Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1900-03-15
ENGLISH AND NATIVES.
A Missionary on the Treatment OF
South African Blacks.

Under the title How the English
Treat the Natives" Rev. w. c. Wilcox
of 0berlin, Ohio, missionary of the
American Board at Umvoti, Natal
contributes the following article to the
New York Independent
In the Independent IF November 2
is letter from a Mr. Maxeke with re-
gard to How the Beers Treat the Ma
tlves" You say that he is a native
Basuto But he must have been very
young when he left his native land
else | do not know how to account for
some of his statements. For / have
just arrived from Natal, where / have
been laboring in connection with the
American Zulu Mission for the past IS
years, and he has stated some things
which are not according to my knowl-
edge of the facts. For instance, he
says 'the natives in the Transvaal are
not allowed to learn to read, and fines
are exacted from anyone who is found
teaching them" Our society has had
a mission in johannesburg since 1898
and we have had three schools for the
natives most Of the time, employing
both European and native teachers,
and no one has ever been fined or
threatened with fine also know of
several other missionary societies
that have schools and are teaching the
natives all over Transvaal and
Swaziland, and never heard of any
one being fined for teaching the ma
tives. Moreover the Dutch church
has a large missionary society con-
nected with it. in which there are ear
nest missionaries who teach the ma
lives.
However. | do not wish to justify
the beers treatment of the natives
Ii may be as bad as Mr.. Maxeke rep
resents II, but that should be no rea-
son for his or our sympathy for the
English. unless it appears that the
English got possession of the Naboth's
shown by their pass laws. the regis
tration of servants. the compelling of
the natives to wear badge. which is
| like a dog tag. the forbidding of the
men to walk on the pavement and not
allowing them to be out after 9 p. m.
/
enforced In Natal and fines exacted
for failure just the same as in Trans
vaal Thirty OF my people had to pay
one shilling apiece TO go a few miles
across the Tugela river to a wedding
of their friends and then they had to
pay another shilling apiece TO get back
again. | tried to get the magistrate
20 reduce it to one shilling for both
ways. as Ii was special occasion but,
he would not do IT,
The Natal also there are patrol men
who may stop any native at any time
and make him produce his pass. They
may also enter the home of any native,
and should they find there native
without proper pass they may arrest
the owner OF the house aud bring him
to court. where he may be fined for
harboring a native without a pass.
fel, very sorry for Timothy. one OF
our best Christian natives. who was
compelled to tramp % miles over the
mountains to the magistrates court.
where he was fined Is shillings because
he had accommodated a friend-who,
by the way. was a Basuto-with rest
and food for day or two. saw the
magistrate about it, but he thought
h. hal made the fine very light. al
though Is shlllings was more than the
Iold man could earn in month. But
| said, Timothy did not know that
the pass had not been properly re-
newed. | saw the pass myself. and
should NOT have known but that Il was
all right" The magistrate replied:
"He ought TO know. He will be more
careful neat time" But said: II