SOUTH AFRICAN NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 75, 31 March 1902, Page 8

SOUTH AFRICAN NOTES.

Bv'Leonard Northcroft

PROGRESS OF

SETTLEMENT

Whilst the military forces are still fully employed, the civil administration of the conquered republics is progressing- steadily; day 'by , day,, week by week, we see some advance made. The task before Lord Milner and his able lieutenants is very difficult, but they are not shrinking from it, and they work with the consciousness that they possess the approval and sympathy of nine-tenths 'of the loyal people of South Africa. Al-

though it "will be. impossible to have representative institutions for some time, care is displayed in making the local governingl bodies . which the High Commissioner has sat up as representative of! tha community as possible. Especially is this the. case with Johannesburg-. The council, which will exercise all the powers <ot a municipality until' it is possible to have a city council elected, has been told by Lord Milner not to let the fact of' tbsir , having been . appointed 'by him interfere in any degree with their sense of responsibility. When making the appointments he had selected men whom, he considered fully representative of the town, and he expected them to go right, ahead with city improvcnn .<.■•? and administration as if they hud been ejected by the ratepayers. This injunction will be taken to heart.-, and before Johannesburg sees all its former inhabitants returned to pursue the a vocations which occupied them before the war, it will have had the ■benefit of a local adm/ini strati on, composed of men of standing and ability, who will have done; muchl to make Johannesburg the equal of many other colonial towns of its size in street formation, lighting, sanitation, and "the thousand) and' one thing's that make town life pleasant as well as endurable. :As with Johannesburg, so with other towns in the conquered States, whose condition will permit of locar ■administration. The High' Commissioner is proceeding so steadily wtTh lif s * work; and the civil administration is following so closely after the footsteps of the military, that tha country will be iiVihe enjoyment of good government long before hostilities have ceased. THE RUSH TO THE RAND ■ Notwithstanding the increased number of permits there are: still thousands of people anxiously striving to obtain permission to proceed ro the conquered States, and especially to their old homes in the Rand. They may be found at all the coast ports. Others are ■on the •.'cean l speeding towards Africa's shores as fast, as steam will take them, whilst a further contingent are making ATrangements for leaving 'England, America or Australasia. To all ,'o.f ■these ;thfc permit from the military Authorities is o±^ Without it they will be prevented from getting into the train, so tho

necessary. 'permission is' eagerly sought for. But the military authorities are not easily moved. K. of K. sees possible difficulties in maintaining communication, so that the multitude may be- fed.. Were permission given to all who seek it, there would be a rush equalling- thai of many goldfields; so vaot a . stream of travellers that the means of communication w.ould, for a time, bo taxed to their uttermost. Owing- to the •stringency of the permit -system a eong-estion of tho travelling service is impossible. First of all come the military people, and those connected with them in some way or o-ther^ then persons whose services are necessary in connection with industrial or commercial institutions now .being- worked on the Hand; and tinally .old residents, refugees, who seek to re-establish themselves. Permits are sent from the front, instead of being1 left" in thfi hands of' the. senior officers at the ports; and I am ft.old that the assistance of the Uitlander Committee -in Johannesburg iss utilised for an expression of opinion as to the real urgency af each case submitted. In, the case of ordinary applications, it appears'that the length of absence from their houses or occupations has much' weight in influencing the issue of permits. I have endeavoured to convey a general idea of the system by which these coveted documents are granted—perhaps it would be■■.superfluous to add that the old adage about kissing going- by favour rnny be made 1o apply in respect of permits .as with all other tilings mundane, and that some very undesirable persons are allowed to go through. *

~ ,It, is freely asserted that with regard to the return of people to the Hand there is some divergence between the views of the Commander-in-Chief and tho.se of the High Commissioner. Lord Milner is keenly anxious to let as many people go back to Johannesburg" as possible, and to let them go at once. Not only is he greatly in sympathy with those who are so eager to return to their homes and to their occupations, "but he considers that the sight of many thriving British, communities in a. country hitherto under the Krugexian regime will, have a powerful influence on the minds of those still against .us, and Jhelp to convince them of the hopelessness of the struggle and the folly of perpetuating it. Lord Kitchener, regarding it from the military standpoint, sees elements of danger in the rapid | aggregation of civilians, not onjy on account of the risk of not getting food supplies through regularly, but also because of the probable leakage into the Transvaal of the xmdesira-ble element, no matter how careful the airthorities may be in their endeavours to exclude them. In this connection, I may say that all the coast towns, but especially Capetown,.have a very large assortment of these gentry, about as bad a lot as are to be found in any town in the worldFUTURE OF *THE NEW COLONIES. A great deal of interest is already taken in the measures' which! have been suggested, to provide for a stream of British colonists to counter-

apt the numerical strength "of the Butch, in':, the. new "colonies. Sin Cape Colony the two-races are fairly-eqtiaj in numbers, whilst the events of the last two years are likely to ensure a gradually increasing- preponderance of the British element. In Natal we have always been in a. majority,, and are likely to improve our advantage. in the Transvaal, notwithstanding what has.been said and written to the contrary, I am inclined to'the belief that the Boers were more numerous than our own people, whilst in the Free State they were nine-tenths of the whole.

Leaving Cape Colony and Natal out of our calculations, we have to provide .for the introduction of a rural population in the two new colonies sufficient to counterbalance the preponderating voting power of the Dutch. To attain this object many schemes have been propounded, including one

by Mr Cecil Khodes, to which full publicity has already'been given. In this country a serious objection has been

taken to Mr Rhodes' scheme, the ground, of discontent, being thas it does not go far enough. We are told, somewhat to our surprise, that unless a constant stream of British emigration is maintained the Dutch will gradually assimilate all we^nray send. In proof of this, we are furnished with instances of .English and Scotch

families of good birth and culture^ degenerating into Boers of the most i ignorant and prejudiced type. There | may be such instances; probably J there are; but they are not sufficiently numerous to cause sensible people to fear the evil with which they are threatened. . '-If* ' I mention these things because they are not puerilities, as persons at a distance may suppose, but the honestly expressed convictions of people ! whose .opinions under ordinary cir- j cumstances would be entitled'to'our gravest consideration. They are} speaking now under fear of the Dutch j bogey, which is as real to them as is • the British bogey to a number of Dutch people who otherwise are quite ! estimable. These two ve.ry opposite fears clearly indicate the necessity for introducing into the new colonies desirable agriculturists from Australasia, from Canada, and from" the' TJritisb. Isles —people -wlio would make I syood sec-tiers, and who aye not accustomed to racial bogies. T have no* fear but that they would so leaven the . agricultural districts that before many yenrs the country would become one harmonious whole. REBUTTAL OF FOREIGN CALUMNY. South Africa's defence of the Eritr ish Army against the Campaign ol Calumny instituted by some of the European nations is now in full progress. It was at first suggested that a public meeting should be held in each municipality throughout South' Africa, on a day to be appointed; that a monster public meeting should take place with a platform in each town so that the whole of loyal South Africa should speak at the •same time and with one voice against the contemptible slanderers of our people. So significant and impressive a pronouncement would have parried great weight, and "for. many reasons it is to be regretted that it could not be, giv^n. effect t6. ";But it so TSapp"e"iied, that Wie leaSfagl people in some of the towns did not deem the appointed, day the most convenient one, whilst in the two principal Natalian towns —Durban and Maritzburg—the local authorities considered the European slanders ishpuld »be disregarded, treated with silent contempt. .It thus comes about that though the denial and, the protest from South Africa will be a most emphatic one, if will be convoyed in numerous streams and channels instead-of flowing on id our overwhelming torrent.

The keynote was admirably struck in Capetown last Saturday night. Th« immense drill-hall was filled to overflowing-. The* large platform had its seating accommodation taxed to the uttermost, whilst all around the great mass of humanity was standing. It would be impossible to conceive a meeting more absolutely and. completely iii accord'with the setftiments of the stpeakers. References to the names of the Boer delegates in Europe, of Sir H. Campb«ll-Ban-nerman and Mr. Stead 'were received with hisses and groans, white! mention of our soldiers, of Mr. Chamberlain and Lords Salisbury ami Milner, were, signals for vociferous cheering-. So enthusiastic were the people that when the band played national airs the great concourse not only sang them' with one voice but continued singing for some time after the instrumentalists had. concluded- The speakers had a very easy task, every point, being marked with prolonged applause, and on some occasions- they, had to; make'quite, a long wait before their voices cottia be heard 'again.

Perhaps> the appearance of Colonel Schermbrucrker was the occasion, for the greatest enthusiasm".;.' It' was quite a long tirpe before the old g-entleman coulcjl get a hearing. 'A stalwart, sturdy frame, with a massive face, and head covered by a

thick crop of sno-w-white. hair, 'he presented the picture of. a -man who was a tterrnan and jet essentially nn Englishman! Coming' to the colony when quite a youth, he has been identified with it. until he finds himself surmounted by the sno-ws of a liale old age. All through this time he.Jins. done much, public serTice.be.-. sid V helping "his fellow-colonists privately in many ways. One of the most loyal of the'loyal, it was ppecially appropriate that- he should second the first resolution, which wai? moved by. the .Coloim.l Secretary, the Hon. T. L. Graham. The other speakers were equally Sappy in their selection, and the result was. an expression of public opinion which .not, only gave the lie to the aspersions of those, who insist on making themselves our enemies, but also' utters a warning to the many false friends amongst onr own people. ■ .'. hi