The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-16 00:00:00

•
Hon. Members said, that if we deprived the colonists cf
the means of defending themselves—if we objected
.1",
their system of defence on the ground that it seas, into
human and inconsistent with justice, e e were bounailo
provide an effective system of defence for them, and., ust,
no right to complain, because it proved to be a uf
upon the imperial resources. It was impossible ncno„
allow that this argument had a great deal of force. u
.
that as it might, the commando system was dissolaslr,
IC
In 1835, Sir B. D'Urban being Governor, 10,000 ill' g
invaded the east district, destroying farms and sweePted
away everything they encountered, until they converts
a flourishing province into a desert. Sir B. D
took his military measures with great vigour,
with only a small regular force, directed with ability, 2'o
met the Kafirs. He was successful; but, the conitertj,,,
se stem having been abolished, the inconveniences 0 est
system which succeeded it began to be felt, and the o'l,
of the military operations attracted attention. The ere
dinary and extraordinary charge for the military defeet`i,
of the colony in 1835 amounted to 249,7901. The eis•og
mated charge of the military chest for the year enuld.
the 31st March, 1837, was 206,149/. It must be ea
rl
been that this was a considerable expense, and lt
been incurred by resisting the incursions of the li:4,es
and in def.< ace of the colony. In one of his dispatch,
Sir B. D'Urban stated that between the 23d of Deceibs
her and the Ist of January, before the war began' ;ea
Kafirs had murdered every man they found, destr°ll
250 houses, and carried off 100 000 head of cattle
test
150,000 sheep and goats. This alone would show t
the evils we now had to deal with were not evils Ilerz,sl
themselves, or to be met by simply declaring that "0
bad been done was wrong, and that some other sPt*,,,,
must be at once adopted. Upon the occasion in clu,lie
tion Sir B. D'Urban carried hostilities far into :,01
country of the Ksfirs; he even went beyond the 'Col
severely chastised those tribes who had either aett'ir`bs
participated in or encouraged the hostile invasion 0' to
13ritish territory. Sir B. D'Uurthan then declared
opinion that if we desired to maintain our territorY r
cure for the future it was necessary to extend the Vigodary,
dary, and he recommended that the boundary shoelesei
carried beyond the Kieskamma, and fixed at the 91.
river. We should not then blame Sir H. Smith for so
tending our frontier line, when we found that in 1 or,
it was proposed to extend our boundary for the Pso,
pose of giving greater security to the Albany and recl
merset districts, which it mast always be remember
had a just claim to our protection. The Cabilitio
that day took this matter into serious consideration.
authority of Sir B. D'Urban stood very high. The :,s1
litary ability which he had shown, and the sure
had attended his operations, induced' the Got%
ment to attach great weight to his representations• od
the other hand, it was stated in this country--fko
with great effect on the public mind—that the ha,'is
tribes were treated with great iejustice; and that'
fact, the European settlers themselves were the eetipd
of hostilities by the outrages they corattutt;o:
and that the time had come when it was ne7,01
nary to replace a system of severity towards the ell's se.
by one of conciliation and justice. Finally,
.Lord PI, of
ley at length gave instructions that the new territoo.oo
which Sir B. D'Urban had already taken pesee9sist
should be abandoned. We returned within our fore'ee
boundary, and it was determined that treaties should
o'lo
made with chiefs of the Kafirs, and reliance pla,ieed,,e
them as the means of preserving peace. Sir u'°°-to
Napier went to the Cape, not long after, in order c,
carry these instructions into effect. Sir Andries Sy o 6
kenstrom, a man of considerable talent, and exert 0,
great influence over all who came into contact with hloe
was appointed to carry on the necessary negotiations 4,
the frontiers, and to conciliate, as far as possible, the
Dutch settlers, whose confidence he possessed, snel;tas
native tribes, to whom he was known. From this
disturbances occasionally broke out, although they tle'n'j
assumed the character of open war, for Sir B. D'Ult/hti
successes had been striking and remarkable, 00"[I'si
left a powerful impression on the natives. Incursebe
were continally being made into our territory forted
purpose of cattle stealing. These forays were bel'eile
to be favoured by the chiefs, although they constaeid;
disavowed the imputation. Sir ;George Napier h,e jo.
conference with too chiefs for the purpose 01 'O.
clueing them to observe the treaties into which they eA
tered. It soon, however, became apparent that the 'Ol.
system was as little likely to secure permanent tr 4,6
quillity as that which it had superseded; for in 184"esi;
during the time when Sir P. Maitland was goverPoi
there arose a fresh war, which was more extensive lbe
dangerous than any that had occurred before. I,l'„cia
Parliamentary papers would be found Sir P. Malte/1:,
account of the occurrences—at first trivial, and sehtselt
quently assuming a more aggravated character--/fros
led to this war. It appeared that in this instance ate
Kafirs bad not to complain of any invasion of their r'bro,
by the settlers; but, because the British authoritielast
posed to punish, in a part of the British colony, "
who bad committed some offence against the law, a P;pr
of Kafirs came in to rescue the prisoner. It was 11°-4,0
tained that this was not an isolated attempt, babeo
suggested by one of the chiefs. Now, there could to
doubt that when Sir P. Maitland went to the coloelA
was actuated by the most benevolent intentions, and of
was inclined to adopt the opinion that the outbrea'", et
the Kafirs were entirely owing to the non-observeotnca
a conciliatory system towards them. Sir P. Areit'efiora
however, bore remarkable testimony to the good
duct of the settlers, and the absence of all provocation,
their part for a considerable period before the war c;s01
menced; indeed, he declared in one of his dispatches
the colonists had committed no act of offence spirted
natives for seven preceding years. This war coot"hi-e0
a long time, and was more costly to the Treasury is
any that had previously taken place. Sir P. Maitlaawir,
the first instance, and Sir H. Pottinger subsecluet/del
carried on the war with the success which had at° se
former contests, and ultimately the Kafirs were e,'
plately, and, it was hoped, permanently defeated. S'ro.
Maitland then considered wnat system he should roct'fas,
mend for the purpose of securing the colony tram e teat
ther depredations and attacks, and he recommended'
Do
the boundary should be extended to the Kei, and tbstro
hostile Kafir tribes should be allowed to live in the Po
adjoining the British territory, but that those district
should be peopled with friendly tribes. Sir H. Pettinbt
took a view of the subject not very dissimilar from 'as,
of Sir P. Maitland. Earl Grey also issued inet
lirs-g•
tions to the same effect; but, at the same timee,-tiSts
Bested that it might be possible to control the 100,
through their chiefs, and to obtain the 00-opereosel
of the latter in an endeavour to improve the 00
habits of the Kafirs by discountenancing Prgicl,or,
which were abhorrent to British feeling. Sore° 101
sons, and among them the Hon. Member wh°o
brought the question before the House, seemed to ,
bol
that the Kafirs ought to be left at liberty to do lied
they pleased among themselves. Upon that point he filed
come to a different conclusion. Practices prelc-itli
amongst savage tribes in various parts of the world 0.
which British feeling could never be brought in arc the
ante. The Hon. Baronet the Member for Southwar'hicof
other evening indulged in some pleasantry on the 511tlie
of witchcraft; but this belief in witchcraft was rani
cover for the perpetration of the grossest abuses• tber
man possessed large herds, or was rich in any °sal)
kind of property, it was a common thing to aechee,i tbs
of witchcraft, whereupon he was put to death, '44 It
whole of his property was divided amongst the chie7;oo
was impossible that these murders and eonfiseit,-,04
should take place under the eye of British mask)- pot
and governors without an attempt on their part te.sloo
down practices so abhorrent to us. Consequently ,:iitts
Grey, Sir H. Pottinger, and lastly Sir • P`"itte'
bad endeavoured to suppress these practices,
ii"o3o°
out, however, attempting to destroy the 13:
rity of the chiefs, which they looked 111)°,':,,gsr
a means of governing the people. Sir H. P"''4o/
drew up an able plan, by which he thought the c" bot
might be secured from war for the future ►hife'
like others who had gone before him—as able iteesi,
self—he was of opinion that the territory should e`ti of
tended to the Kei. Sir H. Smith had been aceasepill,
despotic government, and almost of tyranny and ertilsite
But the objection which had been made in some (4str
letters that had appeared in the newspapers on the '13,0
ject was, that Sir H. Smith had behaved with too 0,0,
lenity to the principal chiefs. In one of the lett'ar
for instance, it was stated that Sir Henry Patti hod
kept Sandilli a prisoner, and that if Sir H. Smith Lod
either hanged him or sent him out of the colony, loin/
of allowing him his freedom, the colony would 11,°/,e,
ht
ando those
en chiefs,dec
in the danger in which it was now placed.--(t1-00
The accusation against Sir H. Smith had been the re
bad too great confidence, that he placed too great aid
mhisinttceeindotuntehproadntetdsht,aihratenHhdfe.atishthahmati
Smith
hf
not sufficiently distrust them. He (Lord J. Russell) ad'
ed that no insurr OO
cwi pa
sa
dthbeewlieavr which had brokel:eset-i°t
thhaadt takene a character which ho had not expected '.llO.
was not unaware that there were circurastil„l3oce
of dangetrhwas quite clear from the fact of his O.
levi Cape iavnedd itnhabtisbee°,4l:
and writing home to say thooel
circumstancesthe
on the frontier required his apperirese
there, in order to meet the danger that was Oro
hended. But he certainly had not believed thet
es
danger would assume the formidable shape that 11,ir
aystmuzd.—(Elear, hear.) But, in making this ts°7,oes
&ion, he could not forget that numerous other inste:so
could be cited in which men of great talent and P°n"t,Pol
of government had been surprised by the breaking 0-6„a
an insurrection which they thought they would °p'
means of preventing.—(Hear, hear.) As the Hon.
tleman the Under-Secretary of State for the ColObst
said the other night, Sir H. Smith had had the :ell
assistance of Colonel Mackinnon, an officer who w5,9,;e0'
acquainted with the frontier, and who was not only log
pablo of rendering valuable aid in the field, but of gi-e)
information of the impending danger.—(Hear, bolo,
There was one circumstance to be remarked withheet,
ference to the present war—that we did not nosy rile
as we heard with respect to the war of 1835, that al,- 03
bodies of the natives had broken into the peaceful "eet
settled parts of the colony ; but the source of the Prf:ed
danger, and the hostilities that had recently been cael
on. were removed to a great distance from those riffs
—(Hear, hear.) So far we had gained by the in" 517136(
„
we bad adopted. But undoubtedly there were "„3eo:
d e
measures to be considered; and those further ;
sures, he thought, ought to be considered -130
dispassionately,—(Hear, hear.) They ought t°4ol
considered with reference to the engagements ;" 0'
which we had entered, with reference to the proni.c.fiall
protection which our taking possession of the ;00°,"
originally by force of arms, and the ultimate resit
the colony to us by treati after of 18
°
, the eace
clearly implied,—(Hear shear.) Wought a's° /re
e .tsis ;
consider them with referenceear.)
to the safety of the 5' reo
as. well as with reference to the well-being of those goat'
tribes who belonged to the territory, and whose int°l*,ele3
ought, if possible, to be carefully protected and g 4s
by
us. In considering these questions he thought 10'4
~.,
could not say, as the lion. Baronet the Mewl**
Southey' k (S.
dr it
W. Molesworth) seemed disposed:l, h°
the other night with respect to the Cape, and wht`co 1/3'
did say with respect to our colonies generally, weto
them have free constitutions, and take their own r 4 J'
and don't let us be put to any expense." Lie Cla°-