THE Waikato Independent. TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1906. THE NATIVE RISING.

Waikato Independent, Volume III, Issue 214, 10 April 1906, Page 4

THE Waikato Independent. TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1906. THE NATIVE RISING.

The rising of the natives in Natal has now assumed a serious aspect, and although the prompt measures taken for its suppression will soon be effective, the fact cannot be ignored that South Africa has already become a troublesome burden to Great Britain. The dissatisfaction at the introduction of Chinese labour into the Transvaal was largely responsible for the overthrow of the Conservative Government, and now the Liberals have to face the native difficulty. The whole trouble has arisen through the passing during the last session of the Natal Parliament a measure providing for payment by every male inhabitant in the colony between the ages of eighteen years and sixty-five years of a poll-tax of £1 per head. This applies to Europeans, natives and Asiatics alike. It was known that the natives would strongly resent the tax, and it was generally supposed that it would take a good deal of moral suasion to get them to part with the sovereign. In many cases the natives paid the tax, amongst them some of the prominent chiefs. The Natal correspondent of the New Zealand Times states that since the passing of the tax matters have gradually been assuming a more or less aggravated appearance, and it at last became known that some Kaffirs round the Maritzburg district, in a place known as Byrnetown, were armed with assegais. This being at all times an illegal act, steps were at once taken to arrest the offenders. They armed to keep off his Majesty’s servants who might come along to claim the tax. News having reached the police, a posse of Natal Mounted Police, consisting of Sub-Inspector Hunt and about thirteen armed troopers, were sent to bring the culprits to justice. The scene was reached at dusk, and a body of some thirty natives were seen on a kopje armed with their weapons of warfare. They were approached by Hunt, and asked to lay down their arms, but declined. Two ringleaders were thereupon arrested, handcuffed, and placed in charge of two police. Immediately the followers demanded the release, of their comrades, assuming a very turbulent attitude. One man, trying to rescue his comrades, caught Inspector Hunt’s horse by the head, and had his brains blown out for his trouble. This served as a signal for a general melee, and at close quarters the troopers fired with revolvers, while the Kaffirs made an onslaught with their deadly weapons. The result was that Hunt was killed, and also a trooper named Armstrong. Another member of the police, Sergeant Stevens, received an assegia in his back, and in this state rode many miles to give the alarm. Reinforcements were immediately sent, and the Carbineers, a well-known volunteer body, were first to receive mobilisation orders. Activity prevailed in military circles, and day after day came the news of fresh outbreaks in different districts, and at various intervals bodies of volunteers were despatched to the affected parts to guard the law and maintain order if possible. The disturbance assumed such a character that martial law was proclaimed, and a Press censorship immediately established throughout Natal.