The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-06 00:00:00

LONDON,

. . -
this country- had-not then enjoyed its present rapid and .e/ts.,
- lensive means of communication.' But other adventurers bldg
• gone 'out end taken • the' place of those who' had disapperireds
Sand the settlers having gradually become atronger, had; at
length; -been-ablasnot Only to repel the savages but to exter-
minate them-. For the races thus destroyed there had been
-little; sympathy felt In this country ; and; indeed, their fate
was tea generally einknownas the fate of our'own early ad-;
venturers: 'There was no; resernblerice between that case
and the':case. of Our South African frontier, or even the case
of the' present-frontier of- the Milted' Stites? What' hid'
happened during this very-year in the United States? Why;
it appears from some of those reports which were presented
to Congress. by the different Ministers' Of that country, and
more -especially 'from the ' report of the Secretary at War,
• that there had been carried on a frontier War against the:
barbarous Lichens by the regular troops of the United states;
that the expense of 'conveying those troops froth one part et
•the frontier had of late been enormouslyincreased, and that
the charges,incurred in that way by-the Central Government
•of the- :United States had amounted to somewhere abOut
.700,000/S' more- than= the charge incurred in the preceding
year.—( Hear hear.) That was an expense which fell, not On
any individual state, but on the central' GoVernment of the
.country,•which would not permit its 'citizens to be overrun
.or destroyed by the Indiane.—(Hear
Africa .the difficulties of our position had, hear.) In South
been greatly aggra-
vated by the circumstances under-which -nre had undertaken
to colonize that country.s,iWe had ehoSett in the year "1819
to say that we would plant a settlement in South Africa tar-
heyondthe metropolis Of the
Coleny; and 'a considerable
giant had been made by that House for the ' parries(' Of
carrying out; that project.' ' Nows;that was not our ancient
policy in North America—if policy that could be celled! '
•
which: lutdbeen :in reality the neglect • and ' abandonment of '•
,an policy..-(Hear, hear.) If our settlers had been' attacked,
on the frontiers of South Africa, and if women and children
had been-murdered there,. would it he quite satisfactory' to
that House; after we had sent, out the colonists, that they
should have been ; left to their 'fate? - 'Different Governinents
and different Secretaries of State--Lord Stanley atone time;
;Lord ,Gleneig at another, and Lord Grey ;at -another-e had '
acted on., the belief • that the lives of our own
.' citi-
zens whom we had sent out to South , Africa could
zoontgl .afaedr.m_ '
Taherme awttaear a
ofn
o t h' indifferenceevent
l .]
icl tho mtihgeh t'Pe hoapvlee 6 co-f -
corred ; and that. was, that the colonists might have plun-
elered or unjustly attacked the natives. But even that would
not have been borne by the • people of *this' countrfor by
their>representatives., In the year 1835, when it had been
tbought,that some injustice had been !shown to the' abori-.
;glues; that House bad interfered for their;protections.+-(Hear,
hear.),.. They had: thus been led, step
b y' step , to the adoption,
of a system whichhe admitted could not be cerried on to its''
present extent—namely,. they had said on the one handthat
they :would-not allow ;British colonists to be murdered,'
while. they, said: on. the other hand that they would not
allow any injustice to be done to the natives—and More thah
that, they would not allow the :savages • to- murder' one
-
another.-s( Hear.) .That was, at, all events; a very honour-
able feeling on the part of this country; and it was eertainly
.a.• very different one from that which had preiailed a few'
centuries ago. But 'the question at- preient erases hove are
we to deal with the future government of the colony ?Upon Upon '
that question the Right Hon. Gentleman had laid that it was'
,a great fault on the part'of 'Lord Grey to have told, General
Cathcart that he ought to make a report to ' the Government
at home. -.But. he (Lord J. Russell) confessed that 'he quite
concurred in that proceeding, and before General Cathcart
bad left this country.he had had a . long> interview with
hint, and -bad told . the ; Gallant General; that in dealing
with .the ,policy to be pursued hereafter much might depend'
on .the judgment which he would form. s.
npou the subject. It
was therefore desirable, in his opinion, that General Cath-
cart should make known the Conclusions at which he- might
:
have arrived in the mattee. The great difficulty of the- case
arose from the fact that we. had in the colony but •a very
smalllarge
native white p
appoaplua population,
tion' , surrounded by a comparatively
; so 'that there had been noineanss
such as had existed in. North Ainericarof outnurnbering the
natives. The different Governor's of the colony= Sir B.
D'Urben, Sir P. Maitland, Sir H.' Pottinger, ' and Sir H.
Smith,;,- :had endeavoured, one after another, to supply that'
. ' -
want of an ove-whelming
.white :population, by military
frontiers and military defences. Bat the establishment of 'a
military: ;frontier . shad-
necessarily entailed enormous
expense, and difficulty, . ;and loss of life; among our troops.
With regard - to the future policy to be pursued in the co-
lony, .we had, a.• problem ; of the utmost difficulty to solve:.
He did not; think it would be satisfactory tothis country on
the one ,hand that' we should withdraw ourstroops, and that
the colonists should be left without any sufficient protection.
He • believed that - such a comae 'would bring dis-
able presage for the . future maintenance of the British em
honour on the British name, and audit would/belt lament'
able
hear.) But, on the ' other hand, he; thought'
that we could not continue to maintainAuf immense frontier,
which was, ,in fact, ,no use to this country--( Hear, hear).-,-
by a mere military force. They would be obliged to adopt,
a policy between these two courses. He ' thought that such
a policy might be established, and he should -say that some
4,000 men might be; sufficient for many years for the Cape.
Undenbtedly the question of self-government in the colony
was one of immense - importance: There -had- not been, of
late years, any effort made to give thesafree institutions to
that colony. He regretted that a misunderstanding arose
in which the. late GOvernment thought they were in the
right, ,as. doubtless,' ;also did the . representatives of the
colonists,: and which misunderstanding prevented' the es-
tablishment of free- representative, institutions in that
-colony yin the year ,1850 or 1851. He' believed that other-
wise the Cape colonists might now be in possession of
these institutions. . Having obtained such,: he be•
lieved they would' conduct them in a different spirit'
from
.that. which they ;heard mentioned' to-night of- the
loniens.-,-(Hear, hear.) ,He believed the Dutch as well as.
the English Colonists-. understood the working of free insti-
tutious; ; and that when the Constitution was in operation the
representatives would- be guided by the 'wishes and opinions
of the colonists themselves.—(llear, hear.) ' He (Lord John
Russell) could not conclude without saying ;a few words in
reference to Sir Harry Smith. , As regarded his high mili-
tary character and reputation nothing had occurred to im-
pair it.—(Cries of " Hear, near.) He should be sorry, in-
ieed, if a reputation so briLs--stsand confirmed by the repre-
sentations of his gallant fellowstoldierssehould to /injured by
what hail taken place —(gear, hear;}—ant '1.2..0...ranted not
Sir Harry Smith enjoyed the favour and confidence of his
fellow-countrymen of all classes.—(Hear, hear.)
Sir J. PAKINGTO ST had listened to the speeches of the
several Hon. Members who had addressed the House on this
important subject, not alone because of the-ability of those
addresses, but also of the interest whiph
.attached to the
subject. The Irons I3aronet the Member for Southwark
Hon. Gentleman the 'Alemb:er fOr the kiniversitY
always spoke .With ability on this. subject; and the right
had' also delivered a speech in much of which. he' (Sir J.
Pakington) entirely concurred: - However,-he should add
that,., after listening to these speechess he hacl.heard. nothing
:of Oxford
to affect the'intebtion:Of the qiiestion raised by Hon. Gen' ,
tlemen- al to what was to hi ine fitture policy of the Govere-
pens . with respect to, the future,boundaries of the Cape:
That .was a question of great difficulty, which difficulty was
much increased by late events; and it- was a question "on::
which it was the first duty of. aGoierninent to exercise the .
great*. care and-elidtroti before committing themselves to
observe- that, when seeking a vote of supply on account, of,
tphleidsgLorr
war, nothing principles of policy:- (Hears hear.) He might
could be more natural than that a
discussion of this kind should arise. Yet, at the same time,
he should Say hethought it
.was somewhat premature.--
(Heaii hear.,) It had been impresieden her Majesty's fit-
nisters thet,t4g,,shoilld give free institution to...the Cape,
and beStoir on; them freedom, end then to leave them
to the control of themselves.' NOw. with regard to
.conterring the boon' of freedom on the Cape, he might ob-.
serve it had been already dohe, though, in his opinion, some-
what too tardily.—(Hear.) His-(Sk "J.:- Pakington's) pre-
decessor bad sent out, to_ the Cape a form ' of constitution
which was at present under consideratien at the Cape, and '
since he (Sir J. Pakington).eathe into office .he had done all
in his power to facilitate the . consideration of_ these. ordi-
hances with ayiew that no time should be • lost in putting
th'em in operation.—(Hear, hear.) But when they caine to
consider the future policy which the Government was to ex-
ercise with regard to the Cape, he should say the question
Was exceedingly complicated. - (Hear, - hear.) No person
could deny that great disaffection hid existed in that colony
in reference to British rule. 'The slavers' qtiestien was one
cause ; the struggle with regard to the admission of convicts
was another; and the delay of granting the boon of freedom
had been the third cause. It was therefore the duty of Go=
verpment to see tbat no danger ehOuld be. incurred by the ,
too- recipitate arrival at a decision:—(Hean'hear.) lie did
not wish to • attribute blame to any quarter; but he.should
say that a great extent of territory had been added by the i
late Administration. Neither had he any desire to say,
anything urinteourable of Sir • Harry Smith, inas- ,
much as he had listened with pleasure to' the manner in
>which his high militarY ' merits bad been spoken ,of that ,
night:—(Hear, hear-) The last dispatches received from the.
Cape went far to show that Sir Harry Smith was still serts
iog his ' coUntry with the same vigour as, was displayed by
hhn on the'PlainS of India.(Loud cheers)—and he fully ex-
pected before lolig to.hear that, riot' only were the evils of
the war at an end, hitt also, that before his return, Sirflarry.
Smith would nayeaeliieved the great object of his command.
-(Cheers.)' Indeed he (Sir e
---- rakingtoe) knew of no in-
telligence that Would be more'
acceptable to him, or, he be-
• lieved, to the public in general. But-with all these feelings
deep` in his mind; he could not fail to ' recollect that it had
been 'under the Administration of Sir Harry Smith that great
and
,rapid accessions had been made to the possessors of
Great Britain; end which accessions had been the chief means
-of involving this country in the late Kafir war.-(Flear,
hear.) Sir Harry Smith arrived at the Cape in December,
JBl7, 1-lo•was not more than a fortnight .there, when he
wrote hOme `to say that he had extended the' English bouti-'
dary by. some 70,000 square miles; and in the following
February—three Months from his arrival--he wrote to say
he had added also the Orange Liver sovereignty, " It hid been
asserted bf the Noble Lord opposite '-(Lord ' J. RusSell) that,
, Sir B.,VUrbatilad also that tendency
-o increase territory.
Now, in 183, the question of whether or not Kafimria was
to be added, to the-British dominions was at issue;_ and on
that occasion Lord Glenelg refused to g'ive-his Sanction to
the
,project.-(Hear, hear.) lioweve.r, Lord Grey did give
his sanction to every one Othe additions made by Harry
Saab. The dispatch of Lord.. Glenelg in 1835 contained
the' ollOwing :—" The claint_net. sovereignty over the new
,provinces, beonded ' by the .n. i
of and the Kei, must
:.be'' renouixed: - The territory 0 the -x.a6,,„.,.,,.
_n3
...ware,
is
fertile and salubrions, contrip.ted
„with''' A a
our sterility of
position. But the great evil,
.!,3 the magnitude, and cense- '
' ' bouridines, and
quent extent of its .. the certainty of our '
• to contact with tribes' ;:being brought in numerous . and war;
like"—(Hear, hear.) different
nod
alefiel 'was the- policy of Lord,'
Grey—( Hear, hear)s-Ler ,
,g , Also added:—" The '
restitution of invaded' rights would involve injuries more
formidable than any they
,could rerhsdy.,,
',I et,-no liter
than September - last, Lord. (Trey, notwithatanding his pre-
.
tension, wrote a
vious sanction 'of extension, s
dispatch . • •
intructing
Oran
that the 'kingdom of the. _ e range .oovereignty should be
. revoked., and that it should b i e
now criaeouencelabandOned
—(Hear, hear.) They were
hich were awaiting the arrival of
sdispatches from the Cape, .which
who, to contain
Iv
toners, se
the report of the Commis,
their e' by
' desire of the
Government, were addressing.
_attention to the subject.
. tances that her xrt,, ~-. .
It was under these circumstances . jesry s Minis-
thensselVes
ters were called upon to address to this most iin-•
of
portant -and most difficult task . ~extricating
the country
which it h -..
front the embarrassments in, , had . been involved.—
t• Agreeable to the, present Government if '
It wenlabe mos • s
they Ceuld 'non% 'take that . most popilia
the Au'ea' course of saying
they Were resolved' to' thrthv
the c'n to the colonists -
themselVeS; but he Was ithopes country, world appre-.
were more.'
ciate the ceutee that they
..disposed
.to
uetion of take—
namely;'-
to say that it was a q a .
a.. y extraordinary diffi=
cnlty, that they had to repent hSt decision to act, but
Would now give all 'the attention in their
best attention oP°7r -to the sub-
ject. ' He could Promise the were bound to wait, her Majesty's
Ministers to the subject.
He
felt they we
they .expected, bu
not 'only for the information t also for the
the result of Completion of that war, and .. those free rem-
. . . •is they were going to confer;. and
, sentative institutions which
.. .
d • •
l' het.' d. • h would be able with Ile care and- • Caution
nste t ey
and safety othat '
to.bestow the blessings of freedom...i, .
~ n colony
withoutln the least impairing ,the di e . gutty, or honour of the
Crowia.-(Cheers-) '' that the R*
Mr. VOEBUCK begged to say t . e ight Ilon.,Gen-..
House did sot tienian who last addressed the . - understand the
question.- (Laughter.) These Wala more, behind_ the curtain,
tbaa had been referred to 11112, or by any other Hon. Geri-
tlelnitli
whit 'addressed the 1101180. in. the course of Pit.i