IsiXhosa Intellectual Traditions (IsiXIT) Digital Archive

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1885. THAT the present session of Parliament will not come to an end without enacting measures to transform the government of the Transkei, seems certain. Bills of considerable moment have been laid before Parliament by the Government, which will have a very marked effect on the future of the vast territories which go under the designation, Transkei. No one can wade through the complications of what may be distinguished as statutory phraseology, in which the bills dealing with the government of the Transkei are embodied, with- out feeling a sense of disappointment and of pity stealing upon him that the country has not been offered an opportunity carefully to weigh and to examine the probable working of the proposed bills. The bill providing for the annexation to this Colony of Tembuland, Gcalekaland, and Bomvanland, is a formal one, and there is nothing valid to urge against it, beyond the fact that Natives would have been better satisfied if they had been handed over to the Imperial Government and their territories created a Crown Colony. There can be no doubt, however, that ultimately these Territories will be governed for their benefit by the Colony. But so long as so-called Colonial statesmen are anxious to win party triumphs at the expense of the Natives, so long will the Natives cherish the forlorn wish for direct government by the Queen. Great credit must be given to the policy of letting Natives alone, in- augurated by Mr. SAUER, which we are glad to observe is being followed by Mr. DE WET, and which is leading to views such as those we find Captain VELDTMAN gave expression to on the occasion of a recent interview with the editor of the Natal Mercury, that ' the ' English Government was a great friend to them. The Government had been a great friend to the people. The present Government (the Colonial) and the Home Government were just alike. The Cape Government had done great things for the people. The Government of Mr. SPRIGG hurt the Natives very much. Then Mr. SAUER and Mr. SCANLEN smoothed them down.' With the proposals of the Go-vernment relating to the Penal Code there can, again, be no objection to urge on general grounds. And with respect to the Code it is merely necessary to say it is substantially that recommended by the Commission on Native Laws and Customs, to allay whatever fears and anxieties which may arise on the score of crudity and harshness. In regard to the practical operation of the Native Council and the measure providing for representation in the Colonial Parliament, we entertain, however, very grave misgivings. ' In order,' says the Bill, 'to give the Native population ' of the Transkeian Territories ' such voice in the legislation affecting those Territories as cir-'cumstances at present require, there shall be formed a Native Council 'consisting of representatives from the 'several Territories, whose functions 'shall be to suggest for the consideration 'of the Parliament of the Colony of the ' Cape of Good Hope, such provisions or 'alterations of the law affecting the said 'Territories as may be thought 'necessary.' The proceedings of the Council are to be submitted to Parliament by the Native Minister. Members of the Council are to be elected biennially at a public meeting by residents in each district, whose qualification shall be payment of hut-tax; the returning officer being the chief magistrate of the district. Chief magistrates shall be ex officio members of the Council, and shall have the right to speak but not to vote. Meetings of the councilor shall be held once a year. So far well. But when a separate measure is submitted 'to make provision for the representation in the House of Assembly of certain inhabitants of the Transkeian Tenitories ' who may have nothing to do with the Native Council, we sec complications rising cn the horizon. Each of these proposals by itself would, in our opinion, have been most acceptable, but to set them at work side by side is tantamount to establishing an imperium in impcrio in the Dependencies. In all solemnity and ceremony the Native Council, which is the representative of a class presumed to be ignorant, not yet ripe for the Franchise, may by a majority recommend to Parliament the adoption of a certain course, good or bad, in respect of a certain measure or policy. The decision of the Council may be propagated far and wide among its constituents and be according cherished, rightly or wrongly, by them, all of a sudden to be found upset and another substituted by the Parliament in which the intelligence of the Territories is represented ! This, we may well imagine, would be looked upon as a slap in the face by the Council members and its constituents, who would, doubtless, represent an overwhelming majority in the Territories, And it may engender discontent among ignorant people, and the Council would fall to pieces from its own weight; for no men with any self-respect would consent to leave their avocations to assist in what would, after the snub we have supposed, surely be regarded as heartless pantomime. If the Ministry are convinced of the unconstitutional government now obtaining in the Transkei —we refer to the Government of the Transkei by a Ministry responsible to a Parliament in which that Territory has no representation —and are now resolved upon doing away with the anomaly, we could understand their proposing the ' Transkeian Territories Representation Bill,' but we do not think they are acting wisely in presuming upon the ignorance of a certain section. That the mass of the people in the Transkei would not at once understand Responsible Go-vernment, goes without question, but that is no reason that if they are to have Responsible Govern¬ment at all it must be given them with a ' but.' If the people in the Territories, as a mass, were con¬sidered as hopelessly and helplessly unfit for the onerous honours of the Franchise we could understand Parliament agreeing to their being governed as a ' Crown ' Colony of the Cape Colony, with the whole of the paraphernalia necessary for such a form of Government, beginning with the Deputy-Governor, recom¬mended by the Native Laws Com¬mission, and ending with the lowest clerk of the Native Service, also recommended by that Commission The administration of justice to be headed by a Recorder, as also re¬commended. Of course, as a Native organ, we should have preferred direct rule by Her Majesty's Government to both of these ex¬pedients ; as, however, the bowels of our white friends are yearning for us, and many colonists are pro¬testing that they would direct our affairs well, we must accept the next best thing. Natives will be satisfied by direct representation in Parlia} ment, or, failing that, to be made a Crown Colony, which would be as free as possible from the fluctuations of party politics in the Colonial Parliament. The proposals of the Government, dictated though they are by good-will towards us, are in practice synonymous with com¬plexity and perplexity, and should be carefully and jealously examined by Parliament, for ' it is not all ' gold that glitters.' We think the proposal to delegate the powers now held by Missionaries in connection with schools to Terri¬torial School Boards, composed of Magistrates, Missionaries, and head-men, one that will be fruitful of sound educational results. The scheme would, however, be im¬perfect if no provision is made in the Bill to include on the Board some intelligent Natives other than headmen, who take an interest in Education. Few headman, it must be remembered, are imbued with the spirit of progress; many are representatives of the class of Natives who have not advanced far enough in civilisation to be trusted with their Magistrates only. And for this reason we should suggest the addition of the representation on the School Board of the pushing Natives who may not be headmen.