The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-11 00:00:00

T.11;,' SUN,

farmers, which was increased by finding their Kafir ser-
vants suddenly leave them. They began, therefore, to
take precautions, which alarmed the Kafiri. In the
midst of this alarm and excitement Sir H. Smith wrote
to Lord Grey, on the 14th of October last, that though
" he attached no importance to this excitement," he
would proceed at once to the frontier, and on his arrival
he would report without delay. Oa the 21st October he
wrote that "his Lordship need be under no apprehen-
sion of an outbreak," and that a meeting of Kafir chiefs
had been summoned for the 26th October, when he (Sir
Harry) would explain to them their true position. That
meeting had very important consequences. The great
Galka Kafir chief Sandilii did not attend it, fearing
lest he should be put in prison, for that once before
when he had attended a meeting he had been put into
prison. Sir Harry inamsdiately issued a pro-
clamation deposing Sandilli from the rank of
chief. On the 31st of October Sir Harry an-
nounced this event to Lord Grey. and assured the Noble
Earl that Sandilli possessed " neither influence
nor respect among his people." Never did Sir Harry
Satinet make a more incoherent statement. The attempt
to capture Sandilli had twice caused an outbreak of the
Kafirs. They rose one and all to defend him last winter,
and there was not a man among them who would net
gladly rush between a bullet and the person of Sandilli.
In the same dispatch Sir Harry stated, with reference
to the deposition of Sandilli, that "a crisis had arrived
which would test his system;" that "be had no appre-
henrien of the result;" that " every Kafir who possessed
anything was a supporter of the present Government;"
and that, " if the chiefs had endeavoured to excite the
people, they had signally tailed." In the next dispatch,
dated 6th November, he assured Lord Grey, that the
isis had passed most happily, and that therefote he
should leave the frontier and return to Cape Town. On
his arrival there he wrote again to Lord Grey, on the
26th Nov., assuring the Noble Lord " that he had left
British Kafraria in a state of perfect tranquillity—the
Kafir people fully satisfied, and the chiefs expressing
similar feelings." In the seine dispatch he informed
Lord Grey that he was going to organize in the colony cf
the Cape of Good Hope a rural police, analogous to the
Kafir police, which had been so " remarkably efficient
in British Kafraria." According to our last accounts,
almost every one of the Kafir police had deserted to the
enemy, with their horses, arms, and ammunition.
Sir Harry Smith proceeded forthwith to order the
governor of Natal to arm and lead into the field against
the Amagaikas 3,000 warriors of the hostile population
of the Ausazeothabs. The perfect tranquillity which Sir
Harry described in his dispatch lot the 26th November
did not continue long. On the sth of December he
wrote to Lord Grey that the quiet which lie had such
just grounds to anticipate was not realized. :On the 12th
December he wrote again and assured Lord Grey that
" he perceived little.or no difficulty in restoring tranqui-
lity." Lord Grey was delighted et receiving this dis-
patch, for in reply he wrote how " glad he was to learn
that all immediate danger of an outbreak was at an end."
Unhappy Lord Grey! This letter was witten on the
sth March; the next day he received intelligence that
the outbreak had commenced with fearful violence. It
was evid ,nt, therefore, that the two persons who ought
to Lava been preeminently well informed in these mat-
ters, were pre-eminently ignorant on them. The next
end last dispatch to which he should refer displayed in
the highest degree the blindness of Sir Harry Smith. It
was dated the 20th December last, four days before the
commencement of the war:—lt began with an account
of a meeting of the Lambie tribes, who dwelt in the
neighbourhood of King William's Town, with Sir H.
Smith. He stated that "the conduct of the chiefs and
the feelings of the assembled people were all that he
could possibly desire. The chiefs expressed their deter-
mination to adhere faithfully to the present order of things
avid to obey her Majesty." According to the last accounts
they had fought against our troops, and interrupted the
communications with King William's Town. In the
same dispatch Sir Harry stated that he " had received
accounts of a very improved character as regards the
conduct of the Tambookie chiefs;" and ho looked for-
ward with every confidence to being able to restore ge-
neral harmony and tranquillity." These were the chiefs
about whom Sir Andreas Stockenstroem had entertained
such gloomy forebodings. According to the last ac-
counts they had, as he had already said, attacked our
frontier, carried off a quantity of cattle, and committed
a long list of murders. Next Sir Harry was sorry to
" inform Lord Grey that the majority of the farmers on
the frontier had abandoned their homes, and moved far
into the interior. His advice and influence had been ex-
erted to induce them to remain," but " unfortunately
they had disregarded his counsel." Most fortunate it
was for them that they did disregard his counsel; that
his advice had no weight nor influence with them; that
they did abandon their homes and move far into the in-
terior; for if they had believed in Sir Harry Smith most
of them would have been slaughtered. In the same
dispatch Sir Harry stated that " he was happy to bring
under Lord Grey's notice the good and loyal feelings
which prevailed among the colonists." In the same dis-
patch :Sir H. Smith stated " that they were tranquil,
contented, and happy; that he anticipated that
his system would be perpetuated," and he de-
clared that he " had every confidence in the
prospect before him." Four days after this
dispatch was written the
rGtenapeiultnl as
essdn
rrose
lnodnienedl asrimr sH—
sdefeatedthn ColonelFo Fort
Cox,
an cnkdi n
Somer-
set,tnboenn—
when he attempted to open communications with Sir
Harry. Now, what had made the Gaikas rise in arms?
He had said it already. It was the attempt to capture
Sandilii. The Kafir war, which began in 1846, was re-
kindled in 1847 inconsequence of a dispute between him
and Sir. Henry Pottinger. That dispute had arisen
about 13 or 14 goats, which had strayed or had been
stolen from the colony. Sir H. Pottinger had ordered
Sandilli to restore them, and to give up the thief. San-
dilli had restered 12 goats, but had declared he knew
nothing about the remainder, nor ahnut the thief, if there
were one. Sir Henry Pottinger was not satisfied; he
sent a secret expedition to capture Sandilli. The Kafirs
rose in his defence, and the expedition failed. Accord-
ing to Sir Harry Smith in this "bit of a brush with
Sandilli," 56,0001. were spent on waggon hire alone.
This fact would give the House some faint idea of the
probable expense of a contest with Sandilli.—(Hear.
hear.) Sir Harry Smith, soon after his arrival in the
colony, assembled the Kafirs at King William's Town.
At those meetings, which took place in December, 1847,
and January, 1848, Sir Harry Smith pretended to de-
pose Sandilli from the rank of great chief, and to appoint
himself the Inkoli Inkulu of the Kafirs. He did se with
the strangest ceremonies. He described to Lord Grey
his proceedings on one occasion in the following words:
—" The Kafirs being arranged in a circle, I rode into
the midst of them, bearing in my right hand a sergeant's
halberd, well sharpened, the emblem of war, in
my left hand a magic wand, my baton of peace and
authority, surmounted with a brass knob.—(A laugh.)
I directed each chief to come forward and touch which-
ever he pleased, it was immaterial to me; they all
touched the symbol of peace; then each chief kissed my
foot—(Great laughter)—exclaiming, " Inkoli Inkulu."
I then shook hands with each, never having done so
before. Three cheers were given, and thus I commenced
the foundation of the improvement of their social condi-
tion.—(Great laughter.) At another meeting he made
the Kafir chiefs swear " to obey his commands," " to
disbelieve in witchcraft," " not to buy wire," and " every
year to give a fat ox to her Majesty." He also harangued
them in speeches full of bombast and rhodomontade,
with a mixture of religion, or rather of blasphemy, be-
ginning with a curse and ending with a prayer, much
after the fashion of a mock oration of a trooper of Crom-
well. Thus, by alternately courting and threatening the
Kafirs, by alternately: praising and reviling them, by
playing all manner of fantastic and mountebank tricks,
by aping the manners of the savage, Sir Harry thought
to civilize Kafirs and to impose upon them;, but the
Kafirs laughed at him, turned him into ridicule, and im-
posed upon him. At the great meeting of the 19th of
December last, Sir Harry acted a somewhat similar
farce. According to the reports of the colonial news-
papers he denounced Sandilli as a rebel and an outlaw,
and offered a reward of 5001. for his capture. The Gaika
chiefs remonstrated, and entreated him to show mercy to
Sandilli. Sir Harry declared that he could not do so, for
if he were to show mercy to Sandilli the great Queen of
England would cut off his (Sir Harry's) head, and
that he would not lose his head for such a rebel as
Sandilli.—(Laughter.) The next day Sir Harry pro-
claimed
a successor to Sandilli, and wrote to Lord Grey
that he bad every confidence in the prospect before us.
Two days afterwards, in the postscript to the same dis-
patch, he assured Lord Grey that the best feeling per-
vaded the Kafirs, and that the Gaikas were much pleased
with his conduct. Finally, on the 24th, finding that no
Kafir would betray his chief, even for the enormous re-
ward of 5001.. Sir Harry sent Colonel Mackinnon, with
a force of 587 men, to capture Sandilli. That expedi-
tion failed, as a similar one had failed in 1847. The
Gaikas rose in defence of their chief, they attacked our
troops in a narrow defile, from which our troops were
with difficulty extricated with serious loss. Then the
Kafirs destroyed the military villages on the frontier,
slaughtering the inhabitants; next, they surrounded Sir
Harry Smitll in Fort Cox, owing to which "accidental
circumstance" (to use the strange language of the Hon.
Gentleman the Under Secretary of State for the Colo-
nies), Sir Harry Smith was for several days pre-
vented
from communicating with the colony. Next,
the Kafirs repulsed General Somerset in his
attempt to open communications with Fort Cox.
Finally, Sir Harry Smith escaped, and on the 31st
of December rescL,ed King William's Town. IM-
roediravly he issued a proclamation, calling upon the co-
lonists to rise en masse, destroy and exterminate the
barbarous savages, and promising them unlimited license
to plunder. Now, the Tambookies had assailed us on
the north—the Kafir police had deserted—the Rat River
Hottentots had rebelled—the Boers were doggedly in-
active, and disaffection prevailed amongst the coloured
classes on the frontier, who had been in the last war our
allies. lie was afraid, therefore, that a serious war had
commenced, and that it would be a costly one.—(Hear,
0179 had seen in the colonial newspapers that an
tat aal notica had been issued, promising all able-bodied
men who should enrol a bounty of 21. for six months'
families, and with arm, was
service, 6d. a day pay,
liltahetchroaiuttiorenras
accoutrements
themselv_ees and
families, and clothing.
He had no doubt that
alarmed, however, when he read a_wthis necessary.notice,
what the country would have to for
without doubt we should have to and thoughtliwas
paayfit,ans war; for
this war Sir H. Smith and Lord Grryeyor
were
responsible;
it it had broken out in their own peculiar province of Bri-
tish Kaffaria,which was no part nor portion of the colony
of the Caps of Good Hope. The last question was,
what steps ought to be taken to relieve this country
from any expense on account of future wars with the
Kafirs. It was clisar that first we must defeat the Kafirs
and reduce them to subjection, and pay for so doing;
what should we then do? Adhere to the present
system of defending the frontier by troops at the ex-
pense of this country? In 1848 he ban presumed to
warn the House that under that system there would be
a Kafir war every three or four years, with a large bill
to pay for it; that there was only one way to save our

purses, and that was to give the inhabitants of the Cape
of Good Hope free institutions—complete control over '
their own expenditure, and the management of their re-
lations with the frontier tribes—(Hear, hear)—that
the same time the colonists should be made to distinctly
understand that they must defend themselves against
the Kafirs, and pay for their own defence; and that,
finally, our troops should be withdrawn from the fron-
tier, and only an Imperial garrison maintained in the
naval station of Cape Town. If these measures were
not adopted the House might feel certain that on the
average of years the people of the United Kingdom
would have to pay from 600,0001. to 700,0001. a year for
the Cape of Good Hope—a sum which considerably ex-
ceeded the exports of -British produce and manufactures
to that colony. The Cape of Good Hope was not worth
that price.—(Hear, near.) With free institutions the
inhabitants of the Cape of Good Hope would be fully
capable of defending themselves against savages. They
had bid defiance to the might of Great Britain, and
threatened by force of arms to resist any attempt to
transport convicts to their shores. Let them display
a similar energy end self-reliance in a war with
Kafirs, and they would be more than a match
for Sandilii and all his followers.—(Hear, hear.)
Ho had concluded his observations with regard to the
military expenditure of the United Kingdom ou account
of those colonies which were neither military stations
nor convict settlements. He had endeavoured to show
that if those colonies were governed as they ought to be
governed, no troops should be maintained in them at the
expense of the United Kingdom, except for strictly Im-
perial purposes, and that it was neither just nor fair to
call upon the inhabitants of the United Kingdom to de-
fray out of their taxes the expenses of the troops which
were required for merely local purposes. He had also
attempted to show, with regard to the Cape of Good
Hope and New Zealand, that if free institutions, with
self-novernment, were given to those colonies, a very
considerable redaction might ultimately be made in the
military force maintained by the United Kingdom in
those colonies, and that by that reduction a further
saving might be made in the effective military expendi-
ture of the United Kingdom—to the amount of at least
550,0001. a year. Therefore the saving which he con-
sidered could be made in the effective military expendi-
ture of the colonies to which his resolutions applied
would amount to at least 1,200,0001. a year. If to
that sum were added a proportionate amount of the
dead weight, then the ultimate saving in the
military cost of those colonies would be at least
1,600,000/. a year.—(" Hear, hear" from Mr. Williams.)
If his views on the subject of military Stations were
adopted and acted upon, the military force maintained
in the colony at t,e expense of the United Kingdom
might be still further reduced. The principles which he
had laid down with regard to military expenditure were
equally applicable to civil expenditure. For 1846-7
the civil expenditure of Great Britain in the colonies
had been returned at about 500,000/. Of this sum about
300,000/. was for the clothing, maintenance, superinten-
dence, and transport of convicts; 70,000/. was expended
in the military stations. These two sums being re-
quired for Imperial purposes, had very properly come
Out of the Imperial purse. He thought that by adopt•
ing the principles which he had laid down the whole of
that sum of 130,000/. might ultimately be saved, with
the exception of the sum paid for the salaries of go-
vernors. For, in his opinion, if the goveruor of a colony
were appointed by the Imperial Government, he should
be considered as an Imperial officer, and be paid out
of the Imperial treasury. In concluding his observa-
tions on our colonial expenditure he must remark that
in every colony there were many persons who had a
strong sinister interest in the amount of Imperial expen-
diture. These persons had made, or expected to make,
large gains, by contracts, jobs, and by the innumer-
able other modes of robbing the mother country. They
rejoiced in every increase of Imperial expenditure.
To them a Kafir or a Maori war, or a rebellion, was
a godsend. He had heard it, on good authority, that
in the Canadian rebellion the enormous gains of these
persons had. been equal to the losses of the rest of the
community, and that they had been heard to boast,
" The good old times of that rebellion, and the speedy
commencement of the next." Sir H. Smith had stated
in one of his dispatches, that during the last Kafir war
many persons had amassed large sums of money, and that
the consequences were a redundancy of money at the
Cape of Good Hope, with general prosperity, and a
tendency to over speculation. He had heard similar
statements with regard to New Zealand, and it was self-
evident that with au Imperial expenditure many times
greater than the local revenue of a colony, there must
be a fine harvest for the jobbing and peculating tribe,
and that noxious date must flourish and multiply.—
(Hear, hear.) To this class, and it was not an uninflu-
ential one in our modern colonies, any proposal for a re-
duction of Imperial expenditure was in the highest de-
gree distasteful. Corrupted by that expenditure, they
had not the feelings of self• reliance and self-respect,
which, according to the just remark. of Lord Grey, our
old colonists displayed in their conflicts with the Indians,
and even with the might of France. Many of these un-
worthy Anglo-Saxons would, in their hearts, prefer Colo-
nial-office despotism, with huge Imperial expenditure, to
the freest institutions with imperial economy. We were to
blame for this degeneracy, which every high-minded and
every right-minded colonist deplored. We were to
blame fur having departed from our old colonial policy
and demoralised our colonial children by our waste and
extravagance. The sooner we returned to the old policy
the better for them morally, for us pecuniarily; their
characters would be elevated and ennobled by becoming
sell-reliant and obtaining self-government; and our
money would be saved by bestowing upon them the
freest institutions, and strictly enforcing the; maxim,
"No Imperial expenditure for local purposes." That
maxim was the sum and substance of his first resolution;
those resolutions expressed his idea of the true colonial
policy of Great Britain, which was self-government for
these colonies, and no Imperial expenditure except for
military stations; with that polioy, the more of these co-
lonies we had, and the fewer military stations we had
need of, the richer and more powerful the British em-
pire would be. He moved those resolutions in no hos-
tile spirit to the Government, but, on the contrary, to
encourage them to pursue boldly and vigorously the po-
licy which they had commenced on the continent of
Australia. He asked them to assent to this motion—he
asked all Hon. Members to support it who wished to
reduce the national expenditure; for if there were any
portion of that expenditure in which a considerable re-
duction could be made without injury to the empire,
that portion was our colonial expenditure; and that ex-
penditure could only be reduced by acting in conformity
with the principles contained in the resolution which he
now begged leave to move. (The Hon. Gentleman re-
sumed his seat amidst general cheering.)
Mr. URQUHART, in seconding the motion, said, that
if adopted it would not only effect the important objects
which the Hon. Baronet had in view, but would like-
wise open a door to an object to which he (Mr. Urqu-
hart) attached great importance—viz., the destruction of
the present power of departmental government. The
Hon. Baronet had stated near the beginning of his speech
that the strength of this country abroad depended upon
the judicious selection of our military and naval estab-
lishments, and at the same time he had laid down cer-
tain wise and prudent maxims for the selection of those
establishments. He (Mr. Urquhart) thought that Gib-
raltar afforded a remarkable instance of the injudicious-
ness of our whole colonial arrangements. During the
150 years for which that colony had been in our posses-
sion it had cost us scarcely less than 250,0001. a year,
and, including the additional sums which we had spent
upon fortifications and otherwise, he believed that the
whole of our expenditure upon that colony alone would
represent a capital sum of no less than 100,000,0001.,
which he maintained was entirely thrown away, for the
colony neither furnished a place for the defence, repara-
tion, or provisioning of our fleet, nor the means of at-
tacking an enemy. Instead of its giving us a security
over Spain, it rendered that nation the necessary
and inevitable enemy of England, unless when it
found itself obliged to fall back upon us in conse-
quence of a greater hostility elsewhere; and it no more
commanded the Mediterranean because it was
placed at its entrance than it commanded the
Atlantic because it was placed on its side. To use the
words of Napoleon, " Gibraltar opened nothing, and
shut nothing; while it secured to France the undying
hatred of Spain against England."—(Hear, hear.) And
yet upon this unimportant place we were squandering a
sum equal to the eighth part of the national debt; in-
stead of placing it immediately in schedule A.—(Hear.)
Gibraltar also afforded an apt illustration of the internal
liberties of those colonies called military, the privilege
of participating in the government of their own inter-
nal affairs being entirely denied to the colonists, on the
plea that military colonies required to be treated like
vessels, which were ruled entirely by the captain on the
quarter-deck. The Hon. Member then proceeded to
argue that Gibraltar, Malta, and the lonian Islands suf-
fered at once under the maleficent influence of the Fo-
reign and the Colonial Departments. The adoption of
the present motion, therefore, by depriving those de-
partments of their control over the army would go far
to neutralise their evil influence, With respect to the
Colonial-office in particular, he begged to say that if it
did not soon resign itself to the task of correcting its
own abuses, the unanimous voice of England would soon
be raised to put it down; and ho wondered that the
Noble Lord at the head of the Government, whose poli-
tical position had been acquired by the correction of
abuses, had not ere now applied himself to the correc-
tion of that greatest of all abuses, the Colonial-office;
for he felt assured of this, that if the good sense of the
country did not put down the Colonial Department as
at present constituted, the Colonial Department would
put down the colonial empire of Great Britain.
The SPEAKER having put the question,
Mr. HA WES asked the indulgence of the House
while he endeavoured to offer 130020 reply to the able and
eloquent speech of the Hon. Member for Southwark.
That Hon. Gentleman had made a speech showing his
usual industry and great learning, and replete with de-
tails of great interest and importance. It was one that
deserved the best attention of the House, and he had lis-
tened to it with deep interest. It was impossible for him
altogether to dissent from many of the observations of
the Hon. Baronet in reference to our colonial empire.
But on the other hand he was bound to say, looking at
the speech as indicating the policy ho would press us to
adopt, that such a policy would be deeply injurious to
this country, would injure its best interests, and impair
one of the noblest empires that any power had ever pea.
sensed. The Hon. Baronet had based nearly the whole
of his arguments upon pecuniary considerations. Having
ascertained what the convict stations and military sta-
tions were, which he altogether excluded from his ob-
servations now, the Hon. Gentleman advised the House
deliberately neither more nor less than to abandon
those colonies which we now possessed, in which
we had any military establishments.—(Hear, hear.)
Was the House prepared for such a step? And
on what grounds did he rest the policy. which
he recommended? Ho (Mr. Hawes) again said
he could not discover any beyond those of a pecuniary
character. It might be that we were too poor to hold
our own—that we have fallen from our high estate; but