IsiXhosa Intellectual Traditions (IsiXIT) Digital Archive

THE shooting of Natives under little or no provocation, has been so common of late, and the law has proved so ineffective j to make examples of these people, that we are glad to find the colonial Press— the ever vigilant Press—directing public attention to a matter that has for some time past exercised the minds of our people. The Cape Mercury has taken the trouble to look up the case of a Native shot by a young Dutchman near Burghers- dorp which the Government, after un- seemly agitation by the local farmers against his prosecution, dropped, by re¬ferring it to the Magistrate who fined the farmer and let him go. The Cape Argus has the following comments upon another case It is an unpleasant thing to have to refer to the unusual number of eases that have appeared in the colonial papers during the last few months in which farmers, princi- pally in the Eastern Districts, have been charged with shooting natives. These eases seldom get very full discussion. When the news first arrives there has been a voluntary surrender to the Magistrate, or a warrant issued, and the case has to be left alone because it is sub judice. At a later stage the Crown declines to prosecute or a jury returns a verdict of acquittal, and it is felt to be improper that a general principle should be enforced by reference to the case of a man who is legally entitled to consider himself innocent. At the same time it will be admitted that the cases must be rare in which it is necessary to shoot down, in self-defence, a native who does not carry a gun himself. A case has just been heard at the East London Circuit Court in which a farmer has been fined £30 for shooting a native within tent to do grevious bodily harm, the shot entering the man's left hip. The farmer's excuse for s hooting was that the native had no pass ; and his alleged motive, to frighten him. The gun was loaded with bullet cartridge, but the range was considerable—1,000 to 1,200 yards. Injustice to the farmer it should be said that he bore a good character for kindness; but if he really wanted to frighten the man, why did he not fire his bullet in the air ? 'DIRTY' indeed was the 'licking' received by a team of the Port Elizabeth Natives from the local European Club. We trust the return match will soon come off and leave the fair fame of Native cricketers vindicated. The explanation given by the defeated team is that they had challenged the second eleven of the Port Elizabeth Club, but to their utter surprise they found themselves in the field pitted against the eminent cricketers who beat the Colonial Clubs at the late Tournament in Port Elizabeth. On the sight of these illustrious knights of the willow they lost heart. The eleven of the Port Elizabeth Club, having gone in first scored 180, and the Natives had to go in considerably over-scored. They were summarily dealt with, and scored in the first innings the attenuated 13! Time was announced when in the course of their second innings they had made 11. We are told that the thrashing administered to the local Albert (Tub by the Natives the other day had much to do with the presence of some of the first eleven in the Port Elizabeth Match on Saturday week. CONSIDERBLE surprise was called forth during the session of the Circuit Court by the story of the poor man, who, together with his second wife is awaiting his trial for the murder of his first wife at Mkwinti, in the Transkei. He asked the judge to postpone the hearing of his ease till next Circuit, as he missed his legal adviser in Court, to whom he had paid cattle and a horse to the value of £36. Mr. Andrew Gontshi, Law Agent, of Aloeville, Kentani, was mentioned' by name as the recipient of this handsome sum. Mr. Gontshi desires us to state that his absence in King William's Town during the Session of the Court, was due to the course pursued by the Transkeian Magistrates, who, without even sending the prisoners the usual summonses and letting him know as their legal adviser, hurried the unfortunate people to their trial, and had to see from the newpapers that such has been the case. Had Mr. Gontshi known in time he would not have allowed the interests of his clients o suffer. THE good results of th e wise and judicious Government of Lord Ripon in India may be estimated at their true value when, in view of the present complications in theAfghan frontier, the Indians show their loyalty by volunteering to assist the Government, and their press giving vent to the following sentiments, which we take over from the leading native journal in India, the Mirror:—'Lord Ripon has done what a large British army could hardly have achieved ; he has insured the stability of British rule by placing it on the most solid basis, namely, the love and loyalty of the subject-races of India. Russia, it is true, has approached the very gates of the Empire. But the ovations offered to Lord Ripon at the verv close of his administration will, we think, exercise a powerful moral effect upon her present intentions and movements. With a succession of Indian viceroys, such as Lord Ripon has proved himself to be, Russia would be impotent for harm, even with the aid of a much larger army than she at present can bring into the- field. England should feel extremely beholden to Lord Ripon that at the very moment, when the Russian scare has assumed such alarming proportions, his Excellency, as the representative of the Queen-Empress, has done so much by his excellent policy pursued in the interests of the Indian people, to reconcile them and strengthen their attachment to her sovereignty. Russia will soon begin to know how remarkably Lord Ripon has succeeded in rendering British rule popularamong Her Majesty's native subjects. No honour that England can confer on Lord Ripon can be too great for this one eminent service, even if he had done no more.' THE Town Council of King William's Town has resolved ' that no tickets to the Pavillion on the Cricket Ground be issued to Natives.' These be your guides, O intelligent King William's Town public! Respecting this medieval resolution' Asphodel.' in the Watchman, has the following pertinent questions:— Why were the natives prohibited from entering the Pavilion on Saturday afternoon ? What right had the Committee to pass a resolution prohibiting their entrance? Is this the 'fellow-feeling' and 'Christian sympathy ' we hear so much about ? If the natives are allowed to play a Cricket Match with a recognised club upon our Town Lords, why should they be denied any of the attendant privileges? Is class legislation to be allowed to assert itself in a public place, where all who compete meet on equal terms ? We pause for a reply, though we believe they are unanswerable. THE REV. JOHN WALTON, M.A., the esteemed President of th^ Wesleyan Conference, has done our people good service in representing to the Govern inent the baleful condition of the Natives resulting from the failure of the crops, and the prevailing commer¬cial depression. We take over from, the South African Methodist a reply from the Honourable the Secretary for Native Affairs to the President's repre¬sentations, which is as follows:—'SIR,— I am directed by the Honourable the Secretary for Native Affairs to acknow¬ledge the receipt of your letter of the^ 3rd inst., and in reply to state that the Government has it in contemplation to pro- cure'employment on the proposed railway extension works for as many Natives in distress as circumstances will allow, but cannot give effect to this intention before the works have commenced. I have, Ac., J. Rose-Innes, U.S.N.A.' THE writer of ' Scraps and Jotting ' in the South African Methodist, a useful weekly paper published in Graham'sTown, observes—and we commend his observa- tions to our young Native friends—that 'the programme of the annual meeting of the Heald Town Teachers' Association, which is to take place on Good Friday, includes one item which ought to give rise to useful discussion. A paper on 'Thrift' is to be read by the Rev. G. Kakaza.' To all classes of the community this subject might be recommended, but, I think, the Natives are especially in need of teaching upon this point. The way in which even the Native teachers live far ahead of their salaries without any com- punction or forethought is at times alarming. IT might, perhaps, be of interest to some of our readers to know something about the Heald Town Teachers' Association re- ferred to bv the writer we have quoted. The history of the Association might, if told, reveal one of the brightest achieve- ments of the missionaries among the Natives in the States of South Africa. This body represents over 200 young natives of both sexes, who have, since 1868, been trained for the special work o teachers among the Natives in the Colony, the Native Territories, the Free State, and even the Transvaal. Those who have closely followed the progress of mission work in this country admit that the teach- ing in Native schools has been placed on a sound and healthy footing since the members of this Association engaged in it. As time has rolled on, many who were trained at Heald Town to be teachers have become ornaments of the Native ministry recently established in this country, many are now employed in the Government service as clerks, one is a law-agent who is no disgrace to that fraternity, and some are now intelligent tillers of the soil. In all these spheres, we are glad to say, they are examples to many of their ignorant countrymen of what education may do for the black man. We have taken the trouble to scan the list of certificated teachers from Heald Town and are pleased to note that the number of those who have become moral wrecks is very in- significant. At Heald Town Church mem- bership is insisted upon as a conditio sine qua non to admission into training of any native young man or young woman to be a teacher. This may account for these remarkable results. The man to whom the greatest credit for this work is due, is still living, we mean Mr. George Baker, who is at present engaged in laying the foundations of another cause of the same kind at Bensonvale, in the district of Herschel. We wish him long life. SOME time ago we noted the fact that some of the Kafir traders were being forced by Christian Natives to order them goods hitherto supposed to be imported for European customers only, and the note has drawn these remarks which we cut from the East London Dispatch : A country correspondent of ours wishes to know what the editor of Native Opinion means by stating : ' It only remains that the merchants should take them (the natives) into their confidence.' Perhaps the editor will explain. We vouchsafe the explanation with much alacrity:—By keeping their articles con¬stantly before their eyes by the ordinary means of advertising. Quid nunce ON account of the Easter Holidays the next issue of this paper will be on Wed- nesday 8th April.