The morning call., 1893-11-03
THE MATABELE STRUGGLE.

There is dash of humor in the an
nouncement that the Matabele war is over.
There never was any war in the proper
sense OF the term. The slaughter of the
Nj Matabeles by the mercenaries of the South
African Republic is merely an incident in
the gradual absorption of South Africa by
the whites; mere affair of outposts, as
soldiers say.
The South African Republic is the sue
cessor of the Trsnsvaal Republic, which
was founded at Natal over fifty years ago
by Dutch emigrants from Cape Colony. 1t
was annexed by England in 1877, and in
1884 an agreement was reached between
the Beers and the British Government,
conceding to the former self-g0vernment
in local affairs, subject to the control OF
Great Britain in foreign affairs. It's area
was abut equal to that of Nevada. 1t con-
| tanned about 3S0.000 people, of whom 300.-
0O0 were negroes. $4,000 Dutchmen or the
descendants of Dutehmen. and the rest
whites of various natiOnalities. It pro-
duced wheat. cotton. sugar. oSlriches and
cattle. Ii contained some gold mines which
were worked at a profit. The republic
stretched from the Limpopo River TO the
| Orange Free State and Zuuland. and from
| Delagoa Bay to BechuaDaland.
! The citizens of the South African Repub-
| lie we're settling down to the enjoyment of
their new institutions when, in $780, party
| of Englishmen who had lived among them
crossed the Limpopo and occupied an ele-
yated plateau of MashOnalaDd. Here they
came into contact with a more warelike
race of natives known as Matabeles. The
usual accusations were bsndied to and
fro. The MaShona settlers accused the
Matabeles of raiding their villages and
carrying off their women and their cattle
the MatabeleS charged their new neigh
borS with using their settlements as a
basis of operations against villages which
had been under Matabele control from time
immemorial. It is likely that both con-
tentons were founded on fact. Border
forays were the order of the day. They
ended as such forays always Go in Africa
when white men are engaged on one side
or the other. A mercantile company eS-
tablished in London under the name of the
British South African Company, for the
purpose Of extending British trade in that
part of the world, took a hand III the fight
with machine guns and modern rifles, and
the Matabeies were quickly driven to the
wall, which in this case means the ZambeSi
River. By this time they have been
driven across the river into the country
rouud Livingston Lake, where they Will
| have a breathing spell, and-order reigns
in Warsaw.
Stanley, who ought to understand Africa
! if anv one does, says this is merely step
In the inevitable conquest of the continent
| by the whites and the eXtin cti0n Of the
savage tribes of the interior. The negro
cannot hold his own against the white; the
encroachments of the latter are gradually
driving the natives further and further
| back into the inaccessible deserts, and are
converting the pastures Of wild beasts into
cultivated farms. These Matabeles are
described as brave fellows. who fought aud
! died for their homes with yalOr worthy
of admiration. but at the last battle the
machine guns moved them down before
they could get near enough to the enemy
| to use their weapons.
1t will probably turn out that the mer-
cenaries OF the British South African
! Company had DO excuse for invading the
Matabele country. and history will pro-
nounce the moral censuTe on their greed
and cruelty. But that Is brutum fulmen
which cannot be carried into effect. The
practical result of the late hostilties will
be that all Southern Africa from Victoria
Falls to Cape TOwn-iDcudiDg Cape Col
ony. Zululand, Port Natal :he Orange
Free State, the South African Republic and
Bechlanaland will sooner or later be
erected into confederation under the
| British flag, and it is not clear that civili-
Zation will be sufferer thereby.