A Winter Tour in South Africa Part 6

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APPENDIX I.

The following discussion took place on the paper read by Sir Frederick Young, on South Africa, at the opening meeting of the Session of the Royal Colonial Inst.i.tute, on November 12th, at which the Marquis of Lome presided:--

PROFESSOR H.G. SEELEY: In common with you all, I have listened with great pleasure to this interesting and wide-reaching address. I have not myself been so far afield. My observations were limited to Cape Colony; and the things which I saw in that Colony were necessarily, to a large extent, different from those recorded by Sir Frederick Young. On landing at Cape Town I naturally turned to what the people of South Africa were doing for themselves, and confess I was amazed when I saw the great docks, by means of which the commerce of South Africa is being encouraged, and by which it will hereafter be developed. I was impressed, too, with the educational inst.i.tutions, the great Public Library, worthy of any town, the South African Museum, the South African College, and the various efforts made to bring the newest and best knowledge home to the people. But perhaps in Cape Town, the thing which impressed me as most curious was the new dock, in process of construction by excavating stone for the breakwater and other purposes. This work was carried on by coloured convict labour. The convicts thus become trained in useful manual work, as well as in habits of obedience, and when they are discharged, are not only better men, but people in whose work employers of labour have confidence. I learned that the great public mountain roads in Cape Colony have thus been constructed by convict labour, at a comparatively small cost, while the convict acquires skill and useful training. Going up country, my attention, among other matters, was turned to the distribution of mineral wealth and difficulties of water supply, for, as Sir Frederick Young has remarked, the water supply is one of the great problems which all persons have to consider in South Africa. The season during which rain falls is short, and the rain drains rapidly down comparatively steep inclined surfaces, so that science of many kinds has to be enlisted to conserve the water, and turn the supply to account. I found the rocks of much of the country have been curiously compressed and hardened and thrown into parallel irregular folds, and that these rocks were afterwards worn down by the action of water, at a time when the land was still beneath the ocean, with the result that many basin-shaped depressions are preserved and exposed, each of which holds a certain amount of water. Just as we never dream of putting down a well in this country without knowing the positions of the water-bearing strata, so it is hopeless to bore profitably for water in the Colony till the districts are defined over which the water-bearing basins are spread. Nothing arrests the escape of water in its course through the rocks more efficiently than intrusive sheets of igneous rock which rise to the surface, but until the distribution of these d.y.k.es is systematically recorded it will not be possible to open out all the water which is preserved underground. There is no doubt that by utilising geological facts of this nature, a better water supply may be obtained, which will enable more land to be brought under cultivation, and larger crops to be raised. I may say that the Colonial Government is fully aware of the importance of following out such lines of work, and steps are being taken to give effect to such exploration. Vegetation, however, by its radiating power, must always be one of the chief aids to improved water supply. In the matter of mineral wealth, Cape Colony is not so rich as some adjacent lands. It contains coal, but the individual beds of coal are thin, and owing to this thinness the coal necessarily alternates with shale, which is more conspicuous than in the coal fields of Britain. I remember that Professor Sedgwick, my old master in geology, told me that in his youth seams of coal only some four to six inches thick were worked on the sides of hills in Yorkshire, and that the coal was carried on horseback over the country to supply the wants of the mountain population. Cape Colony is in a far better state than that. In the Eastern Province the beds of coal are frequently a foot or two or more in thickness. They crop out on the surface with a slight dip near to the railway, and although only worked at present in a few pits (as at Cyphergat, Fairview, Molteno--I did not visit the Indwe)--the coal-bearing rocks certainly extend over a much wider area of country than that which has been explored. One of the happy results at which I arrived in my short visit to this district was to find that there are certain extinct forms of reptilian life a.s.sociated with these coal beds, by means of which the geological horizon upon which the coal occurs may be traced through the country; so that there is a prospect of this mineral being followed along its outcrop in the Eastern Province with comparative ease by this means. It is desirable on all accounts that coal should be burned rather than timber, since the destruction of wood is harmful to the supply of water. With regard to the gold of Cape Colony, I have not the requisite knowledge to speak with the same confidence.

The quant.i.ty in any district is probably small: the amount is great in the aggregate, but very widely diffused. Gold appears to be present in small amounts in almost all the volcanic rocks, so that as those rocks decay and new mineral substances are formed out of the decomposed products, the gold which they contained is often preserved and concentrated in thin and narrow veins of zeolitic minerals, which extend over the surface of these volcanic rocks. To what extent these zeolites may be hereafter worked with profit it is impossible at present to say, for much may depend upon water supply, by means of which the ore would be crushed and washed, and much on the varying quant.i.ties of gold present in samples from different localities. On the whole, the utilisation of science in the service of man, especially in relation to metals, coal, and water supply, if systematically carried out, will, I believe, be an element of future prosperity to Cape Colony, and enable the Colony to minister to the welfare of adjacent lands.

Mr. J.X. MERRIMAN: I am sure South Africans are very grateful indeed to the amiable and kindly critic in the person of Sir Frederick Young. It is no new thing to Colonists to owe him a debt.

All those present will acknowledge the great things he has done for the Colonies in connection with the Royal Colonial Inst.i.tute. Sir Frederick Young is a man who has been content to look after small things, and the result is this Inst.i.tute has been worked up by the individual efforts of Colonists and others to its present flourishing condition. I hope the Inst.i.tute will long flourish, and never be absorbed by anything under more magnificent auspices--in other words, that you will "paddle your own canoe." It is good sometimes to have a plain statement from a plain man. South Africa suffers under a plague of experts who, after spending a few weeks there, tell us exactly what we ought to do; and we don't like it. I wish I could speak to you as a sort of amiable critic, but I have the misfortune to belong to that much-despised cla.s.s the local politician, and I notice that, when anybody says anything about the Colonies in England, all unite in kicking the local politician. In order not to sail under false colours, I state frankly that I belong to that cla.s.s. Of course, South Africa is creating a deal of interest at the present time. People who come to fortunes usually do excite a great deal of interest among relations who may in times gone by have given them the cold shoulder. There can be no doubt as to the material prosperity of South Africa at the present time, and still less doubt as to the future. The gold fields of Wit.w.a.tersrand are unique in the world. This is not my own statement, but the statement of eminent mining engineers from America. For thirty miles and more you have a continuous stretch of reef, which gives throughout a uniform yield per ton, and which has been proved to the depth of some hundred feet, and may--there is every reason to believe--go to unknown depths. The reefs are now being worked in the most economical manner. When proper appliances for mining are used, and when we get the stock-jobbers off our backs, I believe a career of prosperity will open of which few people dream. From another point of view, to those who love the country and make their home there, there cannot but be a seamy side to the picture. Great wealth brings other things in its train. It has brought into South Africa a great spirit of gambling. People neglect the honest industries of the country: they leave their farm work, and rush off to make fortunes in a minute. Everybody--from the king to the beggar--is gambling in gold shares. Everybody neglects his business, and talks about nothing else. I ask whether this is a wholesome state of society? Is it not a state of society to which we may look with some degree of apprehension? I believe myself that things will work round, but, undoubtedly, the state of affairs is serious. After all, there is something which goes to build up a country besides material wealth, and I am not sure that gambling in gold shares is exactly the thing which is wanted. Of course, there have been other countries where these vast increases of material wealth have occurred--California and Australia--but there the conditions were different. They were new countries, which attracted large numbers of white men, and, when they found the gold fields did not pay, they made homes for themselves on the land.

Unfortunately, that state of affairs does not exist at the present time in South Africa, and that brings us face to face with the great problem on which Sir Frederick Young has touched--the great problem which we have always before us--viz., how two races utterly alien to each other, the black and the white, are to live and increase side by side. South Africa is the only country in the world where that problem exists, excepting the Southern States of North America. This is a great question, on which the future of South Africa depends. Unfortunately, the white men do not work in a country where the black race flourishes. If the white man does not become a "boss," he sinks to the level of a mean white man. The difficulty is to get a state of society in which the white race shall flourish side by side with the black; and when people talk about the "local politicians," the "average Cape politician," and the like, they should remember we have to deal with this enormous problem--that we are anxious to do justice to the "black," and at the same time we are naturally anxious to see the European population flourish. I believe the gold fields will attract a large European population. The wages are enormous. There are 20,000 black men, without a st.i.tch upon them, earning as much as eighteen shillings a week a-piece, and getting as much food as they can eat, in the mines of Johannesburg. People talk about the treatment of the blacks. n.o.body dares to treat them badly, because they would run away. There is a compet.i.tion for them, and the black man has an uncommonly rosy time of it. The white men naturally won't work under the same conditions as the blacks. I saw a letter from an operative cautioning his fellow artisans against going out. He says, "We get thirty shillings a day, but it is a dreadful place to live in." I ask the operatives in England to mistrust that statement. ("What is the cost of living?") You can live at the club very well indeed for 10 a month--the club, mind you, where the aristocracy live. It is idle to tell me the honest artisan cannot live. In addition to the black and white population, there is another problem, and that is, the influx of Arabs, who creep down the East Coast through the door of Natal. They are gradually ousting the English retail trader. You may go to up-country towns, and in whole streets you will see these yellow fellows, sitting there in their muslin dresses, where formerly there were English traders. In places where we want to cultivate the English population, that is a very serious thing. Our yellow friends come under the garb of British subjects from Bombay, and are making nests in the Transvaal and elsewhere by ousting the English retail trader. Sir Frederick Young has alluded to State colonisation. I am sorry to differ from so amiable a critic of our ways, but, as one who has had a little experience, I can tell him that you may send Colonists out, but you cannot as easily make them stay there. If they make their fortunes, they come home to England to spend them.

If they are poor, and bad times come, the black man crowds them out, and off they go to Australia. You can depend on a German peasant settling, but bring an Englishman or a Scotchman, and he wants to better himself. In that he is quite right, but he does not see his way on a small plot of ground, and off he goes down a mine, or something of that sort. There are great difficulties in the way of State-aided emigration. We do not want the riff-raff; we don't want the "surplus population." It is one of the greatest difficulties to get decent, steady Englishmen to settle on the land. It is the people who settle on the land who make a country, and if Sir Frederick Young can give us a receipt for making English people settle there he will confer one of the greatest possible benefits on South Africa. Sir Frederick Young departed from the usual custom on such occasions by touching on politics. I am glad he did, because more interest is given to the discussion, and there is nothing like good, healthy controversy. Sir Frederick Young is greatly concerned that there should be a settled policy for South Africa. All I can say is, in Heaven's name, don't listen to a syren voice of that kind. So surely as you have a settled policy--some great and grand scheme--so surely will follow disaster and disgrace. The people of South Africa may be very stupid, but they are very much like other people--determined to make their policy themselves, and the policy of South Africa is not going to be framed in Downing Street. I cannot help thinking Sir Frederick Young did injustice to some of my friends who have been at the head of affairs. "The mournful mismanagement of South African affairs,"

he says, "during the last twenty-five years, and most especially during the last decade, has been truly lamentable, and cannot fail to awaken the saddest feelings on the part of every loyal Briton and true-hearted patriot." But have affairs been mismanaged for the last twenty-five years? The revenue twenty-five years ago was 500,000. It is now nearly 4,000,000. For twenty-five years, under the beneficent rule of Downing Street, we had not a mile of railway. Now we have 2,000 miles. Twenty-five years ago there was no national feeling at all. Now there is a strong South African feeling, which is destined to grow and build up a South African policy. As to the talk about a settled and firm policy, Sir Philip Wodehouse was the last Governor who had a grand scheme from Downing Street. A more honest, conscientious, and able man did not exist; but his policy was a failure. Then came my friend Sir Henry Barkly.

His policy was distinctly opposite. It was a true policy for South Africa. It was a policy of _laissez-faire_. The result was, things went on as merrily as a marriage bell, Dutch and English drew together, the natives were quiet, South Africa was prosperous, and everything went on as happily as possible till Mr. Froude and Lord Carnarvon hit on the grand scheme of uniting South Africa. From that day our misfortunes began. One of the most able, courteous, and high-minded gentlemen in the British service--Sir Bartle Frere--was sent to carry out this firm policy. What was the result?

Failure. I will say nothing more about it. Then Sir Hercules Robinson reverted to the _laissez-faire_ policy. South Africa was under a shade--n.o.body would look at us. But now we are gradually righting ourselves, and getting into a prosperous condition. Now are being raised again the cries for a grand policy. I caution you against them. Let us manage our own affairs. _Laissez faire, laissez aller_--that is our policy for South Africa. There are no nostrums required. The one thing required is the gradual bringing of the Dutch and English together. There are no two races more fitted to unite. You know how like they are to Englishmen. The Boer is as like the English farmer as possible. There are no people more fond of manly sports than the Dutch; they enter into them heartily, and in the cricket and football fields they are among the best players. They are as fond of riding and shooting as Englishmen are. In fact, the Dutch and the English are as like as Heaven can make them, and the only thing that keeps them apart is man's prejudice. The one thing to do is to bring them together. How can you help that end? Not by girding at them, and writing against Boer ways, but by recognising the fact that they have been pioneers in South Africa, and that they are the only people who will settle on the land. I see there is a great agitation about Swaziland, which is entirely surrounded by the Transvaal Republic. ("No.") Well, except as to Tongaland, and I am not going to say anything about that. The cry is got up, "Don't hand it over to the Boers." In whose interest is that cry got up? It is in the interest of a few speculators, and not in the interest of the capitalists, who have 108,000,000 invested in the Transvaal, and yet are not afraid to trust the Boers with Swaziland. This girding at the Dutch is resented, and does incalculable harm. People at home have very little idea how much influence public opinion in England has in South Africa. Sir Frederick Young has alluded to President Kruger, who won't put down prize fights because he might be thought to be oppressing the Englishman! All I ask is, don't let your talk about union with the Dutch be mere lip service. Trust them; work hand in hand with them. Unless you do you will make little progress in South Africa. By that I mean political progress. The material progress of South Africa is now secured; therefore my advice is--cultivate the Dutch, because, unless they are our friends, we shall be a divided people, and our black and yellow brethren will get the best of us. Our true policy is, _Laissez faire, laissez aller_.

Sir G. BADEN-POWELL, K.C.M.G., M.P.: My friend, Mr. Merriman, has made a speech of the utmost value to South Africa, and it is a very fitting, I will not say reply, but comment, on the address to which we have listened with such pleasure; but Mr. Merriman, with his strong arguments and apt ill.u.s.trations, came at the end to the conclusion at which Sir Frederick Young had arrived. I have not much to add, but I think we have heard from Sir Frederick Young a view of South African affairs on the political side which, I may tell you frankly, differs diametrically from my own. I have heard from Mr. Merriman a view of affairs in which I cordially concur, but from neither have I heard of that third aspect which, I think, is necessary to complete the view. Sir Frederick Young has told us that for twenty-five years, certainly during the last ten years, South Africa has been mismanaged. I must confess I was sorry to hear the strong language he used, because one cannot but remember that for the greater part of the last twenty years most of the affairs of South Africa have been in the hands of free self-governing communities. Cape Colony has been under Responsible Government since 1873, and the Free State and the Transvaal have always been self-governing. I agree with Mr. Merriman that for the last twenty-five years affairs in South Africa have progressed, with one signal and fatal exception, and that was the policy under which we took over and then gave back the Transvaal. Omitting that, I think we have but little to be sorry for in the history of South Africa. There have been troubles, but I, for one, think that all difficulties, would have been avoided if the phrase "Imperial aid"

had been subst.i.tuted for that of "Imperial interference" in the affairs of South Africa. It is the aid which has been given by the Mother Country which has resulted in developing the material resources, and, above all, in establishing the security from native attack of various European States in South Africa. Sir Frederick Young spoke of the att.i.tude towards the Imperial Government. I could wish he had been in Cape Town on the day Sir Charles Warren landed, and seen the ovation he received from all cla.s.ses. Let me add this--that the Bechua.n.a.land expedition, which was led by Sir Charles Warren, and in which I had the good fortune to take part, cost the Mother Country perhaps 1,500,000, but in the discussions in Parliament or in the press as to the future of Bechua.n.a.land, the fact is seldom mentioned that Bechua.n.a.land was acquired for the Empire at the cost of the British taxpayer. Let me remind you of another fact, which the Cape Colonist well knows--that when the Imperial Government wished, from wise motives of economy, to extend the Cape system of railways to Kimberley, at a time when the Cape Ministers were not prepared to carry out the extension, the British Parliament advanced a loan of 400,000, at a low rate of interest, for that object. Another instance I could quote, in connection with the history of that interesting native territory--Basutoland. You remember how that country was handed over to the Cape Colonists, and that for various reasons the management of the Basutos got beyond their power, the result being that the Imperial Government went to the aid of the Cape Colony and took back Basutoland. I mention these cases because they ill.u.s.trate an aspect of affairs which is, I think, apt to be neglected. We at home--and certainly those who have enjoyed the kind hospitality of their brethren in South Africa--wish to do all we can to aid our fellow-countrymen in that part of the globe. We do not wish to interfere, and I should like to see this put forward as the grand and final policy of South Africa--that we are ready to aid that portion of the Empire, but set our faces against interference. In conclusion, I will add that I am sure all of us congratulate Sir Frederick Young on having so successfully accomplished his arduous journey, returning to us, as he does, in better health than when he left. If you wish to renew your youth, and grow younger instead of older, follow his example--make a trip through South Africa, sleeping in the open veldt.

Dr. SYMES THOMPSON: Another year's experience has confirmed and strengthened my conclusions as to the remarkable salubrity of the South African climate in cases of chest disease and of nerve wear, which I laid before the Royal Colonial Inst.i.tute in November last.

While regarding the neighbourhood of Cape Town and Grahamstown as beneficial for a short sojourn, among the upland stations I would call attention to Middelburg and Tarkestad. Hotel accommodation and adequate comfort for invalids, as regards food, quarters, attention, occupation, and amus.e.m.e.nt, are still most deficient.

During the recent drought the dust storms proved very trying to the eyes and to the bronchial membranes at Kimberley, and at Johannesburg the dangers were great. I rejoice to learn that Sir Frederick Young has found his winter trip so health-giving, and believe that a similar expedition might prove of immense value to many Englishmen who are overwrought in body or in mind.

The CHAIRMAN (the Right Hon. the Marquis of Lorne, K.T., G.C.M.G.): I propose a hearty vote of thanks to Sir Frederick Young for his kindness in reading the Paper. I was extremely interested myself, as I think you all were. In his political observations, and in speaking of a firm policy, I think that, after all, what the reader of the Paper meant was firmness in allowing each nationality to develop itself as it best might, with aid from home. I think that is the sense of his observations, and I am sure we are obliged to him, not only for speaking of more personal matters, but also for telling us the actual impressions he derived from the journey. I entirely agree with Mr. Merriman--and I believe Sir Frederick Young does--that, finding ourselves in South Africa with the Dutch, we must work with them and through them. I hope the Dutch will allow themselves to be helped in one matter which Sir Frederick Young impressed on President Kruger--apparently not with great results--viz., in the matter of railways, and that they will allow railways to pierce the Transvaal. I am sure he is a man of too much intelligence very much to object to railways. That policy would be too much like that of the Chinese. I remember, when I was at the head of a society in London, asking the representative of China to come and listen to a paper in regard to railways through Siam. He said solemnly--"Chinese not like railways." I said this railway would not go through the Imperial dominions--that it would only be at a respectful distance. Again my remarks were interpreted to him, and again, after a long pause, he solemnly replied--"Chinese don't like railways near frontier." I am sure President Kruger will not fritter chances away in that manner, and that he will allow us to help him.

SIR FREDERICK YOUNG, K.C.M.G.: I feel extremely flattered by the compliment which our n.o.ble Chairman has been good enough to pay me.

It was really most gratifying to me to be able to take the interesting and instructive tour from which I have recently returned, and the only difficulty and hesitation I felt as to giving an account of what I saw was that I saw so much that I did not know how I could crowd a t.i.the of it in the reasonable dimensions of a paper. I was a little in dread, I confess, when so astute and able a politician as Mr. Merriman rose to make his criticisms; but I wish him to understand, as well as you, that the view I put forward--perhaps I did not explain myself as clearly as I ought to have done--was that advocated by Mr. Merriman himself, namely, that South Africa should be allowed to frame her own policy. That is the sum and substance of what I wished to say on that point. As the n.o.ble Marquis has been so kind as to act as my interpreter, I need not take up more of your time by enlarging on this question. I have now the greatest possible pleasure in asking you to join with me in thanking the n.o.ble Marquis for having, as one of our Vice-Presidents, been so kind as to preside on this occasion.

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APPENDIX II.

IMPERIAL FEDERATION.

An address on the above interesting subject was delivered by Sir Frederick Young, K.C.M.G., in the Y.M.C. a.s.sociation Hall, on Monday, when the room was filled to its utmost capacity. The chair was taken by the President of the a.s.sociation, Mr. E.J. Earp, who, in introducing the lecturer to the audience, said he was a gentleman who was well and favourably known to many colonists, who had received great attention and kindness from him during their visits to the Old Country. Sir Frederick Young had very kindly responded to the invitation of the committee to lecture this evening, and though the subject of Imperial Federation was of a somewhat political nature, still it was not of such a character as to preclude its being spoken about within the walls of the a.s.sociation. The subject of the lecture was one worthy of all attention, which had recently been occupying the attention of eminent statesmen of various political opinions. This was an age of specialists, and he thought that Sir Frederick Young might be well considered as a specialist on the subject upon which he was now about to address them. He had for many years been connected with the Royal Colonial Inst.i.tute, and his services had received recognition at the hands of his Sovereign.

Sir Frederick Young, who was most warmly received, said in he first place he must tender his hearty thanks to the Chairman for the very kind manner in which he had introduced him. The attention of the audience this evening would be directed to the desirability of promoting the unity of the British Empire. Before commencing his address, he wished to emphasize what the Chairman had already expressed with regard to the rules of the a.s.sociation on political subjects. In connection with that, he would say that the subject he was about to speak upon did not touch upon party politics in any way, as it was a National question, and might be excepted from their rigid rule. The subject of Imperial Federation was, to his mind, of so vast and vital a character, and of such importance to the whole nation collectively, that it impressed him with the responsibility he incurred in speaking upon it, and the feeling he had of being unable to do full justice to it. He spoke with some confidence on the subject, because he claimed to be one of the pioneers of the idea of Imperial Federation, which meant "the government of the Empire by the Empire." He wished to take his hearers back to the origin of English parliaments, when the first idea of representation occurred to our early kings, and when the scattered portions of England were at last drawn into one focus of representation by Edward III., and gradually that kind of representation succeeded in effecting the Union of England and Scotland, and subsequently Ireland, things remaining in that form until the present day. Latterly, our Colonial Empire had grown up to wonderful and vast dimensions, but as far as the principle of representation was concerned there had been no great change, though it was perfectly true that during the past few years a certain number of the Colonies had obtained what was called self-government, or what he called the shadow of English government on the parliamentary system, as retained in its original principle and plan up to our own times. The Imperial policy of the British Empire was entirely conducted at Home, and Imperial Federation meant that this system should be changed, and that those who were living outside the borders of the British Isles should have their true partic.i.p.ation in the government of the Empire. This led him to a point on which there was very much misunderstanding on the part of those who had heard the subject of Imperial Federation mentioned, and who thought there must be some idea of those who advocated it at Home getting some advantage over their colonial brethren, and draw them into a net, by which they would have to part with their rights of local self-government. He utterly denied that there were any such intentions--on the contrary, this was an invitation to them, a cry from the Old Country, asking them to come and a.s.sist in governing the Empire. This could only be effected by Imperial Federation, which would mean the termination of what was called the rule of Downing Street, which would be superseded by something far different, and, in his opinion, be far more acceptable to the colonists themselves. They would not have to suffer, as they had in the past, in many ways, from ignorance, prejudice, and narrow views, but they would have an opportunity of taking part in the policy of the Empire, particularly in that which affected themselves. In consequence of the agitation at Home during the past few years a successful attempt had been made to establish what was called the Imperial Federation League, of which he was an active member, and which took no part in party politics, and was at the present moment presided over by Lord Rosebery, with the Hon. E.

Stanhope, the present Minister of War, as Vice-President, who, so far as party politics were concerned, were on totally different sides. That would prove that in England they did not regard this great question as one of party politics. One of the most important results in connection with that League had been the celebrated Colonial Conference, which the League had been able to induce the Government to summon two years ago at Westminster. They all knew what a remarkable gathering that was, which was presided over by Lord Knutsford (then Sir Henry Holland), the summons being responded to by the self-governing Colonies of the Empire sending their foremost men to represent their interests. From South Africa were sent such men as Sir Thomas Upington, Sir John Robinson, and Mr. Hofmeyr, and he confessed that, when he had the honour of being at the first meeting of the Conference, and seeing these men gathered in the Foreign Office, and having present the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, if his dream of Imperial Federation was to be anything more than a dream, he felt that these were the first symptoms of its realization. It was the first time in history that the Colonies of Great Britain had come to the Mother Country to consult on great National questions. He had read nearly the whole of the large Blue Book which contained the reports of the Conference, and all he could say was that he challenged any a.s.sembly of public men to meet together and show more ability and statesmanlike thought in the discussion of the questions submitted to them than was shown by that Conference during its short reign.

He was delighted with the n.o.ble words of Lord Salisbury, when he expressed his satisfaction, and said he hoped this would be only the first of many similar Conferences, but Lord Salisbury, like other public men, sometimes saw occasion to change his views, because not long ago he said, on a public occasion, that all he knew about Federation was, that it was a word spelt with ten letters, which was somewhat of a wet blanket to some of those who had reckoned upon Lord Salisbury as an ardent supporter. More recently he said, in reply to a question put to him at a public meeting at the East End of London, that geographical considerations would prevent the realization of such a scheme; but his allusions to geographical difficulties vanished before modern science. Was it not in their cognizance that in South Africa, through the medium of the telegraph, they were able to know what was taking place in England within twenty-four hours? Geographical considerations, indeed! that might have been all very well some years ago, when it took three or four months to reach the Cape, but now it took only two or three weeks, and that time would even be probably reduced as time wore on. Such being the case, geographical considerations had nothing whatever to do with the matter. He had no desire to speak unfairly of the gentleman who occupied the position of Prime Minister of the Empire, but he felt sure the time would come when Lord Salisbury would think that Imperial Federation was something more than a word of ten letters; and that his geographical considerations would vanish also, as having no reason in them. In contrast to Lord Salisbury, he would read a short extract from a speech, made only a few months ago at Leeds by Lord Rosebery, when he said: "For my part, if you will forgive me this little bit of egotism, I can say from the bottom of my heart that it is the dominant pa.s.sion of my public life. Ever since I traversed those great regions which own the sway of the British Crown outside these islands, I have felt that there was a cause, which merited all the enthusiasm and energy that man could give to it. It is a cause for which any one might be content to live; it is a cause for which, if needs be, any one might be content to die." Lord Rosebery was at this moment the President of the Imperial Federation League, and only recently he addressed a letter, on behalf of the League, to Lord Salisbury, asking that the Government would summon another Conference like the one which took place with such wonderful results two years ago, and which Lord Salisbury had said he hoped would be the first of many more. The answer he gave, however, was something to the effect that he did not think it desirable that the Government should move in the matter, but that the Colonies should take the initiative. With all humility he would ask how anything of this kind could be moved, except by some motor? There must be something to move the colonists, and who could do that so well as Her Majesty's Government, by inviting, in a courteous and sympathetic spirit, the Colonies to come again and consult on Imperial subjects. He would now touch upon some of the errors prevalent on this great question of Imperial Federation. In some of the Colonies, New Zealand in particular, something had been said that in course of time independence must be the inevitable result.

But he asked why should this be the case? He would also like to say something about what were Imperial questions? Some of the subjects which would be dealt with by the Imperial Federated Parliament would be those of National defence, peace and war, and all subjects in which national interests are concerned. As he had attempted to explain, it would be a federation in which the Colonies would be completely and fairly represented. The whole subject resolved itself into this: Representation. One hundred years ago, one of our distinguished statesmen in England, Charles James Fox, said that "representation was the sovereign remedy for all evils," and that was what was contended for by Imperial Federation. He would now venture to make some allusion to one of the most distinguished statesmen in South Africa, who attended the Conference in London--he alluded to Mr. Hofmeyr--who made a most remarkable speech. He was sorry it was too long to read, but he would select a portion of that very statesmanlike address. Referring to the fourth and eighth subjects proposed for discussion--viz., the feasibility of promoting a closer union between the various parts of the British Empire by means of an Imperial tariff of Customs, to be levied independently of the duties payable under existing tariffs on goods entering the British Empire from abroad, the revenue derived from such tariffs to be devoted to the general defence of the Empire--he said: "I have taken this matter in hand with two objects, to promote the union of the Empire, and at the same time to obtain revenue for general defence. It would establish a connecting link between the Colonies mutually, as well as between the Colonies, and the Empire also, such as is not at present in existence, and which might fuller develop, by-and-by, into a most powerful bond of union." Again, speaking of how this was to be effected, he said: "A body would be required with legislative, and, to some extent, administrative powers; in other words, you would have a limited fiscal Parliament by the side of the British Parliament and the various Colonial Parliaments. This small body, which would have to be created, would perhaps be the germ of an Imperial Federation afterwards." He thought those were most remarkable, and striking words. If people would think the subject out in a calm judicial, and fair spirit, they would see in it the fulfilment of what would not only promote the best interests of the British Empire, but would also be the handmaiden of civilization to others as well, because in it there was no idea of aggrandis.e.m.e.nt.

He had recently made a most remarkable tour through this interesting country, and since he landed in Cape Town, on the 24th May, had seen a great deal of it. He had visited Kimberley, and gone down in a bucket to see one of the diamond mines; he had travelled to Vryburg, and across the treeless desert in the south-western portion of the Transvaal to Klerksdorp; thence on to Johannesburg and down the gold mines, and further on to Pretoria, where he had an interview with President Kruger, and attended meetings of the Volksraad. He had been 150 miles north of Pretoria, and dwelt for a fortnight in the open veldt, without going near a house, and had seen the Kafirs in their kraals. He had crossed the Transvaal, through Heidelburg and Newcastle, in Natal, down to Durban, he had visited Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown, and had now returned to Cape Town. What he had seen of this great country had astonished him, and he thought it had a vast future before it; but it required to be governed in the most enlightened and satisfactory manner, and he appealed to both races--Dutch and English--to co-operate and unite in developing its wonderful resources. It was by this way alone--by cordial co-operation and a generous feeling towards one another, that this would be realized. He believed that Imperial Federation would be the best solution of the difficulties which had arisen. He had heard whispers of what was called Republicanism. We worshipped words rather than things; but the British Const.i.tution, especially when it would be expanded by Federation, would be practically a Republic with a Queen as President. He would, therefore, appeal once more to the judgment of thoughtful men to weigh the principles contended for, calmly, wisely, and without prejudice or pa.s.sion. The flippant, the superficial, the thoughtlessly ambitious, and those who did not take a fair, judicial, and comprehensive view of the great issues involved in it to each portion of the Empire over which the British Crown held sway, might deride and condemn it, but he, as one of its most ardent pioneers and supporters, recommended it to all colonists as well as to his countrymen at home, as the best preservation of their commercial, social, and political interests in the future, which they would lose altogether if they abandoned it in favour of the disintegration of the British Empire. He had studied this question for some years, and by a sort of instinct he felt that it was the right thing to be brought about. He had brought before them proofs that some distinguished men were already feeling the desirability of some such thing being effected, and he could not but help thinking that their ranks would be augmented by other people of influence and power, who may hereafter be brought to think seriously and carefully over this great question. He took the opportunity himself, some three years ago, to put a letter in the London _Times_ suggesting that as the question had now been some years before the public, both in the Colonies and the Mother Country, it would be very desirable indeed if a Royal Commission of Inquiry were sent out, under distinguished auspices, for the purpose of ascertaining the opinions of the various Colonies. This could be carried out on parallel lines to the celebrated Commission sent to Canada, and which resulted in the consolidation of the Dominion. The obtaining of these opinions would be invaluable evidence as to the consensus of feeling in the Colonies on the subject. If the question was to be more than a dream, and became one of practical politics, it would require all the Colonies to express an opinion on the subject. He could not conceive that anything could be more desirable than to take the evidence of distinguished representative men on such a great National question.

Those were the views he expressed in the leading journal; they were individual ideas, which did not yet appear to be acceptable, though he could not help hoping that the day would arrive when some such Royal Commission might be appointed, which would give an impetus to the question--and, at all events, afford all those who took such a deep interest in it an opportunity of seeing how far, in the opinion of the various Colonies, such a change in the British Const.i.tution could be effected, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. There was no desire on the part of the Mother Country, in propounding questions like this, to take any advantage of the Colonies, or do anything which would not be for their benefit.

There was no hurry on the part of the Mother Country, which simply asked the Colonies to help to govern and take part in the National politics of the British Empire.

Mr. J.A. BAM proposed a vote of thanks to Sir Frederick Young for his able and instructive lecture, which was heartily accorded.

SIR FREDERICK YOUNG having acknowledged the compliment, the proceedings closed with a vote of thanks to the President.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Decorative]

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