Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-20
AFRICA HAS IT'S
NATIVE T PROBLEM
UNION GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH
FACES QUESTION ~
1T is SETTLED THAT COUNTRY ID
TO HAVE UNIFORM POLICY
Old Boer View Is That Native occus
pies Position Analogous to That
of d Serf During the
Feudal Age

CAPE TOWN, Feb. 19.-Of all the
questions which the union government
of South Africa will have to deal with
the native question is the most inn
portant. Practical politicians believe
that the uniform policy must be firm
and just or equitable" or something
of that sort. Indeed, that divergency
of opinions on the native question and
of the lines which have been adopted
in dealing with it in different parts of
South Africa is so great that any at
tempt on the part of responsible
statesman during the union movement
to define what he meant by a uniform
native policy" would have raised a
turmoil of dispute, which might have
gone far to endanger the cause of
union itself. But that danger no
longer exists. 1t is settled that the
country is to have a uniform native
policy. 1t remains to settle-a much
more difficult task-what thatypolicy is
to be.
Generally speaking it may be said
that in the Cape Colony the native
enjoys a fuller measure of civil and
even political equality than in the
northern states or in Natal. The equal
ity is by no means complete in theory,
and still less in practice. But the fact
that it is even partially admitted diff
ferentiates the Cape system from that
the generally accepted view has never
recognized the native as having either
all the rights or all the responsibilities
which are admitted in the case of
full grown male European as a matter
of course. The old Boer view, which is
probably still widely held among the
country population, was that the ma
tive stood not exactly in the position Of
slave or a domestic chattel. but in
one analogous to that occupied by the
serf in the ages of feudalism
1t must not be supposed that the
very large number of people who hold,
consciously or unconsciously. this the
ory of the native question are un-
friendly to the native. They would not
dream of giving the native a vote any
more than they would dream of giving
it to children, but it does not follow
that they have any tendency to disre-
gard the material and moral welfare
of the native population. Indeed, there
are numbered among them many who
in the truest, though not in the gem
orally accepted, sense of the word are
negrophilists, that is to say, men who
have passed their lives among the ma
tives, who have a sincere liking for
them, and some even who would be
prepared to sacrifice the interests of
the white population if they came into
conflict with what they believed to be
the interests OF the natives.
Against this view, which is probably
held by the great majority of the white
inhabitants in the three colonies where
the natives have never received the
franchise, there must be placed the
orthodox political view of the Cape Col
onists. This view admits, If not the
equality of the native. at least his
capacity for equality 1t treats him,
except in a few matters. as fully re-
sponsible member of society. 1t allows
him to obtain the vote if he can show
that he earns a certain wage or has
a certain amount of property, and can
pass a very slight educational test. 1t
admits his competition on equal terms
in all fields of industry. 1t is difficult
to compare the results of the two sys-
TENS by the test of actual experience
up to the present, because so many diff
ferent factors must be taken into ac-
count
For instance. the result of the Cape
native franchise at the present day
can only be defended on the ground
that it is a transition stage, and that
the theory of equality has not had mad
time to produce its proper fruits. On
the. other hand, the working of the
opposite system in Natal has been
equally unsatisfactory, and the only
apology that can be made for it must
rest upon the allegation of want of
consistency and intelligence IN those
who have had to carry it out.
Not the least important of the many
problems that await solution by the
un'on parliament is the question of
naval defense. Of late much attention
has been devoted to the subject
throughout South Africa. and the rep
resentatives of the. crown have done
their best to bring home to the public
not only the Importance of the subject.
but the need for studying the situation
so that any contribution the union may
see fit to make may be turned to the
best advantage.