THE CASE FOR BRITISH SUBJECTS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6593, 19 September 1899, Page 4

THE CASE FOR BRITISH SUBJECTS

STATEMENT BY THE IMPERIAL SOUTH AFRICAN ASSOCIATION. The following is the history of the grievances of the Uitlanders, issued by the Imperial South African Association, 'which was laid on the table of the House of Representatives a few days ago : — GRIEVANCES. v Franchise. — (1) Originally every white man settling in. Transvaal was entitled to vote at once. (2) In 1855 it was enacted that persons not born in South Africa should pay £25 before receiving full franchise. (3) In 1874 it was enacted that strangers nob possessed of real estate should reside one year to obtain franchise, but if owning real estate received full rights at once. (4) In 1882 the conditions were incrcassd to five years' residence, registry on the Field-Comat's bocks for that period, and payment of £25. (5) In 1890 the second llaad was established, with qualification, for vote of two years' residence, which did not begin to count until, in terms of an obscure law • the candidate bad been registered on the 'Field-Cornat's books, a payment of £5, and the talcing of ,the oath of allegiance. Having had t-his vote for tw.o yeara, the naturalised voter became eligible for membership ; but it was stipulated that no per£<m ~ should vote for a member of, or-become eligible for, a seat in the first Volksraad until the Japse of ten years after he^had become eligible for a seat in tJio second Road. As no person could bs a member of the second Raad before he was thirty years , old the effect of this law WW3 .that no alien

cnukl acquire the franchise for the first Raad until after he was forty years of age. Even this " right " was made subject to the first Volksraad resolving to admit the particular alien, And was to -foe enjoyed only in pursuance of regulations " to be framed." " Naturalisation " does not, j-n tie Republic, mean incorporation into the State. It is only a stepping-Btone on a precarious path towards civic rights. The aspirant can never at all get the vote for the. President or Commander-in-Chief— officials chosen by plebiscite, from which the Uitlander is excluded. Yet immediately he is naturalised he, having lost his former citizenship, beccmes liable to all the burdens of citizenship, including military (service. (6) In 1893 it was enacted that- none who might receive the franchise under the foregoing condition should have the right of voting at the election of President or Comman-dant-General. (7) In 1894 it was enacted that tike children of aliens born in the Transvaal should receive the full franchise only after making claim and awaiting for the full fourteen years, as above ; and that even tihe children of naturalised aliens should only haveihe-vote, though born in t3*e country, ; provided they claimed the right at the age of -vixfceen. Education. — The absence of all Sfcvfce provision for education, of children in the languafje of three-fourths of the people, is another of ihe grievances only felt d\iring the last few years with the growth of t3ie young Uitlander population. The Rev S. | J. Dv Toit was first Superintendent of EduI cation till about 1890 ; then Dr Mansfeld, a ' Hollander. Now, Dutch is the sole-medium I of instruction in Sta-ndtn-d IV. and upwards in a.U schools receiving State aid. There- are 11,438 pupils in Government schools, at a I cost of £8 S3 lid per head ; 216 only are from the goldfields, at a cost -of £12 12s 8d I each. The State gymnasium at Pretoria, costs £88 12s 9d for each pupil. The-School of Mines at Pretoria costs £235 6s Id for each pupil. ! Judicial. — (a) Dependence of the High Court upon the Executive. — The Volksraad and Executive Council repeatedly attempted to influence the Courts by resolutions — in one case actually throwing the plaintiff in a pending action against the Government out of Court. Finally, ill February, 1897, in violation of the written Constitution, it was enacted that resolutions of the Volksraad. should have tbe- effect of law, and that their validity should not be subject to review by the Court. The Bench protested, and Chief Justice Kotze was dismissed. — (b) Right to trial by jury of our countrymen denied. — Police only drawn from the ranks of the burghers or naturalised aliens'. They are mostly ignorant of English, incompetent from want of training and knowledge, alien in sympathy to and having huge contempt for Uitlanders (especially Englishmen). The most serious crime is rampant, and perpetrators of serious crimes frequently escape punishment. The conduct and attitude of the police are only a reflection of the hostility and contempt of the Legislature and Government. This hostility has its natural result in setting I up a corresponding antagonism on the part of Englishmen, who otherwise would be friendly enough with, their Dutch neighbours. — Absence of municipal institutions : — Johannesburg remains without proper municipal government. In September, 1897, as a great concession, it was created a municipality, with Burgomaster and Council. The real effect of this was materially to restrict the very limited powers of local selfgovernment which the old " Sanitary Committee " possessed. — Dutch language enforced : — whereas in Cape Colony Dutch and English languages are equal, in the Transvaal Dutch alone is the official language of the Courts and public offices, though not understood by a third of tho people. — Openair public meetings con be held only with Government sanction, while indoor meetings may be broken up by order of the police, in terms of the law": — This grievance dates from Septombsr, 1896. — Outrages to persons and property: — Under revised Volksraad laws of 1896 all coloured men are required to take out and pay for passes. The houses of coloured British subjects were broken open hi the night on several occasions, passes demanded, and the people brutally used. On complaint by the British Government the Field-Cornet Lombaard, responsible, was suspended, but a Court of Inquiry reinstated him. Uitlanders had to carry passes under immigration law until it was withdrawn under pressure from the British Government. — Commandeering : — British subjects were commandeered for persoinal service and money for the Malaboch campaign, 1894. This led to the appeal to the High Commissioner and Sir H. Loch's visit jto Pretoria. British subjects were again commandeered for the Mpefu Expedition, 1898, and the Transvaal Government throw blame for this upon unruly local officials ; nevertheless, goods and money seized have* not been returned. — Alien expulsion: — Enacted June, 1896. Under this Act the President, with tho State Attorney, has power to expel ' from the country, or assign a place for residence to anyone without trial. Monopolies. — (A) Dynamite: — Granted to E. Lippert, 1887, but cancelled at demand of British Government, after long correspondence, in 1892. Declared Government monopoly, and contract concluded to Vorstraann for fifteen years, in 1893. Transvaal Industrial Commission reported in 1897 that the monopolists had been making a profit exceeding £2 a case, of which only 5s went to the State. — Other monopolies : — Matches, paper, chocolate, wool, starch ; mineral waters, soap and oils, sewage, etc. % Taxation. — (Uitlanders pay nine-tenths) : — Transvaal revenue, 1884, .£150,000 ; 1897, £4,500,000, or, on a total population of 250,000, at the rate of £18 each. Taxation so arranged that the articles required by Boers — as coffee, sugar, clothes, corn — are practically duty free. Result, that the Uitlander and mining industry pay ninetenths. In November, 1898, the Raad, being short of money, passed, within twenty-four hours from the first motion, i, new law levying 5 per cent on the net profits of the mines, and this in spite of solemn promises that no further tax should be levied without ample consideration and notice. Expenditure. — The gravest scandals have frequently occurred, and money, including large sums for secret service, is squandered in enormous sums. Any impartial authority will admit that the Government can be administered much more economically. Constant intrigue to obtain illicit advantages I in matters affecting industries. Railway charges and mismanagement. The Netherlands Railway Company, largely owned and guaranteed by Transvaal Government, but purposely managed from Amsterdam, has the right to collect Customs dues from Delagoa Bay. Charges at rate of 6d per ton per mile, and. 3d for rough goods. The Government has right to expropriate, but Mr Kruger opposes, giving as his reason that things can be done through the railway company which through their own Government they could not do. Liquor traffic (illicit liquor). — The administration of liquor laws has been found corrupt, and the Industrial Committee 1897 — acknowledged that in this the mining industry has a real grievance. The law of 1896 ds not carried out. Under this law Johannesburg i 3 entitled to eighty-eight licenses only, but has 438. There is more illicit liquor trading now than ever, and 30 to 40 per cent of the native labourers are constantly incapacitated by it. Mrs Applebe was murdered April 28, 1899. Her husband, a Wesleyan minister, had been particularly zealous in denouncing the illicit drink traffic. Gold (amalgam thefts).— This crime has

been on the increase from the early days 1 of the Raad, and it is estimated that now 10 per cent of the total production is stolen ' by-organised system of robbery. A Government, officer proved, in former years, to ! have been concerned in this was 'dismissed the Force in 1894. The Industrial Com- ! mission recommended the revision of the special law for prevention of these thefts, ! on the ground that the present administration was faulty. t PnSS ioJf W J P f ess gagging).— Enacted, June, 1896. Under this law every commenfc^d_articte in the Press must be signed, and the President has power to suppress at June iSBd Smd mad ° mOre strin S ent >