SOUTH AFRICAN COLOUR BAR

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22520, 30 September 1938, Page 21

SOUTH AFRICAN COLOUR BAR

| UNREST AMONG NATIVES WARNING GIVEN BY GENERAL SMUTS EFFECTS OF RECENT LAW <a»OM oc* on coaußromnn.) LONDON, August 10. In one of his greatest speeches, made in 1926, General Smuts uttered a remarkable warning and prophecy, wrote Sir John Harris, in the "Manchester Guardian" of August 8, in an article on the colour bar in South Africa. At that time the Government of South Africa was embarking upon its first definite colour bar legislation debarring British subjects of any colour—and solely because of their colour—from attaining to any form of industrial or civic citizenship. General Smuts then warned South Africa, of the danger; he said: "The bill will be taken as an outrage not only by Black Africa but by Yellow. Asia"—"We shall gather on our heads the hatred of the whole of Asia"—"We, a handful of whites, are ring-fencing ourselves first with an inner ring of black hatred and beyond that with a ring of hatred of the whole of Asia," —"The natives are seething with discontent all over South Africa"—"ln these circumstances the Colour Bar Bill gratuitously produced here is a firebrand flung into the haystack." Are we of this generation to witness the fulfilment of this prophecy? That is the question which leaped forward in every discussion from the Cape to Bulawayo, from Bechuanaland to Zululand, no matter with whom the discussion took place—Government officials, traders, planters, chiefs, uative councils, natives on the highways, on farms, or in the locations and reserves. The answer to the question is "Not just yet," for everything depends on the decision of the House of Commons over the protectorates, because that is becoming the acid test. It is also "not quite yet" because though the African is an ardent lover he is a slow hater. But what is admitted to be true is that suspicion and discontent have increased disastrously since General Smuts's prophecy—and who can.be.surprised? Poverty of Native* The native has become poor to desperation; the price of everything he buys—blankets, snoes, and clothing—has been drit&n up nearly 50 per while during the same period his wages, in spite of South Africa's spectacular prosperity, have not increased by a penny piece. Mr Donald Molteno, M.P.. has just returned from a tour in his constituency. (Incidentally British Liberals will be cheered by the spectacle of the nephew of Percy Moltenq giving a great lead to Liberalism, in South Africa.) During his tour Mr Molteno found that agricultural workers on a 60-hour week [were getting id an hour and a few mealies, no land for cultivation, no i rations of meat (only **• bit occasion-

■F*). This Id an hour also giyes K master the right to call in the tttur of wife and children. That «p hour is £6 a year, out of which jF-wretched worker has to pay £1 Wr poll tax -.* At total acreage of land in South ♦pea is about 300.000,000. divided in j»\l>roportion of approximately se£ Zw** o every native and 131 acres to wni te man—or 370 acres - m fill of the white population on th€ fffcand nobody suggests that the--Ix9* have the worst land and thai HX?«est has gone to the native! by side with this intense PjVfer is the continual passing a£ ra W legislation; the pace has becomf fPppid that the native is caught M "faßlib before he realises that it hag rl Passed. This has added enormouayr3> native discontent. Txrhfif demand for native labour, wr Hpin fact makes utterly absurd the s £™JWionalist policy, is becoming ii'ffiftttuhapt economic motive behind fJjLjPive legislation. Take the latest. Areas Amendment Act." ™ n J* this was first considered it was to JB.a measure to control potential " "professional agitators: f liquor sellers, prostif luxe T£i*nd so on. Now that the measUI hJS "ached the Statute-book and oi nwpiingry for shifting natives away from arban areas to areas where there js a flemand for labour even though *"f. so moved may have no relauoQAip whatsoever to territory t» wluchihey are moved. ine pass ia ws superimposed upon mass -poverty have accentuated native aucantent; thousands of natives ? re Rustled into prison for pass iaw . °«pnces which have not the remotest connexion either with crime or even,; vjth any desire to commit as offence. At the same time the revem* benefits*, the tune of £500,000 peranV n £S"+s? t * t, *' ESe ' irritations and injustices take second place with tSe naM as a.came 0 f discontent; the native* wras,e enough. to see that they are otl the ineffable result of the colour ba£ It would be an entire misapprehension to regard the colour bar attitude purely as a race prejudice and no more—it is much more

~ Liberal Opinion S The brightest feature in the attrition is toat in every territory, and is every walk of life, there are whHa men who realise that the present attempt to consign the native merely Jb the position of a hewer of wood and a drawer of water is indefensible ana that something must be done *Q -m& South Africa from giving permanence to this native policyv But it would «• a profound mistake to think (as soma seem, to be doing in England) that th}s scattered opinion is an* organised force capable of influencing policy. True, there are signs of this in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban. The Native Affairs Commission in its report, however, treats their. opposition 4o colour bar legislation with a contempt which is surprising only to those who do not know this statutory body of native defenders! They say "the voting in Parliament on racial legislation shows their influence to have been' negligible.'' The way of racial salvation for British, Afrikaans, Jews, Indians, coloured and, native people can never be found along "colour" lines. The surrender of the protectorates to such a policy would precipitate a. clash of colour which might lead, as General Smuts pointed out, to a position of the utmost gravity. "A year ago (1925) I warned the Union Government that the effects of their policy (colour bar) would not Stop in South Africa, but would provoke a world conflict. The way of wisdom would be to postpone any transfer of the protectorates until some way has been found: to remove the admitted causes of, this widespread suspicion and discontent. Happily there is still time for men «C goodwill and common sense to accomplish that desirable task. .