COLONIAL PROBLEMS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15920, 4 May 1912, Page 14

COLONIAL PROBLEMS.

THE BLACK PERIL IN SOUTH AFIUCA. LAND SETTLEMENT DIFFICULTY. Mr William Mountstephen, a Johannesburg business man of thirty years standing who is passing through New Zealand with Mrs Mouutstopuen, on a pleasure trip, was interviewed in Ciu-istchurck yesterday, and was ablo, I to give soino interesting information; on somo of the problems confronting United South Africa, notably land Mttioment and also the black peril, which it was staled in a cablegram from Capo Town yesterday, was nicety to be the subject of a Koyal Commis-: sioa of inquiry. , . ~ ! Of the trade relations between the two countries Mr Mountstephen had little to say, other than that the present demand in South Africa tor l\ew Zealand frozen produce and grain was not likely to grow greatly while his colony offered little in the export line, except South African mealies (maize) which were admittedly the best quality procimVde. . ■ tt „; + _ji Discussing the prospects of a United South Africa, Mr Mountstephen said that the opinion of all parties was optimistic, but the differences ot the two races would take some time to die out. Among the Dutch leaders the feeling of hostility towards the Britishers was dying out. especially as they enjoyed greater benefits than previously with the additional benefit of John Bull s protection. The backwoods Boers, however, still retained a good deal of race hatred, and other differences were accentuated not only because of the language difficulty, but because the Dutch, of conservative instinctG, were entirely a farming community, while tho■ British, or progressive element, was purely commercial. ~ . The land question in South Africa was giving its politicians a great deal of thought, Mr Mountstephen said, as the Government had no land. Every aero was freehold, and practically in the hands of Dutch farmers. General Botha, tho Prime Minister, had made somo very admirable speeches while in England *at the Coronation on the nee'cl for closer settlement, but General Hertaog had been advocating an altogether different policy, and when General Botha had been asked on his return what he intended to do in tho way of, land settlement, he had evaded the real point at issue by stating that while he was absolutely in favour of closer settlement ho was not_ in favour ot bringing in farmers while any P° ol ' : whites " wore still lacking land. These "poor whites," however, wero usually failures, and very often tho failures amono- the Dutch farmers, and they had no chaneo of getting on tho land unless the State became their landlord. Uie country wanted the best farmers it could get from Europe, and there was no room for men without money, for although land was cheap reckoned by the acre, South Africa had no wellwatered farms: and droughts had to bo reckoned with. Then again, many of the Dutch were opposed to the closer settlement policy. Mr Mountstephen in passing remarked that he had studied the New Zealand land laws, and thought that the systom of resuming land was ideal. , ,- Tho native question, Mr Mountstephen said, was the great question of the future. Financial considerations wore at the bottom of it. _ Black labour was cheap labour, and it was well for the development of the country that it was cheap, but tho time would come when the Kaffir would become an educated, skilled tradesman, and would demand certain rights. At present he was, kent well under control, and had no political rights, and therein, lay the country's safety, for the natives outnumbered tho whites by six to one. lurninc to the menace to whito women occasioned by the natives, and the commonness of assaults on white women, He said that the general opinion was that the women must be protected at all costs, and punitive measures seemed to be necessary. The natives had to be kept strictly under control. The danger lav. not with the savage native, but with those that had drifted into the towns and acquired tho vices of the whito man. To illustrate the attitude of the whites on tho'subject Mr Mountstephen recalled the caso of S. Lewis, who deliberately shot a native in broad davlight for making alleged overtures to "his daughter, and was found not guiltv" bv a white jury, although he admitted the crime. Mr Mountstephen added that cases of criminal assault were, unfortunately, freof.ient, but they did not constitute "the coloured question." which lav in the future, and would arise with the demand for political or other rights.