WHITE VERSUS BLACK.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2366, 5 December 1908, Page 10 (Supplement)

WHITE VERSUS BLACK.

The White Peoples of Africa discuss the

Negro Problem.

AH EVER PRESENT PERIL WHERE THE COLORED MEN OUTNUMBER THE WHITES BY 20 TO 1.

To-morrow "week there "will assemble at Durban an inter-Co-lonial convention for the purpose of drafting a constitution 'for tho establishment of a common wealth or dominion of iSouth Africa, similar to that of Canada and of Australia. The political complexion of tho congress will be overwhelmingly Dutch. While 'tlio English element wiill bo in a minority, theio is no intention on the part of the big Dutch majority to use the latter m an anti-British way. Indeed, the very fact that the convention should be held at- Durban and that intensely ißrit ish a colony as Na tal should, have consented to take part therein, constitutes an assurance of this. While there are of course plenty of local jealousies and drfteroncevi" between Natal and the Transvaal, and between the Dutch and the English parties throughout the whole of South Africa, and though tlic bitter memories of the war of eight years {l o-o ha ve arot been wholly obliterated, Yet' oii tlio whole t’nc Boers, who made SO brave a struggle for their independence, have become reconciled to the idea of their country forming an integral part of the British Empire. In fact, they have come to see the advantages thereof, especially since the present liberal administration an England with great political sagacity and forosi'dit, has conferred upon them the rights of self-government, thereby converting them from haters of England, waiting only for another opportunity to rise into adherents ai not warm friends. The friendship tu come by degrees, and its- growth v ill be hastened and developed, by community of interests. It is tiie-.e interests indeed that are bringing ti e Dutch and English 'together at Dinban next week, with the intention o furthering the same bv joint action and by a union, the very idea or which would formerly have been ndiculed, but which has now come to be desired by the once so angry rivals.

ostcd in its future. It is tdio one ques-. tion which dominates every other problem in Africa, and which may possibly have the effect of determinating them all. NATIVES ARE TO WHITES AS 2C TO 1. In order to understand the situation, it must ho borne in mind that throughout the -whole of South Africa, British, Portuguese and German, the natives outnumber the whites by 20 to 1, probably even to a still greater extent, and are increasing at a much faster rate than the whites. In olden days tribal wars, famine and pestilence all contributed to counterbalance native prolificness; but theso obstacles to the growth of the native population have now. been removed, through the white man’s civilizing instrumentality. Thanks, indeed, to the influence of civilization and of education, the black population is becoming each year a more and more formidable element, which is hound to undermine the very foundations of white supremacy. Since the earliest colonization of iSouth Africa by the white races, the natives have always shown a hostile and independent spirit, and have been kept in subjection only by force of arms, in which they have put up fights, which by reason of their overwhelming numbers, have strained the resources of the colonists to the utmost. In fact, the history of South Africa is oiio long succession of conflicts between the white settlers and the natives, and far from being disheartened or crushed by defeat, the blacks have apparently regarded the intervals of peace as periods of recuperation of their forces in readiness for another opportunity to attempt to oust the white man from the land and (o drive him into the sea. With the spread of education, and of the species of Christianity practised by the natives, the spirit of antagonism to the white man has increased rather than diminished among -the aboriginal tribes. They have learned to realise their strength, while the Gospel of equality with the whites, taught alike by missionaries and by politicians, has served to destroy almost entirely the prestige of the white man, which was uno of 'his principal sources of power. In Capo Colony the politicians have actually gone to the length of giving the native a vote, which leads the rival white political parties to not merely negotiate but actually to grovel for his support-. True, in Natal and in the new colonies of the Transvaal and of the Orange River, the native is barred from the franchise. But whenever iho local ■authorities are forced in protection of white life and property t-o adopt rigorous measures for the punishment of outrages by the blacks there is an immediate outcry in England and -an attempted interference in Parliament by people who are totally ignorant of the true conditions of life in South Africa and who fondly imagine that, a Kaffir or a Zulu, despite his savage instincts and his ineradicable hatred of the whites, must be treated not merely as an equal but also as a brother. To such an extent is the position misunderstood in England that the trouble in Natal between the Zulus and the white colonists, in which the latter were compelled to put a strong armed force in the field in order to punish a native rising, attended by much destruction of white life and property, public sympathy in England was not with the Britons beyond the sea who were fighting for the protection of their families and of their homes, hut- wiith the black rebels —a fact which was deeply resented hv the entire white element throughout South Africa. Indeed, one of the subjects which will engage the attention of the Intercolonial Congress at Durban next wcc-k is the popular demand that the various South African governments should be left to deal, free of all interference from Whitehall and Westminster, with those native problems concerning which they possess an infinitely superior understanding, and a more vital interest than armchair politicians and philanthropists on the hanks of the Thames. *

COMMUNITY OF INTEIIESTS. T'lio community of interests which is drawing Dutch and ✓English together into a. powerful union under Die British Hag mav be summed, up m two words, tariff and negrophobia. With the former I do not propose to deal here, beyond stating that South Africa, like Canada and Australia, demands the uncontrolled right of taxing imports, 'and if necessary also exports, for the sake or revenue, and of promoting trade and industry. It i< a matter on the subject of which a good many differences will be found to exist 'among the members of next week’s congress, but which are capable of being settled by means of discussion and negotiation. The point, however, on which the Dutch and tho English throughout all South Africa are united, is the subject of negro phobia. The latter word must not be taken as expressing the unreasoning prejudice which is to be found in certain phases of American life against the colored races of the United States, but has in South Africa a quite different and much more sinister meaning. It is not the mere dislike of the negro, as in this country, but the fear and convction that the blacks throughout South Africa, and indeed also in other portions of the Dark Continent, are plotting and organising for a combined movement to drive the white man out of the country, to despoil him of his wealth and possessions, to exterminate him, and to restore Africa to the sons of Ham, converting it into a Black Africa. In short, the white races in South Africa, no matter whether Dutch or English, are confronted by a. very real and ever-darkening prospect of :a general uprising of the blacks in a war of extermination against the white men. It is the apprehension—the certainty—of this that ds meant by negrophobia, as used in that portion of the British Empire, and it is this which is bringing Boers and -English together for the defence of their homes and of their lives DR, PETERS’ POSITION.

While manv may take exception to the harsh methods of rule employed bv Dr Carl Peters, when GovernorGeneral of Germany’s various dependencies in Africa, no one will be disposed to deny bis experience about all matters relating to the Dark Continent. His mastery of the subject is acknowledged, .not only m Geinian\, but likewise in England, and in every other European country. When therefore, lie lie did in a lecture delivered a short time ago at Hanover, that liis recent journey to South Africa had convinced him that the danger of a native rising is increasing in every European colony of the Dark Continent, .and that a general rebellion of the black element against the white was only a matter of time, and a peril of the near future, the condition of affairs may he regarded as being grave. Sir Arthur Lawley, now Governor of Madras; and who spent several years after the close of the Boer war as administrator of the Transvaal, where he won recognition as an authority on ail problems connected with the native races, and as a singularly level-head-ed man, publicly expressed on the ovo of liis departure for India the Relief that- ere long a great rebellion of the blacks agajnst the whites will take place throughout tlio whole of the southern portion of the Dark Continent, possibly spreading to the central and northern portions of Africa, and addressing Boers and Britons, he exclaimed with much solemnity, by way of farewell injunction : “See to this question, for it is the greatest problem that you Have to face.” Moreover, such men as Lord Milner, who is now in Canada; Frederick Courteney Solans, tlio famous lion hunter and’ writer upon questions relating to the Zulus, Kaffirs and other South African nationalities, as well as other level-headed experts about African matters, make no secret of the fact that they share the fears of Dr Carl Peters and of Sir Arthur Lawley. Indeed, the apprehension has become so general, that it is to-day the one absorbing subject of thought and discussion among all those in South Africa who are inter-

A MERIC AX. RESPONSIBILITY. As usual in congresses nowadays, no matter whether they ljo international, intercolonial,' scientific or social, the name of the United States will figure in the proceedings. For the entire white clement in South Africa ascribes to the African Methodist Episcopal Church of America a large share of the responsibility lor the over-last-ing unrest among the blacks. In fact, tile so-called Ethiopian Church, which ever since 1894 has been closely and intimately affiliated with the Negro Methodist Church in the United "States, is justly described as the chief factor of disturbance in all the southern portion of the Dark Continent, and as furnishing the most dangerous organizers of the movement of “Africa for the Africans.” In an article contained in one of the recent issues of the London National Review, F. S. Tothani, a. member of tiro Legislature of Natal, who has made a special study of the so-called Ethiopian movement, declared that “an energetic element of American negroes has been imported, with the distinct and definite aim of expelling the white man and building up an omnipotent black irepublic in South Africa,” and this statement has received confirmation from many quarters, one of which, contained m a letter to the London “Times,” declares that “the most energetic and influential agitators are to be found in the docks at Capetown, East London, Port Elizabeth, and Durban, among the American negroes. These latter come over and obtain employment in the docks. They speak English, frequently pick up the various native languages and most of them can write. They soon get .put in charge of gangs, and as gangers they exercise considerable influence over the less educated natives. In the native locations -of these seaports they have plenty of time and opportunity for and relying upon their American, citizenship, and on the well-known reluctance of British au- . thoritieis to deaf roughly with people hailing from the' United States, no matter whether white or klqob, they

do not even trouble themselves to maintain any secrecy as to their bastard'Jehad, part religious, part, political, part social, giving vent to the most -revolutionary expressions. As tho natives working in the docks come from -all directions and from all races, and are constantly coming and going, tho sayings of these agitators are circulated in every direction. OTHER OPINIONS. '

Opinions differ as to the extent of the responsibility of the African Method is t Church here for the Pan-Af-rican -agitation. Some declare that while tho movement was promoted in its inception by the colored Methodist Church in America, -it has now got beyond the control of its transatlantic foster-mother, and has broken away from her direction. Othere again insist that the negro Methodists In. the United States continue to incite the animosity of the blacks -against the whites in South Africa, and call attention to the fact that one of the recent issues of “The Voice of Missions,” tho -official organ of the African Methodist Church of America, published at .Atlanta, contained the editorial expression of the hope that“tho blacks would d-rive tho English out of South Africa in tbe same way that the French had been pitched_out of H ayti.” The origin of the Ethiopian movement may be found in the secession of a native minister named Makone from "the Wesleyan. Church at Pretoria in 1892, and in liis foundation of an independent church of his own, called the Church of Ethiopia. He was afterward joined by another native seceder, named Duane, -and it was they who then managed to obtain affiliation with the African Methodist Church of America, Ditane coming to this country for the purpose. Finding, however, that the affiliation with the African Methodist Church in America gave them no locus standi in South Africa, Duane, Makone and the other leaders of the Ethiopian movement managed, by promising spiritual allegiance to the Anglican archbishop of Capetown and Primate of South Africa, to obtain from him a charter, creating them the Order of Ethiopia, with rights to hold and control property for religions and educational purposes, and to administer its own affairs. This gave the Ethiopian Church in South Africa a corporate existence, and enabled it to acquire the considerable wealth •which it now holds. That these pledges of spiritual allegiance to the An-" glican Church have not been kept, is abundantly shown by the reports of the great missionary conference held in July, 1904, at Pretoria, where it was decided that “the Ethiopians” were “unworthy to be received by other Christian bodies in communion.” It has likewise been demonstrated that the affiliation between the Afro-American Methodist Church in America, and the Order of Ethiopia in South Africa, still subsists. There is -no reason to believe, however, that the Afro-American Methodist Church is directing the movements of the Order of Ethiopia in Africa. The latter has become .too rich, too powerful and too conscious of its strength to submit to any dictation from its friends on this side ] of the Atlantic. The Ethiopian Church of 1592 has grown to-dav into a great Pan-African movement, embracing non-Christian as well as Christian blacks, for the conversion of Africa into a sort of huge Hayti. where black rules white, and tlie doctrine of hatred of the white races*and of black superiority and domination is being preached from every Ethiopian pulpit and platform throughout South Africa. THE FRANCHISE IN CAPE COLONY.

What may possibly precipitate tbe crisis and bring -about earlier than anticipated the inevitable conflict between the whites and blacks of the Dark Continent will be the attempt to put into execution the proposal which is to be discussed at the Durban congress next week, of depriving tho natives and the mulatto element of their parliamentary franchise in Cape Colony. The colored vote here has become to such an extent predominant that unless a radical measure of this sort js adopted, native or half-breed legislators will be returned to Parliament at Cape Town, where their .numerical superiority would in course of time give them control of the Ministry ancl of the government, with the- .result that the Governor might be ultimately compelled to accept a Cabinet of Kaffirs and [half-breeds. That the colored element in Cape Colony will submit to disenfranchisement without a bitter struggle need not be. considered for one moment, and they will have no difficulty in inducing all the blades in South Africa to assist- them in fighting against this measure, which is demanded by the whites, Boer and Briton, everywhere South of the Zambesi. It is understood that King Edward and his liberal Ministers "have becu alive to the imminence of this crisis for some time past, and that it was this more than -anything else that induced them to concede autonomy to the Transvaal and to the Orange River colonies, so as to reconcile Boer and Briton, and by thus cementing their union render the whites in Africa better prepared for tlie struggle against tho supremacy of the blacks.