IsiXhosa Intellectual Traditions (IsiXIT) Digital Archive

CONTRACTORS on the railway lines to Aliwal North have not desisted from treating the Natives on the works shabbily in the matter of the truck system, as we learn from the Albert Record that there was on Saturday week some difficulty as to payment which resulted in the men refusing to work. It is satisfactory to learn that the head contractor has made arrangements whereby there will be no stoppage of the works in consequence of disagreements with the men employed. The country at large, it seems to us, is deeply interested in these natives changing their old lounging, dreamy, and lazy lives to work, and it should, through its government, resent anything on the public works savouring of disinclining them to continue working. As one way of putting the evil down we trust Government will be careful to note the following remarks occuring in the Cape Argus:— ' There is one thing, it is to be hoped, which the Government, in all their inattention to details, will be careful to guard against, and that is the perpetuation of the 'tommy-shop ' system. Firbank & Co., contractors for the Aliwal line, having treated us to enough of that particular form of abuse. They have now got an extension of time for two months. The ground on which the indulgence has been claimed was that of small-pox amongst the natives, but I hear from a very reliable source that the truth is the Kafirs would not work for the contractors, as under the ' tommy-shop ' system they had little or nothing to draw when t heir week's work was done. The commencement of the work on the Kimberley line will render the completion of the Aliwal line, even within the extended period, very uncertain, as a good many men will be drawn off for the new works whether Firbauks get the contract or not THE Rev. R. J. Mullins is to be con¬gratulated on the success of the Kafir Institution over which he presides at Graham's Town. It has not been our good fortune to see the report of last year of this useful institution. The editor of the E. P. Herald, printed at Port Eliza¬beth, has the following, which we are glad to reproduce, concerning this school: Mr. Mullins [in writing his report} has not aimed at effect or indulged in rhetoric or sentiment, but he has given the commu¬nity a plain unvarnished tale which reflects infinite credit on himself, and is full of promise and hope for those who seek by the slow but certain processes of education tO' elevate the Native character and fit them for higher duties in the future. The report deals with facts, and its statistics on the whole are reassuring. Notwithstanding the blighting influence of the wars of 1877-78— of the subsequent hard times, and of the establishment of other educational centres in the Transkei itself, notably at Blyths- wood—the pupils in Graham's Town, who in 1880 numbered 37 had risen in 1884 to 39, although the scale of fees had meanwhile been increased. The lads came not from the Cape Colony only, but from the Repub¬lics, and even from Natal. During the five years 132 pupils passed through the Insti-tution, and not the least interesting portion of the report is that which traces the sub- sequent eareer of the Kafir lads educated by¬Canon Mullins. We cannot give the full statistics here, but they are very creditab'e to all concerned, and show that 20 students are now in service, 27 are employed as teachers, some are in the Colonial Civil Service, one is studying medicine, and two are preparing for the church. This is an honourably record, nor is education in the ordinary sense the only achievement of the Institution. Industrial work plays an im-portant part in the curriculum, and in the carpentry especial distinction was gained at the Cape Town Exhibition and elsewhere. Canon Mullins points with just pride to the work done by his boys for S. Andrew's Col¬lege, the Diocesan Girls' School, the pro¬Cathedral, and other places, and he ventures on the assertion that in workmanship, ma¬terial and price he can compete with ordi¬nary imported furniture. It is with pleasure we give publicity to this statement, which contraverts the common idea that native students are more often taught psalm¬singing than an honest handicraft. We would only draw attention in conclusion to the gratifying fact that out of the receipts of the institution (£5,032 12s.), for the five years, no less than £1,825 5s. 4d. arose from the sale of work, and £697 2s. 5d. from garden produce; £1,012 Os. Id. was con¬tributed in schoel fees by the scholars them-selves, and only the insignificant sum of £181 15. came by way of voluntary contri¬butions from the outside public. We would ask is it too late to suggest that at the Port Elizabeth Exhibition in December next, special prizes should be awarded to the best furniture made entirely by native hands ? If we are not mistaken, the Kafir Industrial Schools at Graham's Town, Lovedale, Blythe-wood, and elsewhere, will run their white competitors very hard, and open the eyes of the public to the amount of real practical work now being done by the native races of South Africa. M. KEEVY & CO. (Kwivenkile ebisakuba yeka Ngomti) E-Bolorweni, nakwi strata sase Durban, nakwa .Komani. Abatengi nabatengisi bempahla ngempahla. Amaxabiso amakulu ayani- kwa ngo Boya, Nezikumba,. ne- ntwana zonke ezitengiswayo.; Eli lixa lokuceba lo Mnyaka we 1885. DYER AND DYER THE great English Nation under whose wing we have so long lived free, enjoyed privileges that the best blue blood En-glishman can enjoy is at present generally suppose to be at logger heads with most of the mighty Powers of Europe. Indeed, the British Government is at present engaged in very delicate negociations with the military movements of the latter in Central Asia. It is not very long ago that the German and the English Press were engaged in some verbal war, conse¬quent on the dilatoriness of Lord Gran¬ville in vouchsafing a reply to Prince Bismarck respecting Angra Pequena. Again, because the English people would not approve of the dealings of France with such places as Madagascar and the Australian Colonies, the French, too, re-joice at the thought that troubles in Egypt, Bechuanaland, and in Asia, are thronging .around England. NOTWITHSTANDING the fact that the English Government is at present in an unfortunate position in regard to the other powers, there is no doubt that the English Nation is still powerful, and that it is not likely that any power would risk a war with her. Even now it is because Russia thinks she can get out of England what she thinks she cannot get at other times with the troubles in Africa, and misun¬derstandings with the Germans and French. The great colonies of Australia and Canada have offered assistance in men to help the Mother Country, and it has gladdened the English people immensely to feel that in time of need the many Colonies under the Queen would willingly offer assistance. IN our own Colony the proposal that something should be done to show the great Government across the sea that willing assistance can be expected from our Colony also, has had cold water ad-ministered upon it by the same spirit which, as we have pointed out before now, is working to weaken, if it cannot do away altogether with Queen's Government in South Africa. If our people were astute politicians, which we believe they are, they would beat the Englishmen or the Europeans on their own ground by offer¬ing their able-bodied men to go against the Mahdi in the Soudan, or to assist the Imperial Government in any other way that it may wish. Such a stroke on the part of the brave and warlike tribes of South Africa would go a long way to endear them to the British people and to make them more ready to listen to our cries and to come to our assistance in circumstances similar to those of Bechuanaland where they have come to protect us against people who are forever hankering after our lands. We must not forget that there are still many fair fields .and pastures at present in possession of the natives that freebooters are every day praying to possess, and we must remember that the English Government alone is able to secure us justice under such circumstances. We would be glad to hear what our people think about this sugges¬tion. POS' ISO APA BO! E. J. BOXALL, Umsiki wentlobo zonke ezifunwayo zengubo, No. 22, SMITH STREET, E-QONCE Uhlala enento eninzi yezitofu ezifanelekileyo neziluhlaza apa bo. Ingubo zonitshato zenzi/tva ngokokufuna komntu kwisttuba se yure ezilishumi, Uhlobo ezenziwa ngalo nokufaneleka kwazo akunakugxekwa bani. Paula—Intsebenzo yonke iqutywa ndlwini 'nye. KWABAFUMANA 'IMVO.' ABABEHLAULELE inyanga ezintatu zokuqala kupela ezapela ngo 31 January, 1885, bengekazihlauleli ezintatu eziqala ngo February lo mabaqonde kakuhle ukuba aya kunqunyanyiswa amapepa abo bade bawakulule ngentlaulo. Umntu unokublaulela ixesha elingapezu kwelenyanga ezintatu kodwa angahlauleli ngapantsi kwelo. Amagosa ayacelwa ukuba abeble azitumele imali Zabantu abagaseleyo. J. TENGO-JABAVU. February, 1885. ISAZISO! As if to show that those who engage in the ennobling time-honoured game of cricket have either worked or are working their way up the social ladder by hard, honest labour, the Port Elizabeth 'Advertiser gives the names of the Native players in the cricket match ' Port Elizabeth Cricket Club v. Natives' played last Saturday on the Port Elizaeth Cricket Ground with the following particulars:— Team. T. Makwena (Capt) H. Pezisa G. Ross M. Foley J. Morley J. Mdana T. Klaas B. Cristian B. Swsartbooy ... A. Mabbpe P. Xiniwe Employers. ... Messrs. J. Joseph & Sons. ... Messrs. W. R Jecks & Co. ... Messrs. W. R. Jecks & Co. ,.. Messrs. Ryall, King & Co. ... Messrs. Poppe, Schunhoff & Guttery ... Messrs. Savage & Hill. ... Messrs. J. Brister A Co. ... Messrs. Faehse, Eaton & Koster. ... Mr. J. A. Holland. ... Mr. O. C. Thompson. ... Teather E. M. School.