THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1899.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11201, 23 October 1899, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1899.

I'" is of deep interest at the present moment to look into the early history of South Africa, and to trace how the present crisis has arisen, a crisis whose importance has perhaps scarcely been realised by the majority of us. We have to meet in battle two nations, the Orange Free State and the South African Republic. The men we have to encounter are not wretched decadents, but are men who have met and defeated British troops in the field. Mr. Froude, who visited' South Africa with a special mission, says of the Boers that they " of all human beings now on this planet, correspond nearest to Horace's description of the Roman peasant soldiers who defeated Pyrrhus and Hannibal." The Boers have been warriors for generations. They marched out from the Cape Colony, confronted hordes of fierce and valiant savages, fortifying themselves when necessary in the open veldt in the laager of their waggons, hunting wild beasts, and ruling over slaves. These men are stimulated by a hereditary and implacable hatred of Britons and the British rule. All over the Cape Colony, Natal, and Bechuanaland, the Dutch population sympathise with the Boers of the Transvaal and the Free State, and Heaven only knows what treason and desertion we may have to face, what risings in the rear of our troops, and other contingencies of danger and trouble which we can scarcely foresee. The apprehension which has been all along dreaded from this cause is fulfilled oy the news we published on Saturday that a Natal volunteer corps, largely recruited from the Dutch families of the colony, had deserted to the enemy. And here again, in looking through the old records of the Cape Colony, we come upon evidence of ; the statesmanlike foresight of Sir ! George Grey. Wo have several I times had occasion to note, since i Sir George Grey retired from all I the activities of life, and indeed j since his death, in how large a raea--1 sure he had the divine faculty of I prescience. He went out to the ; Cape in 1854, and after a careful examination of the situation, he saw that all the colonies belonging to Great Britain in South Africa, together with the free territories on our borders, could be—indeed, before the safety and true greatness of that country were accomplished, must be-drawn together into a federal union, .which would give to them unity of counsel, unity of strength, unity of wealth, and all resources. In a word, he, in 1859, desired to accomplish what in 1875. j the English Government sent Mr. I Froude to the Cape to attempt— I the federation, upon a broad and i sure basis, of all the civilised communities of South Africa. For this he was recalled in disgrace, but subsequently, when the Duke of Newcastle became Secretary for the I Colonies, reinstated in his comI mand. And Sir George Grey j had the great satisfaction of knowing from the lips of .the late, illustrious Prince Consort, in 1859, that both the Queen and her husband sympathised deeply in his plans. Sir George Grey was led to the conclusion he came to by an incident which had occurred, and which showed that a tribe of natives armed themselves for an attack on Natal, where they were not allowed to purchase arms, by rifles purchased in Griqualand, where they were allowed to buy arms. In a despatch to Sir E. B. Lytton, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated November 19, 1858 (just forty-one years ago), Sir George Grey wrote: — The defects of the system thus described [i.e., tno recognition of the Dutch Republics, the separation of Natal, and the abandonment of the native —measures which Sir George collectively called the dismemberment of South Africa] appear to be that the country must always be at war in some direction, as some one of the several States, in pursuit of its supposed interests, will be involved in difficulties, either with some European or native State. Every such war forces oil the other States into a position o! an armed neutrality or of interference. After dealing with this aspect of affairs at some length, Sir George turns to the future attitude of the Dutch population. He says: — I think there can bo no doubt that, in any great public, or populai, or national question or movement, the mere fact of calling those people different nations would' not make them so, nor would the fact of a mere fordable stream running between them sever their sympathies or prevent them from uniting in unison. I think that many questions might arise in which, il the Government on the south side of the Orange River [i.e., tho British Government ruling tho Cape Colony! took a different view from that on the north side of the river, it might be very doubtful which of tho two Governments the great mass of the people would obey. Few utterances can be cited as being closer to the gift of prophecy than this. Sir George concluded by advising that the several Legislatures of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, and the Orange Free State, should be empowered to found a federal union, embracing Kaffraria within their limits, and with authority to adopt into the union, then or thereafter, all States which might wish to join them, including native States, with large powers of self-government. It was stated by Sir George Grey that the Volksi'aad of the Free-.State had passed resolutions affirming the advisability of a union or alliance with the Cape. He further continued to point' out that in federation of the different South African States alone y ■ I " " '

lay safety and success. Sir George took certain measures to form such a federation, and for doing so was recalled. In the despatch intimating the mind of the British Government Sir E. B. Lytton said that Sir George Grey's action in endeavouring to reunite the Europeans in South Africa "had so far compromised them, and endangered the success of that policy which they must deem right and expedient in South Africa, that his continuance in the administration of the Government of the Cape could be no longer of service to the public interests." There were fervid expressions of regret from the colonists of the Cape, from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, as well as from the great Kaffir chiefs. . Sir George Grey was after an interval reappointed, but Mr. Gladstone, who/had come into office, objected to his.proposals, as he was apprehensive of the too great extension of the Empire. Sir George's reappointment was therefore coupled with a veto on his plan of federation. It may be worth while to notice that Sir George Grey promoted and founded what is still called " The Grey College," at Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State, with which we are now at war. In 1890, when Sir George Grey was in Auckland, he received a cable message as follows: —" Grey College past students are assembled to celebrate the opening of the railway to Bloemfontein, the President being present, the Governors of the Cape and of Natal, the representative of the South African Republic, the Administrator of Bechuanaland, the Administrator of the Basutos, and many members of the Cape University, and unite in sending their greetings to the founder of their Alma Mater."

Twenty years later Lord' Carnarvon became convinced of the necessity of carrying out Sir George Grey's proposal of 1858. Sir Bartle Frere was appointed Governor, and a Bill was framed and sent out entitled " a Bill for enabling the union of South African colonies and States." Alas, the time had passed, and the fatal words Too late" had to be uttered. Meanwhile the antiEnglish feeling of the Dutch had become pronounced, and there was virtually a Boer federation throughout South Africa hostile to English rule. The Bill was placed before the Cape Parliament, and was opposed by those who now lead the Afrikander Bond. The Ministry were unable to get it passed, and had to resign. Of course when Sir George Grey was first at South Africa there was no idea of the element which has been added to the situation by the discovery of gold in the Transvaal and the location there of a large English population. But the elements of the problem are the same in the divided rule of the country, and the opposition of the Dutch and English sections of the people. There is now ,no shrinking from the great issues. Either the Dutch or the English power must be paramount in South Africa. No half measures or federation proposals can now be entertained. We must rule the whole country from Table Mountain to the Zambesi, or take the fatal step of abandoning it for ever. And this would mean that Great Britain would no longer hold the position of a great Power. It would be open to the attack of every nation, and its decadence would be speedy and calamitous.