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A Paper read by S.C. Cronwright-Schreiner in the Town Hall, Kimberley, August 20, 1895.
Two questions force themselves upon us when looking at our political situation in the Cape Colony to-day.
Firstly: What is the cause of that steady and persistent Retrogressive Movement which has marked our political existence during the last years?
Secondly: How is that Retrogressive Movement to be stayed?
LET us glance first at the conditions of this Retrogressive
Movement, and see if its cause be discoverable.
That such a movement has taken place admits of no doubt.
Many of the measures passed have not only shown no tendency to accord with the
movement known as Liberal or Progressive in all countries inhabited by
Europeans; but they have shown a persistent tendency to
While in all civilised countries where representative institutions prevail
the tendency is to move without intermission in the direction of a broadened
electoral basis, so that in several of the English colonies to-day we find
manhood suffrage, or one man one vote, or adult suffrage; and while even the
most backward of European countries are rapidly tending year by year towards
these
So also while in all enlightened countries during the past sixty years public
opinion has been steadily advancing in the direction of doing away with the
lash as a punishment for minor offences, we in this country have not only,
during the last years, possessed certain individuals in our Legislative
¹ The Franchise Act, introduced and voted for unanimously by the last
Ministry, Mr. Rhodes being Premier, raised the monetary
qualification from £25 to £75 per annum.
Again, while in all civilised countries the tendency, as each country
advances, is to consider more and more the welfare of its labouring classes;
to remove oppressive restrictions; to
So again, with regard to land tenure; while in all progressive countries there is a tendency to obtain and retain as large a part as possible of lands, mines, and great public works as the property of, and to be worked for the benefit of, the nation as a whole—we, in this country, are for ever and completely alienating our public lands, our minerals, our precious stones, and even our public works.
And further, not only are we alienating them within our own
While in New Zealand and other advanced colonies every legislative effort is being made to retain the land for the people, we are quietly allowing ourselves to be stripped bare session after session, and are confiding our possession into the hands of the Speculator and Monopolist.
Lastly, while in enlightened countries there is a continually increasing
tendency to raise the revenue, not by taxing the ¹ For instance, wheat 38 per cent., flour 59 per cent., unrefined
sugar 107 per cent., butter 20 per cent., cheese 43 per cent.,
candles 59 per cent., paraffin 202 per cent. ² Frozen meat 2d. per lb., wheat an additional 38 per cent.
So also in small matters.
In Australia, where the material welfare of the country largely depends on
its wool, it has been clearly seen that to allow the land to be partially
ruined by the existence of an easily eradicated disease in the stock was
scandalous and immoral; and they have legislated so successfully that in
certain Australian colonies the insect which causes the disease has
It is not necessary to say that in this country all attempts to legislate in defence of the man who endeavours to keep his flocks healthy have been crushed or emasculated.
Many other matters will suggest themselves to every one in which our
legislation has shown this retrograde tendency. We have no time now to enter
into
On the whole, it is evident that no impartial mind can
Now, when we turn to inquire of ourselves what the reason of this
Retrogressive Movement may be, I think the superficial reply, given when we
glance merely at the surface of our public life, would be this: that the
Retrogressive
But before we turn to consider this secondary influence,
The Afrikander Bond was in its origin one of the most beneficent and desirable institutions that have appeared in South Africa. It banded together, and aroused to healthy interest in the affairs of the State, a large body of men who, hitherto unorganised and isolated, had not taken that share in the government of the State which their numbers would have justified, and who were therefore unduly disregarded and possibly even unjustly dealt with.
Started originally (as was inevitable under the circumstances) as a more or
less racial
But what has this extraneous influence been which has acted upon the Bond, removing it from its healthy position, and enabled it to obtain for the moment an undue power of enforcing its retrogressive views and methods upon the whole Cape Colony?
To explain this influence it will be necessary to examine carefully the nature and power of that small band of Monopolists to whom we before referred.
South Africa is a country of vast resources. In spite of the dryness of much
of our climate, the rocky nature of certain tracts of our soil, taking the
whole of South Africa together from east to west, I do not hesitate to
assert that not many countries equally desirable and suitable for human
habitation will be found. More than a compensation for the dryness of our
climate is the absence of the numbing cold of extreme northern and southern
lands, which for months in the year renders outdoor labour difficult;
Those superb pioneers of South Africa, its Boers, have continued to move, as
they have always moved, northward: our English colonists have been steadily
building up their
There is a sense in which we
But a new element has burst into South African life.
When diamonds were first discovered here, in the true old South African
manner, the find was considered as one for the people at large. For years
there flocked to the Diamondfields colonists from every part of the country,
and the wealth discovered went back to the homes of the people. That wealth
rebuilt many a Colonial homestead; it educated many a Colonial child; it
enabled landowners to carry out improvements otherwise
Time forbids that I should enter into a detailed account of the way in which
these industries passed from their early and healthy condition; the
It needed no vast capital to buy out the original possessors.
To-day a small, resolute, and keen body of men, amalgamated into Rings and
Trusts, are quickly and surely setting their hands round the mineral wealth
of South Africa. Our diamonds are already a complete monopoly in their
hands; our gold, our coal, the richest portions of our soil, and even our
public works, are tending to fall into the grasp of our great amalgamators.
Not only are these men not South Africans by birth, which would in itself
matter nothing, but in the majority of cases they are men who regard South
Africa merely
And South Africa grows poorer!
Yet, were this all, we should be inclined to say, What ground have we for
complaint? These men are but taking advantage
But our evil has not stopped here. Owing to the mental capacity of some of
these speculators, and to certain conditions in South African public life,
the conception suggested itself to them: that were it possible to obtain
complete control of the political machinery in any African State (notably of
the Cape Colony), and could they hold the reins of Government in their own
hands, their power for increasing their wealth, for resisting taxation upon
those industries of which they possessed monopolies, and for
This conception has been seized and carried out.
The means of its accomplishment in the Cape Colony has been through the complete control gained by the Monopolists over the only group in South Africa whom they could hope to guide, and whom, in view of their extra-colonial plans, it was necessary to keep pacified and well in hand.
It is this command of the political machinery of the country by the
Monopolist, owing to his union with one
For the Monopolist Party, determined to obtain control of the political
machinery, could only do so by purchasing the co-operation of some truly
South African body. The more shrewd and modern section of South
Africans—professional men, merchants, go-ahead newspaper-reading
farmers—are, very many of them, unpurchasable; and those who are not would
demand a high price in concessions local and personal, and even then
could
The Kafir's back and the poor man's enhanced outlay on the necessaries of life pay the Monopolist's bribe.
On the other hand, the Retrogressive Element, once enabled to pass such
measures as lay nearest its heart by the cooperation of the Monopolist with
his skill and intelligence, is willing to give him a perfectly free hand,
and support him in all measures which do not touch its Retrogressive
instincts. We thus have the
It is from this unnatural marriage that are born those evils under which the
Colony groans to-day. It is a marriage which must end in rupture
Nevertheless, to-day it is this coalition which is unpicking the progressive
enactments of the past, which is enabling the Monopolist Party to carry out
unhampered its financial depredations here and in the Northern Territories.
It is this coalition which, by giving political power to enormously wealthy
individuals, is corroding our public life, till the principle that every
Worse than any of those retrogressive measures which the Bondsman, in simplicity and sincerity, desires to see enacted are those measures which he allows others to take, who are neither simple nor sincere.
But I am aware it may be contended: “Granting what has been stated as being
exactly true; allowing that the Monopolist has filched away the
We are all aware that this is often put forth plainly and in so many words as
a reason for abstaining from interference with the Monopolist Party. It is
said frequently, “I am for Rhodes, because, whatever he may or may not be,
he is slowly but surely undermining the Bond. Rhodes, and he only, will
within our lifetime so
To this I would first reply: Is the undermining and breaking up of the Bond,
even if this should result from the alliance, worth the continual passing of
such measures as we shall have in the future to undo? Is the breaking up of
the Bond itself wholly to be desired? And if it were, is splitting the Bond
worth causing deep racial unrest and suspicion where none before existed,
I, for one, hold strongly that it is not. I do not wish to see the Bond broken.
What I wish to see is the Bond holding its own manfully on all subjects, social and political, and exercising that influence upon the Legislature and public life of this colony which is proportionate to its numbers and intelligence; thereby preventing legislation from taking a course which might in any respect be unjust, or opposed to the benefit of an important and respected section of the community.
Is the forced annexation of
I, for one, assert emphatically that it is not. I believe the confederation
of the South African States to be a desirable consummation; and I believe
further that it is one which will inevitably take place sooner or later.
Confederation
Further, and finally: Is it worth while for us, as Cape Colonists, to submit to the dominion of the Monopolist, with all that pertains to it, simply because we believe that that party, in annexing and apportioning the lands north of the Transvaal and the Cape Colony, is thereby extending the territories under the British flag?
I, for one, have not only a cordial affection for my own nation, but also for
British rule. I believe that, with all its
But a nation, like an individual, may pay too dearly for desirable objects.
It is highly probable that Naboth's vineyard, lying as it did contiguous to
the domains of Ahab, formed an exceedingly desirable adjunct to that
property. The mistake
I hold, much as I desire to see the extension of the British Empire, that the
Colony is in this case paying too dearly for this extension. I hold that no
possible accretion of
Further, leaving this point of view for a moment, and taking the lower and purely monetary standpoint, let us see what the Colony really has to gain commercially by these annexations south of the Zambesi.
It appears to me there is a good deal of misunderstanding upon this point. I
cannot see, from this lower standpoint—nor have I ever yet met a man who
could explain to me how he saw—that the taking over of Mashonaland and
Matabeleland by the Chartered Company would increase the wealth of the men
and women of the Cape Colony. It appears to me more than probable, when
Further, we as Cape Colonists have
But it may be said, and said very truly: “Granting that the Cape Colony does not gain either directly or indirectly through the possession of Rhodesia by the Chartered Company, and even that it loses heavily in the material sense, there is yet no reason, from the broadest humanitarian standpoint, why it should not support the movement.”
Now, I fully allow that it may be right and desirable that a portion of a
people should sacrifice itself for the benefit
I know that it will be said, “But think of the terrible
I believe
This process of amalgamation and growth was in progress long before the European speculator arrived among us, and it will go on were the Fates to remove him from us tomorrow.
Had Dutch Voortrekkers taken possession of the regions between the Zambesi
and Transvaal there would not, on the whole, have been greater loss of
native life, nor more perfidy in
The great evil is not that these men possess the country as shareholders and
directors in the Chartered Company, nor that they retain the right to levy a
tribute of 50 per cent. on all precious stones and minerals found in the
entire territory, and that for many years to come they will hold extensive
control over the whole government of the country; but, what is immeasurably
more disastrous, before the country can be peopled by the ordinary colonist
a small knot of men (not
The worst social diseases which afflict the old countries of Europe will make
their appearance full grown in this virgin African land at the outset of its
career. That unequal division of wealth, which bestows vast riches upon some
individuals while the majority of the community are in abject poverty, is,
in those old countries, the outcome of institutions which are the growth of
centuries, and it is often softened by traditions binding the owners of
wealth to the land itself, and those who labour on it. In these new
territories no
The political life in these territories will be diseased. Even in the Cape
to-day we have seen how disastrous are the effects of gigantic wealth held
in a young country by a few individuals. There may be no deliberate
intention to bribe, but the mere possession of wealth
The colonist and the stranger from Europe will arrive and settle in these
territories, but they will discover that its townships, its valuable mines,
its richest lands have already been
Is it for colonisation carried out on such lines as
I think not.
We all know what a bugbear to some even perfectly sincere minds is the
conception of the possibility of Boer, Portuguese, German, or French
occupation of African territories, and we all know what use is frequently
made of this bugbear by those interested in annexations. But I think no
practical man who carefully examines the question can really think that the
Cape Colonists as such have anything to fear from the annexations
But last of all, it may be said (and this criticism appears to me profoundly
just): “It is very well to blame the Monopolist, with his ready brains and
his quick wit, for the uses which he is making of South Africa; it is very
well to blame the Retrogressive Party for playing into his hands, and making
possible his monopolies and increasing acquisitions, making him a permanent
institution in the land, which the South
I can but say in reply, I believe it is not just to throw the whole blame of
our position either upon the Monopolist or the Retrogressionist. The
Monopolist is simply the acute business man who has been enabled to carry
out his plans
For the Retrogressionist there is yet more unlimited excuse.
But there are two other sections of our population upon whom it appears to me
Firstly. There is that section of the general public which, knowing that we are governed by representative institutions, and that every citizen, however humble, is more or less responsible for the well-being of the State, yet regards public affairs with apathy; and, absorbed in personal interests, is absolutely ungrateful of its citizens' duties.
Secondly (and for this section it appears to me that no reprobation can be
too strong). We have a party of men
There is, however, yet another section of our community distinct from all
those we have noticed. It is to this section, I think, that we must look to
inaugurate a truly Progressive movement in Colonial affairs.
TO this question the reply seems obvious: That in a country
with representative institutions Retrogressive legislation must be
prevented, if prevented at all, by the intervention of such Progressive
Elements as exist within the community itself.
But when we look at the Cape Colony at the present day, the doubt at first forces itself upon us whether there is a Progressive Element at all. Would this unbroken spell of Retrogressive legislation and political flaccidity be possible were really Progressive Elements existent in the country?
In times past there was such an element. Small but united, there was a
Progressive Party of which no advanced European people need have been
ashamed. From the days of Pringle and Fairbairn to the
When to-day we see how steadily we are undoing this work, and legislating in opposition to it, and how entirely opposed to the Progressive spirit of the past is that which guides our public councils to-day, the suggestion will force itself upon us: “Is not the Progressive Element dying or dead among us?”
For years past Retrogressive measure after Retrogressive measure has stained
our Statutebook; undesirable commercial contracts have been entered into,
subjecting public interests to personal gains; the name and prestige of the
Cape Colony have been used for the
On the surface I allow it
I believe that in every town, and in every district and village, will be
found (though not invariably among its most important or wealthy members) a
certain body of men and women, from the bank clerk to the clergyman, from
the shop assistant to the small tradesman, from the schoolmaster or mistress
to the enterprising young farmer, Dutch or English, from the working man to
the wholesale merchant, who are as essentially advanced in their view as any
body of men or
And if it be asked how, if this Progressive Element exists among us, it has
become so completely inoperative, my reply is simply—
At the time of the Restoration there were not fewer advanced and progressive
Republicans in England than there had been in the lifetime of Oliver
Cromwell. They had
So, looking nearer home, there were not, eleven years ago, fewer non-progressive and reactionary persons in the Colony than at the present day: there were probably more.
The men who have raised the franchise, who have taxed the necessaries of
life, who have crushed all endeavours to contend with scab, who session by
session attempt to pass a Flogging Bill which would disgrace
This position is ours to-day. Exactly as the Anti-Progressive individual sat
on his farm, unable to give expression to his views, because he sat alone,
and had no means of communicating with his like-thinking and like-feeling
fellows, so to-day the Progressive men and women stand alone in this
country; they are not aware of their
The organisation of these now scattered and isolated units into one united whole is, I believe, the one and only means of staying the Retrogressive Movement in this country. And the great practical question before us now is—How is this to be done?
I allow that I see great difficulties in the way.
One of the first and most essential conditions for
The most vital and worldwide movements of the present day, such as those of
labour and woman, have not been organised or led by one
This is exactly what we see taking place in the Colony to-day. The imposition
of the bread and meat tax and the appointment of Sir Hercules Robinson have
drawn together small knots of Progressive men to protest against these
things; and in such towns as Port Elizabeth and in Cape Town,
And the time is, I believe, now ripe for drawing together all the scattered Progressive Elements of the country, and uniting them as a wide and non-parochial whole. One, and not the least, of the great advantages of such union would be its tendency to prevent the growth in the Progressive Party of that spirit of localism which seems to rest as an incubus upon all Colonial endeavours, and which would be entirely at variance with the true spirit of a Progressive Organisation.
To place at the head of the united branches no man could be found more admirably suited than Mr. J. Rose-Innes, the president of the South African Political Association of Cape Town, if he were found willing to accept the post.
I think as a first and practical step towards this larger union it would be
desirable that wherever possible, in towns or districts, a few progressive
men should join together and form Progressive Associations, however small in
size, analogous to those now existing in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. It
As a second step, I think it would be advisable that, if possible, a delegate
should be appointed to visit each town and village in the Colony to attempt
to inaugurate a branch of our
It may be objected that, in
But, firstly, while an organisation consisting of a dozen isolated
individuals in some town or village might be of small importance in itself,
connected as it would ultimately be with the organisations in larger towns
throughout the country, its strength would be largely increased; and it
would form the germ of what might in time become an extensive growth. It is
exactly that we may not lose these driblets of progressive thought and
feeling
If further it be asked, What the principles are which are broad enough to unite all the Progressive Elements in the country? I think an answer will not be very difficult.
There are one or two principles subscription to which will make a man a Liberal and Progressive in any country in the world. Their practical application will vary infinitely according to the conditions of the Society in which they are applied; but they are as simple as universal.
The fundamental principle¹ upon
which Progressive Liberalism all the world over is based, whether
consciously or unconsciously, and to which it must finally return if it
would justify its varying forms of practical action, is the axiom, however
variously worded, which asserts that the mental and physical welfare and
happiness of ¹ There is also that ancient categorical imperative which has lain
behind the Liberalism of all religious natures from the days of
Buddha and Confucius to that of Jesus and the Socialistic movement
of to-day—“Do ye unto others as ye would they should do unto
you”—and which, perhaps, after all, is the most satisfactory
statement of the fundamental principle of Liberalism yet
formulated.
Analysis shows that it is upon this wide principle, however worded, that all
forms of Modern Liberalism are ultimately based. It is by their more or less
complete harmony with it that the thoroughness
In the Cape Colony, and for such an Association as we
The first of these is the Labour Question; the question of the relation between the propertied, and therefore powerful, class, and the less propertied, and therefore weaker, class.
In South Africa this question assumes gigantic importance, including as it
does almost the
There are two attitudes with regard to the treatment of this Native Labouring
Class: the one held by the Retrogressive Party in this country regards the
Native as only to be tolerated in consideration of the amount of manual
labour which can be extracted from him; and desires to obtain the largest
amount of labour at the cheapest rate possible; and rigidly resists
As a man takes one or other of these attitudes I believe he will find himself in accord, not merely with the Progressive Element in this country, but with the really advanced and Progressive Movement all the world over. In fact, I go so far as to think that the mere subscription to the latter mode of regarding the Labour and Native question would constitute an adequate test in this country as to a man's attitude on all other matters social and political.
The second subject is that of Taxation.
The Retrogressive holds, all the world over, that taxation may be levied for the benefit of the few. The Progressive attitude is that which holds that taxation should fall upon the luxuries rather than upon the necessaries of life; that it should not press more heavily upon the poor than upon the wealthy; and that the principle of protection, worked so as to increase the wealth of certain sections of the community at the expense of others, is at all points to be fought.
The third subject upon which I believe the views of every
No man who does not hold that as a State develops its electoral basis should be extended to obviate the possibility of the claims of the unrepresented classes being ignored, and their welfare subordinated to that of represented, though smaller classes, and who does not hold that Parliamentary representation should increasingly tend to represent individuals rather than property, can find himself in harmony with the principles of any real Progressive Organisation.
It may be said that these
But I think a little consideration will show that upon all the practical
questions which have been brought before our Colonial Legislature during the
last few years, subscription to these three principles of action would have
determined a man's attitude. The Labour Tax, Haarhoff's Curfew Bell, the
Bread and Meat Tax, the Strop Bill, the Scab Act, &c.—on all these a
man's position will be certainly and at once determined by the fact of his
being willing
But it may, on the other hand, be objected that these tests would be too stringent; that certain men would be found quite willing to join a so-called Progressive and anti-Bond Party who at the same time might not be willing to subscribe to one or all these tests.
Now to these I would unhesitatingly answer: That such men are not wanted in
our organisation; men who, while holding retrogressive views on the most
If it be further suggested that, by pursuing this course, we should alienate
large bodies of persons who would otherwise append themselves to us, and
The Progressive Element in this country is, and must be for many years to
come, necessarily in a minority, exactly as the
I think we cannot too strongly impress upon, and hold up before ourselves, the fact that such a Progressive Party as we hope to see in this country can only maintain its power by firm adhesion to its own principles, and not by any dependence on numbers.
If it be questioned how, in default of large numbers, we expect to exert
influence and make our principles operative in the country, I would reply,
that for many years our primary
Our means for accomplishing this would, it appears to me, be mainly three.
Firstly. We shall form a centre, however small, in every town or village from which, by the exercise of personal influence, the view of life which the organisation represents would tend to spread, and however small the branch might be, it would keep before the eye of the public the fact that such a view did exist.
Secondly. We should use the Press.
The great strength of such a party as the Progressive Party of South Africa must be would lie in the superior intellectual enlightenment of its members. I take it that it is not likely any large body of men will join such an organisation who have not the intelligence and culture which would enable them to think somewhat deeply upon social matters. I believe we should largely represent the thinking element in the community, whether our members were drawn from the labouring or wealthier class.
Such a body, with no narrow
We shall make rich use of all the public journals in the country. But if the Progressive Party is to become a power which shall make itself felt, I believe its most powerful weapon must be the possession of a journal devoted entirely to its principles.
With a very few exceptions there is a generous attitude maintained in
Colonial papers, and their columns are freely open to correspondents. We are
rich in able and liberal editors, and our Press in many ways is in advance
of other Colonial institutions. But the fact, which all who have been behind
the scenes of Press life
No knowledge of the high principle and personal integrity of an editor can
give the public assurance that personal
If a paper is to represent undeviatingly and sincerely a
It would be necessary to make
A paper safeguarded through one or other of these conditions is, I believe,
absolutely essential
The third method by which the association could impress itself upon the country would be by the share it would take in political life.
If it be questioned how, if our numbers be too small to return a majority to
the Legislative Councils and to place our
The truly Progressive Element in this country is to-day in a minority, of
about the same numerical strength as the extreme Retrogressive Party;
neither of these parties to-day is strong enough to put into office and to
support, even for a time, a Ministry of its own, consistently carrying out
its views. Neither of them could command so completely the Intermediate or
Colourless Party as to give it a working
The extreme Retrogressive Party in this country has maintained its power, as all conscientious minorities must do, by not seeking to grasp in its hands the ostensible reins of Government, and by its leaders being willing to forego the sweets of office for the sake of effectively impressing the views of the party upon successive Ministries.
By such a course of action the Irish Party, composing a minority in the
Imperial Parliament, has yet for years made
Such would be the fate of the truly Progressive or truly Non-Progressive party in this country, if it should set before itself, as its chief end, the placing of its own men in office.
In a country with representative institutions a minority, unless it uses
force or bribery,
The truly Progressive Element in this country will not contain within itself
the large majority of the inhabitants
The part which the Progressive Association in this country will have to play,
perhaps for many years, is that of a small, united party, strong in its
intelligence and determination, and, above all, in the absolutely
unpurchasable nature of its members. A small but united body, it would have
to be
If it be asked by what exact means we could make our influence felt by these
successive Ministries, I would reply that we should influence them, firstly,
by our free and uncompromising discussion in the Colonial and European press
of their methods of action and the measures which they introduced. In a
country which is rotten with opportunism, and where
Secondly: Our branches would form centres in every
Thirdly: We should influence the political world through our electoral functions.
I do not doubt that there would be ten or a dozen men in Parliament who would
represent our views, some or all of them belonging to our organisation.
These men, feeling that they had a considerable body behind them, might more
easily be induced to stand firmly, and refuse all offers of office, or local
and personal benefits, which could be accepted only at the
At elections we should exert our influence. In every instance we should, if
we were true to our principles, throw our weight, small though it might be,
into the scale of that man, whether Dutchman or Englishman, whom we could
most depend upon to act in accordance with our principles or do least
violence to them. Where we could not possibly return a member of our own we
could, by throwing our weight in the scale of the man most desirable or
least objectionable, turn many elections. If, as an organisation, we stood
firm to our
I think it will be necessary for us to set clearly before ourselves from the
very start the fact that we have not organised ourselves to support any
given body of politicians, but to see our policy enforced; that we have
nailed to our mast-head, not the names of individuals, but a declaration of
our principles. While a man acts in accordance with these, he is one of us;
when he does not, then he ceases to be of us. We could as little have
supported the recent Ministry under Mr. Rhodes, because three of the ablest
and most liberal men of
As Progressives, we should not be moved an inch out of
That captious criticism, and disingenuous judgment, which would condemn any
measure brought in or supported by a member of an opposing political
faction, and which is almost
Were such an organisation as I have suggested formed which would draw into
itself the scattered Progressive Elements throughout the whole country,
despising none; and which should seek to draw its strength, not from
numbers, but from the