The New York herald., 1922-07-30

tirely dependent for their i'm
WI goods introduced through the
\. " Cape Colony and Natal We
4 low come to a period when the
aments of both these colonies were
HN hger controlled from England but
'IN responsible to a Parliament and
|IA orate of their own. In all domestic
RS their rights of self-government
just as complete as those of the
ublics. In a ybung community GUS
n rms is really the main source OF the
Diblic revenue. The inland republics
lstly claimed their rights to the duties
.vied on the goods they consumed. That
jlaim was denied by the Parliaments f
Cape Colony and Natal The accidens,i
OF geography made 1t possible for tbe'
colonies on the coast Pitt
tax the people of the inland republic b
A deep resentment in the minds &c
those people was the natural result. 40
a matter of fact the Dutch element cor
trolled the majority in the Cape. Br
none the less the Beers in the two re-
publics associated the injustice win
British rule and turned their resentment
against Great Britain"
After telling the story Of Cecil Rhodes
and the diamond mines Mr.. Curtis oe-
scribed the Jameson raid as follows:
1T Is needless to describe the nasco
which followed, a fiasco which brought
not only South Africa but all Europe 70
the verge OF war. An immediate catas-
trophe was averted by the moderation
of President Kruger. The time had yet
to come when he like his grest rival
Rhodes was destined to lose his grip
on realities. He spared Jameson ana
the Uitlander leaders from the gailows
to which they were justly condemned.
But had Gen. Botha then been In Kru-
gers placeI have no doubt that he would
have recognized the substantial Justice
of the Uitlander demands. that he would
have admitted them to the franchise and
remedied their grlevances.i But even so
the war could only have been postponed.
So long as South Africa remained divided
under three separate flags the whole
country was the victim Of Ia subtle but
creeping paralysis. Flags are not mere
pieces Of bunting. They are the visible
symptoms of the living realities which
drive their roots with incredible swift
ness into the hearts Of men. Once create
them and in a few years you cannot
remove them without the tearing OF flesh
and the shedding of blood. The rea-
lesson of South African history Is thai
the division of one country under sepa'
rate flags may render that country In
capable of self-government until the!
| are removed.
"You who have inscribed the starr
| Of all your States on one flag may rec
ognize the virtue of applying that prin
| ciple to countries other than your own
ITO remover the obstacle of unioi
and to enable the people Of South Afric'
| to manage their own affairs withou
| the need or room for interference from
| Great Britain, was the real achievement
| Of the War;"
But after the war disunion agai
appeared largely because each OF tn
four States exercised the right to lev
separate tariff and thereby engen
dered the hostility Of the others. Tn
| speaker continued:
'The evils of the system were 5
fragrant that after the war everyon
wan agreed that a remedy must b
found. The obvious remedy was polit
icaI union. But everyone agreed
think Of political union as somethin
which must be accomplished sooner G
later, but certainly not before the tim
Of their grandchildren. AS have trie
to show you here. the divisions {
South Africa were the result of lon
series of accidents and mistakes. Bt
almost everyone seemed to cling
them as IL they were divinely ordaine'
Really you have to liv>e In new coui
try to realize what a terrific force
human nature conservatism IS. and ho
intensely people will cling to thorough
bad arrangements II only they ran
as established institutions. Rather tha
change a system which was wrong
principle, people were prepared for ar
amount of tinkering with Its detail
I'm the hope OF avoiding union nun
ber of counterfeit substitutes We
tried"
1T must not, however. lead you
suppose that in 1906 we saw the probe
or its solution as l have stated 1t 7
day.. For six years we nad been Il
too deeply engaged on the everyds
tasks OF administration to study the HI
tory of South Africa We had stot
too near the canvas to see the outlinq
but from our own limited experience \
knew that the grant of self-governmf
to the two former republics would
the prelude to a new and perhaps
astrous crisis in the old South AfrI
problem. We asked ourselves what
could do to solve the problem AM
we found ourselves asking what
problem really was. III
Before undertaking to suggest ar
edy 1t seemed more reasonable T.
and arrive at a diagnosis. So whfe
preparations for establishing req
BILE government were in train wen
to study South African historyts
light of our own recent experiefu
II to visit the other colonies for