INDUSTRIAL FARMING IN RHODESIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 3111, 29 October 1913, Page 75

INDUSTRIAL FARMING IN RHODESIA.

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CHISHAWASHA MISSION. (By Con Mukhat, in the World’s Work.) The pessimist ■will tell you that South African missionary effort is vain; that the African native is not ripe for Christianity, that the Kaffir is far happier as he is; that the missionary himself is a failure and a nuisance. Whatever of truth or untruth there may be in such statements is no concern of the writer’s; controversy is outside the scope and the province of this article. Let one s views be what they may so far as the political and religious aspects of the question are involved, one can, however, have only admiration and respect for the grit and perseverance of those who, year m year out, are sacrificing tune, comfort, health, and often life itself in the endeavour to raise the social status of the native races of this Continent. A visit to the Chishawasha Industrial Mission Farm, Southern Rhodesia, will, I venture, convince any but the most bigoted sceptic of the efficacy of missionary endeavour worked on the right lines and, what is all-important, by the right people. , ~ “Teach the nigger to work, says someone, “ and he will work out his own salvation.” Although a great number of nig-, gers ” have been taught to work, it musu be admitted that the desirable consummation has hardly been realised, as witness the congested state of native gaols about Johannesburg and other busy centres in the Union and Rhodesia. “Teach the native to work, say the Jesuit Fathers of Chishawasha. “But teach him also self-respect, discipline, and the dignity of toil, and his salvation is already accomplished.” As a triumphant vindication of this theory Chishawasha must stand alone. Lovedale and Tiger Kloof both exist for the specific “purpose of training native students for the ministry and for the mission field; at Chishawasha, lime-burning, brick-making, tanning, engineering, agriculture, all have their place in the educational regime. True, the Chishawasha boys are taught reading, writing, and the elements Pf history, geography, and mathematics ; but such subjects form only a minor branch of the curriculum, and the 'fact that the native language is used exclusively as a medium of instruction points to the fact that the aim of the mission is practical rather than merely theoretical or academic. Chishawasha has not by any means arrived at its present state of perfection without experiencing its stirring and even terrible moments. During an early native rebellion the place was attacked by one of Lobengula’s impis, and a tragedy was narrowly averted. In defiance of urgent warnings/from the township of Salisbury—then in laager—the Fathers refused to desert their post. “Our people us,” they said. “ They will leave us alone.” But their confidence was misplaced. The natives attacked in force, and in spite of a gallant defence, made things decidedly uncomfortable. Through loopholes formed by removing bricks from the walls of one of the buildings, a steady rifle fire was kept up by the defending party. But the enemy was not to be denied, and creeping close up under the wall, where the bullets could not reach thorn, succeeded in throwing a lighted torch on to the thatch and so setting fire to the roofo The defenders were compelled to retreat to a second building, where presently the smoking-out process was repeated. Tims they were driven from building to building!, until finally tmly the hospital remained intact. Happily, just when things looked least hopeful, a detachment of the British South Africa Police arrived on the scene, and the natives fled. Held Up By Lions.— Once lions took possession of the only road leading out of the basin in which the mission is situated, and literal!v held the place up. For throe days Chishawasha was in a slate of siege. But a hunting party was organised, and the marauders were eventually driven off with loss; not, however, before they had accounted for some three spans of bullocks and a doubtful number of donkeys. During the rebellion the then existing church at Chishawasha was burnt to the ground by the natives. The difficulties attendant on the erection of the present quite imposing building were ingeniously surmounted by the inauguration of a system of punishment drill that was found to answer admirably. The task of making or laying a specified number of bricks was imposed as a penalty for minor offences. Thus the fine place of worship that row stands on the site of the old church is not only a surprising example of what can he done by the native African under proper guidance and control, but is also a lasting monument to law, order, and discipline. Every brick used in the building of Chishawasha church was made and laid by the natives; the lime that holds the bricks together was mined and burned at the mission station; while the carving on the altar, the altar itself, .some cleverlysculptured stone images of the saints, the vases, crucifixes, and candlesticks are all of native workmanship. It is significant of a system that de.precates any nndue pandering to the native, that no pews or forms are provided fbr the congregation at Chishawasha. The worshippers bring their own straw mats to church, and squat thereon during service. There arc, however, a few chairs for the use of the Fathers, and to these an interesting story attaches. It appears that a quest for a species of wild timber capable of withstanding the onslaughts of the destructive white ant resulted in the experiment of burying in an ant-heap a few logs sawn from a certain tree. Here the logs lay forgotten for a matter of 15 years; only to he.

> — r * accidentally recovered quite recently, ■when they were found to he in a perfect state of preservation, and, more curious still, to have altogether escaped the ravages of the ants. It was from this timber that the chairs in the church were made. Lime-kilns, Brick-fields, and Workshops.— Mention of lime-burning at Chishawasha -reminds one that this is still carried on. The kilns are situated at the base of a kopje, from the summit of which the limestone is obtained, and conveyed through .-the agency of gravity shoots to the bins below. When ready, the lime is transthere are fully-equipped workshops, where it is handed over to the Salvation Army, who in turn sell it on commission to the public. Apart from lime-kilns and brick-fields there are fully-equipped workshops, where engineering, waggon-building, joinery, and leather-working are all taught and carried on. Boys who have nv> inclination or aptitude for such trades are put to work on the farm proper. The farm boys are divided into groups of 10, each group being allotted a plot of about five acres of land. Seeds are provided by the Fathers, who, however, take no active part in the cultivation of the ground. Each plot is devoted to a different kind of produce, so that the country for miles around the station presents an appearance suggestive of a great patchwork quilt, done in yellow, russet, and all the varying shades of green and brown. Vegetables and fruit are sent to Salisbury market twice weekly, where they are in eager demand, and find a ready sale. At harvest time the cereal crops are garnered in a central store. The greater part of this grain is subsequently distributed amongst the natives of the mission, but n portion is sold, the money thus derived being remitted for the benefit of the mission funds at home. The Fathers have opened stores at which the boys are able to purchase good clothing boots, tobacco, etc., at rock-bottom prices. Thus the co-operative cycle is complete, and the little settlement rendered self-contained, and if not self-depen-dent, at least self-supporting. —No Work, No Stay.— Coercion to remain at Chishawasha is, of course, neither possible nor desirable; the native is permitted to come or go as he wills. Should he elect to stay at the farm, he must conform to the rules that govern it; but if he wishes to go, the Fathers have neither the power the wish to compel him to remain. One thing is certain; if he stays be must work. In view of the popular conception of the “nigger” as a* lazy, good-for-nothing brute, it is interesting to observe that some 5000 native men and women are permanently settled in the village adjoining the mission station. In marked contrast to the average native kraal, the village is scrupulously clean, and is laid out with due regard to order and symmetry. The streets are beautified with pepper trees, and illuminated at night by paraffin lamps; the huts themselves being ranged in rows at proper intervals md with strict regard to building line. There is a place for everything, and it is insisted that everything shall be in its proper place. Although utility is the keynote of the Chishawasha system, att is by no means neglected, as witness the fine military band of some 40 performers, whose smart, dark-green uniforms are a familiar feature of public functions in Salisbury and elsewhere. The proficiency of this combination, as any, one who ‘has any knowledge of the native idea of music will agree, is alone a sufficient testimony to the tireless patience of the Chishawasha Fathers. On the airival of the Duke of Connaught at Salisbury, during his last visit to South Africa, the Chishawasha Band placed at the railway station. His Royal Highness was so much struck by its performance that he especially desired that it should again be in attendance at the station on the day of his departure. The residence ‘ of the Fathers is a double-storey house—also built by the natives —containing some nine or 10 rooms In its garden fruits of every description flourish profusely. There is in the grounds, too, an aggregation of African flora of exceptional value and interest. The Fathers boast that every known variety of plant, fern, and tree indigenous to the* territory lying between Cape Point and the Northern Congo is represented here. The collection is probably unique. —The Educated Kaffir.—The “educated Kaffir” has been freely described as the curse of South Africa. The writer hesitates even tentatively to trench on the confines of debatable ground, yet no article dealing with an industrial establishment such as he lias endeavoured to describe would be complete without some reference to the popular aspect of an all-important question. In discussing the Native Problem there is one point that is conveniently lost sight of by the indignant white man; and that is that Europe brought her civilisation to Africa without so much as a “by your leave” so far as the aboriginal inhabitants of the country were concerned. The Kaffir was not consulted in the matter at all. Rightly or wrongly, his heritage was coolly appropriated; his mode of life was sud‘denly and violently changed ; his energies were annexed foj exploitation ; bis intelligence was forced drasticany into channels utterly foreign to its habit. This is not meant to record a foolish protest against the inevitable march of civilisation. In dealing with mankind as with the other aspects of creation one must take into account plain irresistible forces regardless of the injustice or disaster brought about by their' operation. That the white man should in time replace, subjugate, conquer—what you will —the black man in Africa or the red man in America- is such an undeniable tendency. Our only duty is to make the best amends possible to the weaker race. And so one cannot countenance, however much one may sympathise with,

that attitude whlcfe fted» gic-oe, US. native African and looks to extermination as his only fit end. It is like the old aphorism of the settler in the Far West who held that “the only good Indian is a dead Indian.” The power and the certain supremacy of the white in themselves, if any code of morality is to be recognised, place upon him responsibility, guardianship, tutorial duties towards the black. The American Government has only of late entered upon a new policy • with regard to the Red Indian. Segregation and disfranchisement are gradually to be abolished, and as soon as may be the former savage is to be absorbed into the body politic. He would be a rash prophet indeed who foretold the date of such a policy in South Africa. But the wiser leaders see that the black people cannot be left as they are, that some effort mustbe made to recognise and to make use of them in the state of even semi-efficiency to which they have attained. For with the adaptability that is characteristic of his race, the Kaffir learned. He fired boilers, he drove engines, he took competent charg-e of complicated machinery—he even had the effrontery to speak English. Suddenly the more or less skilled white man awoke to a realisation of. the fact that there was a rival in the field. His hitherto useful drudge had become a competitor, and—what was worse—often a successful one at that. Then, and not till then, did the white man throw up his hands in pious protest. This was not the province of the black! What right had the nigger to take his living out of his hands? If this sort of thing was allowed to go unchecked, the country would be ruined—and so on, and so on. And yet it was this very white man who, but a short while before, was thrusting a spanner into the same native’s unwilling hand, and cursing him for a fool. “Thus far shalt thou Come and no farther,” says the white man in effect. In other words: “Learn enough to be useful to me, but do not dare learn enough to be useful to yourself.” Surely the position is as illogical as it is absurd. If the Kaffir is to be used, he will learn. Once accept this as inevitable, and the necessity of teaching him will follow as a natural sequence. But he must be taught carefully, thoroughly, intelligently; and at the same time must be inculcated the qualities of self-restraint, respect for himself and for the white man, decency, and a just appreciation of his duty towards his neighbour and himself. It is precisely thus that he is taught by the Jesuit Fathers of Chishawasha; and the writer does not hesitate to say that the establishment throughout the Union, of institutions similar in purpose and conduct to the Chishawasha Industrial Mission Farm would be of inestimable economic value, and would make for the furtherance of the interests of South Africa as a whole.