After a time the English will realize that the advice given them by

Froude was the best--they must just have Simon's Bay as a naval and

military station on the way to India, and give over all the rest of

South Africa to the Afrikanders." ... "Our principal weapon in the

social war must be the destruction of English trade by our

establishing trading companies for ourselves." ... "It is the duty of

each true Afrikander not to spend anything with the English that he

can avoid."

_De Patriot_ afterwards became imperialist, but _Ons Land_, another Bond

organ, continued in much the same strain.

In addition to having its press organs, the Bond from time to time

published official utterances less frank in their tone than the

statements of its press. Some of the Articles of the Bond's original

manifesto are entirely praiseworthy, e.g. those referring to the

administration of justice, the honour of the people, &c.; such clauses as

these, however, were meaningless in view of the enlightened government

which obtained in Cape Colony, and for the true "inwardness" of this

document it is necessary to note Article 3, which distinctly speaks of

the promotion of South Africa's independence (_Zelfstandigheid_). If the

Bond aroused disloyalty and mistaken aspirations in one section of the

Cape inhabitants, it is equally certain that it caused a great wave of

loyal and patriotic enthusiasm to pass through another and more

enlightened section. A pamphlet written in 1885 for an association called

the Empire League by Mr Charles Leonard, who afterwards consistently

championed the cause of civil equality and impartial justice in South

Africa, maintained as follows:--

"(1) That the establishment of the English government here was

beneficial to all classes; and (2) that the withdrawal of that

government would be disastrous to every one having vested interests in

the colony.... England never can, never will, give up this colony, and

we colonists will never give up England.... Let us, the inhabitants of

the Cape Colony, be swift to recognize that we are one people, cast

together under a glorious flag of liberty, with heads clear enough to

appreciate the freedom we enjoy, and hearts resolute to maintain our

true privileges; let us desist from reproaching and insulting one

another, and, rejoicing that we have this goodly land as a common

heritage, remember that by united action only can we realize its grand

possibilities. We belong both of us to a home-loving stock, and the

peace and prosperity of every home in the land is at stake. On our

action now depends the question whether our children shall curse or

bless us; whether we shall live in their memory as promoters of civil

strife, with all its miserable consequences, or as joint architects of

a happy, prosperous and united state. Each of us looks back to a noble

past. United, we may ensure to our descendants a not unworthy future.

Disunited, we can hope for nothing but stagnation, misery and ruin. Is

this a light thing?"

It is probable that many Englishmen reading Mr Leonard's manifesto at

the time regarded it as unduly alarming, but subsequent events proved

the soundness of the views it expressed. The fact is that, from 1881

onwards, two great rival ideas came into being, each strongly opposed to

the other. One was that of Imperialism--full civil rights for every

civilized man, whatever his race might be, under the supremacy and

protection of Great Britain. The other was nominally republican, but in

fact exclusively oligarchical and Dutch. The policy of the extremists of

this last party was summed up in the appeal which President Kruger made

to the Free State in February 1881, when he bade them "Come and help us.

God is with us. It is his will to unite us as a people"--"to make a

united South Africa free from British authority." The two actual

founders of the Bond party were Mr Borckenhagen, a German who was

residing in Bloemfontein, and Mr Reitz, afterwards state secretary of

the Transvaal. Two interviews have been recorded which show the true

aims of these two promoters of the Bond at the outset. One occurred

between Mr Borckenhagen and Cecil Rhodes, the other between Mr Reitz and

Mr T. Schreiner, whose brother became, at a later date, prime minister

of Cape Colony. In the first interview Mr Borckenhagen remarked to

Rhodes: "We want a united Africa," and Rhodes replied: "So do I." Mr

Borckenhagen then continued: "There is nothing in the way; we will take

you as our leader. There is only one small thing: we must, of caurse, be

independent of the rest of the world." Rhodes replied: "You take me

either for a rogue or a fool. I should be a rogue to forfeit all my

history and my traditions; and I should be a fool, because I should be

hated by my own countrymen and mistrusted by yours." But as Rhodes truly

said at Cape Town in 1898, "The only chance of a true union is the

overshadowing protection of a supreme power, and any German, Frenchman,

or Russian would tell you that the best and most liberal power is that

over which Her Majesty reigns." The other interview took place at the

beginning of the Bond's existence. Being approached by Mr Reitz, Mr T.

Schreiner objected that the Bond aimed ultimately at the overthrow of

British rule and the expulsion of the British flag from South Africa. To

this Mr Reitz replied: "Well, what if it is so?" Mr Schreiner

expostulated in the following terms: "You do not suppose that that flag

is going to disappear without a tremendous struggle and hard fighting?"

"Well, I suppose not, but even so, what of that?" rejoined Mr Reitz. In

the face of this testimony with reference to two of the most prominent

of the Bond's promoters, it is impossible to deny that from its

beginning the great underlying idea of the Bond was an independent South

Africa.

_Mr Hofmeyr's Policy_.--In 1882 an act was passed in the Cape

legislative assembly, empowering members to speak in the Dutch language

on the floor of the House, if they so desired. The intention of this act

was a liberal one, but the moment of its introduction was inopportune,

and its effect was to give an additional stimulus to the policy of the

Bond. It was probably also the means of bringing into the House a number

of Dutchmen, by no means well educated, who would not have been returned

had they been obliged to speak English. By this act an increase of

influence was given to the Dutch leaders. The head of the Afrikander

Bond at this time in Cape Colony, and the leader of Dutch opinion, was

Mr J.H. Hofmeyr, a man of undoubted ability and astuteness. Although he

was recognized leader of the Dutch party in Cape Colony, he consistently

refused to take office, preferring to direct the policy and the action

of others from an independent position. Mr Hofmeyr sat in the house of

assembly as member for Stellenbosch, a strong Dutch constituency. His

influence over the Dutch members was supreme, and in addition to

directing the policy of the Bond within the Cape Colony, he supported

and defended the aggressive expansion policy of President Kruger and the

Transvaal Boers. In 1883, during a debate on the Basutoland

Dis-annexation Bill, Rhodes openly charged Mr Hofmeyr in the House with

a desire to see a "United States of South Africa under its own flag." In

1884 Mr Hofmeyr led the Bond in strongly supporting the Transvaal Boers

who had invaded Bechuanaland (q.v.), proclaiming that if the

Bechuanaland freebooters were not permitted to retain the territories

they had seized, in total disregard of the terms of the conventions of

1881 and 1884, there would be rebellion among the Dutch of Cape Colony.

Fortunately, however, for the peace of Cape Colony at that time, Sir

Charles Warren, sent by the imperial government to maintain British

rights, removed the invading Boers from Stellaland and Goshen--two

so-called republics set up by the Boer freebooters--in March 1885 and no

rebellion occurred. Nevertheless the Bond party was so strong in the

House that they compelled the ministry under Sir Thomas Scanlen to

resign in 1884. The logical and constitutional course for Mr Hofmeyr to

have followed in these circumstances would have been to accept office

and himself form a government. This he refused to do. He preferred to

put in a nominee of his own who should be entirely dependent on him. Mr

Upington, a clever Irish barrister, was the man he selected, and under

him was formed in 1884 what will always be known in Cape history as the

"Warming-pan" ministry. This action was denounced by many British

colonists, who were sufficiently loyal, not only to Great Britain, but

also to that constitution which had been conferred by Great Britain upon

Cape Colony, to desire to see the man who really wielded political power

also acting as the responsible head of the party. It was Mr Hofmeyr's

refusal to accept this responsibility, as well as the nature of his Bond

policy, which won for him the political sobriquet of the "Mole." Open

and responsible exercise of a power conferred under the constitution of

the country, Englishmen and English colonists would have accepted and

even welcomed. But that subterranean method of Dutch policy which found

its strongest expression in Pretoria, and which operated from Pretoria

to Cape Town, could not but be resented by loyal colonists. From 1881

down to 1898, Mr Hofmeyr practically determined how Dutch members should

vote, and also what policy the Bond should adopt at every juncture in

its history. In 1895 he resigned his seat in parliament--an action which

made his political dictatorship still more remarkable. This influence on

Cape politics was a demoralizing one. Other well-known politicians at

the Cape subsequently found it convenient to adapt their views a good

deal too readily to those held by the Bond. In justice to Mr Hofmeyr,

however, it is only fair to say that after the Warren expedition in

1885, which was at least evidence that Great Britain did not intend to

renounce her supremacy in South Africa altogether, he adopted a less

hostile or anti-British attitude. The views and attitude of Mr Hofmeyr

between 1881 and 1884--when even loyal British colonists, looking to the

events which followed Majuba, had almost come to believe that Great

Britain had little desire to maintain her supremacy--can scarcely be

wondered at.

_Rhodes and Dutch Sentiment._--Recognizing the difficulties of the

position, Cecil Rhodes from the outset of his political career showed

his desire to conciliate Dutch sentiment by considerate treatment and

regard for Dutch prejudices. Rhodes was first returned as member of the

House of Assembly for Barkly West in 1880, and in spite of all

vicissitudes this constituency remained loyal to him. He supported the

bill permitting Dutch to be used in the House of Assembly in 1882, and

early in 1884 he first took office, as treasurer-general, under Sir

Thomas Scanlen. Rhodes had only held this position for six weeks when

Sir Thomas Scanlen resigned, and in August of the same year he was sent

by Sir Hercules Robinson to British Bechuanaland as deputy-commissioner

in succession to the Rev. John Mackenzie, the London Missionary

Society's representative at Kuruman, who in the previous May had

proclaimed the queen's authority over the district. Rhodes's efforts to

conciliate the Boers failed--hence the necessity for the Warren mission.

In 1885 the territories of Cape Colony were farther extended, and

Tembuland, Bomvanaland and Galekaland were formally added to the colony.

In 1886 Sir Gordon Sprigg succeeded Sir Thomas Upington as prime

minister.

_South Affican Customs Union._--The period from 1878 to 1885 in Cape

Colony had been one of considerable unrest. In this short time, in

addition to the chronic troubles with the Basutos--which led the Cape to

hand them over to the imperial authorities--there occurred a series of

native disturbances which were followed by the Boer War of 1881, and the

Bechuanaland disturbances of 1884. In spite, however, of these

drawbacks, the development of the country proceeded. The diamond

industry was flourishing. In 1887 a conference was held in London for

"promoting a closer union between the various parts of the British

empire by means of an imperial tariff of customs." At this conference it

is worthy of note that Mr Hofmeyr propounded a sort of "Zollverein"

scheme, in which imperial customs were to be levied independently of the

duties payable on all goods entering the empire from abroad. In making

the proposition he stated that his objects were "to promote the union of

the empire, and at the same time to obtain revenue for the purposes of

general defence." The scheme was not at the time found practicable. But

its authorship, as well as the sentiments accompanying it, created a

favourable view of Mr Hofmeyr's attitude. In the year 1888, in spite of

the failure of statesmen and high commissioners to bring about political

confederation, the members of the Cape parliament set about the

establishment of a South African Customs Union. A Customs Union Bill was

passed, and this in itself constituted a considerable development of the

idea of federation. Shortly after the passing of the bill the Orange

Free State entered the union. An endeavour was also made then, and for

many years afterwards, to get the Transvaal to join. But President

Kruger, consistently pursuing his own policy, hoped through the Delagoa

Bay railway to make the South African Republic entirely independent of

Cape Colony. The endeavour to bring about a customs union which would

embrace the Transvaal was also little to the taste of President Kruger's

Hollander advisers, interested as they were in the schemes of the

Netherlands Railway Company, who owned the railways of the Transvaal.

_Diamonds and Railways._--Another event of considerable commercial

importance to the Cape Colony, and indeed to South Africa, was the

amalgamation of the diamond-mining companies, chiefly brought about by

Cecil Rhodes, Alfred Beit and "Barney" Barnato, in 1889. One of the

principal and most beneficent results of the discovery and development

of the diamond mines was the great impetus which it gave to railway

extension. Lines were opened up to Worcester and Beaufort West, to

Graham's Town, Graaff Reinet and Queenstown. Kimberley was reached in

1885. In 1890 the line was extended northwards on the western frontier

of the Transvaal as far as Vryburg in Bechuanaland. In 1889 the Free

State entered into an arrangement with the Cape Colony whereby the main

trunk railway was extended to Bloemfontein, the Free State receiving

half the profits. Subsequently the Free State bought at cost price the

portion of the railway in its own territory. In 1891 the Free State

railway was still farther extended to Viljoen's Drift on the Vaal river,

and in 1892 it reached Pretoria and Johannesburg.

_Rhodes as Prime Minister: Native Policy_.--In 1889 Sir Henry Loch was

appointed high commissioner and governor of Cape Colony in succession to

Sir Hercules Robinson. In 1890 Sir Gordon Sprigg, the premier of the

colony, resigned, and a Rhodes government was formed. Prior to the

formation of this ministry (see table at end of article), and while Sir

Gordon Sprigg was still in office, Mr Hofmeyr approached Rhodes and

offered to put him in office as a Bond nominee. This offer was declined.

When, however, Rhodes was invited to take office after the downfall of

the Sprigg ministry, he asked the Bond leaders to meet him and discuss

the situation. His policy of customs and railway unions between the

various states, added to the personal esteem in which he was at this

time held by many of the Dutchmen, enabled him to undertake and to carry

on successfully the business of government.

The colonies of British Bechuanaland and Basutoland were now taken into

the customs union existing between the Orange Free State and Cape

Colony. Pondoland, another native territory, was added to the colony in

1894, and the year was marked by the Glen Grey Act, a departure in

native policy for which Rhodes was chiefly responsible. It dealt with

the natives residing in certain native reserves, and in addition to

providing for their interests and holdings, and in other ways protecting

the privileges accorded to them, the principle of the duty of some

degree of labour devolving upon every able-bodied native enjoying these

privileges was asserted, and a small labour tax was levied.[6] This is

in many respects the most statesmanlike act dealing with natives on the

statute-book; and in the session of 1895 Rhodes was able to report to

the Cape parliament that the act then applied to 160,000 natives. In

1905 the labour clauses of this act, which had fallen into desuetude,

were repealed. The clauses had, however, achieved success, in that they

had caused many thousands of natives to fulfil the conditions requisite

to claim exemption.

In other respects Rhodes's native policy was marked by combined

consideration and firmness. Ever since the granting of self-government

the natives had enjoyed the franchise. An act passed in 1892, at the

instance of Rhodes, imposed an educational test on applicants for

registration, and made other provisions, all tending to restrict the

acquisition of the franchise by "tribal" natives, the possible danger

arising from a large native vote being already obvious (see section

_Constitution_).

Rhodes opposed the native liquor traffic, and at the risk of offending

some of his supporters among the brandy-farmers of the western

provinces, he suppressed it entirely on the diamond mines, and

restricted it as far as he was able in the native reserves and

territories. Nevertheless the continuance of this traffic on colonial

farms, as well as to some extent in the native territories and reserves,

is a black spot in the annals of the Cape Colony. The Hottentots have

been terribly demoralized, and even partially destroyed by it in the

western province.

Another and little-known instance of Rhodes's keen insight in dealing

with native affairs--an action which had lasting results on the history

of the colony--may be given. After the native territories east of the

Kei had been added to Cape Colony, a case of claim to inheritance came

up for trial, and in accordance with the law of the colony, the court

held that the eldest son of a native was his heir. This decision created

the strongest resentment among the people of the territory, as it was in

distinct contradiction to native tribal law, which recognized the great

son, or son of the chief wife, as heir. The government were threatened

with a native disturbance, when Rhodes telegraphed his assurance that

compensation should be granted, and that such a decision should never be

given again. This assurance was accepted and tranquillity restored. At

the close of the next session (that of 1894), after this incident had

occurred, Rhodes laid on the table a bill drafted by himself, the

shortest the House had ever seen. It provided that all civil cases were

to be tried by magistrates, an appeal to lie only to the chief

magistrate of the territory with an assessor. Criminal cases were to be

tried before the judges of supreme court on circuit. The bill was

passed, and the effect of it was, inasmuch as the magistrates

administered according to native law, that native marriage customs and

laws (including polygamy) were legalized in these territories. Rhodes

had retrieved his promise, and no one who has studied and lived amongst

the Bantu will question that the action taken was both beneficent and

wise.

During 1895 Sir Hercules Robinson was reappointed governor and high

commissioner of South Africa in succession to Sir Henry Loch, and in the

same year Mr Chamberlain became secretary of state for the colonies.

_Movement for Commercial Federation_.--With the development of railways,

and the extension of trade between Cape Colony and the Transvaal, there

had grown up a closer relationship on political questions. Whilst

premier of Cape Colony, by means of the customs union and in every other

way, Rhodes endeavoured to bring about a friendly measure of at least

commercial federation among the states and colonies of South Africa. He

hoped to establish both a commercial and a railway union, and a speech

which he made in 1894 at Cape Town admirably describes this policy:--

"With full affection for the flag which I have been born under, and

the flag I represent, I can understand the sentiment and feeling of a

republican who has created his independence, and values that before

all; but I can say fairly that I believe in the future that I can

assimilate the system, which I have been connected with, with the Cape

Colony, and it is not an impossible idea that the neighbouring

republics, retaining their independence, should share with us as to

certain general principles. If I might put it to you, I would say the

principles of tariffs, the principle of railway connexion, the

principle of appeal in law, the principle of coinage, and in fact all

those principles which exist at the present moment in the United

States, irrespective of the local assemblies which exist in each

separate state in that country."

To this policy President Kruger and the Transvaal government offered

every possible opposition. Their action in what is known as the Vaal

River Drift question will best illustrate the line of action which the

Transvaal government believed it expedient to adopt. A difficulty arose

at the termination of the agreement in 1894 between the Cape government

railway and the Netherlands railway. The Cape government, for the

purposes of carrying the railway from the Vaal river to Johannesburg,

had advanced the sum of L600,000 to the Netherlands railway and the

Transvaal government conjointly; at the same time it was stipulated that

the Cape government should have the right to fix the traffic rate until

the end of 1894, or until such time as the Delagoa Bay-Pretoria line was

completed. These rates were fixed by the Cape government at 2d. per ton

per mile, but at the beginning of 1895 the rate for the 52 m. of railway

from the Vaal river to Johannesburg was raised by the Netherlands

railway to no less a sum than 8d. per ton per mile. It is quite evident

from the action which President Kruger subsequently took in the matter

that this charge was put on with his approval, and with the object of

compelling traffic to be brought to the Transvaal by the Delagoa route,

instead of as heretofore by the colonial railway. In order to compete

against this very high rate, the merchants of Johannesburg began

removing their goods from the Vaal river by waggon. Thereupon President

Kruger arbitrarily closed the drifts (fords) on the Vaal river, and thus

prevented through waggon traffic, causing an enormous block of waggons

on the banks of the Vaal. A protest was then made by the Cape government

against the action of the Transvaal, on the ground that it was a breach

of the London Convention. President Kruger took no notice of this

remonstrance, and an appeal was made to the imperial government;

whereupon the latter entered into an agreement with the Cape government,

to the effect that if the Cape would bear half the cost of any

expedition which should be necessary, assist with troops, and give full

use of the Cape railway for military purposes if required, a protest

should be sent to President Kruger on the subject. These terms were

accepted by Rhodes and his colleagues, of whom Mr W.P. Schreiner was

one, and a protest was then sent by Mr Chamberlain stating that the

government would regard the closing of the drifts as a breach of the

London Convention, and as an unfriendly action calling for the gravest

remonstrance. President Kruger at once reopened the drifts, and

undertook that he would issue no further proclamation on the subject

except after consultation with the imperial government.

On the 29th of December 1895 Dr Jameson (q.v.) made his famous raid into

the Transvaal, and Rhodes's complicity in this movement compelled him to

resign the premiership of Cape Colony in January 1896, the vacant post

being taken by Sir Gordon Sprigg. As Rhodes's complicity in the raid

became known, there naturally arose a strong feeling of resentment and

astonishment among his colleagues in the Cape ministry, who had been

kept in complete ignorance of his connexion with any such scheme. Mr

Hofmeyr and the Bond were loud in their denunciation of him, nor can it

be denied that the circumstances of the raid greatly embittered against

England the Dutch element in Cape Colony, and influenced their

subsequent attitude towards the Transvaal Boers.

In 1897 a native rising occurred under Galeshwe, a Bantu chief, in

Griqualand West. Galeshwe was arrested and the rebellion repressed. On

cross-examination Galeshwe stated that Bosnian, a magistrate of the

Transvaal, had supplied ammunition to him, and urged him to rebel

against the government of Cape Colony. There is every reason to suppose

that this charge was true, and it is consistent with the intrigues which

the Boers from time to time practised among the natives.

In 1897 Sir Alfred Milner was appointed high commissioner of South

Africa and governor of Cape Colony, in succession to Sir Hercules

Robinson, who had been created a peer under the title of Baron Rosmead

in August 1896.

_Mr Schreiner's Policy_.--In 1898 commercial federation in South Africa

advanced another stage, Natal entering the customs union. A fresh

convention was drafted at this time, and under it "a uniform tariff on

all imported goods consumed within such union, and an equitable

distribution of the duties collected on such goods amongst the parties

to such union, and free trade between the colonies and state in respect

of all South African products," was arranged. In the same year, too, the

Cape parliamentary election occurred, and the result was the return to

power of a Bond ministry under Mr W.P. Schreiner. From this time, until

June 1900, Mr Schreiner remained in office as head of the Cape

government. During the negotiations (see TRANSVAAL) which preceded the

war in 1899, feeling at the Cape ran very high, and Mr Schreiner's

attitude was very freely discussed. As head of a party, dependent for

its position in power on the Bond's support, his position was

undoubtedly a trying one. At the same time, as prime minister of a

British colony, it was strongly felt by loyal colonists that he should

at least have refrained from openly interfering between the Transvaal

and the imperial government during the course of most difficult

negotiations. His public expressions of opinion were hostile in tone to

the policy pursued by Mr Chamberlain and Sir Alfred Milner. The effect

of them, it was believed, might conceivably be to encourage President

Kruger in persisting in his rejection of the British terms. Mr

Schreiner, it is true, used directly what influence he possessed to

induce President Kruger to adopt a reasonable course. But however

excellent his intentions, his publicly expressed disapproval of the

Chamberlain-Milner policy probably did more harm than his private

influence with Mr Kruger could possibly do good. On the 11th of June

1899, shortly after the Bloemfontein conference, from which Sir Alfred

Milner had just returned, Mr Schreiner asked the high commissioner to

inform Mr Chamberlain that he and his colleagues agreed in regarding

President Kruger's Bloemfontein proposals as "practical, reasonable and

a considerable step in the right direction." Early in June, however, the

Cape Dutch politicians began to realize that President Kruger's attitude

was not so reasonable as they had endeavoured to persuade themselves,

and Mr Hofmeyr, accompanied by Mr Herholdt, the Cape minister of

agriculture, visited Pretoria. On arrival, they found that the Transvaal

Volksraad, in a spirit of defiance and even levity, had just passed a

resolution offering four new seats in the Volksraad to the mining

districts, and fifteen to exclusively burgher districts. Mr Hofmeyr, on

meeting the executive, freely expressed indignation at these

proceedings. Unfortunately, Mr Hofmeyr's influence was more than

counterbalanced by an emissary from the Free State, Mr Abraham Fischer,

who, while purporting to be a peacemaker, practically encouraged the

Boer executive to take extreme measures. Mr Hofmeyr's established

reputation as an astute diplomatist, and as the trusted leader for years

of the Cape Dutch party, made him as powerful a delegate as it was

possible to find. If any emissary could accomplish anything in the way

of persuading Mr Kruger, it was assuredly Mr Hofmeyr. Much was looked

for from his mission by moderate men of all parties, and by none more

so, it is fair to believe, than by Mr Schreiner. But Mr Hofmeyr's

mission, like every other mission to Mr Kruger to induce him to take a

reasonable and equitable course, proved entirely fruitless. He returned

to Cape Town disappointed, but probably not altogether surprised at the

failure of his mission. Meanwhile a new proposal was drafted by the Boer

executive, which, before it was received in its entirety, or at least

before it was clearly understood, elicited from Mr Schreiner a letter on

the 7th of July to the _South African News_, in which, referring to his

government, he said:--

"While anxious and continually active with good hope in the cause of

securing reasonable modifications of the existing representative

system of the South African Republic, this government is convinced

that no ground whatever exists for active interference in the internal

affairs of that republic."

This letter was precipitate and unfortunate. On the 11th of July, after

seeing Mr Hofmeyr on his return, Mr Schreiner made a personal appeal to

President Kruger to approach the imperial government in a friendly

spirit. At this time an incident occurred which raised the feeling

against Mr Schreiner to a very high pitch. On the 7th of July 500 rifles

and 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition were landed at Port Elizabeth,

consigned to the Free State government, and forwarded to Bloemfontein.

Mr Schreiner's attention was called to this consignment at the time, but

he refused to stop it, alleging as his reason that, inasmuch as Great

Britain was at peace with the Free State, he had no right to interdict

the passage of arms through the Cape Colony. The British colonist is as

capable of a grim jest as the Transvaal Boer, and this action of Mr

Schreiner's won for him the nickname "Ammunition Bill." At a later date

he was accused of delay in forwarding artillery and rifles for the

defence of Kimberley, Mafeking and other towns of the colony. The reason

he gave for delay was that he did not anticipate war; and that he did

not wish to excite unwarrantable suspicions in the minds of the Free

State. His conduct in both instances was perhaps technically correct,

but it was much resented by loyal colonists.

On the 28th of July Mr Chamberlain sent a conciliatory despatch to

President Kruger, suggesting a meeting of delegates to consider and

report on his last franchise proposals, which were complex to a degree.

Mr Schreiner, on the 3rd of August, telegraphed to Mr Fischer begging

the Transvaal to welcome Mr Chamberlain's proposal. At a later date, on

receiving an inquiry from the Free State as to the movements of British

troops, Mr Schreiner curtly refused any information, and referred the

Free State to the high commissioner. On the 28th of August Sir Gordon

Sprigg in the House of Assembly moved the adjournment of the debate, to

discuss the removal of arms to the Free State. Mr Schreiner, in reply,

used expressions which called down upon him the severest censure and

indignation, both in the colony and in Great Britain. He stated that,

should the storm burst, he would keep the colony aloof with regard both

to its forces and its people. In the course of the speech he also read a

telegram from President Steyn, in which the president repudiated all

contemplated aggressive action on the part of the Free State as absurd.

The speech created a great sensation in the British press. It was

probably forgotten at the time (though Lord Kimberley afterwards

publicly stated it) that one of the chief reasons why the Gladstone

government had granted the retrocession of the Transvaal after Majuba,

was the fear that the Cape Colonial Dutch would join their kinsmen if

the war continued. What was a danger in 1881, Mr Schreiner knew to be a

still greater danger in 1899. At the same time it is quite obvious, from

a review of Mr Schreiner's conduct through the latter half of 1899, that

he took an entirely mistaken view of the Transvaal situation. He

evinced, as premier of the Cape Colony, the same inability to understand

the Uitlanders' grievances, the same futile belief in the eventual

fairness of President Kruger, as he had shown when giving evidence

before the British South Africa Select Committee into the causes of the

Jameson Raid. Actual experience taught him that President Kruger was

beyond an appeal to reason, and that the protestations of President

Steyn were insincere. War had no sooner commenced with the ultimatum of

the Transvaal Republic on the 9th of October 1899, than Mr Schreiner

found himself called upon to deal with the conduct of Cape rebels. The

rebels joined the invading forces of President Steyn, whose false

assurances Mr Schreiner had offered to an indignant House of Assembly

only a few weeks before. The war on the part of the Republics was

evidently not to be merely one of self-defence. It was one of aggression

and aggrandisement. Mr Schreiner ultimately addressed, as prime

minister, a sharp remonstrance to President Steyn for allowing his

burghers to invade the colony. He also co-operated with Sir Alfred

Milner, and used his influence to restrain the Bond.

_The War of 1899-1902._[7]--The first shot actually fired in the war

was at Kraipan, a small railway station within the colony, 40 m. south

of Mafeking, a train being derailed, and ammunition intended for Colonel

Baden-Powell seized. The effect of this was entirely to cut off

Mafeking, the northernmost town in Cape Colony, and it remained in a

state of siege for over seven months. On the 16th of October Kimberley

was also isolated. Proclamations by the Transvaal and Free State

annexing portions of Cape Colony were actually issued on the 18th of

October, and included British Bechuanaland and Griqualand West, with the

diamond fields. On the 28th of October Mr Schreiner signed a

proclamation issued by Sir Alfred Milner as high commissioner, declaring

the Boer annexations of territory within Cape Colony to be null and

void.

Then came the British reverses at Magersfontein (on the 11th of

December) and Stormberg (on the 10th of December). The effect of these

engagements at the very outset of the war, occurring as they did within

Cape Colony, was to offer every inducement to a number of the frontier

colonial Boers to join their kinsmen of the republics. The Boers were

prolific, and their families large. Many younger sons from the colony,

with nothing to lose, left their homes with horse and rifle to join the

republican forces.

Meanwhile the loyal Cape colonists were chafing at the tardy manner in

which they were enrolled by the imperial authorities. It was not until

after the arrival of Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener at Cape Town on the

10th of January 1900 that these invaluable, and many of them

experienced, men were freely invited to come forward. So strongly did

Lord Roberts feel on the subject, that he at once made Colonel Brabant,

a well-known and respected colonial veteran and member of the House of

Assembly, a brigadier-general, and started recruiting loyal colonists in

earnest. On the 15th of February Kimberley was relieved by General

French, and the Boer general, Cronje, evacuated Magersfontein, and

retreated towards Bloemfontein. Cecil Rhodes was shut up in Kimberley

during the whole of the siege, and his presence there undoubtedly

offered an additional incentive to the Boers to endeavour to capture the

town, but his unique position and influence with the De Beers workmen

enabled him to render yeoman service, and infused enthusiasm and courage

into the inhabitants. The manufacture of a big gun, which was able to

compete with the Boer "Long Tom," at the De Beers workshops, under

Rhodes's orders, and by the ingenuity of an American, Mr. Labram, who

was killed a few days after its completion, forms one of the most

striking incidents of the period.

With the relief of Mafeking on the 17th of May, the Cape rebellion

ended, and the colony was, at least for a time, delivered of the

presence of hostile forces.

On the 20th of March Mr (afterwards Sir James) Rose-Innes, a prominent

member of the House of Assembly, who for several years had held aloof

from either party, and who also had defended Mr Schreiner's action with

regard to the passage of arms to the Free State, addressed his

constituents at Claremont in support of the annexation of both

republics; and in the course of an eloquent speech he stated that in

Canada, in spite of rebellions, loyalty had been secured from the French

Canadians by free institutions. In South Africa they might hope that a

similar policy would attain a similar result with the Boers. In June, Mr

Schreiner, whose recent support of Sir Alfred Milner had incensed many

of his Bond followers, resigned in consequence of the refusal of some of

his colleagues to support the disfranchisement bill which he was

prepared, in accordance with the views of the home government, to

introduce for the punishment of Cape rebels. The bill certainly did not

err on the side of severity, but disfranchisement for their supporters

in large numbers was more distasteful to the Bond extremists than any

stringency towards individuals. Sir Gordon Sprigg, who after a political

crisis of considerable delicacy, succeeded Mr Schreiner and for the

fourth time became prime minister, was able to pass the Bill with the

co-operation of Mr Schreiner and his section. Towards the end of the

year 1900 the war entered on a new phase, and took the form of guerilla

skirmishes with scattered forces of marauding Boers. In December some of

these bands entered the Cape Colony and endeavoured to induce colonial

Boers to join them. In this endeavour they met at first with little or

no success; but as the year 1901 progressed and the Boers still managed

to keep the various districts in a ferment, it was deemed necessary by

the authorities to proclaim martial law over the whole colony, and this

was done on the 9th of October 1901.

On the 4th of January 1901 Sir Alfred Milner was gazetted governor of

the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, being shortly afterwards created

a peer as Lord Milner, and Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, governor of

Natal, was appointed his successor as governor of the Cape Colony. The

office of high commissioner in South Africa was now separated from the

governorship of the Cape and associated with that of the Transvaal--an

indication of the changed conditions in South Africa. The division of

the colonists into those who favoured the Boer states and those firmly

attached to the British connexion was reflected, to the detriment of the

public weal, in the parties in the Cape parliament. Proposals were made

to suspend the constitution, but this drastic course was not adopted.

The Progressive party, the name taken by those who sought a permanent

settlement under the British flag, lost their leader, and South Africa

its foremost statesman by the death, in May 1902, of Cecil Rhodes, a few

weeks before the end of the war.

_After the War_.--The acknowledgment of defeat by the Boers in the

field, and the surrender of some 10,000 rebels, did not weaken the

endeavours of the Dutch to obtain political supremacy in the colony.

Moreover, in the autumn of 1902 Sir Gordon Sprigg, the prime minister,

nominally the leader of the Progressives, sought to maintain his

position by securing the support of the Bond party in parliament. In the

early part of 1903 Mr Chamberlain included Cape Town in his visit to

South Africa, and had conferences with the political leaders of all

parties. Reconciliation between the Bond and British elements in the

colony was, however, still impossible, and the two parties concentrated

their efforts in a struggle for victory at the coming election. Mr

Hofmeyr, who had chosen to spend the greater part of the war period in

Europe, returned to the Cape to reorganize the Bond. On the other side

Dr Jameson came forward as the leader of the Progressives. Parliament

was dissolved in September 1903. It had passed, since the war, two

measures of importance--one (1902) restricting alien immigration, the

other (1903) ratifying the first customs convention between all the

South African colonies. This convention was notable for its grant of

preferential treatment (in general, a rebate of 25% on the customs

already levied) to imports from the United Kingdom.

The election turned on the issue of British or Bond supremacy. It was

fought on a register purged of the rebel voters, many of whom, besides

being disfranchised, were in prison. The issue was doubtful, and each

side sought to secure the support of the native voters, who in several

constituencies held the balance of power. The Bondsmen were more lavish

than their opponents in their promises to the natives and even invited a

Kaffir journalist (who declined) to stand for a seat in the Assembly. In

view of the agitation then proceeding for the introduction of Chinese

coolies to work the mines on the Rand, the Progressives declared their

intention, if returned, to exclude them from the colony, and this

declaration gained them some native votes. The polling (in January and

February 1904) resulted in a Progressive majority of five in a house of

95 members. The rejected candidates included prominent Bond supporters

like Mr Merriman and Mr Sauer, and also Sir Gordon Sprigg and Mr A.

Douglass, another member of the cabinet. Mr W.P. Schreiner, the

ex-premier, who stood as an Independent, was also rejected.

_The Jameson Ministry_.--On the 18th of February Sir Gordon Sprigg

resigned and was succeeded by Dr L.S. Jameson, who formed a ministry

wholly British in character. The first task of the new government was to

introduce (on the 4th of March) an Additional Representation Bill, to

rectify--in part--the disparity in electoral power of the rural and

urban districts. Twelve new seats in the House of Assembly were divided

among the larger towns, and three members were added to the legislative

council. The town voter being mainly British, the bill met with the

bitter opposition of the Bond members, who declared that its object was

the extinction of their parliamentary power. In fact, the bill was

called for by the glaring anomalies in the distribution of seats by

which a minority of voters in the country districts returned a majority

of members, and it left the towns still inadequately represented. The

bill was supported by two or three Dutch members, who were the object of

violent attack by the Bondsmen. It became law, and the elections for the

additional seats were held in July, after the close of the session. They

resulted in strengthening the Progressive majority both in the House of

Assembly and in the legislative council--where the Progressives

previously had a majority of one only.

At the outset of its career the Jameson ministry had to face a serious

financial situation. During the war the supplying of the army in the

field had caused an artificial inflation of trade, and the Sprigg

ministry had pursued a policy of extravagant expenditure not warranted

by the finances of the colony. The slow recovery of the gold-mining and

other industries in the Transvaal after the war was reflected in a great

decline in trade in Cape Colony during the last half of 1903, the

distress being aggravated by severe drought. When Dr Jameson assumed

office he found an empty treasury, and considerable temporary loans had

to be raised. Throughout 1904, moreover, revenue continued to

shrink--compared with 1903 receipts dropped from L11,701,000 to

L9,913,000. The government, besides cutting down official salaries and

exercising strict economy, contracted (July 1904) a loan for L3,000,000.

It also passed a bill imposing a graduated tax (6d. to 1s. in the L) on

all incomes over L1000. A substantial excise duty was placed on spirits

and beer, measures of relief for the brandy-farmers being taken at the

same time. The result was that while there was a deficit on the budget

of 1904-1905 of L731,000, the budget of 1905-1906 showed a surplus of

L5161. This small surplus was obtained notwithstanding a further

shrinkage in revenue.

Dr Jameson's programme was largely one of material development. In the

words of the speech opening the 1905 session of parliament, "without a

considerable development of our agricultural and pastoral resources our

position as a self-sustaining colony cannot be assured." This reliance

on its own resources was the more necessary for the Cape because of the

keen rivalry of Natal and Delagoa Bay for the carrying trade of the

Transvaal. The opening up of backward districts by railways was

vigorously pursued, and in other ways great efforts were made to assist

agriculture. These efforts to help the country districts met with

cordial recognition from the Dutch farmers, and the release, in May

1904, of all rebel prisoners was another step towards reconciliation. On

the exclusion of Chinese from the colony the Bond party were also in

agreement with the ministry. An education act passed in 1905 established

school boards on a popular franchise and provided for the gradual

introduction of compulsory education. The cultivation of friendly

relations with the neighbouring colonies was also one of the leading

objects of Dr Jameson's policy. The Bond, on its side, sought to draw

closer to Het Volk, the Boer organization in the Transvaal, and similar

bodies, and at its 1906 congress, held in March that year at Ceres, a

resolution with that aim was passed, the design being to unify, in

accordance with the original conception of the Bond, Dutch sentiment and

action throughout South Africa.

Native affairs proved a source of considerable anxiety. In January 1905

an inter-colonial native affairs commission reported on the native

question as it affected South Africa as a whole, proposals being made

for an alteration of the laws in Cape Colony respecting the franchise

exercised by natives. In the opinion of the commission the possession of

the franchise by the Cape natives under existing conditions was sure to

create in time an intolerable situation, and was an unwise and dangerous

thing. (The registration of 1905 showed that there were over 23,000

coloured voters in the colony.) The commission proposed separate voting

by natives only for a fixed number of members of the legislature--the

plan adopted in New Zealand with the Maori voters. The privileged

position of the Cape native was seen to be an obstacle to the federation

of South Africa. The discussion which followed, based partly on the

reports that the ministry contemplated disfranchising the natives, led,

however, to no immediate results.

Another disturbing factor in connexion with native affairs was the

revolt of the Hottentots and Hereros in German South-West Africa (q.v.).

In 1904 and the following years large numbers of refugees, including

some of the most important chiefs, fled into British territory, and

charges were made in Germany that sufficient control over these refugees

was not exercised by the Cape government. This trouble, however, came to

an end in September 1907. In that month Morenga, a chief who had been

interned by the colonial authorities, but had escaped and recommenced

hostilities against the Germans, was once more on the British side of

the frontier and, refusing to surrender, was pursued by the Cape Mounted

Police and killed after a smart action. The revolt in the German

protectorate had been, nearly a year before the death of Morenga, the

indirect occasion of a "Boer raid" into Cape Colony. In November 1906 a

small party of Transvaal Boers, who had been employed by the Germans

against the Hottentots, entered the colony under the leadership of a man

named Ferreira, and began raiding farms and forcibly enrolling recruits.

Within a week the filibusters were all captured. Ferreira and four

companions were tried for murder and convicted, February 1907, the death

sentences being commuted to terms of penal servitude.

As the result of an inter-colonial conference held in Pietermaritzburg

in the early months of 1906, a new customs convention of a strongly

protective character came into force on the 1st of June of that year. At

the same time the rebate on goods from Great Britain and reciprocating

colonies was increased. The session of parliament which sanctioned this

change was notable for the attention devoted to irrigation and railway

schemes. But one important measure of a political character was passed

in 1906, namely an amnesty act. Under its provisions over 7000

ex-rebels, who would otherwise have had no vote at the ensuing general

election, were readmitted to the franchise in 1907.

While the efforts made to develop the agricultural and mineral resources

of the country proved successful, the towns continued to suffer from the

inflation--over-buying, over-building and over-speculation--which marked

the war period. As a consequence, imports further declined during

1906-1907, and receipts being largely dependent on customs the result

was a considerably diminished revenue. The accounts for the year ending

30th of June 1907 showed a deficit of L640,455. The decline in revenue,

L4,000,000 in four years, while not a true reflection of the economic

condition of the country--yearly becoming more self-supporting by the

increase in home produce--caused general disquietude and injuriously

affected the position of the ministry. In the session of 1907 the

Opposition in the legislative council brought on a crisis by refusing to

grant supplies voted by the lower chamber. Dr Jameson contested the

constitutional right of the council so to act, and on his advice the

governor dissolved parliament in September. Before its dissolution

parliament passed an act imposing a profit tax of 10% on diamond- and

copper-mining companies earning over L50,000 per annum, and another act

establishing an agricultural credit bank.

_Mr Merriman, Premier_.--The elections for the legislative council were

held in January 1908 and resulted in a Bond victory. Its supporters, who

called themselves the South African party, the Progressives being

renamed Unionists, obtained 17 seats out of a total of 26. Dr Jameson

thereupon resigned (31st of January), and a ministry was formed with Mr

J.X. Merriman as premier and treasurer, and Mr J.W. Sauer as minister of

public works. Neither of these politicians was a member of the Bond, and

both had held office under Cecil Rhodes and W.P. Schreiner. They had,

however, been the leading parliamentary exponents of Bond policy for a

considerable time. The elections for the legislative assembly followed

in April and, partly in consequence of the reinfranchisement of the

ex-rebels, resulted in a decisive majority for the Merriman ministry.

There were returned 69 members of the South African party, 33 Unionists

and 5 Independents, among them the ex-premiers Sir Gordon Sprigg and Mr

Schreiner. The change of ministry was not accompanied by any relief in

the financial situation. While the country districts remained fairly

prosperous (agricultural and pastoral products increasing), the transit

trade and the urban industries continued to decline. The depression was

accentuated by the financial crisis in America, which affected adversely

the wool trade, and in a more marked degree the diamond trade, leading

to the partial stoppage of the Kimberley mines. (The "slump" in the

diamond trade is shown by a comparison of the value of diamonds exported

from the Cape in the years 1907 and 1908; in 1907 they were valued at

L8,973,148, in 1908 at L4,796,655.) This seriously diminished the

revenue returns, and the public accounts for the year 1907-1908 showed a

deficit of L996,000, and a prospective deficit for the ensuing year of

an almost equal amount. To balance the budget, Mr Merriman proposed

drastic remedies, including the suspension of the sinking fund, the

reduction of salaries of all civil servants, and taxes on incomes of L50

per annum. Partly in consequence of the serious economic situation the

renewed movement for the closer union of the various South African

colonies, formally initiated by Dr Jameson in 1907, received the support

of the Cape parliament. During 1907-1908 a national convention decided

upon unification, and in 1910 the Union of South Africa was established

(see SOUTH AFRICA: _History_).

_Leading Personalities_.--The public life of Cape Colony has produced

many men of singular ability and accomplishments. The careers of Cecil

Rhodes, of Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, and of Dr L.S. Jameson have been

sufficiently indicated (see also their separate biographies). Sir Gordon

Sprigg, four times premier, was associated with the Cape parliament from

1873 to 1904, and was once more elected to that assembly in 1908. In and

out of office his zeal was unflagging, and if he lacked those qualities

which inspire enthusiasm and are requisite in a great leader, he was at

least a model of industry. Among other prominent politicians were Sir

James Rose-Innes, Mr J.X. Merriman and Mr W.P. Schreiner. The two last

named both held the premiership; their attitude and views have been

indicated in the historical sketch. Sir James Rose-Innes, a lawyer whose

intellectual gifts and patriotism have never been impugned, was not a

"party man," and this made him, on more than one occasion, a somewhat

difficult political ally. On the native question he held a consistently

strong attitude, defending their rights, and uncompromisingly opposing

the native liquor traffic. In 1901 he went to the Transvaal as chief

justice of that colony. Sir Thomas Fuller, a Cape Town representative,

though he remained outside office, gave staunch support to every

enlightened liberal and progressive measure which was brought forward. A

man of exceptional culture and eloquence, he made his influence felt,

not only in politics, but in journalism and the best social life of the

Cape peninsula. From 1902 to 1908 he held the office of agent-general of

the colony in London.

In literature, the colony has produced at least two authors whose works

have taken their place among those of the best English writers of their

day. The _History of South Africa_, by Mr G. McCall Theal, will remain a

classic work of reference. The careful industry and the lucidity which

characterize Mr Theal's work stamp him as a historian of whom South

Africa may well be proud. In fiction, Olive Schreiner (Mrs

Cronwright-Schreiner) produced, while still in her teens, the _Story of

an African Farm_, a work which gave great promise of original literary

genius. Unfortunately, she, in common with the rest of South Africa, was

subsequently swept into the seething vortex of contemporary politics and

controversy. In music and painting there have been artists of talent in

the Cape Colony, but the country is still too young, and the conditions

of life too disturbed, to allow such a development as has already

occurred in Australia.