THE TROUBLE IN NATAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 68, 13 December 1907, Page 4

THE TROUBLE IN NATAL.

To 'the white population of Natal and Zululand, the last few weeks have been a time of very great anxiety, and this feeling must have been shared, to a lesser extent, by the settlers! of the adjoining colonies. At first sight, it may be thought that, as Dinizulu has surrendered peaceably, the present trouble will subside as quickly as it, apparently, arose, but we fear that this is by no means, a certainty. The fact of the trouble coming, comparatively speaking, so soon after the rising of last year id, in itself, evidence that the mischief is deep-seated, and, while we will not prophesy, we .shall not be altogether, surprised if Dinizulu's incarceration should prove to be the signal for further trouble witli the Zulus. Bearing in mind how easily sucli an event, can be brought about, it is to be hoped that those mischievous politicians—who s'dfe in their homes thousands of miles from Natal, and fortified by an invincible ignorance of African conditions, are given to air cheap humanitafianism at the expense of their kinsmen within the danger zone-—will endeavour to realise what a native rising means. South African natives on the warpath spare no living creature whom .they.' capture. Men, women and children are ruthlessly asstlgaied in cold blood., The path of a Zulu impi is clearly marked by burning farms and slauglv-'. tered whites. A contributing cause to the quick recrudescence of unrest is, without doubt, the interference of the present Government at Home with the Natal Government on the Spot, 1 when the latter was proceeding to serve out punishment to the. rebels last year.' There can be no more fatal blunder in dealing witli natives than to teach them that the Government they have been accustomed tq, respect and obey, as tlleir "baas/' is itself controlled by sojne .bigger "baas'," elsewhere.' Such a .step strikes a crushing blow at th,e prestige of the colonial authorities, and prestige is the first essential in the governing of inferior races. It is impossible: toooverpraiser r praise the wisdom of the Natal Government in this di'isis, and, if bloodshed is avoided, it will be because of its promptness and }£rm action.' In any events the line it has adopted, will go far to restore its prestige, with the natives, and this, in itself, will make for peace- .

To find the cause of the rising last year, of which.the present is really only a continuance) 'wei must look afield. The two main causes were no doubt the ambition of Dinizulu, arid the teachings of the so-called Ethiopian Church, supplemented by an undoubted craving on..the part of the Zulus in general to try their, luck against the whites once more. As regards" Dinizulu, it is at least. certain that ,the natives were quiet and contented until he was allowed to return and to become their paramount chief. -It is well-known that he has always desired to regain the title of king, held by Cetewayo, together with those privileges which, appertaining solely to the kingly rank, have necessarily been withheld from him. Since his return, he-has never ceased to work and to intrigue with these objects in view,land to his efforts, the birth and the growth of Zulu restlessness and of their increasing insolence to white people is, in the first instance, due.The Natal Government has for years past recognised the strength' of his baneful influence., by taking 1 special steps to watch every movement, 'ftrid by establishing permanent armed outposts at various strategic points. The Ethiopian Church movement is of comparatively recent origin. In the guise of a religious movement it is now coming to be regarded as being,in reality, a racial • plot, having for its object the u,nion of all the South African coloured races in an attempt to regain control of Africa.' Its apostles are American negroes, a far more intellectual ■ race than the African blacks. Whether, if Dinizulu had not created a restless feeling amongst his subjects, the work of these missionaries would have met with'any success is doubtful; but finding, as they did, a rich soil already prepared by Dinizulu for the seed they desired to iow, they | have met with a suficess most disquieting to all those who know' their Africa. These rfeasons that we have suggested, as being at the bottom of the Zulu unrest, iri' themselves explain why it is difficult to believe that the celebrated poll-tax should be held to.be the cause of last year's outbreak. 'Like the greased cartridges of the Indian mutiny, it was a pretext rather than a cause. Ever since the Boer War, it has been an article of belief with the white population of South Africa, that any day they may find themselves face to face with a general rising of the natives. A general rising, if it come, will be a gradual one. It will begin with_ one tribe, probably the Zulus, arid, if not promptly and drastically suppressed, it will rapidly spread to the others. The pi'esent action of the Natal Government may have this calamity.