South African Problems.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5283, 13 June 1895, Page 1

South African Problems.

The constant troublea among the primitive population of South Africa have more than once been attributed to the three " l'a " of land, liquor and laziness. The Basuto and fiechuana tribes that are under British protection, are marked by a fair degree of intelligence, but the aversion of the people to work leads them to live very idle and squalid lives. Thia, in turn, causes them to fall easy victims to the drink habit, and intensifies their natural propensity to steal. Mr Lagden, the Acting-Kesident Commissioner in Basutoland, reports to the British Government that Lerothodi;. the paramount chief, who had given, way. to drunkenness, has daring theifc>itwelv^ effort; to eschew liquor : himself "arid to co-ppprate iu checking and punishing the v introduction of it." The circumstances of a barbarous race coming into contact with a civilised one are each as to make rigid "prohibition" the only safe rule with regard to ' intoxicants. The land question in Basutoland, as elsewhere, is stated to be "absorbing." "The population is growing," days the Acung-Resi-dent Commissioner, " and the land available for cultivation is not commonoajrate with the natural expansion/' In Bechuanfclatid there is also agifcatido 1 on the land questioo. Mr J. SV Moffat, assistant ' commissioner in the Northern ' Bechuanaland Protectorate, writes in his last report: "No serious trouble need be apprehended so long a3 we leave the people and the chiefs to manage their own affairs, and do not worry them upon the land question. At present there is a deepseated and resentful conviction that wo intend to take the ground from under their feet, and this feeling makes it difficult for ns to obtain from them even reasonable concessions." He contends that the only way to lead to eventual " peaceful absorption " 18 to preserve the status quo as far as possible and allow the people to live in their own way. Concurrently With the protection of the aboriginee, the British residents are concerned about the preservation of the "big game " for which South Africa is famous. The wanton destruction of these creatures, and especially the useless slaughter of vast numbers of female and young elephants, in past years is deplored. Ivory is now becoming very scarce south of the Zambeßi. In 1892 the value of the ivory that passed through Mafeking was £3500. Last year it was leBS than £1000,. and if the precautions now being taken fail of effect, the extinction of the elephant in South Africa will be a question of a comparatively short time. In Basutoland the protective laws take the form or high license feeß, and stringent regulations as to the time and manner of bunting such animals as the elephant. Civilisation will soon enough make life impossible for the wild fauna of South Africa, without the process being helped by indiscriminate slaughter in the name of " sport."

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