v./ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Digitized by Microsoft® CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 088 411 925 All books are subject to recall after two weeks Olin/Kroch Library DATE DUE lOUt^ P^ GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.SJL Digitized by Microsoft® This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in cooperation with Corneii University Libraries, 2007. You may use and print this copy in iimited quantity for your personai purposes, but may not distribute or provide access to it (or modified or partiai versions of it) for revenue-generating or other commerciai purposes. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® THE LIFE OF THE EIGHT HONOURABLE CECIL JOHN KHODES VOL. I Digitized by Microsoft® The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archiY^,;Q£g^^^]^i§^u31924088411925 Digitized by Microsoft® ^S-C'Gc^ ^r>y/ ?7. ..yT^A-o-i:^^ (<'' LONDON EDWARD AHNOcD Digitized by Microsoft® THE LIFE OF THE ET. HON. CECIL JOHN RHODES 1853-1902 BY THE HONOURABLE SIR LEWIS MICHELL MEMBER OP THE EXEOtlTIVE COUNCIL, CAPE COLONY VOLUME I LONDON EDWARD ARNOLD 1910 Kk Digitized by Microsoft® DEDICATED TO ALL WHO LOVE THE BRITISH EMPIRE Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® PREFACE In essaying to write a Life of Cecil John Rhodes withia a few years of that memorable day when, with many closer friends, I stood bare-headed beside his open grave, I feel that much has been necessarily left unsaid. In another generation, when all his contemporaries have passed away, some one with an abler pen, and from a more effective standpoint, may arise to por- tray, with more success, the character and achieve- ments of one who strove, through many strenuous years, to advance the interests of the Empire in South Africa. Personal afEection on my part may unconsciously sway my judgment of the only great man with whom I have Uved on terms of intimacy, but whatever the shortcomings of his Biographer, I am confident that posterity will not fail to appreciate the genius and essential worth of one of the greatest Englishmen of the Victorian era. To the friends who have helped me in my task I now tender sincere and grateful thanks. Digitized by Microsoft® viii CECIL JOHN RHODES I have only to add, as an Executor and Trustee under tlie will of the subject of this Biography, that I have had access to his private and official papers, but none of my colleagues must be held responsible for any of the conclusions at which I have arrived. L. M. October 1910. Digitized by Microsoft® CONTENTS OF VOLUME I PART I CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY PAGE Biography of great men. Portraiture of Rhodes. Parallels : Caesar, Olive .1 CHAPTER n FAMILY HISTORY Pedigree and descent. Family connection with St. Pancras. Family vault. French emigres. The Vicar of Bishop's Stortford . 8 CHAPTER III BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS Birth at Bishop's Stortford. Latter half of nineteenth century. The Grammar School. School life. Anecdotes. Public affairs of the day. Disinclination to enter the Church. Leaves England. Arrives in Natal. Division of his life into three periods ........ 15 CHAPTER IV EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA History of Natal. Progress of Durban. Dr. Sutherland's kindness. Introduction of Coolie labour. Neglect of Colony by Mother Country. Cultivation of cotton. Herbert Rhodes. Life on the Unkomaas. Caesar Hawkins. Young dreams. Native nicknames. Discovery of diamonds. Exodus from Natal. Formation of the dry diggings. Departure of Herbert Rhodes. Cecil's first speech. He leaves Natal. Arrives at the Diamond Fields . . Digitized by Microsoft® . . .23 CECIL JOHN RHODES PART II CHAPTEE, V EARLY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS, 1872-1874 ^ Letter to Dr. Sutherland. Eiver diggings. Eeminiscenoes of fnends. Franlt Rhodes arrives. Cecil visits England. Enters at Oriel. Another letter to Dr. Sutherland. Mr. Dick Lauder. Death of Ehodes's mother. B. I. Barnato. Affairs on the Diamond Fields. Further letter to Dr. Sutherland. Compassion on a fello-w-passenger. Froude visits Kimherley CHAPTER VI KIMBERLEY REMINISCENCES, 1875-1880 Early Struggles. Poverty. Amalgamation of mining interests. Extinction of individual digger. Arrival of Alfred Beit. Mining vicissitudes. Discovery of ' Blue ' ground. Pumping contract. Mr. C. D. Rudd. Sir Charles Warren. First Will. Historical survey. Dr. Jameson arrives. Death of the Vicar. Death of Herbert Rhodes. Controversy with Orange Free State. Settlement for ^90,000. Gaika war. Annexation of Transvaal. Anthony TroUope . . • • ■ CHAPTER VII OXFORD DAYS, 1873-1881 Oriel's famous sons. Terms kept. Sports at Oxford. Contemporary recollections. Public events. Sir Bartle Frere. Delagoa Bay. Notable books. Enters the Inner Temple. Becomes a Freemason ...■••' 37 59 76 CHAPTER VIII ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE, 1881 Sir Henry Barkly. Controversies with President Brand. The Keate award. Annexation of Diamond Fields. New electorate divisions. Elected member for Barkly West. Fall of Dis- raeli. Basuto disarmament. Transvaal rebellion. Invasion of Natal. Laing's Nek. Ingogo. Majuba. Cape Parliament. Rhodes aworn in. Sir Gordon Sprigg. Rhodes's Maiden speech in House. Reminiscences of observers. Basutoland affairs. Rhodes and natives. Hofmeyr. Debates on Basuto- land. Aborigines' Protection Society. Sir Thomas Soanlen. Use of Dutch language in Parliament. Rhodes speaks in Kim- berley. Speaks again. Sails for England . . .87 Digitized by Micros&t® CONTENTS xi CHAPTER IX THE CAPE COLONY PAGE Historical. Leading dates. Portuguese and other occupiers. Grant of Constitution. Sir Philip Wodehouse. Sir E. Southey. William Porter. Christoffel Brand. John Brand. Saul Solomon. J. C. Molteno. Struggle for Responsible Government. Obstruction in Parliament. Bill passes. First Cape Ministry. Meeting of Parliament. J. X. Merriman. Lord Carnarvon. Froude's second visit. Confederation in- trigues. Struggle between Carnarvon and Molteno. Molteno and Brand in England. Walfisch Bay. Shepstone knighted. John Paterson. Molteno returns to the Cape. Barkly re- heved by Frere. Gaika war. Quarrel between Frere and Molteno. Molteno dismissed. Meeting of Parliament. Gover- nor's action upheld. Contrast between Molteno and Rhodes. Aspects of Lord Carnarvon's policy .... 103 CHAPTER X THE TRANSVAAL, 1881 Royal Commission. Convention of Pretoria. Retrocession. Fin- ancial safeguards. Omission of Franchise Clause. Transvaal hails the Suzerain. Effort to confederate the two Republics. Brand's refusal. Kruger intrigues. Rising distrust. War ahead ........ 122 CHAPTER XI BASUTOLAND, 1882 Historical survey. Moshesh. Sir George Cathoart. Struggle with Orange Free State. Annexation by Great Britain. Cession to Cape Colony. Disarmament policy. War. General Gordon. Scanlen Prime Minister. Rhodes as Compensation Commis- sioner. J. W. Sauer. Basuto Pitso. Letsie. Masupha. Gordon resigns. Rhodes makes his second Will. Compensation Committee Report. Rhodes protests. Rhodes and Scanlen correspond. Re-annexation of Basutoland to Great Britain. Sir Marshal Clarke. Sir Godfrey Lagden . . 129 CHAPTER XII BECHUANALAND, 1883 Rhodes in politics. Relations with Colonial Dutch. Duel with Kruger. Mankoroane. Montsoia. The Freebooters. Rhodes on Basutoland Compensation. Lieutenant-General Leicester- Smyth. Feeling in Cape Easteru Province. Brand complains of Basutos. Rhodes gpsvfed%yt}wfoS§Bfl® Basutoland handed over. Rhodes on the Budget. On the Liquor Question. On xii CECIL JOHN EHODES PAGE interior trade. On railways. Customs Union. Rhodes in Beohuanaland. Republics of Stellaland and Goshen. Rhodes and Scanlen correspond. Rhodes returns to the Colony. Pro- clamation by Van Niekerk. Rhodes in the House. Advocates absorption of Beohuanaland. Fails. Seeley's Expansion of England. Baron von Hiibner . . ■ • ■ 144 CHAPTER XIII THE DIAMOND INDUSTRY, 1884-1888 Rhodes at Kimberley. De Beers Mining Company. Local depres- sion. Retains his faith. Merriman and Stow. J. B. Robinson. Mining Board debt. Rhodes and Barnato. Rhodes in Paris. Compagnie Frangaiae. Struggle with Barnato. Rhodes wins. Formation of De Beers Consolidated Mines. Comprehensive Trust Deed. Legal difficulties. Rhodes urged to confine himself to politics. Circumvents the Supreme Court. Discovery of alluvial gold. Mr. G. P. Moodie. Quartz mining. Discovery of conglomerate reefs. Foundation of Johannesburg. Rhodes acquires interests there . . . . . .177 CHAPTER XIV PARLIAMENTARY LIFE, 1884-1885 Fall of Scanlen Ministry. Upington Prime Minister. Basutoland and Beohuanaland again. Rev. Johil Mackenzie. Rhodes on the trade route. Sir Hercules Robinson. Kruger's Proclamation. The Warren Expedition. Warren and the High Commissioner. Rhodes and Warren. Rhodes meets Kruger. Dr. Leyds. Debate in the Assembly. Secretary of State upholds Rhodes . 189 CHAPTER XV PARLIAMENTARY LIFE, 1885-1886— continued. Finances of Transvaal. Arriva] of Hollanders. Closer union with Free State. Growth of unrest. Transvaal Franchise. German annexations. Transvaal Railway Concession. Scramble for Africa. Dilke on Rhodes. Rhodes writes to Lord Harris. Session of 1886. Eastern Pondoland. Merriman on Responsible Government. Rhodes on religious education. Sunday trains. Rhodes on the Sinking Fund. On irrigation. On the Excise. On treatment of interior States. On Protection. Rhodes in Pretoria ........ 206 CHAPTER XVI THE COLONY AND THE BOND, 1887 Political changes. Amatongaland. Count Pfeil. EJruger and Brand. General Beg^j^^Ji^se^f^ayjond. Rev. S. J. du CONTENTS xiii PAGE Toit. Merriman on the Bond. Cronwright-Schreiner on the Bond. Du Plessis. Borckenhagen. The Farmers' Association. Hofmeyr. Ehodes on the Native Franchise. On the Native liquor question. Eailway construction. Rhodes visits England and returns. Swift MacneUl ..... 224 CHAPTEE XVII NORTHEEN EXPANSION, 1888 Amalgamation of diamond interests. Rhodes and Kruger. Piet Grobelaar. J. S. MoflFat. Treaty with Lo Bengula. C. D. Rudd. Rochfort Maguire. Piet Joubert and Lo Bengula. Description of Lo Bengula. Sir S. Shippard. Colonel Goold- Adams. Bishop of Bloemfontein. Signature of concession. Other concessions. Rhodes in England again. Irish Home Rule. Letter to ParneU. Makes his third Will. Rhodes in the House of Assembly. Death of President Brand. My acquaintance with Rhodes. Customs Convention. Rhodes speaks at Barkly West. Again visits England. Purchase of Dalston Estate. Returns to Kimberley. Visits Cape Town for cricket match . 238 CHAPTER XVIII THE ROYAL CHARTER, 1889 Non-attendance in Parliament. Rush for concessions. Thomas Baines. Judicious action of High Commissioner. A. B. Maund. Matabele Indunas in England. Aborigines' Protection Society again. Umshete and Babyan. Grant of Charter. Rhodes meets Stead. F. 0. Selous. Nyassaland. Jameson in Matabeleland. EaUway construction. Sir James Sivewright. Ehodes in Graham's Town. Customs Convention. Transvaal and Orange Free State treaty. Eesult of treaty . . . 257 PART III CHAPTER XIX PEIME MINISTER, 1890 Departureof Sir Hercules Robinson. His high character. Succeeded by Sir H. Loch. Diamond Syndicate formed. Allotment of Chartered shares. Sprigg's comprehensive railway scheme. His fall. Ehodes forms a Ministry. Speaks at Kimberley. And at Bloemfontein. Attack on his dual position. James Eose- Innes. Merriman. Sauer. Sivewright. Rhodes censures the Colonial Olfice. Sir Charles Dilke agrees with him. Close of the session. Bank failures. Mr. F. Mackarness. Lord Knutsford. Rhodes £|t'ff1^^4iSffi°'^ines at Windsor . 272 xiv CECIL JOHN RHODES CHAPTER XX OCCUPATION OP MASHONALAND, 1889-1890 PAGE Size of territory. Matabele strength. Selous. Preparation for occupation. Sir Francis de Winton. Colonel Carrington. Strength of Expedition. Armament carried. Dr. Jameson. Obstinacy of Lo Bengula. Selous again. Start of the Expedition. Colonel Pennefather. A. R. Colquhoun. At Tilu, Khama. Eadi-Kladi. Prank Johnson. Progress of pioneers. The Lundi River. Providential Pass. Ultimatum from Lo Bengula. Excitement among the Matabele. Column arrives at Salisbury ...... 293 CHAPTER XXI A JOURNEY NORTH, 1890 Rhodes's anxiety. Speaks at Kimberley. Returns to Cape Town. Accompanies High Commissioner to Bechuanaland. Takes two Dutch companions. Speaks at Vryburg. Warns Kruger. Acquires mineral rights in Barotseland. High Commissioner visits Khama. Rhodes on the Transvaal border. Rejoins Loch at Palla. Tries to follow pioneers. Loch raises objections. Rhodes starts but returns. Crosses into Transvaal. Visits Pretoria. Civilities from Kruger. Rhodes back at Kimberley . 306 CHAPTER XXn EXPLOITATION OP THE CHARTER 'Mtasa's Kraal. Trouble with Portuguese. Selous at Macequece. Another fight with Portuguese. Captain Forbes. Mr. Piennes. Gungunhama. His envoys in London. Further Portuguese fighting. Capture of guns. Renny - Tailyour. Lippert Concession. Cost of Concessions. Acquisition of rights in Bechuanaland. Lewanika. Barotseland. North-West Rhodesia. North- East Rhodesia. Rhodes meets Chartered shareholders. Area of acquisitions. Dr. Jameson at Cape Town. Rhodes writes to Mr. Stead ...... 316 APPENDIX Charter of Incorpokation of the British South Africa Company . .... 331 Digitized by Microsoft® ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME I THE RIGHT HON. CECIL JOHN RHODES, . frontispiece. VIEW FROM BACK OF GROOTE SCHUUR . facing page 90 THE HUTS, MATOPO HILLS, . . . „ 242 Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® THE EIGHT HON. CECIL JOHN EHODES PART I CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY Biography of great men — Portraiture of Rhodes — Parallels : Caesar, Olive. It is not in their lifetime that great men can be judged. Provisional sentence may indeed be passed, but final adjudication at the bar of history is delivered at a much later period, when the dust of current controversies has been laid and events can be distinguished in their true proportions. But the equity of the ultimate decision may be rendered more certain by a recital of contemporary facts, and for this reason it may well be that the material for the biography of men of exceptional type should be collected before the generation which knew them has entirely passed away. A man who plays a prominent part in the march of a great nation, and especially of a nation distracted by party feuds, while arousing en- thusiasm in those who appreciate the boldness of his conceptions, or are admitted to the inner circle of his thoughts, inevitably arouses, also, the animosity of those who misunderstand his pohcy and reprobate what they consider the impropriety of his methods. Many a man hol^s .^^ J^^w^^^o^ion in the estimation VOL. I. A 2 CECIL JOHN RHODES of the world than would be the case had he received justice from contemporary biographers. Who can doubt, for instance, that the reputation of Hannibal has suffered in consequence of its being recorded only by his inveterate foes ? No attempt will be made in these pages to prove that the aspirations of Cecil Rhodes were always practicable, or that his procedure was, on aU occasions, commendable ; but I apprehend that a sober narration of the facts at my command will not lower bim in the eyes of discriminating critics, but wiU demonstrate, not indistinctly, that he was a great man, great even in his faults, with a passionate behef and pride in the character and destiny of his country to lead the van of civilisation, and with a robust deter- mination to do something in his 'time and prime' for the Anglo-Saxon race and for the betterment of humanity. The historian, who essays to describe adequately tlie events and tendencies of the last half-century, cannot afford to ignore his massive and conLmanding person- ahty, or fail to investigate the circumstances governing the career of one who, during his brief and meteoric course, inspired affection, and perhaps hatred, to a greater extent than any other conspicuous man of his day. My aim is to portray the real man as he appeared to his personal friends and to his pohtical opponents : a man of many moods and contrarieties, but always in earnest, always letting the dead past bury its dead, and pushing forward to those things that are before, with never a backward glance or vain regret : a man witli many human frailties, but eminently lovable in spite of, or perhaps because of, them. Digitized by Microsoft® INTRODUCTORY 3 It may be an arduous task to hold the scales evenly where affection guides the hand. But the attempt will be made to paint a faithful portrait free from exagger- ated effects, whether of light or shade : the portrait of a modern EngUshman cast in an antique mould, doubt- less with the defects of his quahties, but actuated at all times and under all circumstances by an unwavering ambition, not for his own aggrandisement, but for that of the land of his birth and the land of his adoption. It is in this spirit I desire to write the hfe of Cecil Rhodes. It is perhaps an idle fancy to seek to discover a close parallel between two men, living in different ages and influenced by entirely different environments. Some people have not hesitated to compare Rhodes with Caesar. Gughelmo Ferrero, in his Greatness and Decline of Rome, says, ' Caesar was a genius, a man whose powers have seldom been equalled in history. He was at once student, artist, and man of action : and in every sphere of his activity he left the imprint of greatness. Under twentieth-century conditions he might have become a captain of industry in the United States, or a great pioneer, or mine-owner, or empire-builder in South Africa.' The hkeness here is, however, visibly imperfect. Mr. Rhodes never had the opportunity of controlling the armed forces of the State, nor did he develop any mihtary talent, nor was he an artist or orator or lucid writer, but, on the other hand, he possessed traces of the ruthlessness of Caesar, he was admittedly a con- structive statesman and man of action, and his genius would probably, in any age, have leapt the bar of ad- verse fate. Digitized by Microsoft® 4 CECIL JOHN RHODES A much closer and, in some respects, a very striking parallel could be drawn between Cecil Rhodes and Robert Clive. Both were essentially Imperiahst : both were men of action, of stormy temper and impatient of control : both were connected with the administration of great Chartered Companies : both achieved high renown abroad and rendered conspicuous service to their country : and both, in their declining days, were the subject of gross and persistent calumny, due, as Rhodes declared, to unctuous rectitude. Chve was educated, principally, at a private school at Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire ; Rhodes, at a similar school at Bishop's Stortford in the same county, CKve, before he was eighteen, was shipped ofi to Madras as a writer in the service of the East India Company. Rhodes, at the same age, was despatched to Natal mainly for reasons connected with his health. At twenty-five, Clive was a commissary-captain, the victor of Arcot, and planning the overthrow of French supremacy in India. At the same age, Rhodes was at the Diamond Fields, dreaming of northern expansion and how to hmit and restrain Republican ambitions in South Africa. At thirty-one, CKve won the Battle of Plassey, and Rhodes was ruling Bechuanaland as Deputy Com- missioner for the Crown. Already, at the age of twenty- nine, Chve, in a brief interval of leisure, had entered the Enghsh Parliament and been unseated on petition: Rhodes, at exactly the same age, entered the Cape Parliament and remained a member of it till his death. Chve, before he was forty, was Governor and Com- mander-in-chief in Bengal. Rhodes, at the same age, had already been for three years Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, and for more than a year the Digitized by Microsoft® INTRODUCTOEY 5 virtual governor of those vast territories now known as Rhodesia. At the age of forty-one, Clive left India for ever, his career practically ended. At about the same age, Rhodes resigned aU his offices and retired into private hfe, as the result of the Jameson Raid. Thenceforward, for nearly seven years, both these eminent men had full proof of the fickleness inherent in all large communities, and were exposed to rancorous criticism, much of which history will probably hold to have been unjustified. Officially, their achievements were not unrecognised. Chve had akeady been created an Irish peer and Rhodes sworn of the Privy Council. But both ceased, to a great extent, to be the lions of society, both were acute sufferers through f aihng health, and both were required to defend their conduct before a Committee of Parliament. It may be recorded, that on neither occasion did the historic Commons House of our reahn fall beneath its traditional dignity. Violent partisans on the one side clamoured for complete and unquahfied acquittal, and, on the other side, for severe condemnation and pro- scription. But, in spite of party pressure, the House, preserving its seH-restraint, steered on both occasions a middle course between the two extremes. In the case of Chve, the House affirmed that he had undoubtedly received and retained large sums of money while Commander-in-chief, but unanimously added a rider to the effect, ' That Robert, Lord Chve, did, at the same time, render great and meritorious services to his country.' In the case of Rhodes, the Committee held, ' That the Raid had involved him in grave breaches of duty to those to whom he DWi^^h^mm, but that, in regard 6 CECIL JOHN ERODES to the charge that the movement was inteaded to influence the stock-markets, they beheved it to be entirely without foundation.' The comparison I have sought to make might be considerably extended. Both men loved money, not for its own sake, but for the power it conferred upon them to prosecute Imperial aims. Both were siacerely desirous of protecting the natives of the country over whom they bore sway, and both were munificent in their bequests for public purposes. Chve bequeathed £70,000 to found a hospital for worn-out soldiers of the East India Company, and Rhodes formulated a far-reachiag scheme of educational endowment of unique and international importance. Sir Charles Wilson, one of Clive's latest biographers, says of him : — ' He may have committed errors, he may sometimes have been mistaken in his policy, but he was animated by a high sense of honour and duty, and by a passionate love of England.' And again : ' There was little refinement in Chve's manner. At times stern and imperious, at times stubborn and dogged, he was blunt and outspoken even to rudeness ; and he frequently gave great offence by his impatience of opposition and his openly expressed contempt for mediocrity.' And again : ' Although silent and reserved in society, when the conversation turned upon a subject in which he was interested, he would rouse himself and take part in it with the greatest animation ; while among his iati- mates he could be pleasant and merry enough.' There are many persons now living who could testify that every word in these sentences might have been expressly intended for Rhodes. But I will not prolong Digitized by Microsoft® INTRODUCTOEY 7 the parallel, merely pointing out, in conclusion, that both these great men passed away at about the same age : at forty-nine Clive died in England by his own hand, and at ahnost precisely the same age Rhodes breathed his last on the seashore of that Africa he loved so well. Digitized by Microsoft® CECIL JOHN EHODES CHAPTER II FAMILY HISTORY Pedigree and descent — Family connection with St. Pancras —Family vault — French Emigres — The Vicar of Bishop's Stortford. The name of Rhodes is not an uncommon one in the Midlands, and Cecil Rhodes was correct in asserting, as he did, that he came 'of farming stock,' a fact that may explain, in part, his sympathy for those who till the soil, and his passionate love for the open veld. For the purposes of this biography, I shall deal only with the descendants of that branch of the family which existed in Staffordshire in the reign of the first Charles. Without going outside the region of ascertaiaed facts, I find that in the year 1660, when the Great Protector was two years dead and General Monk was marching on London to restore the monarchy, James Rhodes of Snape Green, in the parish of Whitmore, Staffordshire, married one Mary Christian, by whom he had issue two sons and two daughters. Soon after his marriage he moved into Cheshire, and his eldest son, William, was baptized in 1664 at Bisley, in the parish of Stockport in that county. The second son, Thomas, is described as of Bramall in the same parish, and Thomas's eldest son, also a William, was baptized at Bisley in November 1689. In or about 1720 this William Rhodes, clearly a prosperous yeoman and grazier, came south and pur- Digitized by Microsoft® FAMILY HISTORY 9 chased considerable property in what were then pleasant fields on the outskirts of London. His estate lay to the east of Gray's Inn Road, and covered the ground now occupied by Mecklenburgh and Brunswick Squares and the Foundling Hospital, and possibly, but not certainly, a portion of the present Regent's Park. Tradition asserts that his ambition was to own 1000 head of breeding-stock, and that the ambition was never completely fulfilled. On the 27th October 1733, he was elected overseer of the poor for the South Division of St. Pancras, and in 1740, and again in 1741, he was churchwarden of the parish. He was twice married and, dying on 18th March 1768, at the age of eighty, was buried in old St. Pancras Churchyard. His only son, Thomas Rhodes, also a man of large means, continued to reside in the parish, where, in 1743, he occupied the position of Surveyor for the South Division, and was churchwarden in 1756 and 1757. Later, in 1772, he was on the Committee appointed to treat for a lease of the workhouse in Camden Town. After being twice married, he died in 1787, leaving two children, a son and a daughter. The latter married Daniel Harrison of St. Pancras, and her brother, Samuel, described as of Hoxton, who was born in 1736, married Anne Wooldridge and died in 1794. Like his forebears, he was a man of substance and enterprise, possessing large brick and tile works, and acquiring additional property in Dalston, which is still held by the Rhodes Trustees. Bartlett and Britton's topographical survey of the Borough of St. Mary-le-Bone, Edit. 1834, shows a portion of his estate as ' Rhodes's Farm ' on the east Digitized by Microsoft® 10 CECIL JOHN EHODES side of the Hampstead Road, just north of St. James's burial-ground. In a subsequent edition of 1837 it no longer figures, the inference being that it had been built over. The brick kilns were to the west of Kingsland Road in the parish of Islington, and are marked ' Rhodes's Farm ' in Cary's map of London, 1819. Samuel Rhodes left, among other children, three sons. The eldest, Thomas, born in 1763, continued to reside in the parish of St. Pancras, but acquired other estates at Tottenham Wood and MusweU Hill, together with land on the Hampstead Road. He was a trustee of the Fitzroy Fund, a paving commissioner and churchwarden of St. Pancras (1801, 1802), and was also a member of the first select vestry in 1819. Marrying a Harrison, his first cousin, he died in 1856 at the age of ninety-three, and was buried at All-hallows, Tottenham, leaving one son, whose descendant in the second generation now resides at Flore Fields, Weedon, Northamptonshire. Turning to Samuel Rhodes's second son, Samuel, I find that he was born in 1756, married Elizabeth Strange, died 26th October 1822, aged sixty-six, and was interred at old St. Pancras. His wife had predeceased him. In the churchyard of old St. Pancras there stands a massive tomb of granite, red, on a grey base, erected by the most illustrious of the family to the memory of thirty-three of his race whose names are inscribed thereon. At the south end of the monument are the words, ' Erected to replace two decayed family Tombs, by C. J. R. 1890.' Two additional inscriptions have more recently been added, one of them reading, ' Cecil John Rhodes. Born 5th July 1853. Died at Muizen- berg, 26th March 1902. Buried in the Matopo Moun- Digitized by Microsoft® FAMILY HISTORY 11 tains, Rhodesia ' ; while the other records the death of his brother Herbert, who died on 21st October 1879, and was buried at Chirales, Lower Shire River, Nyasa- land. Old St. Pancras Churchyard, with which is incorpor- ated that of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, lies in the Pancras Road at the back of the Midland Terminus. A small monument therein records that in 1875, after great opposition, an Act was passed to enable the disused burial-ground to be utihsed as pubhc gardens, which were accordingly opened on 28th June 1877. The tombstones beyond repair have been removed and placed against the churchyard wall ; the trim flower-beds and well-kept paths make a pleasant oasis in that grimy street, and many of the poorer classes avail themselves of the numerous seats to come in and rest out of the noise and bustle of tramcars and coal-waggons that rattle by unceasingly. Among the burials in the ground there is something pathetic about that of John Mills, who died on 29th July 1811, at the age of ninety. As the inscription says, ' He was the last survivor of the persons who came out of the Black Hole of Calcutta in Bengal, in the year 1756.' Cecil Rhodes also went into a ' Black Hole ' in his lifetime and came out ahve, though he did not attain the age of ninety ! There have been other and more illustrious interments in the old churchyard. The cheap and ' pleasant suburb ' of St. Pancras attracted many of the aristo- cratic famihes of France fleeing before the terror of the Revolution. In this way a large number of SmigrSs of rank came to be buried in old St. Pancras. Few people, as they pass and repass the bustling terminus of the Midland hne, know that, hard by, hes all that is mortal Digitized by Microsoft® 12 CECIL JOHN KHODES of Louis de Sainte Croix, one of the last Ministers of the unfortunate Louis xvi. ; of Alexander d'Anterroche, Count de Brisade, and his son ; of Jean Ormond, Count d'Allonville, and his son ; of Frangois, Marquis de Bouille ; of Louis, Count d'Antraiques and his wife ; of John, Count de Behaque ; of Michael, Baron de Wentzel ; and of Antoinette de Chaumont, Vicomtesse de BufEevant, who survived until June 1845. No monument remains to record the names of these and other representatives of an almost vanished race, who were driven from France at a time when the sins of the fathers were visited on their children. One does not require much imagination to conjure up the sight of these members of the ancien regime with broken fortunes and broken hearts, with hopes occasionally uplifted only to be again and again cruelly disappointed. Their frailties, as well as the sorrows of their long years of exile, are now for ever forgotten. May they rest in peace in the vast city which was ahke their refuge and their grave ! The great man, who restored the Ehodes family tomb, and whose name is also now recorded thereon, was de- scended from Samuel Rhodes's third son, Wilham, who was born in 1774 and died in 1843, and who settled at Leyton Grange in Essex, acquiring extensive property there. His wife, Elizabeth Cooper, was six years his junior, and they had issue two sons and six daughters. One of the sons died unmarried ; the other, Francis William, born in 1806, was carefully educated and in due course was entered of Trinity College, Cambridge, and took orders. From internal evidence, it would appear that the Rev. F. W. Rhodes was a man of great individuality. From about 1834 to 1849 he was perpetual curate of Digitized by Microsoft® FAMILY HISTORY 13 Brentwood in Essex, where he was known as ' the good Mr. Rhodes ' ; being of a simple and charitable nature and not infrequently imposed on by the undeserving. At his own expense he built a small church to meet the needs of a hamlet in the parish of South Wiald, the vicar of which, the Rev. C. A. Belli, Precentor of St. Paul's Cathedral, was an alternate patron of the living of Bishop's Stortford in Herts, to which, later on, he presented Mr. Rhodes. From 1849 to late in 1876 he was vicar of Bishop's Stortford, where, as a wealthy man of liberal nature and zealous in all good works, he was a conspicuous figure. A memorial window to him was subsequently erected in the parish church, which he had been instrumental in restoring. In 1833, at the age of twenty-seven, he had married Ehzabeth Sophia Manet, a lady of Swiss descent, four years his junior, who died at Brentwood in childbirth two years later, leaving one child, a daughter. More than nine years later, the widower married again, his second wife being Louisa Peacock, a lady of good family, resident at South Kyme in Lincolnshire. The vicar is described as a tall loosely-built man, with a fine intellectual head, but with the not uncommon reputation among servants of being eccentric. His unconventionahty descended in full measure upon his children. He was a very attractive reader, and an excellent preacher, with the added charm of never exceeding his self-imposed limit of ten minutes. His wife, evidently a mother of great and abiding influence, bore him eleven children, of whom nine were sons. Two died in infancy, and the others were designated by their father ' the Seven Angels of the Seven Churches,' apparently in the hope that they would follow his ex- Digitized by Microsoft® 14 CECIL JOHN KHODES ample, and take Holy Orders. But to his disappoint- ment, none of tliem felt a call in this direction. The State, rather than the Church, appealed more strongly to most of them. Eoux of them entered the army and distinguished themselves in the service of their country. The best known was Colonel Francis WilUam Rhodes, who was educated at Eton and entered the 1st Dragoons in 1873 ; a man of singularly winning manners, everywhere popular and afiectionately regarded, he served in the Sudan campaign, and afterwards at Suakim and Omdurman, as well as in India and Uganda. Always brilhant, he won the D.S.O., the Egyptian medal, and the Khedive's star. In 1896, he was con- demned to death by the Boer Government for takirig a leading part in the agitation for reform, but survived to be besieged in Ladysmith in 1899, and to die, on 21st September 1905, in his brother's historic house at Groote Schuur. Of the three civilian sons, two also died in Africa. One of them, an adventurous hunter, who perished by misadventure, was Herbert, the eldest, who went from Bishop's Stortford to Winchester, where he was in the College eleven in 1864, distinguishing himseK by capturing six Eton wickets in that year's inter-school match. The other, Cecil, is the subject of this biography, whose chequered career, so full of daring successes and sickening disappointments, I am about to relate. Digitized by Microsoft® BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS 15 CHAPTER III BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS Birth at Bishop's Stortford — Latter half of nineteenth century — The Grammar School — School life — Anecdotes — Public afiairs of the day — Disinclination to enter the Church — Leaves England — Arrives in Natal — Division of his life into three periods. In the quiet vicarage of Bishop's Stortford, on 5th July 1853, was born the vicar's fifth son, christened Cecil John, one of his godfathers being Mr. R. N. Jack- son, the cujate of the parish, afterwards a chaplain in the Royal Navy. As his age at death was under forty- nine, he belongs whoUy to the second half of the nine- teenth century, and is entirely a Victorian figure, inas- much as the late Queen had, at the date of his birth, already been on the throne for sixteen years, and he followed her to the grave in less than twelve months. There are many people still living who can remember with what paeans the second half of the last century was ushered in. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was regarded, even in exalted quarters, as the dawn of an ampler day, when the war-drum would throb no more, and our swords were to be transformed into ploughshares. It was a beautiful dream from which there was to be an early and agitated awakening. SuflQ.cient allowance had not been made for the combativeness of human nature, for national ambitions, dynastic exigencies, and the scramble for oversea possessions. Before the Exhibition buildings were razed to the groimd, South Africa was standing at bay against the Digitized by Microsoft® 16 CECIL JOHN EHODES menace of a Kafir inroad : in 1852 occurred the now almost forgotten second Burmese war ; while in 1853, only three days before Cecil Ehodes was born, Russia crossed the Pruth and poured her troops into Moldavia, thus creating that casus belli which led to the Crimean war. He was thus brought into a world, not of peace and goodwill, but of storm and stress, which seldom ceased dturing his hfetime. The vicar's sons, with the exception of those who died young, were all successively sent to the local school, one of those old Foundation Grammar Schools, which for several centuries have played so important a part in the formation of., our national character. The Bishop's Stortford School, situated in WindhiU, has passed through many vicissitudes. It was founded in 1579 by Dame Margaret Dane, possibly to com- memorate the visit paid to the village by Queen Ehza- beth a few years earher. Among the scholars educated there a century later was Swift's patron, the well-known Sir WiUiam Temple. It was restored and reorganised under the sanction of the Court of Chancery, in the year 1851, and the scheme of reconstruction provided, inter alia, ' that the income of the Charity Estate, belonging to the School and Library Estate, shall henceforth be received by the vicar for the time being of the parish of Bishop's Stort- ford, as the same shall arise and become due and pay- able, and shall be applied by him to and for providing masters for conducting the said school, and for the maintenance, repair and benefit of the said school and library.' The vicar was very zealous, Uke his great son, for more systematic education, and he was instrumental in Digitized by Microsoft® BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS 17 raising £20,000 to establish a training college for mistresses in elementary schools. In 1860, backed by nfluential friends, and finding the Grammar School iccommodation inadequate, he erected new premises n the Hadham Road, with a master's residence and jhapel standing in extensive grounds. These were leased to the headmaster, and for a time ;he school was carried on in both places, it being the practice for day scholars to attend at the Windhill schoohoom during the regular school hours, at the Badham Road classrooms for preparation, and at the playuig fields there for school sports. In 1898, the Charity Commissioners sanctioned the iale of the old trust property and the purchase of the nore modern buildings, which had been enlarged in L893 to commemorate the successful headmastership )f the Rev. Godfrey Goodman, D.D., previously the /icar's curate. Thenceforth, the school was conducted entirely in ;he newer premises, a concentration that doubtless nade for efficiency ; but as Cecil Rhodes was there from L861 to 1869 and was never a boarder, he was one of ;hose scholars educated partly in the one building, partly n the other. Concerning his school Ufe not much is known. History md geography are said to have been his favourite studies, and he won the school medal for elocution. In nathematics he was never strong, but he gained a classi- ;al scholarship tenable for three years, and it is perhaps lot unreasonable to beheve that this shght success was he germ of the idea of the great scholarship foundation, vhich his ' immense and brooding spirit ' elaborated nany years later. In 1866, at the age of thirteen, he was in the school VOL. I. Digitized by Microsoft® B 18 CECIL JOHN RHODES first eleven, and then and later he took a moderate share in current sports. He is described as a slender, dehcate-looking, but not delicate, boy, and as possessing a retiring nature, and a high proud spirit. One of the assistant masters recalls him as a bright, fairly clever lad, with nothing dreamy about him. A governess then in the family says of him, 'He was good-looking, with fair hair, and the nice and agreeable way of speaking which runs in the family.' The school was a large and prosperous one, containing at one time nearly 150 day scholars and 130 boarders. It was well staffed and conducted on sound and sensible hnes, and gave Cecil Rhodes all the school education he ever received, till he entered on that second and superior education which every man, who achieves greatness, gives to himself. In after years he frequently sent friendly greetings to the old Grammar School, and in 1898 presented it with his portrait, which was hung in the dining-hall. One of his school companions, writing to bim in later life, says : ' Do you not remember that the boys always called you Rhodes. We never used your Christian name, somehow. It is thirty-eight years since we met, but it is not too late to express to you how proud I am to know that I was at school with you at Goodman's. Your father and sister were very kind to me. You were a dehcate, golden-haired httle fellow then. Now we are all scattered on the highways or byways of the Empire. I am in Jamaica. died at Foochow. is captain of the Devastation. is a rector in Kent.' Another schoolmate, writing to congratulate him on attaining the Premiership in 1890, says : ' I well re- member the last year I was at school (1865) you gained Digitized by Microsoft® BIKTH AND EARLY YEARS 19 the silver medal given by Mr. D'Orsay for the best reader.' And a third, about the same date, writes : ' A blessing on your present and future life ! Go on and prosper, and show the world what a Bishop's Stortford boy can do.' One of the masters at the old school, Mr. Henry Wilson, wrote to the Times as follows (April 1902) : — ' Trifles connected with the Uf e of great men are interesting. You say that Mr. Rhodes used to declare that he came of a farming stock. From 1859 to 1861 I was a master at the Grammar School of Bishop's Stort- ford. At that time there were persons living who remembered Mr. Rhodes's grandfather, a cowkeeper at IsUngton in a large way, when all round the Angel was open fields. I knew the vicar well, a tall spare man, of poHshed manners and the strongly marked mobile features that indicate a muscular habit. The two eldest sons, Herbert and Frank, were in the school. Herbert, who went first to South Africa and was, I have heard, accidentally burnt to death, was a typical schoolboy — clever, volatile, with a face like indiarubber, and extraordinary command of expression. He was a born actor. Once when I was taking my class at one end of the schoolroom he was standing in class at the other end. He had been at some tricks, and the master, who had a heavy hand, had administered sharp cor- rection. Herbert was sobbing bitterly, and big tears were dropping on the floor. On the master's turning for a moment the other way all signs of grief disappeared like magic, and a hideous grimace took their place. The master, aware from a titter that something was going on, turned sharply back to see an agonised countenance and tears again rolhng down. He might have excelled in another calling, that of Blondin. When I have been Digitized by Microsoft® 20 CECIL JOHN EHODES out for a walk with the boys and we passed an unfinished house, he would run up the ladder and out on a horizontal pole, where, without apparent effort, he would stand unsupported haranguing his schoolfellows. Cecil had not come into the school when I left, but I remember once at a cricket match, where I was umpire, one of the younger boys, probably he, a pretty dehcate child in a plaided frock^ was with his nurse among the spectators. The batsman hit a ball to leg, which, without touching the ground, struck the little fellow full on the arm. I rushed up fearing the bone was broken, but on testing it found it was not. I was struck by the delicate frame and small bones, and yet by the Spartan way, almost indifference, with which the child bore pain.' It is quite conceivable that even in those early days Ehodes's dreams were of the Empire. His concentra- tion of thought, later on so remarkably developed, was probably always one of his characteristics. To the last he was a shy and sohtary spirit, full of strange silences, and with a reserve difficult to break through. In his school days England was almost always at war. The period covered by his residence at Bishop's Stortford was crowded with great events. We were slowly recover- ing from our struggle against Eussia, and wondering whether, after all, we had not backed the wrong horse, when the shock of the Mutiny threatened the dissolution of our Indian Empire, and we had scarcely escaped this peril when we found ourselves again at war with China, and on the brink of hostilities with the United States. In 1863, we bombarded the Japanese ports, and, a few years later, Lord Napier stormed Magdala and overthrew the tyranny of Theodore of Abyssinia. With or without allies, Great Britain was thus struggling in many lands, in vindication of her national Digitized by Microsoft® BIETH AND EARLY YEARS 21 honour, or in protecting or extending her oversea possessions ; or, as in 1867, consolidating her Empire by creating the Dominion of Canada. These events are not Hkely to have passed unnoticed by Cecil Rhodes. In 1869 he left school, but remained for a while at the Vicarage, continuing classical studies under his father's direction. The reason for his next move is variously stated. His disincHnation to enter the Church remained, nor did the army as a career appeal to him as to his brothers. Some thought him in poor health ; some, that he was crossed in love. His father recognised that he was unfitted for a routine life in England, and resolved to ship him to one of the Colonies, those invaluable nursing homes to so many thousands of our younger sons. As his eldest brother Herbert, now twenty-five years of age, was already settled in Natal, experimenting in cotton-growing, it was to that colony he was sent. Leaving England in a sailing vessel towards the end of June 1870, he made the passage in what was then considered a record time of seventy days, landing at Durban on 1st September. Natalians, then as now passionately devoted to their little colony, were always keen on maintaining a direct service with England. There is in the Durban Club a painting of the Sarah Bell of 150 tons, the first ship to come from the mother country without touching at Cape Town. She is recorded as having left Gravesend on 9th November 1845, arriving at Durban and crossing the bar on 20th February 1846, after a passage of 103 days, and the inscription, frankly unashamed of small beginnings, adds that her mail-bag contained one letter. The life of Cecil Rhodes may be roughly divided into Digitized by Microsoft® 22 CECIL JOHN KHODES three periods of approximately equal length. The first period, that of school hfe, was now at an end. During the second period he amassed a fortune, amalgamated the Diamond Mines where other men had failed, entered the Cape Parliament, pacified Bechuanaland, and brooded without ceasing on the possibihty of Northern expansion. During the third period, he founded the Chartered Company, thus saving all Central South Africa for the Empire ; he fought a long duel with the tenacious Boer President, was twice Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, was created a Privy Councillor and became known as one of the foremost statesmen of the Empire. Then came the Kaid, and, as a swift and summary punishment, the loss of place, power and prestige, to be followed by the Matabele war and the Transvaal struggle, by his being besieged in Kimberley and leaving it only to find his health shattered beyond recovery. But before his death he had regained his hold over the imagination of his countrymen, and, dying, was universally mourned by an Empire which he, whatever his faults, loved and strove for with passionate devotion. It was at the close, therefore, of the first of these three periods that Cecil Ehodes reached the shores of that country, which has been cynically described as the grave of reputations, and with which, through years of good report and evil report, his name was destined to be indelibly associated. Digitized by Microsoft® EMiaRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 23 CHAPTER IV EMIGEATION TO SOUTH AFEICA History of Natal — Progress of Durban — Dr. Sutherland's kindness — Intro- duction of coolie labour — Neglect of Colony by Mother Country — CultiTation of cotton — Herbert Rhodes — Life on the Unkomaas — Caesar Hawkins — Young dreams — Native nicknames — Disoorery of diamonds — Exodus from Natal — Formation of the dry diggings — Departure of Herbert Rhodes — Cecil's first speech — He leaves Natal — Arrives at the Diamond Fields. The colony of Natal received its picturesque name on Cliristmas Day in the year 1497, when that stout old Portuguese navigator, Vasco da Gama, having rounded the Cape of Storms more than a month before, caught a ghmpse of the striking blufi which guards the modern port of Durban. But da Gama pushed on over un- charted seas, till he reached India the following year, and a curtain fell on Natal destined to remain practically imraised untU more than three centuries later, in the year 1831, when Lieutenant Farwell founded a small settlement on the shores of the Bay. A few years later, emigrant Boers from the Cape, coming overland, contested the position. Eight years of strife ensued until, in 1843, the intruders acknowledged our sove- reignty, and the British flag was hoisted by general consent. A Lieutenant-Governor, subordinate to the Cape, was appointed, who ruled the settlement until 1856, when a Charter was conferred upon it, and a Legislative Council set up. At length, on 20th July 1893, Natal received the gift Digitized by Microsoft® 24 CECIL JOHN RHODES of full self-government, the Hon. Sir Walter Hely- Hutchinson being her first Governor. Nobly since then has the colony played her part as an outlying post of Empire. Again and again has she been called upon to take up the white man's burden. Her patriotism has never faltered. She put down the rising of LangaUbalele in the year 1873. In helping to break the overshadowing miUtary power of the great Zulu tribe in 1879 she saw the best and bravest of her sons fall on the bloody field of Isandhlwana, and saw, too, ere the next sunrise, the disaster heroically avenged at Eorke's Drift, on the banks of the Tugela River. Later, she passed through the furnace of afiliction on the summit of Majuba, and, later yet, beheld her peaceful village of Ladysmith the scene of a titanic struggle between contending armies, under circumstances which immortalised its name in the history of our race. But throughout these stormy experiences the energy of her colonists has never wavered. Men of sturdy English stock have, through all vicissitudes, laboured, with rare success, to build up her industries and expedite her progress and material prosperity. Whenever in the fullness of time the history of our colonies comes to be worthily written, Englishmen will have no reason to be ashamed of their countrymen in Natal. In 1870, when Cecil Rhodes landed at Durban, the Garden Colony, as it is fondly called, was in its infancy. The spaces in the town, that passed for streets, were full of drifting sand. A dangerous bar blocked the entrance to the port, and the few small ships that arrived lay out in the ofl&ng and rolled gunwale under. Now a liner of 10,000 tons steams safely in. There were no railways, whereas now a traveller entraining at Durban can travel to Cape Town in one Digitized by Microsoft® EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 25 direction, or beyond the Zambesi in another, without break of gauge. There were few public buildings and few comforts and conveniences. But plans for the future, since fulfilled, were widely discussed. The citizens recognised the natural advantages of the place, and were resolved to make the most of them. And they have done so. Public gardens, handsome edifices, a noble embankment, broad streets, all bear testimony to the vigour of the community. And now, from the picturesque slopes and wooded summit of the Berea overlooking the town, there peep out hundreds of Bnghsh-looking homes, nesthng in the midst of semi-tropical foliage, and either commanding a view of the Indian Ocean, or, fronting inland, a glimpse of that other and perhaps even more beautiful prospect, the Umgeni River, winding hke a silver thread amid luxuriant plantations to the sea. The lad of seventeen, who was to set his mark on South Africa, and who died there a millionaire and the owner of 300,000 acres of its finest land, came out as an immigrant entitled to a free grant of 50 acres to be paid for in five years. This land he took up, but he had no capital. The allowance he received from his father was a trifling one, and he was destined frequently to feel the pinch of poverty. His brother Herbert, to whom he was shipped, was not to be found on his arrival, being absent up country on one of those adventurous trips which finally ended in his tragic death. Fortunately for the boy, he secured immediate and influential friends in the person of Dr. and Mrs. Sutherland, then residing a few miles out of Maritzburg. Dr. Sutherland was Surveyor-General of the Colony, and it was part of his duty to show new settlers where to take up land, but he did much more Digitized by Microsoft® 26 CECIL JOHN EHODES than his duty and was on very many occasions a friend to the friendless. Herbert Rhodes had begged the Surveyor-General to have his brother met on arrival, and both he and his wife were kindness itself to the new- comer. In their hospitable house he was made to feel at home until Herbert's return. His health had been re-estabUshed by the voyage, and his hosts found him very quiet and a great reader. To the motherly eye of Mrs. Sutherland he appeared to have outgrown his strength, but she does not remember that in other respects he seemed difierent from other lads of the same age. Even in those days the Natal colonists were a self- reliant community, with a passionate affection for the land of their adoption and a robust faith in its destiay. They were already putting forth strenuous efforts to develop the resources of their delightful territory. They were experimenting in cereals, sugar, coffee, tea, fibre, and cotton. For many years their industry met with but scanty reward. The climate was favourable, the soil fruitful. But their efforts often suffered shipwreck owing to insufficient capital, and the rooted disinclination of the natives to manual labour. So far back as 1874, a Bill was introduced into the Legislative Council to import 50,000 Indian coohes to do the work which the natives could not be induced to undertake, and their advent saved the colony from economic disaster. It is melancholy to reflect that while a promising colony was permitted to languish from want of financial support. Great Britain was lending, and often losing, her surplus millions to ' sick ' States hke Egypt, Turkey and Greece, or to fraudulent bankrupts hke some of the South American Republics. Foreign States were un- Digitized by Microsoft® EMIGEATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 27 wisely supported ; our own colonial flesh and blood were left to starve. The Imperial spirit was still slumbering. Colonies were regarded as encumbrances. Any second- rate European State could borrow from us at five per cent. : Natal had to pay ten to twelve per cent, for money, and could not secure much at even those usurious rates. The infant industries of the colony were thus strangled in their birth. Among the most promising of those industries at one time was the cultivation of cotton, the success of which would have saved our manufacturing centres from a repetition of the calamity that had overtaken them during the great war in the United States. If ever a nation should have exerted itself to support one of its colonies, it was now and in this direction. But little help came. Under what was called ' Mann's Emigration Scheme,' Herbert Rhodes had obtained a grant of 200 acres in the Umkomaas VaUey, known as Lion's Kloof, near the Spring Vale Mission Station, about twelve miles from the village of Richmond, and was experimenting there with cotton. He had already cleared 45 acres of Euphorbia bush and, after immense labour, had planted them with cotton.^ On his return Cecil joined him in an informal partnership, and in a few months they had 100 acres under cultivation. But they had to buy their experience dearly. Their first attempt failed because the rows were only four feet apart, and so luxuriant was the growth in virgin soil, that the intertwined plants became a matted and impenetrable mass of vegetation. Hence it was im- practicable to keep the ground clean, and the aphis, 1 See Notes on Natal, 1872, John Kobinson. Digitized by Microsoft® 28 CECIL JOHN RHODES the bore-worm and the caterpillar made havoc of the crop. A few bales were harvested, but not of sufficient value to defray working expenses. The following season they doubled the distance between the rows, and obtained a very fair crop, though troubled by the fact that the cotton did not mature evenly, but ripened by instahnents, entaihng extra labour. Despite the pessimistic opinions of neighbours, they persevered and, as a result, won a second prize at the next Agricultural Show, a fact often referred to by Cecil in after life, when other projects of his were derided as chimerical. ' Ah ! yes,' he would say to his critics, ' they told me I couldn't grow cotton ! ' Of Herbert Rhodes, an athlete of remarkable powers, a characteristic anecdote is recorded. The Umkomaas, a turbulent river, was once in full flood and washed away his cart and six oxen. Plunging into the stream, not far from dangerous rapids, he cut the harness with a daring hand, rescued the oxen, and, later on recovered the cart. Those who have seen an African river roaring seaward in the rainy season, will appreciate the risk he ran. A friend says of him, ' Poor fellow ! he would have gone far. He was of a determined, forceful character, and of unbounded energy and enterprise.' Early in 1871, while still strenuously at work, Cecil was fortunate enough to secure a companion of about his own age. This was Henry Csesar Hawkins, who, on leaving an English public school, came out to Natal where his father, at one time an officer of the 1st Royals, was now Resident Magistrate of the Upper Umkomaas. A friendship soon sprang up between the two. Young Digitized by Microsoft® EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 29 Hawkins was a frequent visitor at the little cotton estate, he himself, later on, taking up ground in the same neighbourhood with the same object in view. At the Magistrate's house, Cecil was always a welcome guest. The lads, without being bookworms, had been soundly- educated, and were keen on retaining what classical knowledge they possessed. In their spare moments they studied together, and formed many plans for the future. Among these day-dreams, one of the most frequent recurrence was that when they had made money enough, they were to return to England together and enter at Oxford ' without outside assistance.' As disclosing the bent of Cecil's mind, the resolution is interesting. It seems clear that he had already mapped out his career, and his subsequent matriculation at Oriel was not the result of any sudden decision. Meanwhile, he did whatever work he found to do and did it well. It was a rough hfe for a home-bred boy. The country aU around was a dense bush. The heat in the valley was extremely trying. There were no comforts or conveniences, and funds were scarce. The brothers slept in one hut and utihsed another as a store and general living room. The stable was of reeds and grass, their kitchen the veld, a Kafir boy theic only servant. Herbert, who was of a restless disposition, was often away, and Cecil practically ' ran ' the plantation. Both were favourites with the natives, and Cecil remained so to the last day of his hfe. His intuitive famiHarity with native ways and thoughts was always one of his distinguishing traits, and became invaluable when, in later years, he had 10,000 native labourers in his compounds — men from every tribe in South Africa, Digitized by Microsoft® 30 CECIL JOHN KHODES united in nothing but their confidence in him. His magic gift of sympathy enabled him in 1896 to ride unarmed into the rebel camp in the Matopos, and compel their submission by force of argument. It enabled him, whQe besieged in Kimberley, to find man after man wilhng to accept the risk of passing and repassing through the Boer fines with urgent despatches ; and, finally, it procured him at his funeral, from the serried ranks of his old enemies, the Matabele, the sonorous Royal salute hitherto only accorded to a great chief of their own colour. In the Rev. Eorbes Robinson's Letters to his Friends (Spottiswoode, 1904) it is stated that Rhodes started at Ixopo, and that there is stiU a record in the books of the magistracy there that he was fined £10 for parting with a gun to a native. The story is hen trovaio, but unconfirmed. On the cotton plantation, Herbert was known as ' Umbila ' from his fondness for green meahes, while Cecil's nickname, for reasons unknown, was ' U'Twsai ' or ' Salt.' Whether cotton-growing would or would not have eventually succeeded in Natal, when pushed by such strenuous pioneers as the Rhodes brothers, caimot now be determined. Labour was neither cheap nor continu- ous, and without an adequate supply of inexpensive labour it is never easy to grow cotton with success. Moreover, the ' fly ' which destroyed the bolls was an ever-present trouble. Notwithstanding these draw- backs, the crop of the colony, which in 1864 amounted to 35,000 lbs., had increased to 235,000 lbs. in 1871, when an event occurred which crushed several of the struggling industries of Natal, by diverting the energies of its colonists to another sphere of action. Digitized by Microsoft® EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 31 The romantic circumstances attending the discovery of diamonds have often been narrated, and need not be more than briefly alluded to here. In March 1869, a superb white stone of 83 carats had been picked up by a Griqua shepherd-boy near the Orange River. In November of that year, the first organised party of prospectors, equipped in Natal by Colonel Francis and consisting mainly of ofiicers of the 20th Regiment stationed there, arrived on the banks of the Vaal River under Captain RoUeston, and Herbert Rhodes was with them. In January 1870, their systematic search was rewarded by the discovery of a gravel bed containing an extensive ' wash ' of diamonds. A rush followed from all parts of South Africa. After six months' hesitation, President Pretorius and his Legislative Council announced that all prospecting was illegal, as the Transvaal authorities had granted the right of exclusive search to three privileged persons. Concessions, which subsequently caused untold mischief, were thus not the invention of President Kruger. The diggers, led by men who had seen stormy days at Ben- digo and Ballarat, laughed the proclamation to scorn. Mass meetings were held and a RepubHc established, the miners creating no new precedent, but following the practice of the Boers themselves. Then the Berlin Missionary Society claimed the area, issuing notices that trespassers would be prosecuted. The result was a roar of laughter. A reminiscent old resident thus describes the situation: ' The diggers formed a " Diggers' Committee," and appointed Stafford Parker, a gentleman of light and leading among the rough diamonds of the wilderness, as first President. A rival digger body bearing the same Digitized by Microsoft® 32 CECIL JOHN EHODES title also arose, and selected Mr. Koderick Barker as their President. Singular to relate, both Presidents agreed to disagree ; so no friction occurred of any importance. Ready and meet justice was administered. The worst punishment of all was being put over the river, the delinquents being warned that if they returned something worse would happen. ' The two Eepublics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, claimed sovereign rights, but Britishers would have none of them. Several of their oflScers were dragged through the water. Commandoes were occasionally despatched by the respective RepubUcan Governments to re-assert their alleged rights, but these demonstrations of force made no impression on "the Johnny-come-lately " populace. ' The weapon employed by the diggers was good- humoured banter of the " Come-and-have-a-drink-old chap," character, which upset the bellicose tempera- ments of the homely Republican burghers — a method of killing warlike tendencies with kindness.' Amid these ' alarums and excursions ' camps were formed at Pniel, Klipdrift and elsewhere along the Vaal River, which were gradually assuming the appearance of settled towns, when an event happened which directed the attention of a majority of the diggers to another quarter. In August 1870, a fine diamond had been unearthed at Jagersfontein in the Orange Free State, and shortly afterwards others were found at Du Toit's Pan; De Beers, and other points in what is now the Division of Kimber- ley. The prospectors, who soon numbered many thousands, were for a time under the impression that they were still in the presence of shallow deposits, or drifts similar ■^ Digitized by Microsoft® EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 33 to those they were already familiar with at the river diggings. They gradually realised that they had struck true diamond mines ; ' pipes ' of circular or oval shape, with well-defined containing walls, and going down to an unknown depth. Prom this moment, the inroad of diggers from all quarters of the globe became irresistible. One of these ' rushes ' took place on what was called Colesberg Kopje, because the chief workers hailed from the httle town of Colesberg. The kopje has long since been carted bodily away, and in its place there is a vast circular pit, hundreds of feet deep, which for some years was a scene of superhuman activity, but has now fallen quiet, owing to the system of working in shafts instead of in the open. This one-time kopje is now the Eamberley Mine, and nearly 3000 feet below its surface diamonds are still being extracted in enormous quantities. About the same time (August 1871) the farm ' Vooruitzigt,' or De Beers, was rushed. Large numbers of claims were pegged out, each claim being 30 by 10 feet, and the Ucence being generally ten shilUngs per claim per month. The name ' Vooruitzigt ' was declared by Lord Eamberley to be unpronounceable, and its alternative ' New Rush ' to be rowdy. The place was therefore officially christened ' Kimberley.' Southey was made Lieutenant-Governor of the territory, and one of his early proclamations, conceived in a spirit of hardihood, endeavoured to suppress gambling. It is said by Wihnot that Rhodes, not then twenty, helped to draft the proclamation. If so, it was his first recorded intervention in affairs of State. Large numbers of Kafirs came to these camps for work ; the veld was white with diggers' tents ; and, though the Free State authorities issued proclamations Digitized by Microsoft® q 34 CECIL JOHN RHODES similar to those of the Transvaal, they passed unregarded, and the population increased daily. But it was not until June 1874 that a Mining Ordinance passed into law, and the Mining Board was created a month later. Very naturally the news of the discoveries disturbed the minds of our cotton planters in the secluded valley of the Umkomaas. Herbert, in May 1871, was the first to start. Hawkins left in June, reaching Colesberg Kopje in July. The trip in those days occupied from a fortnight to a month, the route being through Mooi River, Estcourt, Colenso, over the Drakensberg Moun- tains 6000 feet above the sea, to Harrismith, Bloem- fontein, and Colesberg Kopje. Cecil remained behind to dispose of his crop, and to attend the annual nieeting of the Agricultural Society at Maritzburg, held on the 25th May, where he exhibited a sample of cotton, but was unsuccessful in obtaining a prize. At a well-attended dinner in the evening the President, I observe, was supported on his right by Colonel the- Hon. B. M. Ward, and on his left by the Hon. Theo- philus Shepstone, who came, later on, into great prominence by his annexation of the Transvaal. The Press report concludes by stating that Captain Bond proposed the toast of 'The Ladies,' and Mr. Rhodes responded ! His speech is unreported, leaving the world not much poorer, perhaps, for the omission, but here we have undoubtedly run to earth the first public utterance of Cecil Rhodes. In October 1871, having wound up the firm's affairs, Cecil at length bade adieu to Natal, and started for Colesberg Kopje in a Scotch cart drawn by a team of oxen, carrying with him a bucket and spade, several volumes of the classics and a Greek lexicon — surely the , Digitized by Microsoft® EMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 35 strangest equipment for a youth in his 'teens, bound for a miners' camp ! He arrived at his destination about the end of November, and Herbert, always on the move, at once handed over to him the working of his claim, and left for England. It was under these circumstances that the lad found himself once more a stranger in a strange land, but his own master, and hiding under a shy exterior a masterful will, and a mind capable of forming and carrying into efEect the most far-reaching projects. He was engaged in a bewilderingly novel industry, and he was surrounded by diggers of aU nationaUties ; keen, resourceful and often unscrupulous men, against whom he was destined to pit his brains and, after long and arduous struggles, to emerge an undisputed victor. The uneventful hfe in Natal was over for ever, and he was now, on a larger field of action, to give evidence of those great abilities which, later on, made him one of the most conspicuous figures in the British Empire. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® PART II CHAPTER V EARLY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS (1872-1874) Letter to Dr. Sutherland — River diggings — Kerainisoences of friends — Frank Rhodes arrives — Cecil visits England — Enters at Oriel — Another letter to Dr. Sutherland — Mr. Dick Lauder— Death of Rhodes's mother — B. I. Barnato — Affairs on the Diamond Fields — Further letter to Dr. Sutherland — Compassion on a feUow-passenger — Froude visits Kimberley. One of tlie first letters written by Cecil Rhodes from the Diamond Fields was to his kind friend Dr. Suther- land. As such, it may be of interest, and it is there- fore subjoined. 'Sunday, Bee. 11 111, De Beer's New Eush. ' Dear Dr. Sutherland, — My brother, as you ex- pected, had sailed for England before your letter reached here. Many thanks for your kindness in answering his inquiries about land in Glendale. ' I forwarded a copy of your letter to him. I think it would be better to let the matter rest until you hear from my brother. ' As far as I am myself concerned I should think it a pity to purchase any land before seeing it ; and there would be the same objections with respect to Glendale as to the Umkomaas. ' I mean the transport out of the valley, and the want of rain. Digitized by Microsoft® 37 38 CECIL JOHN RHODES ' I heard from Cole tliat SewelFs sluit had dried up ; it really seems an ill-fated valley. Whatever is poor Powys going to do ? I suppose after being burnt out and the cotton dried up, he must be thinking of abandon- ing the Umkomaas. You really ought to take a hohday and come up here ; you could make my tent your headquarters and visit all the diggings. This kopje is still yielding at the same enormous rate and no bottom has yet been struck. ' People keep arriving every day from Natal. I am afraid many find a great diflS.culty in obtaining claims, as of course they do not care to give the enormous prices asked. ' The only chance is to bring up plenty of Caffres, as labour is still very scarce, and then get a claim on percentage. ' The usual terms on the Colesberg Kopje are that the worker finds everything and gives the owner of the ground 50 per cent., and people are only too glad to get claims, even on these terms. ' Are you thinking of sending a party up ? I should think it would be barely a paying speculation. Of course, there is always a chance of a new Rush, but at the present moment you would have to give either a large sum for a claim or a heavy percentage of finds. Then of course you must send a white man with the party and he must have a percentage, leaving very httle for yourself. The tools used here are picks, shovels and ordinary zinc buckets ; rope for hauHng the buckets out of the claims, and sieving which I would buy up here, as the shghtest particle of an inch either way makes aU the difference. ' I would send a good stock of provisions, as every- thing is very dear ; any bacon you may have as, though Digitized by Microsoft® EAKLY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS 39 it may get overstocked, it is now about 2s. per lb. Natal preserves are selling at 2s. 6d. per pot, sugar from 9d. to lOd., tea about 5s. 6d. a pound. ' I hope I am not boring you, but I thought if you were going to send a party up you would Uke to know what is most necessary up here. ' With many thanks again for your kindness. — BeUeve me, yours truly, C. Rhodes." It will be observed that Herbert Rhodes had made inquiries as to land in Natal, but had sailed for England without awaiting a reply. Glendale, the property re- ferred to, was the projected site of a township, locally known as the ' Frying Pan ' owing to its intense heat. Situated 5 miles from Riet Valley, an abandoned station of ' the late Cotton Co.,' it was tried about this time for coffee with equal non-success, but it ultimately became a sugar estate. CecU, having put his hand to the plough, was not disposed to look back. With his wider outlook, he preferred to ' let the matter rest,' and thought it ' a pity to purchase any land before seeing it.' Throughout the year 1872, he threw himself heartily into his new life, working his claims and those of his brother, and beginning to speculate in the purchase and sale of other claims. He was never much of a behever in the river diggings, where numerous prospectors were earning a somewhat precarious Hving. The alluvial deposits at Khpdrift, Delport's Hope, Gong-gong, Pniel, Waldek's Plant, Forlorn Hope, Union Kopje and others, extended from 20 miles N.E. of Khpdrift to Sefonell's or Sivonellis, 60 miles to the westward. As a gamble, they exercised a fascination over many men, who preferred the shady Digitized by Microsoft® 40 CECIL JOHN EHODES banks of the Vaal Kiver to the dust and noise of what they contemptuously called the ' Dry Diggings ' — Du Toit's Pan, Bultfontein, De Beers and Colesberg Kopje, all of which had been proclaimed by Sir Henry Barkly in 1871 as British territory, and erected iato the Crown Colony of Griqualand West under Sir Richard, then Mr., Southey, as Lieutenant-Governor. By the time of Cecil's arrival at the close of 1871, Colesberg Kopje, or Kimberley, had become a township of some size, and although the discomforts of the mining camp were considerable, he believed in its permanence and stuck to it. One of his acquaintances at that time has described him as ' pleasant-mannered and clever, but odd and abstracted, and apt to fly off at a tangent.' Imperialist (Chapman & Hall, Edition 1897) depicts him as ' a tall Enghsh lad, sitting at a table diamond- sorting and superintending his gang of Kafirs near the edge of the huge open chasm or quarry which then constituted the mine.' His table was in the open aic and, sitting there, he had to scrutinise narrowly the pulverised yellow ground sifted before him for the sake of its valuable contents. As the young claim-holder is stated, by several observers, always to have had a book with him, it is probable that many of his diamonds were abstracted by his keen-eyed ' boys ' ; indeed, a large number of diamonds escaped even their observation, and were carted away with the debris, which, long afterwards, was rewashed, with astonishing results. But he was not long in arriving at the conclusion that there was a far more profitable field open to him than to labour with his own hands, or superintend the labour of a few Kafirs, and he continued to buy and seU Digitized by Microsoft® EAELY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS 41 claims in conjunction with his friend Hawkins, to their mutual advantage. The system of individual claims led to immense speculation, but as they increased in depth the partition walls or roads between them became more and more dangerous, and by the end of 1872 they had caved in and covered many of the claims altogether. The reef difficulties, afterwards so interminable, had commenced. Cecil is described about this time as ' with his hands deep in his jacket pockets, going silently and abstract- edly to his breakfast." Indeed he had much to think about. A now weU-known artist, who was then also a youth at Emberley, sends me the following description of the place in 1872, and of Rhodes in those early days : — ' The New Rush, as Kimberley was called in 1872, was a chaos of tents and rubbish heaps seen through a haze of dust. I had tumbled, numbed and sleepy, out of the coach that for twelve days and nights had jolted on over mountain and veld, and landed me at length amongst the rubbish heaps of Du Toit's Pan. Having a friend at " the Rush," I set out at once to find him, but it was a puzzhng business tracking men to their camps in those days, for the whole place was a heterogeneous collection of tents, waggons, native kraals and debris heaps, each set down with cheerful irresponsibihty and indifference to order. At length, however, after following many distracting directions, I lit upon a Httle cluster of tents and beehive huts, set round an old and gnarled mimosa tree : a Zulu was chopping wood and an Indian cook was coming out of the mess tent with a pile of plates : and here it was I found my friend. ' Alongside of him was a tall fair boy, blue-eyed, and with somewhat aquihne features, wearing flannels of the Digitized by Microsoft® 42 CECIL JOHN RHODES school playing field, somewhat shrunken with strenuous rather than effectual washings, that still left the colour of the red veld dust — a harmony in a prevailing scheme. This was my first impression of Cecil John Rhodes. As we brought our tents and set them next to his, I was destined in the following year to see much of him. ' The burly man of later years was at this time a slender striphng, showing some traces of the delicacy that had sent him to the Cape. He had not long come to the Fields, and the impression made upon such a nature as his by the novel world in which he found himself must have been particularly penetrating. Fresh from home and school, he found himself amongst men of much experience in many walks of fife ; his self-reliance led him into competition with them ; and good fortune, and his clear head, brought him out on top. ' Digging for diamonds soimds a fascinating Sinbad sort of occupation, but in reahty it was far from velvety. The summer days were incredibly hot and the winter nights extremely cold, and we had nothing but a httle canvas between us and these extremes. Added to which mining was just then very dangerous. The roads that had been left across the mine were tall causeways of crumbling tufa, sometimes 60 feet above the claims on either hand, and constantly falHng, to the great danger of the workers below. Ox-carts and mule-carts, that lumbered along these perilous ways, not infrequently went over, and altogether the claims were not pleasant spots to work in. ' But they were pleasanter than the Sorting Places, where, in those primitive days, the digger sat amongst his Kafirs, in the bMnding sun and dust, passing the sifted granules of tufa before his dazzled eyes. Great heaps and mounds of this debris grew round the vast Digitized by Microsoft® EAELY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS 43 basin of the mine, rising month by month as the ex- cavated cavity of the crater grew deeper and deeper. Mound and mine were black with men moving and working with ant-Hke activity. And the cries and songs of the natives, the whirhng of innumerable windlasses and the crash of buckets filled the air. ' From this high vantage one could see all the camp : gleaming patches of canvas, stretching away to the open veld, aU shimmering in the noonday heat. I was work- ing for some time near Rhodes's ground, and the picture of his tall deUcate figure crumpled up on an inverted bucket, as he sat scraping his gravel surrounded by his dusky Zulus, hves in my memory. ' In the course of the Cape winter of 1872, Herbert returned bringing with him his brother Frank, who was destined to play a prominent part in Africa and else- where. He had been to Eton, and was waiting for his Commission. Of unusually pleasant manners and with a very shrewd outlook on the actuaUties of Ufe, Francis Rhodes was bound to win success. 1st Royals, India with Lord Harris, Uganda with Sir Gerald Portal, the Sudan, the Raid, Times Correspondent, with Kitchener at Khartmn, and finally besieged in Ladysmith, his life's history forms a brilhant pendant to Cecil's ! ' As for Herbert, he was what is called in Ireland a " play-boy " and he must needs go a-hunting ; for the necessary expenses he sold his claim to Cecil, and trekked ofi into the veld, and the rest of his days were spent in great part on the confines of civiUsation. He was a member of the Transvaal " Volksraad " for the mining camp of Pilgrim's Rest about 1874, and died tragically years after through fire. ' During the same winter of '72, Cecil also went for an expedition into the Transvaal, and the experience he Digitized by Microsoft® 44 CECIL JOHN RHODES gained of Boer life and ways must have been of great service to him in later years. While he was away Frank looked after the claim. * Many young men would have been content to float on this easy tide of good fortune, but it was not so with Cecil Rhodes. I remember his telling me that he had made up his mind to go to the University, it would help him in his career ; also that it might be wise if he were to eat his dinners, the position of a barrister "was always useful." Then in his abrupt way he said, " I dare say you think I am keen about money ; I assure you I wouldn't greatly care if I lost all I have to-morrow, it 's the game I hke " ; and so, shortly after, he went to Oxford, but before going he made several investments in claims and also in diamonds ; he became very interested in old De Beers, and used to speak of it as a "nice Mttle mine." ' Then he went to Oriel and hved the hfe of the usual undergraduate— with a difference. I stayed with him at Oxford some years later and saw this difference, but I doubted at the time that his college friends did ; he played polo, a somewhat new game in those days, and worked and amused himself much as other men did, but I could not help thinking, as we sauntered up the High, of Kimberley far away and all the schemes and deals that this strange undergraduate was engaged in while he hved amongst boys not yet entered upon the hard business of life. ' But this was, as I said before, some years after ; for a cold, caught rowing on the Isis, suspended his University career for some time and sent him once more back to Africa. ' The voyage, however, set him up, and he arrived at Kimberley well, and keen for the contest. Here again Digitized by Microsoft® EARLY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS 45 Fortune had her eye on her friend, and brought him out at a favourable moment. Heavy rains had fallen that spring and had flooded the mines, and the digging community was rather helpless. The claims were by this time much subdivided, being worked by men having little or no capital, and with small gangs of Kafirs ; there was no machinery or any means of draining the mines. Rhodes saw his chance ; he managed to get hold of a practical engineer with whom he went down to the Colony and bought a couple of old engities of the threshing-machine order, and some centrifugal pimips, and sent in tenders to drain the two mines of Du Toit's Pan and old De Beers. There was no serious opposition, the tenders were accepted, and he was soon busily engaged pumping the two mines under a very satisfactory contract. ' It was not all quite smooth, however ; the old agricultural machines were a bit asthmatic, and fre- quently broke down, and the practical engineer had his hands full to keep them in health and the mines dry. Then the fuel was a great difficulty, the radius of the wood-supply was steadily retiring before the increasing demand, and at that date there was no coal ; but Rhodes had a shaggy Basuto pony and an old yellow cart in which he scoured the country before sunrise to waylay the great Boer wood waggons as they lumbered to the Kimberley market. Yes, it was assuredly " the game " that he loved. ' Until Rhodes finally took his degree he was con- tinually going and coming between Oxford and Kim- berley. His interests in the latter were, of course, always growing, and it is difficult to understand how he managed to keep his attention sufficiently fixed on his academic studies to enable him to pass. Digitized by Microsoft® 46 CECIL JOHN EHODES ' But Kimb6rley was his real university, and it was there that he graduated, it was there that he gained that insight into the intricacies of men's hearts that gave birn in after years a power to govern their actions. If Africa was shaped by Ehodes in the days to come, it was because Africa shaped hiTn in his youth. ' As I search my memory for the Khodes of the early seventies, I seem to see a fair young man, frequently sunk in deep thoughts, his hands buried in his trousers pockets, his legs crossed and possibly twisted together, quite oblivious of the talk around him ; then without a word he would get up and go out with some set purpose in his mind which he was at no pains to communicate. The same dual quahties that were to go with him through life were discernible now. He was a compound of moody silence and impulsive action. He was hot and even violent at times, but in working towards his ends he laid his plans with care and circumspection. He was fond of putting the case against himself. " You will probably think so and so," he would say, then he would balance his own contention against the view that he felt the devil's advocate would take ; this habit of seeing the other side probably helped him much in his career. Few men are adequately aware what the other side thinks. ' The duaUty of his nature, the contemplative and the executive, had a curious counterpart in his voice, which broke, when he was excited, into a sort of falsetto, unusual in a man of his make ; his laugh also had this falsetto note. ' In all his wide range he had no place for personal appearance ; of this he was contemptuously indifferent. I remember the laughter he evoked by describing how, on his first return home, during the voyage his one pair Digitized by Microsoft® EARLY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS 47 of trousers gave out in an important detail, and he had to stay in his berth until a sailor patched them with a piece of sail-cloth. The punctiUous regard for minutiae which is usual in business men was absent in his char- acter ; he was hopelessly untidy. Very simple in his tastes and wanting few things^ he determined only to trouble himself about the most important, but for the attainment of these he spared neither himself nor others. ' He mostly consorted with older men, but I remember his warm friendship for one of his own age, Christian Maasdorp — a friendship that suffered no abatement from black eyes and puffed features that seemed to mark some moment of disagreement. I hke to mention this, as it restores some of the balance due to youth. ' Almost a generation had passed away before I saw Cecil Rhodes again. In the meantime he had amphfied the map of Africa, and had printed his name across a vast province. For good or evil, as men felt, this name had been bruited about the world as an empire-builder, a great financier, a man of vast schemes. ' I sat in the ante-room of a London hotel and waited for him. A murmur came to me through the folding doors, the dehberations of a joint-stock company reduced to one note. At length the door opened and the great man came across to where I was. We greeted and looked narrowly at each other, as men do who seek to strip away the disguise in which the years have clad them and see again the famihar face and figure. This burly frame, topped with the heavy-Hned Napoleonic head — was this what time and the making of colonies had done with the stripling of yesterday ? ' We talked, but we talked carefully, for many that we knew were dead, and others were ranged in opposing camps. Then I said to him, " You, of all the men I Digitized by Microsoft® 48 CECIL JOHN KHODES have known, have made the biggest thing of life, you have written your name widest and highest. Now I want to know how you feel about it ; have you enjoyed it ? Has it been worth all the trouble ? " ' He paused and looked at me, and then in the falsetto that I so well remembered, he said, " Yes ! I enjoyed it. Oh yes ! " he added, as though reassuring himself, " it has been worth the candle," then with a grim smile he added, " When I thought KJrager was going to hang Frank, and I was not very sure they mightn't hang me too, I didn't hke that." Then again, with another change, he went on, as he walked up and down in his old impatient manner, " No, the great fault of hfe is its shortness. Just as one is beginning to know the game, one has to stop." In truth, it was the game he loved, and very soon he had to stop.' When Frank Rhodes returned to England, Herbert's roving nature again asserted itself and, persuading Hawkins to accompany him, he departed for Natal, where, at the instigation of a sanguine prospector, he purchased a waggon and oxen and trekked for the Northern Transvaal, and spent two or three years at and near Spitzkop looking for alluvial gold with only moderate success. Others, however, were more fortunate, as the follow- ing brief note of his, rescued from the Press of the period, will show :— 'Pilgkim's Eest, Ind Dec. 1875. To Dr. Bird. ' I beg to inform you that Messrs. Orsmond and Harrington, two miners at Pilgrim's Rest, foimd 13J lbs. weight of gold in one half day's work. The gold was weighed in grocers' scales, the same as sugar, and washed Digitized by Microsoft® EARLY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS 49 out in a dish. Amongst the gold was one nugget of 4 lbs. weight, two of 3 lbs. weight, etc., all coarse gold. ' H. Rhodes.' Duxuig the winter of 1872, Cecil made a tour of in- spection on his own account. Striking north to beyond what is now Mafeking, he travelled in an ox-waggon to Pretoria, Murchison, Middelburg and back to Kimberley, having spent a delightful seven or eight months on the veld, and laid the foundation of that afiectionate regard he ever after felt for the patriarchal and hospitable Boers. Doubtless in the vast solitudes through which he travelled he had leisure for many reflections as to the future of South Africa, and possibly on that parha- mentary Kfe at the Cape which he subsequently adorned. But his first ambition was to complete his education. After making the necessary business arrangements and keeping steadily to his purpose, he set his face towards Oxford, arriving in England in August 1873. The following letter is undated, as usual, but from internal evidence was written early in October 1873 : — ' Bishop's Stortford, Herts, England. ' My dear Dr. Sutherland, — You will wonder who it is, writing to you from the above direction. I have no doubt you have almost forgotten my existence, and you may be sure that I only write to bother you in some way or other. I have asked my agent at the Fields to send you any money that arises from my Diamond claims at Colesberg Kopje, and I want to ask you whether you would mind investing it for me in Natal. I prefer Railway shares and £18 or even £19 would not be too much, but if you will be kind enough to take the trouble for one of wowr M enmrants I feel I cannot VOL. I. D 50 CECIL JOHN KHODES do better than leave it to your discretion. ... I prefer putting any money I may derive now from my claims out in the Colony, as the interest is better and it saves the expense of sending home. ' As to my brother's farm in the Umkomaas, I think he did very wisely not to drop any more money down it. You would be surprised if I told you what a sink it has been. I believe if one only kept on, it has a capacity to absorb any amount of capital. I have now a farm of 3000 acres in the Transvaal, which is no earthly good and only sunk money. We also own that farm of Maj or Dartnell's. I suppose there would be no chance of exchanging for a farm near the coal districts 1 Is it too late ? I have told'Lauder to send you down my money as he makes it, unless, of course, you refuse the bother. ' I am rather sorry now^all the money I made I brought home to England ; one puts it out at such loyr interest, as high interest here is another name for " smash." ' I go up to Oxford next week. Whether I become the village parson, which you sometimes imagined me as, remains to be proved. I am afraid my constitution received rather too much of what they call the lust of the flesh at the Diamond Fields to render that result possible ! ' Frank is in a cavalry regiment and I have another brother who has just got into the Engineers, so that we are fast becoming a mihtary family. Whether I shall follow their example remains to be proved. ' I hope Mrs. Sutherland and the. children are all qiute well. Do your boys still gallop to school every day ? I suppose you have not been down to the Um- komaas lately ? ' I hear Dr. Gallaway is coming home. I very much Digitized by Microsoft® EABLY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS 51 want to see him if he does. However I shall be sure to see his arrival in the papers. — Yours truly, ' C. J. Rhodes.' He was ' going up to Oxford next week ' and, indeed, matriculated at Oriel in October 1873. The choice of Oriel may possibly have been prompted by the fact that the provost was a relative of his friend Hawkins. The authorities were not cognisant of the fact that they were entertaining imawares not indeed an angel, but a grateful student and munificent benefactor, for whom they now pray on Coramemoration Day. The letter just set forth was confirmatory of one written from England to his agent at Kimberley, Mr. John E. A. Dick Lauder, from which the follow- ing extract will suflS.ce : — ' If you have any money of mine and do not care for a Diamond spec, send it to Dr. Sutherland to buy railway shares with in Natal. I mean not the new Railway, but the one that runs to the Point. There are always some on the market. Tell him not to bid higber than £18, but leave it a good deal to his discretion. You might ask him to put it into any investment he might suggest. It is no use sending money home. — Yours truly, ' C. J. Rhodes.' This letter must have reached Kimberley by the 10th September 1873, for on that date Mr. Dick Lauder wrote to Dr. Sutherland as foUows : — 'Kimberley, Se]ot. \Qth, 1873. 'P. C. Sutherland, Esq., Surveyor-General, Maritzburg. ' Dear Sir, — I take the Hberty of dropping you a few lines in the first place to introduce myself as acting as Digitized by Microsoft® 52 CECIL JOHN RHODES Mr. Cecil Ehodes's agent on the Diamond Fields. He asked me to send you certain moneys to invest for him, and I now enclose you a part of his letter to me from England which will show you exactly what he wants. If you will kindly let me know if it is all right, I wiU send you a draft on the Standard Bank for £150. — Yours truly, John E. A. Dick Laudee.' The letter is endorsed by the addressee in business-like fashion : — ' Reply — offering l2 shares at £18, 10s. or to deposit at Natal Bank, etc' On 3rd December 1873, Mr. Dick Lauder again wrote to Dr. Sutherland as follows : — 'KiMBEELEY, Dec. 3, 1873. ' Yours to hand of the 19th November, for which many thanks. I think that as you have written to Mr. C. Rhodes about investing money in Natal, I will leave it entirely to him to do as he Ukes and therefore send down by this mail a draft on the Standard Bank for the sum of £200, so that, should you want any money to invest for him, it will be all ready for you. I am going to England at once myself or would have waited to hear from Mr. Rhodes. I will see him at home and tell him what I have done.' This apparently trivial correspondence is not without its interest. The foresight of Cecil Rhodes, even ia a small matter, is very marked. He would not invest money in England, where the return was poor. He would not sink any more money on land in Natal. But he was a buyer of Railway shares there. * Not the Digitized by Microsoft® EAKLY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS 53 new Railway/ he says, that being a Government line, paid for with money borrowed in England, but ' the one that runs to the Point/ The allusion is to a short private line then running from the landing-place at the port of Durban to the town itself. The writer already saw that the discovery of diamonds and gold would greatly stimulate the de- mand for imported merchandise, South Africa being in no sense a manufacturing country. He saw also that the geographical position of Durban, an energetic and advancing port, would secure for it a considerable share of the coming trade, all of which must travel over ' the Httle hue ' to connect with the projected Govern- ment railway. Incidentally, one gathers that his father was still pressing him to enter the Church or the Army, but he evades the issue with a lighter, more plajrful touch than, with him, was usual. The Vicar at this time was in poor health, and was residing at Woodhall Spa for the benefit of the cure. Cecil is said to have rather surprised visitors there by presenting them with uncut diamonds, which he carried about in his waistcoat pockets. But the Vicar was to have his thoughts turned suddenly in another direction, for on the 1st November 1873 his wife, to whom he was deeply attached, died and was buried at Bishop's Stortford — Cecil, at the age of twenty, thus losing the good influence of a devoted mother, with whom he had, contrary to his wont, carried on a very voluminous correspondence. It was in July 1873, as Cecil Rhodes was on his way to England, that he passed on the water, outward bound in the steamer Anglian, a young fellow of exactly his own age, a Jewish lad of respectable lineage and Umited Digitized by Microsoft® 54 CECIL JOHN RHODES means, with whom he found himself, later on, involved in a tremendous struggle for supremacy. Barnett Isaacs, the grandson of an honoured Rabbi, but the son of a small shopkeeper, was educated at the Hebrew Free School at Spitalfields. When he left it at the age of fourteen to serve in the shop, he entered on life with one of the shrewdest intellects of his generation, with high spirits, a talent for low comedy, a merry dis- position and undaunted courage. Under the well-known ' stage ' name of Barney Barnato, he subsequently founded the Barnato Mining Company, amalgamated it with the Standard Company, and thus formed the Kimberley Central Diamond Mining Company by buy- ing up joint-stock and private interests, at the same time and in the same way that Cecil Rhodes created the De Beers Company. I shall record, in its proper place, how these two men came ultimately face to face and how, after a prolonged struggle, the Jew capitulated, though with all the honours of war. ' Rhodes was a great man,' said Barnato once, ' for he bested me.' In March 1874, Cecil was once more at Kimberley, his return from Oxford being accelerated by the advice of a specialist who found both his heart and lungs affected, and entered in his case-book a prophecy, ' Not six months to live.' This diagnosis was to some extent confirmed in June by a local practitioner, who said the patient must not think of ever returning to England. Much dispirited, Rhodes unbosomed himself to a lady for whom he had a great regard, and who was just leav- ing with her husband on a trip to Fourteen Streams in an ox-waggon. He gladly accepted her invitation to accompany them, and his twenty-first birthday was spent at Hebron, on the banks of the Vaal River. The weather was cold and bracing, and the open-air life, Digitized by Microsoft® EARLY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS 55 abundant exercise, plain living and early hours did him a world of good, and he returned to the Diamond Fields in restored health. It was the year of the repeal of the old regulation against the possession of more than one claim. The consohdation of small interests at once commenced. Barnato's financial genius soon asserted itself, but Cecil Rhodes, equally astute, and having fewer limitations, outshone him. The two young diggers, just of age, came to be recognised as the ablest speculators on the Diamond Fields. Their comrades and their rivals were senior in years, men of greater resources and more trained business experience, but Barnato and Rhodes were the Napoleon and Wellington of the rough com- munity. Genius overleaps all barriers. Both the con- testants Kved to enter parhamentary hfe, and died mUhonaires, but only one of them left a permanent mark on the history of his adopted country. Cecil Rhodes at this period was still, to all appearance, a shy, awkward youth, addicted to classical studies. His ambitions were absolutely unknown. Mr. Garditier Wilhams, in his standard work on the Diamond Fields, describes him as ' a tall gaunt youth, roughly dressed, coated with dust, sitting moodily on a bucket, deaf to the chatter and rattle about him, his blue eyes fixed intently on his work or on some fabric of his brain.' It must not be thought that hfe on the Diamond Fields was an easy one. Camp fever was very prevalent ; there were no amenities and the anxieties were manifold. Early in 1874 the reef fell in continuously both at Coles- berg Kopje and in De Beers. Thousands of tons of shale covered some of the claims, and the value of others fluctuated violently, as did the price of diamonds, Digitized by Microsoft® 56 CECIL JOHN KHODES making speculation a risky procedure. Many of the diggers moved off. Throughout it all Khodes stuck to his post, selecting trustworthy agents to work his claims on ' halves ' — that is, the owner took half the profits, the lessee the other half, out of which he paid his working expenses and kept his gear in repair. At one time there were terrific floods until hardly a brick house was left standing in either camp. The Miniug Board taxation was onerous. There was also litigation with the Government, the Grriqualand West Legislative Council carrying a Bill to resume the right of the Crown to all diamonds found in the territory. Fortunately for the pubUc peace, the Home Government disallowed the measure. Commercial credit was at a low ebb. The banks refused advances and bankruptcies were numerous. Operators like Rhodes were therefore liable to ruin at any moment. ' He was often hard up,' says one friend, ' as we all were.' His speculations involved the necessity of realising his small Natal investment. The following is his letter to Dr. Sutherland on the subject : — 'May 28/74, KiMBERLEY DIAMOND FlELDS. * Dear De. Sutherland, — Many thanks for your letter. I have a bill to meet of £150, so would hke to know if you could sell those shares for what they were bought, or (what I would prefer) could you get me £150 on them at the Natal Bank and remit to me 1 ' I am not a great believer in Churches or Church purposes, in fact am afraid Hf e at College and at the Dia- mond Fields has not tended to strengthen my religious principles. There was a man who came out with me named Williams, a second-class passenger in the Asiatic. Digitized by Microsoft® EAELY DAYS ON THE DIAMOND FIELDS 57 He went on to Natal very bad with consumption and hard up : no friends : packed oS. from England to die abroad. If he is not dead, please give him the balance. If he is dead, take it for the Church. I fear he is dead by this time. Saulez came out with me ; he knows about him. If you could manage any means to send him to the Free State, I would pay the further expense. ' Mine and my brother's land below I suppose is not worth having. These Umkomaas Valleys, if they won't grow cotton, are perfectly useless. — Yrs., ' C. Ehodes. ' P.S. — Just now the Kopje is full of water, no money coming in from ground, all going out. In about six months I could repay the Bank. Please remit, if you can, by return.' It is to be inferred that Dr. Sutherland had asked him for a contribution towards Church work in Natal, but he ' was not a great believer in Churches.' Official Christianity and dogma had no attraction for him, and he was frank enough to avow that college and mining life ' had not strengthened his rehgious principles.' But if Christianity is to stand or fall by its results, ' going about doing good ' must be taken into account. Cecil Ehodes was not a regular, or even an irregular, attendant at divine service, but in practice he was a good Samaritan. If his was not the conventional reUgion of the churches, whether established or unestabhshed, it was, at all events, a very real and practical rehgion of humanity that dictated this brief note. In the same breathless sentence that announced his imorthodoxy he went on to set apart all, and perhaps more than all, he could spare towards giving a chance of Ufe to a poor second-class passenger whose condition had moved his Digitized by Microsoft® 58 CECIL JOHN EHODES compassion. He was not one to advertise his generosity, for he loved, all his hfe, to do good by stealth. No one wiU ever know, this side of the great day of reckoning, the hundreds of cases he relieved by timely financial aid, or by words of sympathy and high hope, more potent to alleviate distress than any pecuniary assist- ance. Most of his friends can recall instances of his generosity. None of us know them aU. But they are doubtless recorded in that ' Volume of the Book ' kept by Him from whom no secrets are hid. Towards the end of 1874, although the depression remained and litigation between claim-holders continued, brighter days seemed about to dawn, and by the end of October the Kimberley Mine had been unwatered by Rhodes at great expense. Many fine diamonds were found about this time, among them stones of 114 and 237 carats. On 5th December, Mr. J. A. Froude was at Kimberley as the special representative of Lord Carnarvon, then Secretary of State for the Colonies. At a banquet given in his honour, he made one of his facile, eloquent but unpractical speeches in favour of Federation, forgetting perhaps the wise sajing of Laou-tsze that a nation is a growth and not a manufacture. It is permissible to beUeve that Rhodes was there, a not inattentive listener. Digitized by Microsoft® KIMBBRLEY REMINISCENCES 59 CHAPTER VI KIMBEELEY KEMINISCENCES (1875-1880) Early struggles — Poverty — Amalgamation of mining interests— Extinction of individual digger — Arrival of Alfred Beit — Mining vicissitudes — Discovery of 'Blue' ground — Pumping contract — Mr. C. D. Rudd — Sir Charles Warren — First will — Historical survey — Dr. Jameson arrives — Death of the Vicar — Death of Herbert Rhodes — Controversy with Orange Free State — Settlement for £90,000 — Gaika war — Annexation of Transvaal — Anthony Trollope. During the period on which I am now entering, Cecil Rhodes Uved a strenuous and, in one sense, a dual Ufe, for he spent, as a rule, several months in each year at Kimberley and the remainder at Oriel College. In September 1875, young Hawkins returned from Spitzkop to the Diamond Fields and thus records his impressions : — ' I found Cecil very much grown and now a man of some importance and authority. He and a few others had a small mess in a wood and iron house, between Kimberley and De Beers. Amongst others, there were the late Sir Jacob Barry and Sic Sidney Shippard. I frequently dined there with Rhodes and was always much struck with the lead he took in any disciission, and the attention paid to whatever he said by men much older than himself, for he was then only twenty-two. It showed, in a small way even then, that he was marked out as a leader of men.' Mr. Justice Lawrence, in his pleasantly discursive volume. On Circuit in Kafirland, says of him : — ' In the early days he used often to sit for hours on Digitized by Microsoft® 60 CECIL JOHN ERODES the margin of the De Beers Mine apparently idling, but really reflecting and getting his ideas into shape. ' One rather shuns the hackneyed word " magnetic," but he certainly possessed an exceptional will-power, and a pecuhar skill in using the topics and arguments which most effectively appealed to his immediate inter- locutor or audience. He was thus enabled, by the combination of force and knowledge of character, to exercise a singular ascendency over all sorts and con- ditions of men, illustrious personages and powerful capitahsts, poUticians and men of business, farmers, working men and native chiefs, who came within the ambit of his influence. ' His mould was that of the great merchant adventurers of an earher age, who laid the foundations of that dominion beyond the seas, over which King Edward has for the first time, in his style and title, formally recognised the sway of the British Crown. Adventures are to the adventurous ; and it was reserved for Mr. Rhodes to show that, even in the nineteenth century, it was still possible for a British subject to be a great adventurer.' The amalgamation of conflicting interests in the De Beers Mine proceeded slowly. So far back as 1873, Rhodes had joined hands with Charles Dunell Rudd, a Harrow and Cambridge man, nine years his senior, and the partners had gradually increased their hold- ings in the mine. Robert Graham's claims were secured in 1874, and, shortly afterwards, those of other holders. The partners traded as Rhodes, Rudd and Alderson, and their first aim was to secure the entire ownership of a block of claims known as Baxter's GuUy. At one time a chance arose of purchasing the entire Digitized by Microsoft® KIMBERLEY REMINISCENCES 61 mine for £6000, but the project failed owing to their inabiUty to raise the necessary funds. They were under heavy pecuniary liability at one time to one of the banks, by whom they were treated with scant con- sideration, a fact Rhodes, who had a retentive memory, never forgot. Until long afterwards he exhibited a marked antipathy to all banking institutions. Mr. Gardiner Wilhams says, ' Money was not very plentiful in those days, as is shown by the fact that one of the first cheques of the De Beers Mining Company was drawn by Rhodes in his own favour for £5, as an advance against his salary as secretary." In 1878 Rhodes, with eleven others, kept bachelor quarters in Kimberley, and the group were locally nicknamed the Twelve Apostles. As the original De Beers Mining Company was only registered on 1st April 1880 with a capital of £200,000, it is clear that the intervening years were a period of great financial anxiety to Rhodes and his friends. Even so late as 2nd September 1885, he wrote to one of them, ' We are just off to England. Have had to square my Bank account with £100.' The year in which they founded their first company, Barnato, working on similar lines, created the Barnato Mining Company, which comprised some of the richest claims in the Kimberley Mine. It is noticeable that Rhodes, out of a sentiment that never failed him, retained the name of the Dutch Boer who had owned the property, while Barnato gave to his company his own name. The two corporations, operating side by side, did not come into competition for several years, when a prolonged struggle for supremacy occurred, as will be described later on. Digitized by Microsoft® 62 CECIL JOHN RHODES Meanwhile Ehodes secured a new ally in tke person of a young man, who for sheer financial ability must, in strict justice, be admitted to have outshone both Rhodes and Barnato as conclusively as they outshone all their other competitors. In 1875 there came to Kimberley from Hamburg, as a diamond buyer, a youth of the same age as Rhodes, of the name of Alfred Beit. Born of a wealthy and honourable family, and possessing in abundance all those qualities which make for success in hfe, he was gradually drawn into close, and ever closer, relations with Rhodes. For many years before their death — for the one did not long survive the other — it is not too much to say that they were the complement to each other. The far-reaching aspirations of Rhodes were trans- lated into accomplished facts by the intellectual and financial aid of his loyal friend. Their minds acted and re-acted on one another, and although Rhodes was ordinarily one of the most self-rehant of men, his phrase in great emergencies was, ' What will Beit say ? ' It is too early to write an adequate appreciation of Alfred Beit. The simphcity of his nature led him to prefer the shade. His singleness of aim, his kindness of heart, his princely but unobtrusive generosity, endeared him to a wide circle of friends. His business talents were of the highest order, and he possessed a nimbleness of apprehension and a power of mental arithmetic seldom equalled. Though an ahen by birth, he lived and died in Eng- land, and when he was laid to rest in the typical village chirrchyard of Tewin, in the county of Hertford, the county in which his distinguished friend was born, the Digitized by Microsoft® KIMBERLEY REMINISCENCES 63 mourners present were profoundly moved by a sense of irreparable loss. The funeral, imUke that of Rhodes, was imaccompanied by demonstrations of national feeling, or by the royal salute of a war- like race, but in its homely beauty it was equally impressive. During the seventies the diamond mining industry continued to be carried on under circumstances of ever- increasing difficulty. The constant falls of reef brought ruin to many and appalled the stoutest heart. Diggers' committees suggested crude and impracticable remedies. Mining Boards, with borrowing as well as rating powers, harassed the claim-holders, wasted immense sums, but left the position of affairs little better than they found it. To pay their way, diggers had to produce and throw on a weak market all the diamonds they could win, and this unrestricted output necessarily depressed prices still more. Many men, after a strenuous struggle, abandoned hope. Rhodes, Rudd, Beit, Barnato and a few other far-seeing claim-holders recognised not only the disease, but the remedy. Amalgamation of interests and regulation of the supply were to them the only chances of salvation, and they laid their plans ac- cordingly. To do him justice. Sir Richard Southey formed the same idea at an earUer date ; writing to his friend Shepstone on the 29th August 1870, he predicted that the business, to be successful,' must be worked by large companies.' Meanwhile, in spite of all drawbacks, the industry manifested extraordinary vitality. Kimberley was still without railway communication. Supplies by ox- waggon were two months on the road, and were consequently sold on arrival at fabulous prices. The diggers Hved in Digitized by Microsoft® 64 CECIL JOHN ERODES tents, or in houses constructed out of packing cases. Their food was mainly tinned meat. Fever and dysentery were, therefore, rife. Many of them lost hope when the yellow ground gave out and they struck ' hard blue.' But Rhodes, and a limited circle of friends as cheerful as himself, saw that the blue, like the yellow, ground was contained within the walls of the reef, and that the diamonds on the surface must have been forced up from below. Consequently they held on, and their faith was justified when the ' blue ' was disintegrated and found to contain diamonds in quantities exceeding even their hopes. Hawkins records that in 1876 he was asked by Rhodes to accompany him one night to a meeting of De Beers Mining Board. ' Rhodes,' he says, ' had taken on a contract to pump out the mine, and there had been very great delay in the arrival of the necessary machinery if I remember aright, from financial reasons. The Board had become fractious and impatient. I have never forgotten the way in which he, still quite a youth, handled that body of angry men and gained his point, an extension of time.' The pumping contract was in the hands of Rhodes, Rudd and Alderson, and they practically cleared the Kimberley, De Beers and Du Toit's Pan Mines of water, with very inferior machinery, including an irrigation pump purchased by Rhodes from a farmer in Victoria "West. There is a story connected with the acquisition of this pump which has been related to me. At the beginning of Rhodes's career, when he had, with his partners, got a contract to pump De Beers Mine free of water, the railway had only got within some 300 to 400 miles of Kimberley, and the necessary pumps had Digitized by Microsoft® KIMBERLEY REMINISCENCES 65 been delayed. It looked as if he must fail to carry out the work, as nowhere could a suitable pump be found. One day, however, he heard that a farmer in the Karroo — a Mr. Devenish — had in his possession a pump of sufficient capacity, which he had bought for raising water to his cultivated lands, and he set off deter- mined to buy it. The farmer, however, refused to sell, despite repeated requests from Rhodes. ' No,' he said, ' I bought it for certain work and I want it.' ' Yes,' said Rhodes, ' but you are not using it and not going to for some time, so sell it to me at a fair profit and send for another.' ' No,' said Mr. Devenish, ' I might want it before another got here, so I absolutely refuse to sell.' Rhodes went away, but returned in the after- noon and got the same reply. This went on for several days, and the farmer got quite annoyed at the sight of the young fellow coming up so often, and in sheer desperation said one morning, ' Well, I will sell at . . .,' naming a figure so much in excess of the value that he thought it would frighten Rhodes off for ever. To his astonishment the reply was, ' Very well, I buy it ; let 's get it on a waggon at once.' And very shortly afterwards he set ofi in great glee with it for Kimberley. The next trouble wa;s to get there in time. The wet season was in full swing and the waggon was slow ; in fact, the owner, a Boer, at last said he must wait till the weather moderated, else he would kill his oxen. Said Rhodes, ' It will ruin me if you are not there by such a day.' Replied the transport-rider, ' It will ruin me if I try ; my oxen are my only means of hveU- hood.' ' I will buy them,' said Rhodes, ' at a good VOL. I. Digitized by Microsoft® E 66 CECIL JOHN KHODES price, and you can get otters ' ; little thinking that the Dutchman would consent, as he had no cash with him and knew well the objection of such people to accepting cheques. The Boer, however, said, ' It is right ; as you are a good sort of fellow, I will sell.' So down sat Rhodes and wrote him out a cheque in pencil as there was no pen or ink available ; and then they pushed on, getting to Kimberley in time, and he was able to lay the first foundation of his wealth. He used often to talk of the trustfulness of this Boer, and said that, like many of that race, he was one of Nature's gentle- men, and that from the day he made the deal with him he always had a greater respect for his country- men. Mr. Rudd remembers that on one occasion, during the absence of Alderson, on whose technical knowledge they mainly relied, they were obliged to continue the work unassisted. The work was heavy and done principally at night. One evening the partners tossed up as to which of them should attend to the engine on the floor of the mine, while the other, on the edge of the crater, superintended the removal of the debris to enable the water to flow off without hindrance. It fell to Rhodes's lot to work the engine. It was a cahn and beautiful night and Rudd could see his partner walking up and down abstractedly, when suddenly there was an explo- sion and the engine was completely wrecked, Rhodes having forgotten to supply it with water ! Another anecdote of Rhodes may here be recorded as told many years later by Mr. W. W. Paddon. ' It was in 1876,' he says, ' that five young fellows, including Rhodes and myself, met in solemn conclave in a small room at Kimberley, to discuss the affairs of Greater Britain, and we decided to address a letter to the then Digitized by Microsoft® KIMBEELEY EEMINISCENCES 67 Prime Minister, Lord Beaconsfield. The proposals we put forward were characterised by much " cheek " ! We pointed out exactly how the Empire should be governed. Much later in life Rhodes remarked to me that he had never deviated from the policy we then laid down in that shanty on the Diamond Fields.' In the month of August 1877 Rhodes met the future General Sic Charles Warren, who was three years his senior. Warren was then a young engineer officer, but already possessed a C.M.G. and the appointment of Special Commissioner in connection with the delimita- tion of the Griqualand West boundary. They were destined to meet again in after years and not always in harmonious relations. The following incident has often been narrated. The two young men happened to travel northward together, Warren to attend the duties of his post, Rhodes returning from Oxford to Kimberley. Both were reserved, silent men, but Warren's curiosity was aroused by the fact that his companion reheved the tedium of the post-cart journey by intent study of the Book of Common Prayer, and he was still more aston- ished when his inquiry elicited the fact that the youth was mastering the 39 Articles, as part of his University curriculum. In or about this month Rhodes suffered from his first attack of heart failure, which for a time so shook his nerves that his friends once found him in his room, blue with fright, his door barricaded with a chest of drawers and other furniture ; he insisted that he had seen a It was immediately after this incident, and no doubt as a result of it, that Rhodes made his first will. On 19th September 1877 his confidence in the ultimate success of his projects, though to ordinary observers Digitized by Microsoft® 68 CECIL JOHN KHODES they were still precarious, led him to make a remarkable testamentary bequest. Elusive fortune seemed to others still far from his grasp, but his robust faith in his power eventually to dispose of millions, led this youth of twenty-four, amid his many anxieties, to leave his entire estate (before he had acquired it) to Lord Carnarvon, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, and to his successors in office, and to his friend Sidney Godolphin Shippard of the Inner Temple, in Trust. In the customary legal phraseology the docu- ment was preluded by the statement that it was his last Will and Testament, whereas it was his first and very far indeed from being his last. He describes himself as being of ' Oriel College, Oxford, but presently of Kimberley in the Province of Griqualand West, Esquire.' Omitting the usual formalities, which may be taken as read, it will sufl&ce to record that the trust was as follows : ' To and for the estabhshment, promotion and development of a Secret Society, the true aim and object whereof shall be the extension of British rule throughout the world, the perfecting of a system of emigration from the United Kingdom, and of colonisation by British subjects of all lands where the means of livehhood are attainable by energy, labour and enterprise, and especi- ally the occupation by British settlers of the entire Continent of Africa, the Holy Land, the Valley of the Euphrates, the Islands of Cyprus and Candia, the whole of South America, the Islands of the Pacific not hereto- fore possessed by Great Britain, the whole of the Malay Archipelago, the seaboard of China and Japan, the ultimate recovery of the United States of America as an integral part of the British Empire, the inauguration of a system of Colonial representation in the Imperial Digitized by Microsoft® KIMBEELEY REMINISCENCES 69 Parliament which may tend to weld together the dis- jointed members of the Empire, and, finally, the founda- tion of so great a Power as to hereafter render wars impossible and promote the best interests of humanity.' This is the only clause in the Will, possibly because in no document drawn by human hands was there room for any more clauses without an anti-chmax. Compared with the Empire here breathlessly formu- lated, that of Rome seems pale and ineffective, even in its palmiest days, when the tramp of the Legions re- sounded across Europe and ' there went forth a decree from Csesar Augustus that aU the world should be taxed/ His daily companions amid the diamond claims and debris heaps of Kimberley, had they seen this astonish- ing document, might well have questioned his sanity of mind. But he kept his own counsel and went on with his usual work, never hasting, never resting, till he acquired the fortune, the disposition of which he had thus aheady provided for. It is easy to laugh at the high-stepping political ambitions of the young digger ' sitting on the edge of the Kimberley mine.' It is easy to disparage the hght that irradiated his day-dreams as a ' hght that never was on sea or land.' But the document, for all that, is worth analysis. In one comprehensive sentence the world was reconstituted. North America recovered, South America occupied, all Africa annexed^ China and Japan relegated to the position of Dependencies, the Isles of the Pacific colonised, the Holy Land secured for the Zionists, the route to India made safe by the acquisition of such strategical points as the Valley of the Euphrates, Cyprus and Candia, and then, as a result. Digitized by Microsoft® 70 CECIL JOHN KHODES the re-united Anglo-Saxon race, one and indivisible, its sMps on every sea, its flags on every shore, was to police the world and permit no shot to be fired and no war-drum to throb throughout a regenerated universe ! The course of events has fallen sadly short of the vision that presented itself to the ardent young Imperial- ist a generation ago. The United States of America have gone their own way and become a world-power, developing on hues of their own. We have not absorbed them, nor they us, and the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon stock are no nearer re-union than they were. German, rather than British, influence has expanded in South America. German influence too has penetrated Africa, both on its east and west coasts. Chiaa is awakening. Japan has ' found ' herself, the Holy Land is still in the grip of the infidel, while the Isles of the Pacific have, in many cases, passed to foreign powers. On 21st February 1853, before Rhodes was born, the Czar Nicolas, addressing Sir Hamilton Seymour, said, ' If in the event of a distribution of the Ottoman succession upon the fall of the Empire, you should take possession of Egypt, I shall have no objection to ofEer. I would say the same thing of Candia.' We rejected the ofier and preferred a showy war from which we gained nothing. Egypt, under stress of cir- cumstances, has since come under our protection, and Cyprus was leased to us on 4th June 1878, within a year of Rhodes's will ; but Candia, though valuable as a strategical point, is not ours, and the only continent on which we have widely extended our dominions is the continent on which he personally laboured. The con- solidation of the Empire, the creation of a truly Imperial Digitized by Microsoft® KIMBEELEY EEMINISCENCES 71 Parliament, the systematic planting out of our surplus population : all these great questions are still in the dream-stage, but if they are ever solved, posterity will not forget the young man who, amid uncongenial surroundings, sowed the seed of which he was never to reap the harvest. It must also in fairness be conceded that long before the ' scramble for land,' especially in Africa, became acute, Rhodes foresaw it and endeavoured to provide for it. Some time afterwards he explained his pohcy in the foUowiag words : — ' Having read,' he remarks, ' the history of other coimtries, I saw that expansion was everjrthing, and that, the world's surface being limited, the great object should be to take as much of it as we could.' On another occasion he put it more plainly by stating that he desired to make ' more homes,' and placing his hand on his favourite map of Africa, ' I want,' he said, ' to see that all red.' In 1878 Rhodes made yet another friend of his own age, one to whom he became so deeply attached that neither the flight of time, nor an incident that might have severed any friendship, availed to interrupt for a moment an affection that never abated while life lasted. With Barnato, after strenuous rivalry, he worked harmoniously as a business comrade, but the two men had Kttle in common. Their intimacy was ofl&cial rather than personal. With Beit he was on closer terms and grew to rely on him with unbounded con- fidence. But with his new friend the ties were nearer and dearer. Leander Starr Jameson, son of a Writer to the Signet, was born in Edinburgh on the 9th February 1853, Digitized by Microsoft® 72 CECIL JOHN RHODES emigrated to South Africa in 1878 and came into im- mediate contact witli Rhodes at Kimberley. Their friendship was from the first absolute. The newcomer became his medical man, his fdus Achates, his lieutenant and, in time, his successor in the Prime Ministership of the Cape Colony, and one of his trustees. But here are Dr. Jameson's own words. Writing in 1897 {Imperialist, pp. 392-3) he says, ' We were young men together then and saw a great deal of each other. We shared a quiet bachelor estabhshment together, walked and rode together, shared our meals, exchanged our views on men and things, and discussed his big schemes, which even then filled me with admiration. I soon admitted to myself that for sheer natural power I have never met a man to come near Cecil Rhodes, and I still retain my early impressions, which have been fully justified by experience.' And again, ' He used to talk over all his plans and schemes with me, and, looking back at them now, it surprises me to note what httle change there is in his pohcy. He had, for instance, even at that early date, formed the idea of doing a great work for the over- crowded British public, by opening up fresh markets for their manufactures. He was deeply impressed with a behef in the ultimate destiny of the Anglo-Saxon race. He dwelt repeatedly on the fact that their great want was new territory, fit for the overflow population to settle permanently. This purpose of occupying the interior and ultimately federating South Africa was always before his eyes. The means to that end were the winning of the Cape Dutch support. " They are the majority in the country," he used to say, " and must be worked with." ' In the previous chapter I recorded that during his Digitized by Microsoft® KIMBERLEY REMINISCENCES 73 early Kimberley days, Rhodes had the misfortmie to lose his mother. His father, the vicar, never recovered the blow. Retiring from his clerical duties, he settled at FairHght in Sussex, and there, on 25th February 1878, he passed away. His eldest son Herbert, as already noted, followed him to the grave in the succeeding year, and was buried where he died, in what was then the terra incognita of Nyasaland. As the seventies drew to their close, momentous events occurred in the country which Rhodes had made his home. On the 13th July 1876 the wearisome controversy with the Orange Free State as to the ownership of the district, known as the Diamond Fields, was amicably settled. British jurisdiction was admitted, the Repubhc receiving £90,000 compensation for its alleged rights, with a conditional promise of £15,000 for railway purposes. The arrangement was, on the whole, an equitable one, but was arrived at mainly owing to the sagacity and conspicuous moderation of President Brand, a statesman to whom South Africa owes more perhaps than it recognises. In 1877 the Cape had to face a Gtaika war, in which SandiUi, Xoxo and Matana, sons of Gaika, were killed, Tini Macomo and Dimba captured, and KreU deposed. In the same year the practical state of anarchy in the Transvaal seemed to H.M. Government to call aloud for intervention. Sir Theophilus Shepstone, accom- panied only by a pohce escort, annexed the Repubhc. The Treasury was empty. Except by the natives, taxes had ceased to be paid. The salaries of civil servants were in arrear. Secocoeni in the north defied the State, and Cetywayo, on their flank, was a formidable menace. A shrewd observer, Anthony TroUope, wrote later to the Daily News, ' I visited the Transvaal in 1877. Digitized by Microsoft® 74 CECIL JOHN EHODES The Boers had not congregated even for defence. No taxes had been paid for many months. The mail service was all but discontinued. Property had become worthless. Education had fallen lower and lower. My conviction is that had not the Enghsh interfered, European supremacy throughout a large portion of South Africa would have been endangered. I think the annexation was an imperative duty.' The annexation was received in Pretoria with a sigh of reUef . President Burgers to ' save his face ' recorded his protest, but Kruger himself accepted oflS.ce, and became a paid member of the Executive Council. But the acquiescence of the back-veld Boers was a sullen one. Theic protest, less articulate than that of their oflS.cial leaders, was far more efiective. Israel retired to its tents and sulked. Whatever chance there might have been of winning the loyalty of our new subjects was destroyed by our own acts, some of them creditable to us, some not. It is to our credit that Sir Garnet Wolseley put down Secocoeni, and that Lord Chelms- ford, undismayed by the fatal disaster at Isandhlwana, overthrew the Zulu power. It is to our credit that we reformed the paper currency, restored the solvency and prosperity of the country, and set up a pure system of government. But our good deeds were more than neutralised by the unwisdom of the Cabinet of the day, in refusing to act on Shepstone's suggestion to convene the Volksraad promptly and have the annexation ratified. The acutest onlookers believed at the time that such ratification would have been passed by a majority, thus depriving malcontents, later on, of the plea that our acquisition of the State had never received constitutional sanction. Shepstone's removal, and the appointment of an Digitized by Microsoft® KIMBEELEY REMINISCENCES 75 unpopular and unsympathetic governor resulted, as local wellwishers predicted, in gathering discontent to a focus, with the disastrous effect we all know. And thus the decade ended. I must now take my readers from the turmoil of South Africa to the seclusion of Oxford. Digitized by Microsoft® 76 CECIL JOHN RHODES CHAPTER VII OXFORD DAYS (1873-1881) Oriel's famous sons — Terms kept — Sports at Oxford — Contemporary recol- lections — Public events — Sir Bartle Frere — Delagoa Bay — Notable books — Enters the Inner Temple — Becomes a Freemason. When Rhodes went to Oxford in 1873 it was with a view to entering his name as an undergraduate at University College. He had an introduction to the Master, G. G. Bradley, who immediately asked him if he intended to read for honours. Rhodes being older than most undergraduates are when they enter the University, and having no time for the full course of honours reading, it was only open to him to take a Pass Degree. The master thereupon informed him that he could not see his way to enter his name on the books of the College, but he was willing to give him an introduction to the Provost of Oriel, ' where they were less particular ia this respect.' The result was that he went to Oriel, where they readily entered his name upon the books, and hence it was to Oriel that he left £100,000. It is interesting to note that this was the coUege of another great empire-builder more than three centuries ago, viz. Sir Walter Raleigh, who read there for his University Degree. Oriel College, founded by Edward ii. in 1326, boasts a long roll of sons distinguished in Church and State. The most widely loved priest of the Church of England, John Keble, was once Fellow and tutor there, and the Digitized by Microsoft® OXFORD DAYS 77 ancient college may well be proud to have sheltered the author of The Christian Year, a man pronounced by Gladstone to have been not merely a poet, but a scholar and a saint. But Keble does not stand alone. Archbishop AVhately was there, and Dr. Pusey, Archdeacon Denison, Eraser of Manchester, Dean Church, Richard Froude, Hartley Coleridge, Arthur Butler, and many others still serving conspicuously in Church and State. The simple piety that adorns the features of Bishop Ken and the masterful vitality of Arnold of Rugby still look down upon us from the ancient hall, and from the Common Room. There, too, are Arthur Clough, White of Selborne, Matthew Arnold, but above them all, unapproachable in its intellectual beauty, one regards with admiration, and even with awe, the genius that shines supreme in the face of Newman. When Cecil Rhodes matriculated, the Provost of Oriel was the well-known Edward Hawkins, D.D., then a very old man, who held office from 1828 to 1882. The present Provost, Dr. Charles Lancelot Shadwell, was then one of the Fellows and the senior treasurer. Professor Goldwin Smith, Regius Professor of Modern History, was an Honorary Fellow. The following terms were kept by Rhodes : — 1873. Matriculated 13 October and kept the Michael- mas Term from 10 October to 17 December, residing at 18 High Street. 1876. Kept Easter, Act or Trinity, and Michaelmas Terms from 24 April to 6 July, and from 10 October to 17 December, but was at Kimberley during the Long Vacation. During the Michaelmas Term he was living at Grove House, Grove Street. Digitized by Microsoft® 78 CECIL JOHN EHODES 1877. Kept all four terms, but again spent the Long Vacation in South Africa. While at Oxford this year he resided partly at No. 5 King Edward Street, and partly at No, 12 Museum Villas. 1878. Kept Lent or Hilary, Easter, and Act or Trinity Terms, from 14 January, residing all the time at 116 High Street, then returned to Kimberley and made the acquaintance of Dr. Jameson. 1881. Took his seat in the Cape Parhament in April, was speaking at Kimberley in August, but kept his Michaelmas Term from 10 October, residing at 6 King Edward Street, and took his degree in December. It will be observed that during 1874-75 he was unable to attend, probably from want of means, and again during 1879-1880 when the formation of the De Beers Mining Company prevented his leaving Kimberley, but his purpose never wavered. It was indeed seldom he ever abandoned any project on which he had set his mind. It has been stated that he was unable to reside in England during the winter, but this is an error. It was his heart, rather than the lungs, that troubled him. During the winter of 1876 he was Master of the Oxford Drag Hunt, a quaint appointment, bearing in mind that he rode with a loose rein and had an eminently unsafe seat in the saddle. One of his friends still remembers the infliction suffered by Khodes's neigh- bours, due to his sitting up late of nights, practising on the horn in order to acquit himself with credit in his new part. It cannot be said that he devoted much of his time Digitized by Microsoft® OXFORD DAYS 79 to sport, but such, as came in his way he followed in moderation. Bowing was one of his favourite pastimes. A friend of those days writes of him, ' In or about March 1877 I came home (from South Africa) and wired to him at Oxford. He at once came up to town and fetched me down, and I stayed as his guest at the Mitre. He was at that time out of college. I remember he was keen on polo, which was not so common in those days. I went with him to a wine, and was amused to notice how much older in manner the other undergraduates were than Cecil. They were full of that spurious wisdom assumed by many young men as a defensive armour, an armour he did not require.' Another contemporary strikes a somewhat different note and says, ' I did not take to him at first. He was unyielding and he trod on me, but I gradually got to understand him, and we became fast friends.' Mr. C. W. Middleton Kemp writes, ' We were con- temporaries and (I am proud to say) friends at Oriel from 1875 to 1878. I well remember how we used to chaff him about his Long Vacation trips to South Africa, when he always cheerily replied that we would be surprised one day at developments there, and we have lived long enough to see the truth of his prophecy. He had in Oxford days, as in after Ufe, nothing small about him : he was a big man with a big heart and a big mind, and always a real good friend. I have a photo- graph of him as he was at Oriel which I value very much.' Another college friend, afterwards a Cabinet Minister, says, ' I remember him as a quiet good fellow with what I should call the instincts of an Englishman, but I do not recollect that there was any indication of the great strength of character and genius for empire-build- Digitized by Microsoft® 80 CECIL JOHN EHODES ing, which made him so remarkable a man afterwards. I can safely say that, later on, no man ever impressed me so strongly with the great Imperialist idea. It seemed to be part of his brain, and his impatience with any difficulties, personal or public, was quite remarkable. He certainly had the power not only of driving his ideas home, but of warmly attaching to him the men who enjoyed his confidence, and in my judgment he was not only a splendid Imperialist, but a most attractive personahty.' One of his Oriel friends, the Kev. A. L. Barnes Lawrence, writing to the Westminster Gazette on the occasion of his death, says, ' He was generally popular because natural and unaffected, though reserved as to his private affairs, and with a coldness of speech and manner which betokened an unconventional attitude towards things in general, and towards the University in particular. At the same time there was an evident desire on his part to conform to coUege rules and regulations. His manner was quiet and unassuming, and if he felt that he had it in him to accomplish great things, he never allowed others to see it." It has been asserted (I give the anecdote for what it may be worth) that he left Oxford £50 in debt to a tradesman, who wrote it off as irrecoverable, but received the money many years afterwards, with interest. Several recollections of his Oxford days were recorded in the obituary notices that appeared in the Press in 1902. A writer in the Daily Telegraph said, ' I often heard him say in after life that it was while he was alternately an undergraduate and a digger, that he first entertained the idea of painting red the map of Africa. At all times and under all circumstances, he Digitized by Microsoft® OXFOED DAYS 81 was a Seer, which I take to be the best definition of a dreamer of dreams, yet possessed of extraordinary business capacity/ The writer of the Times notice said, ' He did not apparently read hard during his Oxford life, and was more than once remonstrated with for non-attendance at lectures. His only reply was a pertinacious " I shall pass, which is all I wish to do ! " ' In the Westminster Gazette the Kev. A. G. Butler, a tutor during his time, wrote, ' His career at Oxford was uneventful. He belonged to a set of men like himself, not caring for distinction in the schools and not work- ing for them, but of refined tastes, dining and living for the most part together, and doubtless discussing passing events in life and pohtics with interest and ability. Such a set is not very common at Oxford, living, as it does, a good deal apart from both games and work, but it does exist and, somehow, includes men of much intellectual power which bears fruit later.' Many years after he left Oriel, he came there to stay for a night with the Provost (Monro) who had asked a few dons and imdergraduates to meet him. The function was dull to a degree, until Rhodes, striking the table with his fist^ cried, ' Let us all have a drink ! ■" Says one who was present, ' The ice was broken and we all enjoyed ourselves.' It may not be out of place here to glance at the principal questions and events interesting the pubHc mind during the terms kept by Rhodes at Oxford. Throughout the period imder review, that is from February 1874 to April 1880, Disraeli, the first of our latter-day Imperialists, was in power, and it is not improbable that his somewhat spectacular administra- VOL. I. Digitized by Microsoft® F 82 CECIL JOHN RHODES tion fired the imagination and coloured the subsequent career of the young student. The problems relating to Africa were numerous and perplexing in those days. In 1873-74 Sir Garnet Wolseley was conducting, with marked efficiency, his campaign on the Gold Coast. In 1875 Disraeli, against all precedent and without the prior authority of Parha- ment, purchased the Khedive's interest in the Suez Canal, thus leading up to our Protectorate over Egjrpt. In the same year. Lord Carnarvon, in good faith but without the co-operation of the States concerned, launched his abortive scheme for the Confederation of the South African Colonies. In 1877 the Confederation Act, a permissive measure, became law, and the Trans- vaal was annexed. The Cape Colony suffered the anxieties of the Gaika war. Two years later occurred the far more serious campaign in Zululand, followed in due course by the first Boer War, and the ' Grand Renunciation ' as the aftermath of Majuba. Sir Bartle Frere, Pro-Consul from 1877, was super- seded in August 1880 by what was considered a safer, less showy, High Commissioner in the person of Sir Hercules Robinson. Frere had for some time caused anxiety in England by a forward policy, a pohcy which, when inaugurated by a high oflS.cial, must always stand or fall by its results. Sir Michael Hicks Beach had already remonstrated with him in a despatch dated 23rd January 1879, and censured him in a more formal manner on 17th March in the same year. When DisraeH fell from power and was succeeded by Gladstone, Frere's services were, at the outset, retained, the Queen's regard and his own high character being no doubt determining factors in the decision. But the Liberal left-wing was dissatisfied and demanded his Digitized by Microsoft® OXFORD DAYS 83 head on a charger. In the new House on 27th March 1880, Dilke's vote of censure on the Government was only defeated by a majority of 60. The hint sufficed, and Frere was recalled. The sympathetic crowds which filled the streets of Cape Town on his departure were never equalled there until, twenty-two years afterwards, the body of Cecil Rhodes passed to its resting-place. Among occurrences afiecting South Africa, one other deserves reference. At Versailles, on 24th July 1875, the long dispiite with Portugal over the ownership of Delagoa Bay was brought to a close by the award of a Marshal of France. The question had been simmering in leisurely diplomatic fashion since 1823, when Captain Owen, R.N., had entered into a treaty with native chiefs there and hoisted the British flag. M'Mahon's award was against us, on the ground of our failure to maintain effective occupation. Few persons at the time reahsed the blow thus dealt to the solidarity of our possessions in Africa. There were, of course, many pubHc questions in those days entirely unconnected with Africa, but none the less interesting to the Oriel students. In February 1876 the Queen emerged from her long retirement and opened Parhament in person. In the following year Her Majesty was proclaimed Empress of India at Delhi. The Conferences of Constantinople and Berhn aroused pubho interest ; we occupied historic Cyprus, and Indian troops were for the first and only time utiUsed as a demonstration in Europe. Events such as these are likely to have been the subject of vigorous discussion among the undergraduates at Oriel, and one can picture the young Kimberley digger, with his great WiU in his pocket, and his head full of high schemes for the expansion of the race which Digitized by Microsoft® 84 CECIL JOHN RHODES he beUeved to be the finest in the world : one can picture him, I say, taking a keen and, withal, a sardonic iaterest in the arguments that raged ever so furiously around him between the young disputants who, with the air of infalhbihty which sits so gracefully on youth, dehvered, as their own, opinions which only echoed those of their fathers' house. Apart from politics, Ehodes, as a dihgent student of history, would probably be deep in two pubhcations, both by Oxford men, that appeared almost simultane- ously during his residence there : the masterly treatise by Stubbs on our Constitutional History, and the in- comparable Short History of the English People, by J. R. Green. Both subsequently found an honoured place in the Grroote Schuur Library. The following is the text of the testamurs obtained by Rhodes on 10th December 1873 and 20th November 1877 :— 1873. Rhodes. Cecihus J. E Coll. Oriel. Die X Mensis December Anni MDCCCLXXHI Quaestionibus Magistrorum Scholarum in Parviso pro forma respondit. aSgd.) W. C. SiDGWicK. Ita testamur ] ,, T. L. Papillon. [ „ T. H. Ward. 1877. Rhodes. Cecihus J. E Coll. Oriel. Die 20 Mensis November Anni MDCCCLXXVII prout Statuta requirunt examinatus in RUDIMENTIS RE- LIGIONIS satisfecit nobis Examinatoribus. '{Sgd.) Edmund S. Houlke. Ita testamur „ Henkicus Furneaux. „ Edvardus Moore. Digitized by Microsoft® OXFORD DAYS 85 It is perhaps not generally known that Rhodes became a student of the Inner Temple, though he was never formally called to the Bar. The following documents were found among his papers at Groote Schuur : — Innee Temple, 16th day of May 1876. No. 1748. Received of C. J. Rhodes, Esq., the sum of Five Guineas on his Admission to the Honourable Society, the said C. J. Rhodes being entitled to attend the Pubhc Lectures of all the Professors appointed by the Coimcil of Legal Education. {Sgd.) H. Hall Dare, £5, 5s. Od. Sub-Treasurer, Inner Temple. Inner Temple, I6th May 1876. No. 966. Received of Mr, C. J. Rhodes on admission to the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple the sum of Thirty-five pounds, six shillings and five pence for the use of the said Society. (Sgd.) H. Hall Dare, Sub-Treasurer. Stamp Duty . .£25 1 3 Fees . . . 10 5 2 £35 6 5 The following entries are from the books of the Inner Temple : — Rhodes Cecil John (aged 22) of Oriel College, Oxford, the fourth son of The Rev. Francis WilHam Rhodes of Bishop's Stortf ord in the County of Hertford. Admitted 16th May 1876. Digitized by Microsoft® 86 CECIL JOHN RHODES Admitted into Commons, Easter, 1876. (Eed Ink) Name withdrawn, 17th December 1889, in accordance with B.T.O. 5th June 1888. Name restored B.T.O. 20th February 1891. Died 26th March 1902, at Muisenberg, near Cape Town. It will be seen that by a Bench Table Order his name was withdrawn on 5th June 1888, probably owing to his faiUng more suo to pay his fees. But in 1891 he paid an amount sufficient to meet arrears and also to release his sureties, whereupon his name was restored. I have ascertained from the Council of Legal Educa- tion that he passed no examinations. In 1877 Rhodes became a Freemason, and retained his interest in Masonry to the close of his life. Among his papers I find this : — OXFORD UNIVERSITY CHAPTER, R.T. Under the Supreme Grand Council of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of 33 Degrees. No. 86. 2nd June, 1877. Received of Brother C. J. Rhodes the sum of five pounds 10s. as under : — Perf. A. Cert. Life Fees. i^gA,) Huglett Riach. 36. Treasurer. If all Masons would act up to their vows in the spirit of ' Brother ' Rhodes, the world would perhaps be more tolerable than it is. Digitized by Microsoft® ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE 87 CHAPTER VIII EFTEY INTO PUBLIC LIFE (1881) Sir Henry Barkly — Controversies -with President Brand — The Keate award — Annexation of Diamond Fields — New Electorate Divisions — Elected member for Barkly West— Fall of Disraeli — Basuto Dis- armament — Transvaal rebellion — Invasion of Natal — LaLng's Nek — Ingogo — Majuba — Cape Parliament — Rhodes sworn in — Sir Gordon Sprigg — Rhodes's maiden speech in House — Reminiscences of observers — Basutoland affairs — Rhodes and natives — Hofmeyr — Debates on Basutoland — Aborigines' Protection Society — Sir Thomas Scanlen — Use of Dutch language in Parliament — Rhodes speaks in Kimberley — Speaks again — Sails for England. During the interval that occurred between the de- parture of Sir Phihp Wodehouse for Bombay, and the arrival, on the 31st December 1870, of Sir Henry Barkly from Australia, the administration of the Cape Colony, according to usage, was in the hands of the officer commanding the forces, Lieut.-General Hay. Between the Administrator and President Brand of the Orange Free State a tedious controversy ensued, now long since forgotten. The question at issue was that of their respective rights over the territory of the Griqua chief, Waterboer, recently overrun by diamond diggers of all nationalities. The Dutch claimed it as within the sphere of influence of the old Orange River Sovereignty, which we had abandoned to them. The Enghsh title was based on grants and concessions from Waterboer, and on actual occupation. As in the case of most boundary disputes, there was much hard swearing on both sides. Digitized by Microsoft® 88 CECIL JOHN RHODES The President despatched a representative to Cape Town to meet the new High Commissioner, but no settle- ment resulted. Arbitration was declined by Brand who, as a lawyer, considered the case beyond cavil. As, however, other questions of delimitation were awaiting solution, especially with the Transvaal, a Court of Arbitration was appointed, and met at Bloemhof in April 1871. Brand did not attend, but President Pretorius put in an appearance. The Court sat until 19th June, when, upon a final disagreement between the arbitrators, the evidence was submitted to the umpire, Mr. Keate, the Lieut. -Governor of Natal. His award,' given on 17th October, was, in substance, against both Republics. As soon as the news reached Cape Town, the High Commissioner issued a series of Proclamations annexing the disputed district and making provision for its government. A strong police force was sent up to the Diamond Fields. The few Free State ofl&cials, who were there practically on sufferance, withdrew, under protest, and the territory became a Crown Colony. Five years later, in an action tried before the High Court, certain claimants to farms held from Waterboer were non-suited, his right to give such grants being held to be not proven. Brand saw his opportunity, and at once took ship to England to re-open his claim. The case might not unfairly have been considered closed, nor did the Free State really want to be saddled with a turbulent community of diggers. Her Majesty's Government, however, very rightly laid no great stress on law and much on equity. The Free State received moderate compensation, and Brand was satisfied. Up to this date the Cape Colony had refused to annex the territory, the majority of colonists being of Dutch extraction, and reluctant, as such, to take what might Digitized by Microsoft® ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE 89 seem unfriendly action towards their Free State brethren. The amicable settlement now arrived at in London removed their objections and, by a Cape Act passed in 1877, the territory was absorbed by the colony under the title of the Province of Griqualand West. The Act, however, was only ratified on 15th August 1879, and even then, on grounds stated elsewhere, was not pro- mulgated imtil 15th October 1880. The Act created two electoral divisions, Ejmberley and Barkly West, with four members for the former and two for the latter. An election at once took place. Cecil Rhodes stood for Barkly West and was duly elected in November, and he held the seat against aU comers till his death. The constituency was mainly a Dutch one, but even the shock of the Raid failed to dislodge him. The year 1880 was an eventful one for South Africa. On 24th March there was a dissolution of the Imperial Parhament, followed by the general election which drove Disraeli from power, replacing him by Gladstone. Then came one of those rapid changes of colonial policy which, rightly or wrongly, more than anything else ahenate thoughtful colonists from the motherland. Later on in the year, the Cape Prime Minister en- deavoured, without success, to disarm the Basutos, and a long struggle ensued. A deeper note was struck ere the year closed. On 20th December 1880 a British detachment in the Transvaal under Colonel Anstruther was attacked and destroyed by the Boers. Early in 1881 the Dutch invaded Natal. Engagements followed in rapid suc- cession. On 28th January we were repulsed at Laing's Nek, and only ' drew ' the action on 7th February at the Ingogo. The ofEensive-defensive policy of the Digitized by Microsoft® 90 CECIL JOHN ERODES Boers met with marked success. The courage of our men and of regimental officers was never in question, but their inefficiency as marksmen, and the bewildering incompetence of the general commanding, gave us no chance against opponents trained from boyhood to the use of the rifle. Not for the first and not for the last time we underrated the enemy and were punished for our contempt. On 27th February came the crown- ing disaster of Majuba Hill, a defeat that changed the history of South Africa. Never was a smaU battle more decisive of results. Then followed an armistice and the retrocession, and, both by friends and foes, the miUtary renown of England was considered, for a while, to have received a fatal blow. Under the shadow of these deplorable events, the Cape Parliament reassembled in March 1881. On 7th April Rhodes was sworn in as one of the new members, being introduced by two influential men, Vincent and Orpen. The ambitions of the young digger must have been smarting under these reverses, but he made no sign. To a friend, about this time, he said, placing a large hand on the map of Africa, ' That is my dream, all Enghsh.' But in pubho he held his peace. The Cape Ministry of the day was essentially oppor- tunist. The Premier, Mr. Gordon Sprigg, was an adroit pohtician, content to change his colleagues so long as he was left undisturbed in office. Nothing, it was asserted, short of a high explosive, could dislodge him from the Treasury benches. The gospel of expediency was beHeved by his opponents to be his creed, and his belief in his creed and in himself gave him an appearance of strength. His talents were moderate : he did not mix in society, nor was he, in any sense, a man of culture. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE 91 But he was a dexterous parUamentarian, and his courage was undeniable. His deportment was ' correct.' He was assiduous in his clerical duties, accessible to visitors and austerely courteous. His private life was irre- proachable. But he was already developing signs of the dangerous delusion that he was an indispensable man, whereas, when he was finally driven from power in May 1902, his disappearance scarcely rippled the surface of the pohtical water. But in 1881 he was a force, and was undoubtedly regarded as a safe man. On 19th April, the death-day of Lord Beaconsfield, Rhodes — twelve days after entering the House — made his maiden speech, in connection with the non-produc- tion of papers relating to the affairs of Basutoland. Though an independent member, he showed himself frankly hostile to the ministerial pohcy of Basutoland disarmament, the failure of which he accurately pre- dicted. In the course of his speech, he, on several occasions, referred to members of the House by name. The Speaker (Sir David Tennant), a dignified official, expostulated with him in tones of anguish and obtained a graceful apology. A writer of ' Notes in the House ' in a local paper, referring to Rhodes, remarked, ' The faults of impetuosity are venial, particularly when the impetuosity proceeds from an enthusiasm for justice/ One of those sagacious critics, a Parliamentary re- porter, says : — ' I remember his first appearance in the House : a fine ruddy EngUshman, a jovial-looking young squire. His speech was bluff and imtutored in style, with no graces of oratory. A candid friend remarked after- wards that he would be a ParUamentary failure, but though then boyishly nervous and even uncouth in Digitized by Microsoft® 92 CECIL JOHN RHODES gesture, he became the most effective speaker in the House, without ever being eloquent.' This is a correct portrait. Rhodes never became a conventional orator. But, having the root of the matter in him, and never speaking unless he had something to say worth saying, he gradually acquired the ear of the House, and commanded the involuntary attention of both sides. As a speaker, I should compare him to Cromwell, without Cromwell's puritan fervour, for he was rapid, occasionally obscure, with here and there a gUmpse of the fire that consumed him. It is noticeable that his very first speech should have been in defence of what he considered native rights. He had acquired a marked liking for natives in Natal and at Kimberley. From this time onward, to his death, he never wavered in his attitude towards them. Without a trace of the uninstructed sentimentahty associated with the name of Exeter Hall, he was a champion of the native races, ever seeking to teach them the dignity of labour and the demorahsing effects of drink, ever an advocate of educat- ing them up to, but not beyond, their probable needs. He regarded them as grown-up children with the passions of men, and felt towards them as if, in some way, he stood in loco parentis. Whether in the com- pounds of De Beers or in the wild recesses of the Matopo Hills, he trusted them and they trusted him. The well-known Dr. Donald Macleod described him later on with much truth as the natives' best friend. Years afterwards, when he had fallen from power and was being persistently calumniated, a lady wrote of him : — ' I heard a rumour that he was harsh to coloured labour on the fruit farms and I went there to investigate. " Have you any grievances ? " I said. " Look here," Digitized by Microsoft® ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE 93 broke in a colouxed woman, " you have come to the wrong place. Why, we all hved in fondohs (shanties) before the Baas came. He built us these cottages, charging us only the rent we paid before, on condition we kept them clean. Why, we all love him." And I had to explain hurriedly that I beheved her, or she would have assaulted me.' During his early years in the House, he made many friends, especially among the Dutch, and was fond of visiting them on Saturdays in their picturesque old homesteads in the Paarl and Drakenstein valleys. He was also very popular with the officials of the House, down to the humblest messenger. His unaffected interest m young men gave him great influence over them. The Clerk of the House still remembers him with the deepest admiration. One of the clerks of the Papers writes, ' He used to come through m.y room by a side door and was always making time for a chat, asking me many personal questions, and urging me to learn shorthand.' The gallery reporter, already quoted, says, ' He was, at times, boyish to the last, and had a trick of sitting on his hand and laughing boisterously when amused. He could hit hard and delighted in the joy of combat, but he never gave the House in those days an inkling of his great plans. No doubt he feared to alarm both parties.' The explanation of his reticence was given many years later in his own words, ' When I first entered/ he said, ' on Cape politics, two conspicuous factors weighed with me. One was the constant vacillation of the Home Government, which never knew its own mind about us. Many Englishmen cried out at the surrender after Majuba, but the real humiliation was borne by Digitized by Microsoft® 94 CECIL JOHN EHODES those who, relying on the Imperial pledges, had stood firm in the Transvaal for the old flag. That was one factor, but there was another. The " Enghsh " party in the Cape Assembly was hopelessly divided and individually incapable. And it had no policy beyond that of securing oflS.ce. On the other side was a com- pact body of nominees of what afterwards came to be called the Afrikander Bond, who acted all together at the dictation of Hofmeyx. Hofmeyr was, without doubt, the most capable politician in South Africa, and if he concealed in his breast aspirations for a United South Africa in which Great Britain should have no part or lot, the concealment was very efiective. My behef is that he was anxious to maintain the connection, not out of any love for Great Britain, but because the independence of South Africa was at the mercy of what- ever power had command of the sea. And you must remember that, though Hofmeyr had no particular affection for the English, his hatred of the Germans amoimted to a passion. At the time of which I am speaking there was no danger of British supremacy being threatened by the Transvaal, and still less by the Orange Free State. Again, in those days Hofmeyr was chiefly interested in withstanding Free Trade and upholding Protection on behalf of the Dutch, who were agriculturists and wine-growers. I had a policy of my own, which I never disguised from Hofmeyr. It was to keep open the road to the north, to secure for British South Africa room for expansion, and to leave time and circumstances to bring about an inevitable federation. I therefore struck a bargain with him, by which I under- took to defend the Protective system of Cape Colony, and he pledged himself in the name of the Bond not to throw any obstacles in the way of northern expansion. Digitized by Microsoft® ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE 95 Be did not like this condition, but I am bound to say he loyally fulfilled it, thereby incmring the hatred of the Transvaal Boers, and to some extent losing the con- fidence of the extreme members of the Afrikander Bond. That was the whole secret, which was no secret at aU, of my understanding with the Afrikander Bond. It suited me on all grounds. I Hke the Dutch ; I like their homely courtesy and their tenacity of purpose, and we have always got on very well together." And so far as I am personally concerned, I am in favour of protecting the agricultural interests of South Africa, and of discouraging the rise of manufactories which would compete with England in the market for her own products.' On 26th April 1881, Rhodes spoke again and at greater length, but on the same subject, the mismanagement of Basutoland affairs. One of the reporters present says, ' It was the speech of one who will speak his mind out fuUy. But the frankness of his nature may expose him to the designs of the wily.' Another observer in the House thus described him, ' He presents a good upstanding appearance, being somewhere about six feet in his shoes. He has a good physique, is a muscular-looking man, well-shaped in every way, has a pleasant intelhgent face, and is a very good type of a weJl-bred English gentleman. He dresses without the least consideration for fashion, and he is always unafiected and unpretending ; he is an exceedingly nervous speaker, there is a twitching about bis hands, and he has a somewhat ungainly way of turning his body about. That he is a man of extra- ordinary energy is clear to every one who takes observa- tion of him. He is in a continued state of restlessness, whether sitting in his seat or standing on his legs. He Digitized by Microsoft® 96 CECIL JOHN RHODES is never still from the time he enters the House until he leaves it.' Another of his hearers writes, ' I can well remember the effect he made upon me by his forcefulness and the breadth of his ideas. His foresight speaks for itself, for he outlined the very course which was finally adopted in regard to Basutoland in the Special Session of 1883.' The speech may be found in the collection made by 'Vindex' (George BeU & Sons, London, 1900). The exact motion before the House, which was moved by Scanlen, was, ' That this House is of opinion, that the conduct of the business of the country by the present Administration, especially in regard to Basutoland and the Transkeian territories, before and after the outbreak of hostilities, has been such as to imperil its best interests.' The debate began on 11th April and lasted, on and off, for over a fortnight. On the 27th April the motion was carried by 37 to 34. Rhodes took the common-sense view that, ia the absence of any law to the contrary, the natives were justified in buying guns at the Diamond Fields and elsewhere, and that it was unfair to disarm them immediately afterwards. He scoffed at the Prime Minister's attempt to coerce the powerful Basuto tribe by means of colonial levies, adding, ' Are we a great and independent nation ? No ! we are only the population of a third-rate EngUsh town, spread over a vast coimtry.' The allusion is to Sir Gordon Sprigg's tite montSe in making war without Imperial aid, relying on pohce and volunteers, and undervaluing, very unjustly, the dash and endurance of the regular forces, then under a cloud owing to their recent defeats. Rhodes concluded by formulating a distinct pohoy that all the native races outside ordinary colonial borders Digitized by Microsoft® ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE 97 should be subject only to Imperial control to ensure uniformity of treatment. This Mne had been taken a few months before by the Daily News, which had assailed the Cape Grovernment for wantonly attacking the most progressive tribe in South Africa, and with insufl&cient forces to command success, adding that the colonial poHcy of accepting responsibiUty for large masses of natives had broken down, and that Her Majesty's Government could not remain passive spectators of the fiasco. A deputation from the Aborigines' Protection Society, headed by Fowell Buxton and Froude, had also waited on Lord Kimberley in November 1880, and asserted, with the customary vehemence of peaceful people, that disarmament had been deliberately undertaken to bring on war. The Colonial Secretary, while ignoring this base imputation, gave the Prime Minister a significant warning. Sprigg, it was alleged, had stated in a recent speech that if the colonists vanquished the Basutos without assistance from England, they would exact what terms they pleased. To this. Lord Kimberley replied that he had made no such bargain, and that Her Majesty's Government reserved full hberty of action. The Cape House of Assembly were, on the whole, in harmony for once with Enghsh opinion on the subject. Sir Gordon Sprigg had made a false move and had to bear the penalty. Even then he endeavoured to remain in office, notwithstanding his defeat. But further pressure was appHed. On the 4th May, Scanlen gave notice that on 10th May he would move ' That this House is of opinion, that under existing circumstances the present administration can no longer carry on the Government with advantage to the country.' This was a decisive blow. The House adjourned until 10th May, VOL. I, Digitized by Microsoft® G 98 CECIL JOHN RHODES when, on its re-assembly, Sprigg was under the necessity of announcing his resignation. His successor, Mr. T. C. Scanlen (afterwards Sir Thomas Scanlen), was indeed aheady in office. This Cabinet, the third under Responsible Government, is memorable as having had as a member, though without portfoho, the commanding figure of Jan Hofmeyr, afterwards the Nestor of South African politics. It also brought back to office Mr. J. X. Merriman, who had sat in Sir John Molteno's first Cabinet. As we shall see later on, Rhodes joined the Ministry as Treasurer-General, but only in 1884, and the Ministry being defeated a few weeks afterwards, he left office without producing a Budget. On 15th June he spoke again, this time on the subject of the Griqualand West boundaries, but his speech has not been reported. The question was destined to be full of interest to him. In a few months it led to war between two rival chiefs, Mankoroane and Massouw, and also to grave compHcations with Boer freebooters. On 25th June he took part in an important debate, raised by a Dutch member, to amend the 89th section of the Constitution Ordinance so as to permit the optional use of ' Cape Dutch ' in ParHament. To this an amendment was moved by Mr. — later Sir — Thomas Fuller, ' That this House, while wilHng to give the fullest consideration to the proposed change, is not prepared at this late period of the session, to adopt the same." Rhodes seconded the amendment, asserting that, so far as the House knew, there was no great desire in the country for the change. The flame of racial patriotism engendered by recent events was, however, too strong to be openly resisted and, though the debate was adjourned and not resumed that year, Digitized by Microsoft® ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE 99 the proposal was again made, this time by Mr. Hofmeyr, on 30th March 1882, when the motion was carried, to the great and lasting regret of many men who, while appreciating the Dutch race, long to see South Africa one and undivided. The change, they think, has been wholly inimical to the best interests of the country. Enghsh, hitherto the official language, gave way to a patois without a Hterature and without a future. The concession, they say, has not united but divided the House and the colony. The choice of a Speaker is severely Hmited by the necessity of his being obliged to understand both languages, and the grotesque spectacle is now seen of one half of the House using a ' taal ' of which the other half does not comprehend the meaning. Persons holding these views assert that the analogy of Canada is not material. The admission to equal rights of the beautiful language of France, the language of diplomacy, was — they consider — ^justified. The ad- mission of a provincial dialect had no such justification. There was, moreover, they add, no hint of reciprocity iu the concession. The use of the English language in the Parhaments of the two Republics was steadily refused. So late as 1899, not many weeks before the great war, the Transvaal State Secretary sent an angry telegram to Sir Alfred Milner, which is an amusing commentary on the sentimental action of the Cape Colony seventeen years before. The message runs as follows : — ' This Government has noticed with surprise the as- sertion that it had intimated to the British Agent that the new members to be chosen for the South African Republic VoUcsraad should be allowed to use their own language. If it is thereby intended that this Govern- Digitized by Microsoft® 100 CECIL JOHN RHODES ment would have agreed that any other than the lan- guage of the country would have been used in the dehberations of the Volksraad, it wishes to deny same in the strongest manner. Leaving aside the fact that it is not competent to introduce any such radical change, they have, up to now, not been able to under- stand the necessity or even advisabihty of makiag a recommendation to the Volksraad in. the spirit sug- gested.' I have recorded at some length the opinions of those who were against the concession, but such is the attach- ment felt by all of us for the language of our fore- fathers that I must also record my own conviction that, even at some pubUc inconvenience, it was a wise and politic step to give way to the profound feeling underlying the Dutch demand. In August 1881, Parhament having risen, Rhodes spoke at Kimberley at a semi-public dinner, which is thus referred to by Mr. Justice Lawrence : — ' The first time I heard Rhodes make a speech was in 1881. It must have been one of his earhest efforts in that hne. A dinner, at the close of the Parha- mentary Session, was given by the Mayor of Kimberley to the representatives of Griqualand West. There had been a pohtical crisis, and the Sprigg Ministry of the day, appointed by Sir Bartle Frere in 1878, had been compelled to resign. The disastrous attempt to disarm the Basutos, and the military fiasco which ensued, had left them with no margin of parhamentary support ; one of the Ministers had retired and a crisis was inevitable. The newly elected members for Griqualand West had gone down to Cape Town, as was understood, prepared to support the Government ; the members for Kimberley did so ; but Rhodes, Digitized by Microsoft® ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE 101 carrying with him his Barkly colleague, took a different view. He told the Government Whip that he must not reckon on their votes ; and the Ministers, thus placed in the minority, had to resign. The attitude of Rhodes was far from popular at Kimberley ; when he rose after dinner to make his speech he met with a rather disconcerting reception ; but he reasoned out his position and justified his conduct with so much force and spirit that he quite carried the audience with him, and sat down amid repeated cheers.' Again in the same month, and in the same place, he addressed a public meeting still in defence of his vote in the House on the Griqualand boundary question, and ridiculed Sprigg's efiort to pose as a ' saviour of society.' It was a strong speech, and he concluded it amid great applause. The Cafe Argus, referring to the incident, said, ' Those whose only knowledge of Mr. Rhodes's powers as a speaker is derived from a perusal of the reports of his speeches in the Cape papers, were certainly unprepared for the exhibition of oratorical skill and dialectic power with which they were favoured by the youthful member for Barkly.' A sterner newspaper critic in Graham's Town took a less eulogistic hne. ' Who,' he cried, ' is this young man from Kimberley, come to teach us our business ? ' Mr. Merriman had a keener eye for capacity. ' Shortly after my arrival in Cape Town,' says the present Mr. Justice Lawrence, ' I met Mr. Merriman, and when I went to Kimberley he told me to be sure to look out for Cecil Rhodes, then an almost obscure young man, but one who had struck Mr. Merriman as the most interesting individual he had met on the Diamond Fields.' Digitized by Microsoft® 102 CECIL JOHN RHODES After attending to urgent private affairs, Rhodes sailed for England to keep his last term at Oxford and take his Degree. Thenceforth, he was destined to pursue an active part in great affairs until his death. Digitized by Microsoft® THE CAPE COLONY 103 CHAPTER IX THE CAPE COLONY Historical — Leading dates — Portuguese and other occupiers — Grant of Constitution— Sir Philip Wodehouse— Sir R. Southey— William Porter— Christoffel Brand— John Brand— Saul Solomon— J. C. Mol- teno — Struggle for Responsible Government — Obstruction in Parlia- ment — Bill passes — First Cape Ministry — Meeting of Parliament — J. X. Merriman — Lord Carnarvon — Froude's second visit — Confedera- tion intrigues— Struggle between Carnarvon and Molteno — Molteno and Brand in England — Walfisch Bay — Shepstone knighted — John Paterson — Molteno returns to the Cape — Barkly relieved by Frere — Gaika War — Quarrel between Frere and Molteno — Molteno dis- missed — Meeting of Parliament— Govornor's action upheld — Contrast between Molteno and Rhodes — Aspects of Lord Carnarvon's policy. No life of Cecil Rhodes would be complete without some brief reference to the history of South Africa as a whole, and especially to that of the Colony with which he came to be so closely concerned, and of the parlia- mentary institutions at the head of which he was destined to stand. I make no profession of writing a Colonial history myself, though to any student who will devote adequate research to the subject it will be found singularly interesting as a study of what pohcy should be followed and what avoided in dealings between a distant Empire and its growing dependencies. It must sufl&ce to enumerate a few leading dates in the chronicles of the sub-continent and to portray the difficulties met with in the early days of Responsible Government at the Cape. The dates are these : — 1486. Portuguese doubled the Cape, landed, but made no settlement. Digitized by Microsoft® 104 CECIL JOHN EHODES 1620. Captain Shillinge hoisted the British flag on the shores of Table Bay, but was disavowed by James i. 1652. Dutch, under Van Eiebeeck, estabhshed a ' Fort and garden ' at the Cape. 1781. French occupy the Cape nominally for the Batavian Republic. 1795. British occupy the Cape. 1802. Cape restored to the Dutch. 1806. British reoccupy the Cape. 1823. Captain Owen, R.N., hoists the British flag at Delagoa Bay. 1839. Russia makes great preparations to occupy the Cape as a basis for the conquest of India. Cape Governor occupies Natal. 1848. Orange Free State annexed. 1852. Transvaal Republic recognised. 1854. Retrocession of the Orange Free State. Constitution granted to the Cape. 1857. Kruger raids the Orange Free State. 1858. 0. F. State Volksraad petition for re-annexation. Offer decHned. 1862. Proposal to annex British KafEraria rejected by the House of Assembly. 1864. To allay the cry for separation Sir Phihp Wodehouse summons ParUament to meet at Grahamstown in the Eastern Province. British KafEraria annexed, but by a narrow majority of the House, and against the wishes of the white inhabitants. 1867. Sir John Molteno introduces a Bill granting Responsible Government, but owing to the Governor's opposition it is defeated. The Governor then introduced a Bill creating a single Chamber of 21 members, with alternative sessions in the two Provinces. Molteno opposed, and the measure was withdrawn. Cape Parliament urges on H.M. Government the annexa- tion of what is now German S.-W. Africa. Recom- mendation ignored. 1868. Basutoland annexed. Sir John Barrow, Under-Secre- Digitized by Microsoft® THE CAPE COLONY 105 tary to the Colonies, writing to Southey describing his new chief (Carnarvon), adds, ' This is the twenty-third change since I have been in this office.' 1870. The Governor re-introduced his single Chamber Bill, with 32 elected and 4 nominated members. Eejected by 34 to 26 votes. 1871. Griqualand West made a Crown Colony. 1872. Eesponsible Government granted to the Cape. 1877. Transvaal Kepublic annexed. 1881. Retrocession of the Transvaal. 1896. Jameson Raid. 1899. War between Great Britain and the two Boer States. 1902. 31st May. Peace of Vereeniging. Both RepuUics annexed. 1910. 31st May. British South Africa Act became law and union effected. It will be seen from this brief summary that the Portuguese were the discoverers of the Cape, but not its occupiers : that the Enghsh then took temporary- possession, and that subsequently the Dutch came, and came to stay. For a time the French of the Revolution occupied. Finally Great Britain occupied, retroceded, and again occupied. The history of the sub-continent and its various States is thus one long record of in- firmity of purpose and reversals of pohcy. We now hold the country by the triple bond of conquest, cession and purchase, but, fortunately, also by that incom- parably stronger bond expressed by the mutual consent of the governed. After many struggles and much loss of hfe, Boer and Briton have coalesced and adopted the Rhodes formula of equal rights under the British flag. Until 1854 the government of the Cape Colony had been autocratic, but in that year, by the promulgation of a formal Constitution, which had been drafted under Letters Patent 3rd April 1852, and confirmed, with Digitized by Microsoft® 106 CECIL JOHN RHODES amendments, by the Queen on lltli March 1853, a Council and Assembly were created, the members of which were freely elected by the people. Inasmuch, however, as the Executive remained independent of, and irremovable by, the Houses, the arrangement failed to give satisfaction. As illustrating the lofty manner in which the pubhc representatives were treated, the fact may be cited that so late as 1864, on the suggestion of the Governor, Sir Philip Wodehouse, the Imperial Parliament passed an Act annexing British Kaffraria to the Colony, and fixing the number of its Parhamentary representatives, without the Cape Legislature being in any way con- sulted. In the course of the ensuing session a vote of censure on the Governor was unanimously passed, but haughtily ignored. Nevertheless, even in those early days, the Cape Parliament contained several men who subsequently made their mark on the history of South Africa. Mr. — afterwards Sir Richard — Southey, Colonial Secretary and one of the Executive, though not in the House, had a right to sit and speak there, but not to vote. His official abilities were remarkable, and for years he virtually administered the affairs of the Colony. His colleague, William Porter, the At- torney-General, was much more than an official, for he was an orator and a statesman, an upright and dis- tinguished guardian of Colonial interests. His iade- pendence of character was unpalatable to the Governor, by whom, in 1866, his services were dispensed with. He subsequently entered the House of Assembly where, from 1869 to 1873, he was a commanding and much- respected figure. The Speaker of the House, Christoifel Brand, was Digitized by Microsoft® THE CAPE COLONY 107 father to a more famous son, Sir John Brand, also in the Assembly and afterwards a revered President of the Orange Free State. Saul Solomon, handicapped by physical infirmity, was another early representative who, by his eloquence, integrity, and devotion to native interests, held a high place in the estimation of the country. But the most conspicuous protagonist of full parlia- mentary government was Mr. J. C. Molteno, of foreign ancestry but born ia England, who now, in and out of season, thundered for the right of colonists to manage their own affairs. His biographer, with filial partiality, claims indeed that ' but for him and his like Great Britain would have lost South Africa, for they vindi- cated British hberty and the principle of self-govern- ment, and thus made freedom and progress possible, and saved the Colony from the errors of Downing Street.' In 1870 Wodehouse was replaced by a more sym- pathetic Governor, Sir Henry Barkly, and the following year Molteno moved a resolution in favour of Respon- sible Government. The case for the opposition was stated by Mr. J. X. Merriman, who vehemently de- nounced the Colony as unfit to control its own affairs. Thirty years later he stood up with equal vehemence to argue agaiast the suspension of the Constitution, technically forfeited by acts of rebeUion. Molteno 's motion was carried by' a majority of five iu a House of fifty-seven. A bill was at once brought in and passed by the Assembly by the same majority, but thrown out by three votes in the Legislative Council. For the remainder of the session Molteno assiduously obstructed business. Thus, when a measure for the annexation of Griqualand West was brought forward, Digitized by Microsoft® 108 CECIL JOHN KHODES he announced, that he would allow nothing of the kind to be done till the Colony received Responsible Govern- ment. His perseverance prevailed. When Parhament again met on 25th April 1872, the Bill for the estabMsh- ment of Responsible Government was re-introduced by the Attorney-General, passed through the Lower House by an increased majority of ten, and through the Council by a majority of one. The Executive consisting of Southey, Davidson, Cole, and Graham, published a formal Minute to the effect that the Colony was wholly unfit for Responsible Government, and the Attorney-General (Griffiths) con- curred, but Lord Ripon had akeady declared (17th October 1870) that the colonists must decide for them- selves. When, however, the Executive reintroduced the measure for the incorporation of Griqualand West (the Diamond Fields), Molteno still objected, but now on the ground that it would be an unfriendly act towards the Orange Free State until all boimdary disputes had been adjusted. Mr. Merriman, hitherto a strenuous advocate for the annexation, took the same line and the Bill was again withdrawn. Southey had previously (20th January 1871) presented a Minute on the subject of the pretensions of the Orange Free State to the Diamond Fields, and even a level-headed man like Sir Henry Barkly declared that it absolutely destroyed the claim of President Brand. On 1st December 1872, the first Ministry was gazetted, Molteno being Prime Minister, Southey, Porter, and Solomon all having decHned to be associated with the new regime. Mr. Merriman, in spite of his recent support of Molteno, was not at the outset included in the Cabinet. Digitized by Microsoft® THE CAPE COLONY 109 The first Parliament under Eesponsible Grovernment met on 28tli April 1873, when Molteno introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill, designed to improve the persoimel of the Upper House. With the joyous irre- sponsibility of a free-lance, Mr. Merriman opposed the Bill, but it passed the Assembly by nearly a two-thirds majority. In the Council, which was mainly interested, there was a tie, and the President gave his casting vote against the measure to keep the matter open. Parliament soon afterwards adjourned, and in his closing speech Governor Barkly announced that there would be a dissolution on the issue. The new Parhament met on 27th May 1874, and the Bill was reintroduced — this time in the Council itself, by which body it was passed, the voting being 13 to 8. Upon reaching the Assembly, the measure was opposed by Mr. Merriman, who carried a vital amendment by a majority of one. Molteno at once adjourned the House to consider his position, much to the alarm of members, many of whom had voted agaiust the Government out of sheer inexperience of the party system. Upon its reassembly the House reintroduced the deleted clause by 36 to 16, in spite of Mr. Merriman, who found a strange ally in Mr. Gordon Sprigg. During the year now under review Lord Carnarvon had become Secretary for State for the Colonies, and his forward poHcy, which was much in advance of local pubHc opinion, resulted in serious unrest and ultimate disaster. With the best of intentions, he unduly forced the pace, endeavouring to give South Africa not what it wanted, but what he considered it ought to want. As a consequence, he seemed to many onlookers to be endeavouring to circumscribe the bounds Digitized by Microsoft® 110 CECIL JOHN RHODES of Colonial freedom, forgetting that a world-wide congeries of States cannot be administered from a common centre without extensive devolution of func- tions. Lord Carnarvon also intervened in the affairs of Natal with such precipitancy that he ultimately found himself under the necessity of suspending the Con- stitution for five years. Another and a greater blunder was his strange appointment of an unofficial representa- tive in the person of that romantic historian, and dis- believer in democracy, Mr. J. A. Froude. Apart from the irregularity of procedure, the choice of an agent was singularly unfortunate. Froude was a master of the EngUsh tongue, but a slave to eloquent phrases, and possessing every sense but common-sense. He paid two visits to South Africa, one towards the close of 1874, the other in June 1875. On the latter occasion he assumed the powers of a plenipotentiary and set the whole of the Cape Colony in a blaze. Under his advice Carnarvon resolved to confederate South Africa in his own way and regardless of the views of individual States. He accordingly addressed a Despatch to the High Commissioner, requiring him to summon a Conference for that purpose. In this extraordinary document he went so far as to designate and even appoint the Cape delegates, one of whom was, of course, Molteno, but the other, Pater- son, Molteno's chief opponent. The Secretary of State also appointed two delegates for the unimportant Crown colony of Griqualand West, the same number as for the Cape. Sir Arthur Cunynghame, the Com- mander of the Forces, and Mr. Froude were to be Imperial representatives, and the former was to preside. The Despatch was laid upon the table of the House on Digitized by Microsoft® THE CAPE COLONY 111 9th June 1875, and, on the motion of a private member, was read aloud by the Clerk of the House. Seldom, perhaps, has an Imperial State paper caused more amuse- ment. The House rocked with unrestrained laughter, and when Molteno's temperate Minute in reply was also read, its tenor, on the motion of an opponent, was confirmed by a substantial majority. Ofiicial pressure, however, was persisted in, though Merriman, whose admission to the Cabinet came in September 1875, made great fun over Froude's naked bids for Dutch Colonial support. The latter, indeed, went so far as to express his admiration of the Repubhcan system of native apprenticeship — a curious sentiment from an Imperial envoy, accredited by a Government which had strictly enforced the provisions of the Sand River Convention, wherein such apprentice- ship was prohibited as slavery in disguise. For the three months ending in October 1875, the High Commissioner had to exercise the whole weight of his influence to prevent Molteno's resignation. Froude pressed for a special session to rediscuss Federa- tion. It was a quaint, unedifying spectacle — a duel between the Secretary of State and his envoy on one side, and the Governor and his Prime Minister on the other side. Molteno did not flinch. He accepted the challenge, convened Parhament in December, and moved, ' That in the opinion of this House, the agitation by the Imperial Government in opposition to the Colonial Government, on the subject of the Conference, is unconstitutional and improper.' During the debate that ensued, the motion was softened by altering ' by ' into ' in the name of ' so as to affix the responsibility directly on Froude, but before the discussion ended a Despatch arrived from Carnarvon Digitized by Microsoft® 112 CECIL JOHN RHODES abandoning his proposals. He had not changed his policy, but his method of enforcing it. Early in 1876 he sent out another Despatch, summoning a Con- federation Conference in London. The House made short work of it and resolved, without a Division, to dechne to attend. In spite of this rebuff, the Secretary of State invited Molteno and Brand to visit England and confer with him over the annexation of Griqualand "West, with due regard to the susceptibilities of the Orange Free State. Molteno accepted the invitation and sailed for England in July 1876, but was, on arrival, surprised to find that Brand had been already ' squared ' by the payment of £90,000, and Griqualand West saddled with the debt. Naturally chagrined that Carnarvon had not had the courtesy to await the advice he had soHcited, Molteno withdrew his ofier to incorporate the province with the Cape Colony. Carnarvon retaliated by declining to confirm the Colonial Act, annexing Walfisch Bay and its Hinterland, and under this pressure Molteno gave way and agreed to accept Griqualand West and its liabihties. His promise was kept and his action confirmed during the session of 1877. Carnarvon was not so scrupulous in performing his portion of the bargain. Palgrave, the Cape Com- missioner, had arranged terms with the Damaras and other tribes on the West Coast up to the Portuguese border on the Cunene River. The Act of Annexation had been duly passed. There remained only the formality of the issue of Letters Patent, but these were delayed in order to force the Cape into the Conference. Molteno, who remained in power until 6th February 1878, brought up the question in the Governor's speech both at the opening and closing of Parhament, but Digitized by Microsoft® THE CAPE COLONY 113 Carnarvon was inexorable and, as shown elsewhere, the territory eventually fell into the hands of Germany. Meanwhile the Conference met in London in August, 1876, to discuss the fate of South Africa. Carnarvon himself presided, with Sir Garnet Wolseley as Vice- President, Shepstone for Natal and Froude for Griqua- land West. These were mere Colonial Office appoint- ments, and the inhabitants of Griqualand West formally repudiated Froude.'- Shepstone was ostentatiously knighted, perhaps as a hint to Molteno to be submissive, but the latter was boimd by the vote of the House and declined to attend. Brand put in an appearance only to say that he had no authority to discuss Confederation. On the 5th October Molteno sailed for the Cape, full of anxiety over rumours that had reached him concern- ing an approaching ' cession ' of the Transvaal. In his absence, Paterson, a member of the Cape Opposition, was summoned to attend, but naturally this gathering of ' tied ' officials possessed no weight or authority. On 26th October Paterson headed what was called a Cape Deputation to Carnarvon, praising his poMcy, and especially in regard to Shepstone's mission — a curious sHp, for Shepstone had started with secret instructions. To the Deputation, Carnarvon gave information not vouchsafed to Molteno, viz. : that he was drafting a Permissive Confederation Bill for sub- mission to the Imperial Parliament. He did not add, as he might have done, that he was already in corre- spondence with a distinguished public servant through ' Froude had returned from the Gape, a baffled man, in December 1875. On arrival home he had written to a friend (Shirley's Tahle Tall, p. 153) : ' If anybody had told me two years ago that I should be leading an agita- tion within Cape Colony, I should have thought my informant delirious. The Ministers have the appearance of victory, but we have the substance.' YQjj j_ Digitized by Microsoft® H 114 CECIL JOHN RHODES whose tact, ability and high character he still hoped to impose his will upon a reluctant Colony and expedite that Confederation of conflicting interests, desirable in itself, but for which the time had clearly not arrived. In pursuance of this prancing poHcy Sir Henry Barkly, who saw the dangers involved in premature confederation, was reheved of his functions at the close of his first term of office, and retired without any mark of Royal favour, a discreditable incident in the case of so eminently safe and high-minded a pubhc servant. Looking around him for a suitable successor. Lord Carnarvon selected Sir Bartle Frere, a singularly gifted and unselfish man, of emotional temperament, yet masterful and autocratic where he deemed it good for the public service to be so. Frere had seen ten years' service in India and given ample proof there that he was unafraid of accepting responsibility. On his return to England, he sat on the Army Organisation Committee (1867) and on the Committee to investigate Mihtary Expenditure in India (1869). As Special Commissioner to East Africa in 1872 he abohshed slavery at Zanzibar without, or, perhaps, regardless of, ofiicial instructions. In 1875 he accompanied the Prince of Wales to India, for which post, as he was a perfect mirror of modern knighthood, he was pecuHarly well suited. To Frere, in an evil hour, Carnarvon, in 1876, offered the Cape Governorship, to be vacant, he remarked, ' on the 31st December next.' Writing on 13th October 1876, the Secretary of State informed him as follows : — ' The war between the Transvaal Government and the natives has rapidly ripened all South African policy. It brings us nearer to the object and end for which I have now for two years been steadily labouring Digitized by Microsoft® THE CAPE COLONY 115 — the Union of the South African Colonies and States. I am indeed now considering the details of a Bill for their Confederation, which I desire to introduce next session, and I propose to press, hy all means in my fower, my Confederation pohcy on South Africa. I do not estimate the time required for the work of consolidating the Confederated States at more than two years.' Lord Carnarvon — the blind leading the blind — went on to count unhatched chickens by offering him the post of Governor-Greneral of the Confederation in nubibus. Frere had few ambitions of his own, but he was pre- eminently a great pubhc servant, and loyal to his chiefs for the time being. Like the Duke of Wellington before him, he held as the governing factor of his life that the Queen's Government must be carried on. In reply to Carnarvon (18th October 1876) he said, ' There are few things which I should personally like better than to be associated iu any way with such a great poMcy as yours in South Africa, entering, as I do, into the Imperial importance of your masterly scheme.' On 31st March 1877 Frere landed in Cape Town from the Balmoral Castle, and assumed his duties as Governor of the Cape. In the following month Carnarvon introduced his measure into the House of Lords. It was a monstrosity in its way and proposed to attach Natal to the Cape, to take away the latter 's new con- stitutional liberties as a preliminary to their restoration to a Confederation, and generally to throw all the states ia South Africa into the melting-pot, with a view to re-mint them with an Imperial hall-mark. He had abeady received Frere's cable message of 17th April that Shepstone had annexed the Transvaal on the twelfth idem. It was necessary, however, for the success of his Digitized by Microsoft® 116 CECIL JOHN KHODES poKcy that Molteno should be got rid of, and an oppor- tunity soon occurred or was created. There was a Gaika and Goaleka war on the Cape frontier. The Governor proceeded there, remaining away some months, and attaching to his entourage Mr. Merriman and another Colonial Minister, Mr. Brownlee, thus isolating the Prime Minister in Cape Town. Misunderstandings were thus bound to arise, and Molteno, a stickler for constitutional etiquette, naturally resented the holding of Cabinet Councils at which he was not present. The Governor, on 31st December 1877, offered him a knight- hood, apparently as a solatium for his wounded feelings, but the honour was declined, and he was dismissed on 6th February 1878, though he had suffered no Parhamentary defeat. The Houses met on 18th May, with Sprigg as the new Premier. Frere had taken a very exceptional step only to be justified by success. An adverse vote in Parhament would have necessitated his own retirement and discredited Carnarvon. Many efforts, hospitable and otherwise, were, therefore, taken to concihate Members of the Lower House. The struggle raged round the question which had been chosen to bring about the fall of Molteno, viz. : AVhether the Government could insist on the Colonial forces being placed under the command oi an Imperial officer. There was un- doubtedly something to be said on both sides. Merri- man moved three fiery Resolutions, two of which were ruled by the Speaker to be out of order. The third ran as follows : — I quote from the Votes and Proceedings 6th June, 1878 :— ' Mr. Speaker stated that, when the debate was adjourned yesterday, the following question was before the House, viz. : " (!) That, in the opinion of this House, the control over the Digitized by Microsoft® THE CAPE COLONY 117 Colonial Forces is vested in His Excellency the Governor, only acting under the advice of Ministers ; (2) That it is not within the Constitutional functions of His Excellency the Governor to insist on the control and supply of the Colonial Forces being placed under the Mihtary Authorities, except with the consent of Ministers ; (3) That the assumption of the coinmand of Colonial Forces by Sir A. Cunynghame in January last, contrary to the advice of Ministers, was not justified or advisable under the existing circumstances." ' Upon which the following Amendment was moved by Mr. Maasdorp, viz. : " That the House, having before it the papers connected with the late change of Ministry, does not see that the doctrine that the Governor controls the Colonial Forces under the advice of his Ministry has been called in question by the Governor, but, on the contrary, is strongly affirmed ; and the House is of opinion that, under all the circumstances of the case, the removal from office of the late Ministry was unavoid- able." ' And Mr. Moore moved as a further Amendment : " That, in the opinion of this House, the dismissal of the late Ministry under the circumstances submitted by the Government has not been justified." ' Debate resumed. ' After debate. ' Mr. Speaker proceeded to put the question : That all the words after " That " in the original motion stand part of the question. ' Upon which the House divided : — ' AYES— 22. NOES— 37. ' The original motion proposed by Mr. Merriman was accord- ingly negatived. ' Mr. Speaker then put the question : That all the words after " That " in the Amendment proposed by Mr. Maasdorp stand part of the question. ' Upon which the House divided : — 'AYES— 37. . Noes— 22. ' The question was accordingly affirmed, and the last amend- ment proposed by Mr. Moore dropped. Digitized by Microsoft® 118 CECIL JOHN EHODES ' Mr. Speaker then read the Amendment moved by Mr. Maas- dorp, which was put as a Substantive Motion and agreed to.' Molteno never returned to power. At the close of the year 1878 he retired from Parliament, and though on Frere's recall in 1880 he re-entered the House and, on Sprigg's downfall, accepted a subordinate position in the Scanlen Administration, h.e soon retired. Until 1886 he resided in England, but the ' call of the blood ' or tbe glamour of tbe southern skies, or that vague presentiment of impending dissolution which gives to many men a silent warning, drew him back to South Africa, for which he had fought a good fight in the field and in Council, and he died in his old home in Sept- ember of that year — a strenuous politician, rough ia his manners, but a practical statesman of high aims and unblemished character. The Cape Parliament, in the course of its career, has committed many errors, but none equal perhaps to that of abandoning its first Prime Minister, who risked everything in its defence. He had formed great irrigation schemes which, as the complement to the railway policy he also advocated, might have changed the face of the country, but the South African rivers still roll in flood to the ocean and the land is still periodically parcbed by drought. His successor, instead of stimulating internal development, at once passed wbat he humorously termed a Peace Preservation Act, which led to immediate war with the Basutos. According to official returns the cost of the warlike operations of the Colony, mainly in Basutoland, amounted to £4,869,735. Rhodes entered the Scanlen Ministry soon after Molteno left it, and to him it fell, in part, to endeavour to settle the feuds left by the Basuto campaign. Digitized by Microsoft® THE CAPE COLONY 119 I have drawn the career of Molteno in some detail, because the resemblances and contrasts between him and Rhodes are numerous and striking. Both men were for a time personce gratce with the Dutch. Both were for peace and industrial progress. Rhodes was in- comparably the greater man, but he made greater mistakes. Rhodes possessed a clearer insight and overlooked a wider horizon, but he fell in a worse cause. Molteno was dismissed because he stood against all comers for what he honestly deemed to be Colonial liberties and constitutional rights. Rhodes was hurled from power because he endeavoured to coerce the Transvaal by methods the reverse of constitutional. The first Prime Minister of the Cape, though tempted of the devil, would never have countenanced, directly or indirectly, the inroad into the Transvaal, which, among all the armed incursions by Boers and British, win always be known as ' The Raid.' But neither would he ever have added a great and fertile province to the British Empire. Molteno always denied, and Rhodes always admitted, the right of the interior states to a share of the Customs duties collected at the ports, but one of Rhodes's last acts was to sign a petition for a suspension of that Constitution in which Molteno took paternal pride. Both of them now lie buried in South African graves, and when our wrong perspective, our lack of the sense of proportion, our petty aims and misconceptions are buried with them, our descendants wiU be prepared, I submit, to grant that they were both worthy sons of the country they loved. On the Carnarvon poUcy, hear Martineau {Life of Frere, vol. ii. p. 169) : — ' Most of the mistakes in our government of South Africa have been caused by the fatal tendency to try and govern it Digitized by Microsoft® 120 CECIL JOHN RHODES from England. There, as elsewhere, the EngUsh Government has too often failed to place due confidence in its own repre- sentatives. It has listened to one-sided evidence and doctrinaire views, and has overruled or recalled Governors and High Com- missioners, men of its own choice who had every quahfication for forming a just judgment on the scene of action, where alone a just judgment could be formed. The consequence has been a weak and vacillating poUcy . . . which has aUenated loyal men both white and black, and continues to this day to be the abiding cause of confusion, strife and bloodshed.' Hear the same writer on the Conference policy of the Secretary of State. He describes it as ' the old Colonial Office mistake of sending out, cut and dried, all the details of the scheme, and nominating, or at least suggest- ing, the members who were to take part in the Conference, instead of offering an outhne and leaving the details to be filled in on the spot. He had to deal with the susceptibihties of a Colony which had just received responsible government and was morbidly sensitive to any treatment which bore the least appear- ance of dictation. The House of Assembly resented the Despatch . . . and passed a Eesolution that any movement in the direction of Confederation should originate in South Africa and not in England.' This, in a nutshell, is a crushing condemnation of the Carnarvon policy. He tried to govern South Africa by voluminous despatches from England. He failed to trust his weU-tried and entirely rehable repre- sentative, Sir H. Barkly : he listened to the ' opposition ' evidence of Paterson, and to the impulsive utterances of Froude : he despatched to the Cape a great Indian official unversed in the parhamentary system : he ignored the Colonial Prime Minister, declining even to give him his title : he insisted on the Colonies and States conferring when they were unprepared to confer : he suspended the constitution of Natal and tried to Digitized by Microsoft® THE CAPE COLONY 121 abrogate that of the Cape : and, finally, he annexed the Transvaal, which the logic of events was patently about to give to us of its own accord, and he resigned his high office on very inadequate grounds, and left his repre- sentatives to their fate. It would be difficult to beat this untoward record of a well-meaning and honourable man. Digitized by Microsoft® 122 CECIL JOHN RHODES CHAPTEE X THE TKANSVAAL (1881) Royal Commission — Conventioa of Pretoria — Retrocession— Financial safeguards — Omission of franchise clause — Transraal haila the Suze- rain—Effort to confederate the two Republics— Brand's refusal— Kruger intrigues — Rising distrust — War ahead. Our disastrous defeat at Majuba Hill on 27th February, 1881, was followed by an armistice, leading up to the much controverted decision to abandon the Transvaal. A Royal Commission was at once appointed to carry out the terms of retrocession. The document bears date the 5th April, and the Commissioners were Sir Hercules Robinson, the High Commissioner ; Sir Henry de VilUers, Chief Justice of the Cape Colony ; and Sir Evelyn Wood, Commander of the Forces and temporary Governor of the Transvaal. President Brand of the Orange Free State attended the sittings as a trusted friend of all parties, and his moderating influence undoubtedly had the efiect of minimising the many difficulties that occurred. The whole country was at boiling-point. The Boers were naturally jubilant at their victory. The British settlers, who had invested their all in the new Colony, and subsequently risked their lives in its defence, were, as naturally, exasperated in the highest degree at what they deemed a shameful surrender. The shock to their loyalty was never quite forgotten or forgiven. But the Comnaission did not meet to discuss the expediency of the retrocession, but to carry it out. On the whole. Digitized by Microsoft® THE TRANSVAAL 123 they performed a thankless task with tact and discretion. The Convention was signed at Pretoria on the 3rd August. I was present at several sittings of the Commission to show cause why monies advanced in the territory on the faith of British occupation should not be im- perilled by the abandonment of our sovereignty. The precaution was very necessary. The Commissioners had not realised the importance of the point, and were, at first, disposed to leave financial interests to the care of the new Grovernment. But those who had made advances in British gold were not prepared to run the risk, amounting to a certainty, of being repaid in a depreciated paper currency. To meet the case, the Commission ultimately accepted and inserted Clause XXX., which I drafted for them, and which reads : ' All debts, contracted since the annexation, will be payable in the same currency in which they may have been contracted.' The safeguard, though simple, was complete. It is a pity no similar precaution was taken to safe- guard the political rights of British settlers who had acquired property, and a domicile, in the State during our occupation. Had this been done, the grievances of the Uitlanders might never have arisen. No opposition to such a clause would have been experienced, as neither side had any reason to anticipate a subsequent influx of aliens upon the discovery of payable gold. No preferential treatment of burghers had hitherto pre- vailed, and none was apparently expected. It is true that Clause XII. of the Convention protects ' All persons holding property in the said State on 8th day of August 1881 ' to the extent of laying it down that ' they will continue to enjoy the rights of property which they have enjoyed since the Annexation.' Digitized by Microsoft® 124 CECIL JOHN RHODES Now the old Transvaal franchise was one of the rights associated with the enjoyment of property. But the protective clause was rendered nugatory by its limita- tion to the period since the Annexation. No Volksraad had been convened since the Annexation, and no franchise rights had therefore been acquired or exercised. It has been argued that the equahty of property rights provided for, necessarily included equahty of franchise, but the point is doubtful, and the fact remains that the omission of a clear definition led to years of strife, to gross oppression, to intervention by the Suzerain and, finally, to a lamentable war and to re-annexation. The analogous clauses in the Treaty between the Re- public and Grermany, signed at Berlin on the 22nd January 1885, are much more elaborately and strin- gently phrased. The Convention, while failing to give adequate protection to British subjects, was received by the Boers with no enthusiasm. At first a pretence of loyalty was maintained. On the Queen's birthday, which occurred while the Commission was on its way up, the following address was presented to Sir Evelyn Wood :— ' His Excellency Sir EvELyN Wood, etc.,— May it please your Excellency — We, the undersigned representatives of the people of the Transvaal, herewith beg to tender our most hearty congratulations to your Excellency, as the representative of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, on this anniversary of Her Majesty's birthday. ' A short time ago we had occasion publicly to state that our respect for Her Majesty the Queen of England, for the Govern- ment of Her Majesty, and for the British Nation, had never been greater than now that we are enabled by the peace agree- ment to produce proof of England's noble and magnanimous love of right and justice, and we beg now to reiterate Digitized by Microsoft® THE TRANSVAAL 125 sentiments, and to add that we are convinced that the relations which will for the future exist between the Crown of England and the people of the Transvaal will be the best guarantee of a sincere and everlasting peace. ' We are thankful that your Excellency has afiorded us an opportunity of expressing our sincere desire to maintain the most friendly relations with Her Majesty's Government. ' We respectfully request that your Excellency may be pleased to convey to Her Majesty our deepest respect, and the assurance that our prayers are that the Almighty God may shower His blessings upon Her Majesty for many years, for the welfare and prosperity of Great Britain, and the whole of South Africa, and more especially of the Transvaal, who hails and respects Her Majesty as her future Suzerain. We have the honour to be your Excellency's most obedient servants, {Signed) ' S. J. P. Kruger, Vice-President, M. W. Pbetorius, Member of Triumvirate, J. JOUBERT, S.C., Ed. J. JORISSEN, T. DE ViLLIERS, G. H. BusKES. ' May 24, 1881.' Kruger's real sentiments were probably more ac- curately reflected in his appeal to President Brand earlier in the year when, passionately pleading for the armed assistance of the Orange Free State, he wrote from Heidelberg, ' Freedom shall rise in South Africa as the sun from the morning clouds, as freedom rose in the United States of America. Then shall it be from Zambesi to Simon's Bay, Africa for the Afrikanders ! ' This pointed reference to the territory lying between the Limpopo and the Zambesi — which we now know as Southern Rhodesia — was probably not lost upon Rhodes, who was already forming in his mind the policy of Digitized by Microsoft® 126 CECIL JOHN RHODES Northern expansion, and who had two years previously made the extraordinary will allotting the whole conti- nent of Africa to the British Empire. President Brand was too enhghtened a statesman to join, on hght grounds, in a struggle with the paramount power. His Uttle State was self-contained and well governed, free from external debt and only anxious to be left alone. The entreaties of Kruger fell on deaf ears. During Brand's Hfetime, no formal alliance was ever concluded with the Transvaal. The independence of his pastoral RepubUc was jealously guarded. He was never slack to cross swords diplomatically with a High Commissioner, and he frequently had the better of the argument. But fight England he would not. He knew that his State occupied in Africa the position of Switzerland in Europe, and that he cohld only hope to exist in the midst of more powerful neighbours by the exercise of rigid neutraUty. His successors were less wise. They took a hand in the game and lost their independence, outwardly at all events, though in reahty they have found it again within the boundaries of the British Empire. The good old President never im- perilled what he beheved to be a sacred trust. A day or two after the conclusion of the Convention, I was dining with Brand at his modest lodgings in Pretoria, and he confidentially informed me that over- tures had already been made to him to federate the two Repubhcs. The bait held out to him was his election as President of the Federation. To an ambitious man the prospect would have been alluring. But Brand was a patriot and not merely a poHtician, and he dechned the proposals without hesitation. ' We are very well as we are,' he said ; ' we may be poor, but we are safe from attack. We are surrounded on three sides by Digitized by Microsoft® THE TEANSVAAL 127 British power. You have deprived us of the Diamond Fields on one side and of our reversionary rights to Basutoland on the other, but at least we are free. The Transvaal is only a protected state, and it has ambitions which I do not share. I must keep my installation oath, and not meddle with matters which do not concern me.' From that day onward imtil his flight from Pretoria consequent on the expected arrival of Lord Roberts, the President of the Transvaal never ceased to struggle for an extension of his borders. Checked by the mihtary expedition of Warren and by the civil genius of Rhodes, repressed by the resolute attitude of High Commissioners hke Robinson and Loch, and with an enemy in his own household, a thorn in the flesh, the Uitlander population in Johannesburg, whom he would not concihate and could not crush, the old President clung tenaciously to his hfe's desire of more territory and a seaport. In March 1890, shortly before Rhodes became Prime Minister, KJruger met the High Commissioner at Blig- naufs Pont and heard the unpleasing declaration that Swaziland could not be his. He had indeed to sign a draft Convention re-affirmiag the independence of that State, and though his Executive Council declined, under his advice, to confirm the docimient, they had to give way. Pohce were moved up, and Hofmeyr himself visited Pretoria to point out that failure to ratify the Convention meant war. Under this pressure the Con- vention was signed on the 2nd August. It was on this occasion that Kruger, in the presence of several wit- nesses, allowed his exasperation to cloud his perception of Hofmeyr's eminent services. ' You are a traitor," he roared, ' a traitor to the Afrikander cause ! ' Digitized by Microsoft® 128 CECIL JOHN KHODES I have referred thus briefly to Transvaal affairs because, when Khodes entered Parliament, they already- formed the subject of wide discussion, and Dutch ideals, fomented both by the annexation of that terri- tory and by its subsequent retrocession, began to take definite shape. The sparsely populated spaces of South Africa, vast as they are, were insufficient to permit the Monarchical and Republican principles to expand and flourish side by side. There was an absence of goodwill and mutual trust, fatal to the growth of good relations. From henceforward till the Raid and the War, armed neutrahty was the utmost that could be hoped for. Kruger was abeady a strong silent man, and his younger antagonist was shaping in the same direction. Both made naked avowal of the doctrine ' My country, right or wrong ! ' It was a conflict of principles. History will judge im- partially both the causes and the men, awarding, may be, praise and blame to both ; but here and now it is only possible to say, with thankfulness and pride, that after a struggle not dishonourable to either race, both have settled down in amity to work out, under one flag and one common freedom, the destinies of the country as one organic whole, possessing the fullest liberty attainable under the system of responsible self- government. Digitized by Microsoft® BASUTOLAND 129 CHAPTEE XI BASUTOLAND (1882) Historical Survey — Mosliesh — Sir George Cathcart — Struggle with Orange Free State — Annexation by Great Britain— Cession to Cape Colony — Disarmament policy — War — General Gordon — Scanlen Prime Minister — Rhodes as Compensation Commissioner — J. W. Sauer — Basuto Pitso — Letsie — Masupha — Gordon resigns — Rhodes makes his second Will — Compensation Committee Report — Rhodes protests — Rhodes and Scanlen correspond — Reannexation of Basutoland to Great Britain — Sir Marshal Clarke — Sir Godfrey Lagden. Basutoland was a burning question in Cape politics when Rhodes entered the House of Assembly. His early speeches were almost confined to the subject, as we have already seen, and his first pubHc appoint- ment was in connection with the territory. It is a mountainous district, with an average altitude of 6000 feet, but possessing peaks towering 9000 feet above the sea. Its boundaries are the River Caledon, and the Maluti and Drakensberg mountains. Its neighbours in those days were the Cape and Natal Colonies, and the Orange Free State. It nowhere touches the Transvaal borders. It is sparsely wooded and possesses few charms for the sportsman. But it was a grain-growing and horse-breeding country, an Alsatia for broken tribes and a Naboth's vineyard to the Dutch. It wiU always be associated with the name of Moshesh. That remarkable ruler was originally a petty chief, of no great standing in the estimation of those of his own blood. But he ralUed men from many tribes, formed them into a nation, and governed VOL. I. Digitized by Microsoft® ^ 130 CECIL JOHN RHODES them with conspicuous success for fifty-five years, from the year of Waterloo to the year of Sedan. His natural instincts were not warHke. He was not a Dingaan or a MosiUkatsi, yet he, of all the native chiefs, was the only one who, in the recesses of his mountain fastnesses, defied all comers and defeated with great slaughter the assault of the formidable Zulu power. He was a diplomatist, every inch of him, wary, ingeni- ous and resourceful to a degree. It fell to his lot, during a long career, to be pitted against Presidents, Governors, and High Commissioners, and in the dehcate science of negotiation he proved himself equal to them all. In 1833, he received, with tolerance, the Paris Evangelical Society, and its missionaries are still labouring with assiduity in his country at the present day. In 1845, Sir Peregrine Maitland, then Governor of the Cape, asserted authority over the Territory, but it was not until 1848 that the Queen's sovereignty was formally proclaimed. Our new subjects were somewhat unruly. In 1857, a large British force under Sir George Cathcart came iato colhsion with the tribe and met with a repulse. The astute and sagacious chief immediately built a bridge of gold for the flying foe. At a midnight council of war, held on the almost inaccessible summit of Thaba Bosigo, he dictated a politic despatch to the defeated general : ' I entreat peace from you,' he said ; ' you have shown your power. Let it be enough, I pray you, and let me no longer be considered an enemy of the Queen.' Sir George accepted the apology and withdrew his forces. The ill-advised abandonment ia 1854 of our sove- reignty over the Free State included our withdrawal from Basutoland. Ere long, hostilities ensued between Digitized by Microsoft® BASUTOLAND 131 the Boers and the Basutos. From 1858 to 1868 a state of warfare existed, varied only by copious and recriminatory correspondence. At length, finding the Dutch too strong for him, Moshesh appealed for pro- tection to the paramount power. Sir Philip Wodehouse received a despatch from the chief urging ' that he and his people might rest and live under the folds of the British flag before he was no more.' The High Commissioner was not in time to preserve the integrity of the whole Territory, a portion of which had already come under the settled rule of the Free State. But the remainder, in spite of Brand's volumin- ous protests, became, for the second time, a British Protectorate. Three years later, Her Majesty's Government, in pursuance of its traditional policy of occasionally limiting and occasionally enlarging its responsibilities, handed over Basutoland to the Cape Colony, to whom Responsible Government had just been granted. The Basutos were not consulted in the matter. The decision was a disastrous one. In 1880, Sir Gordon Sprigg, who had succeeded Sir John Molteno as Prime Minister, put in force towards Basutoland the Colonial Disarmament or Peace Preser- vation Act of 1877, which had been aimed rather at the native tribes within the ordinary Cape borders. Inunediate war resulted, and was still in progress when Rhodes entered Parliament. He took, as already stated, a strong line that the disarmament was unjust and impohtic. The poUcy was certainly a costly one, for it added largely to the Colonial debt and ended in the entire loss of the Terri- tory. As a last resource, the Premier borrowed, from the Imperial Government, the services of Major- General Gordon, then serving at Mauritius. Digitized by Microsoft® 132 CECIL JOHN EHODBS In 1881, Grordon, then a colonel, tired of unemploy- ment in England, telegraphed to the Cape Government ofEering to terminate hostihties in Basutoland and, thereafter, to administer the Territory. The Govern- ment made no reply, and he therefore went to Mauritius to supervise ' barracks and drains,' as he scornfully remarked when writing to a friend. Early in 1882, Sprigg being then out of office, his successor, Mr. T. C. Scanlen, asked Her Majesty's Government to ascertain if Gordon would renew his offer. On 2nd April in that year Gordon received the invitation and sailed two days later in the sailing vessel Scotia. He arrived in Cape Town on 1st May 1882, not long after Rhodes's return from Oxford. His passage from the island had occupied twenty-seven days, and he was prostrated by sea-sickness, but he characteristically offered to proceed to his destination in three days, provided he could be furnished with full instructions within the period. On perusal of Basutoland papers furnished to him, he suggested, sensibly enough, on 5th May that, as the Colonial officials were discredited with the natives, the High Commissioner should him- self visit Basutoland, where the presence of the Queen's direct representative would have, he thought, a great effect. This, apparently, not being convenient, Gordon recommended calhng a Pitso or national gathering, which he proposed to attend unarmed. He also stipulated that compensation should be awarded to those natives who had remained loyal to us through- out the struggle. This was agreed to. A Basutoland Losses Commission was appointed on 24th July 1882, Ehodes being one of its members. Meanwhile, as Gordon's services were urgently needed on the Eastern Digitized by Microsoft® BASUTOLAND 133 frontier, consequent on unrest and disaffection in the Transkei, he proceeded to King WiUiam's Town, where he was soon laid aside by influenza. Mr. Scanlen telegraphed to Gordon that H.M. Government could not hold out any hope of intervention in Basutoland affairs, and in August he wrote, ' It is, I think, abund- antly clear from public despatches and private informa- tion that Her Majesty's present advisers (the Gladstone Cabinet) will leave Basuto affairs severely alone, and I doubt if they would intervene even to save the Basuto people from utter destruction.' He significantly added, ' I am most anxious to avoid the resumption of hostihties on the one hand, or the abandonment of the Territory on the other. The view of the Colony would probably be in the direction of the latter alternative, but I fear that it would be fraught with great danger, and only pave the way to a struggle between the European and native races on a very extensive scale.' Gordon remained some time at King Wilham's Town and Kokstad, delayed partly by illness, partly with a view to reorganise the Colonial forces. He is said to have shed tears (Eev. Forbes Robertson's Letters to his Friends) because the spiritual ministrations of a chaplain were denied to the Cape Mounted Rifles stationed on the frontier. The permanent command of the Cape forces was offered to him but refused. He found time, however, while there, to study the Basutoland question in all its bearings and to submit a series of Memoranda thereon to the Colonial Ministry. It seems clear that he recommended the stoppage of the war, and an attempt to govern the country by moral force through a British Resident, a course that was also urged by Rhodes and ultimately adopted Digitized by Microsoft® 134 CECIL JOHN RHODES with complete success. But for the moment Scanlen was unprepared to give way. ' We are committed/ he writes in August, ' to Parliament to carry on till next session the attempt to bring about the restoration of law and order. . . . Against the programme suggested by you, this fact appears to stand out prominently, that there is no chief in Basutoland who has sufficient energy and power to control the whole, under the advice of a Resident.' Gordon, soon after this, got under way for Basuto- land. Writing on his way up (Dordrecht, 2nd Sep- tember 1882), he advised the Premier that the King of the Belgians had offered to give hitn charge of the Congo State at the end of the year, adding with un- conventional simplicity, ' Do not be shocked if I say that I would like to go to the Congo for one reason, viz. : that it is a chmate which precludes any hope of old age : there is, then, a good chance of the end of one's pilgrimage, which I incessantly long for and have for years done.' The unimaginative poKtician, who was then Prime Minister at the Cape, must, I think, have been per- turbed at the receipt of a communication of this unusual tenor. While at King WilHam's Town, Gordon put m some good work in placing Transkeian affairs on a satis- factory basis. In this he was assisted by the Secretary for Native Affairs, Mr. Sauer, whose valuable aid he repeatedly acknowledged. Later, when together in Basutoland, serious differences arose between them. Gordon had but one object in view— the extrication of the Cape Government from a false position without further bloodshed, and the restoration of the tribe to its old position under direct British rule. Sauer, Digitized by Microsoft® BASUTOLAND 135 on the other hand, was a dexterous pohtician. The one man acted on rigid principle, the other was guided by political expediency. Gordon sometimes forgot that the Secretary for Native Affairs was his immediate superior. All Colonial officials were ' suspect ' in Basuto eyes, whereas Gordon was honoured as the representative of the great Queen over the water. They flocked to the Pitsos in thousands to greet him, while Sauer was ignored. Rhodes, who was on the spot, spoke to Gordon with his usual directness. ' You are doing wrong,' he said ; ' you are letting these men make a grave mistake. They take you for the great man and pay no attention to Sauer, whereas you are only in his employment.' Gordon said nothing, but at the next Pitso he ad- dressed the Basutos in forcible terms, informing them that he was only the servant of Sauer. When the gathering was over, he drew Rhodes aside and whis- pered, ' I did it because it was the right thing, but it was hard, very hard.' And so far was this truly great man from bearing mahce that he added, ' Stay with me here and we will work together.' Rhodes, however, had already thought out his hfe and was not to be moved. ' There are very few men in the world,' added Gordon, ' to whom I would make such an offer, but of course you will have your way. I never met a man so strong for his own opinion ; you think your views are always right.' The two strong-willed men, akin in so much and yet so apart, remained, however, on excellent terms, nor was it the last occasion on which Gordon urged the young man to throw in his lot with him. Letsie, the paramount chief, was in a reasonable frame of mind and probably sincerely desirous of Digitized by Microsoft® 136 CECIL JOHN EHODES peace, while Masupha, an insubordinate inferior chief, was not disposed to acquiesce. G-ordon, after his manner, went straight for the source of trouble and visited Masupha iu his fastness. Whilst he was there, Sauer was suspected of having launched an armed force at Masupha, who, naturally suspecting treachery, was within an ace of anticipating the tragedy of Khar- tum by putting Gordon to death. The affair blew over, and it is only fair to add that Sauer always denied the charge. But the effect was disastrous. Gordon resigned and left the country on 16th October 1882. He and Rhodes parted with mutual regret. They had much in common. Both were ImperiaHsts ; both were for justice to the native races ; both were, to a marked degree, uncon- ventional ; both were frankly unafraid of responsi- biUty, however serious. Gordon regarded money as a positive encumbrance : Rhodes amassed it dihgently for great pubhc purposes. But amicable relations between them over a prolonged period were probably out of the question. Both were unyielding, and neither would give way to the other. The utmost that can be said of them is that they were ' save in opinion, not disagreeing.' Gordon, when going to his death two years later, telegraphed to the younger man to join him in the Sudan, and help in putting down the mtolerable tyranny of the Mahdi, but without avail, as Rhodes was on the eve of entering the Cape Cabinet, and the most heroic soul of modern times passed away without the support of the one man to whom he felt so strangely drawn. Something of the fine fibre of Gordon's nature touched Rhodes when he heard of his tragic death. Much moved, he exclaimed more than once, ' I am sorry I was not with him.' Digitized by Microsoft® BASUTOLAND 137 The Basutoland Commission sat at Maseru from the 21st August to the 7th September 1882; then at Thlotsi Heights from 11th September to 31st October ; at Maseru again on Srd November ; at Mafeking from 9th to 22nd November ; at Mohale's Hoek from 24th to 28th of the same month, and finally at Alwyn's Kop untU 7th December. Ehodes was diligent in his attendance, and only once permitted himself to take a few days' rest to visit Kimberley where, on 27th October 1882, he made his second Will. The document is in startling contrast to the first Will on which I have aheady commented. Its brevity is almost unpre- cedented, for it runs thus : — ' I, C. J. Rhodes, being of sound mind, leave my worldly wealth to N. E. Pickering.' NeviUe Pickering, quite a young man, was his Secre- tary, to whom he was sincerely attached, but who, to his sorrow, died a few years later. At first sight it would appear that Rhodes had forsworn his high ideals -and ambitions for the expansion of the Empire, and sacrificed everything on the altar of private friendship. But it was not so. When handing the will to his secretary in a closed envelope, he gave him the sub- joined letter. 'KiMBEELEY, 28fh October 1882. ' My deab PiCKEEHSTG, — Open the enclosed after my death. There is an old will of mine with Graham, whose conditions are very curious, and can only be carried out by a trustworthy person, and I consider you one. — Yours, C. J. Rhodes. ' You fully understand you are to use interest of money as you like 4iP&& ^tWfffr Jife) ^- J- '^' 138 CECIL JOHN KHODES It is clear that his views were unchanged, but a little further experience of Ufe, between 1877 and 1882, had convinced him that a sympathetic trustee was not to be expected in the person of a Secretary of State for the Colonies. During these five years there had been three Secretaries of State, Lord Carnarvon, Sir Michael Hicks Beach, and Lord Kimberley. A very cursory study of their pohcy towards South Africa will illuminate the situation, and enable the reader to recognise why Ehodes had lost faith in the capacity of party men, however high-minded, to carry out Ms great schemes for extending British rule. In 1878 Colonial affairs, on Carnarvon's resignation, fell into the unsympathetic hands of Sir Michael Hicks Beach. His conduct towards Sir Bartle Frere is difficult to justify. It was a pohcy of pinpricks. The High Commissioner was scolded, but not recalled. He was ill defended by his chief in the House of Commons and shorn of half his powers in South Africa. A strong sense of pubhc duty alone kept him at his post. The Colonists were disgusted at such treatment, nor did Sir Michael mend matters by another abortive attempt, in July 1878, to force on Confederation. His inter- ference was warmly resented by the Cape Legislature and did infinite harm. It seemed difficult to fall lower, but his successor. Lord Kimberley, succeeded in doing so. In July 1880, he recalled Frere, to the intense indignation of the Cape and Natal. Rhodes's faith in Secretaries of State was destroyed and he altered his will, not in its essence, but in the selection of a trustee. On 16th May 1883 the Basutoland Losses Com- mission reported to the Governor. The Eeport is signed by the chairman and two of his colleagues, and recommended certain moderate payments to natives, Digitized by Microsoft® BASUTOLAND 139 whose steady loyalty during the war had led to the destruction of their property by the rebels. In this recommendation Rhodes concurred, but when his colleagues went further, and recommended payment of losses alleged to have been incurred by European traders, he declined to follow them, on the groimd inter alia that this was beyond the scope of the Commission. He accordingly drew up a Minority Eeport, and as this is his first State paper on record, it is subjoined almost in extenso : — ' Note. I cannot agree with my fellow-Commissioners with respect to their recommendation in Clause 21 of the Eeport, and I beg to place on record my reasons for differing from them. ' In my opinion the cases of Messrs. Trower and Fraser differ in no material respect from that large class of Europeans who, during the last forty years in the history of the Colony, have suffered from native rebellions, and I contend that if once the principle of the Uability of the Government for the losses of its subjects owing to rebellion is recognised, it would expose the Colony to an obligation that it has neither the means nor the power to fulfil. ' The recommendation in Messrs. Trower and Fraser 's cases is based on the fact that their stores were used for the purposes of Colonial defence, but, accepting the position that they were loyal subjects of the Crown, I cannot see that the particular defence of their posts by Government forces should entitle them to a special claim for compensation. ■ Great stress was laid by the Messrs. Fraser upon a telegraphic correspondence between themselves and the late Premier (Sprigg) in reference to the defence of their place of business, but I have failed to find in it anything approaching a special guarantee by Government in the event of the destruction of their property by the rebels. ' The Select Committee on the Griqualand East petition for compensation in consequence of losses incurred during the Basuto rebellion divided the claims into four classes, the third of which was Traders and others who were ordered to remain Digitized by Microsoft® 140 CECIL JOHN EHODES at their residences or stations by magistrates or other ^u.^,^^ Even in this case the recommendation is carefully restricted m the following words : " That the third class of claimants are m the opinion of the Committee, entitled to compensation iii such cases and to such extent as any promise of compensation may have been made to them by a duly empowered officer." Had Messrs. Fraser and Trower come under this head they would only be entitled to compensation in case of a special promise having been made to them by a duly empowered officer, of which there is no evidence whatever in the correspondence. ' They come rather under class i, viz. : Persons who sufiered from the unavoidable calamities attending war or rebellion, as to whom the Eeport of the Committee was as follows : " That they must be held to have suffered from the known risks incidental to all trading operations on the unsettled frontiers of the Colony. These cases are therefore analogous to those of numerous sufieieis at other times and places, all of whom are entitled to the serious and generous consideration of the Legislature ; though, as any action in the matter must be of a general character, your Com- mittee does not consider it desirable to adopt any recommenda- tion as to what form it should take." ' In answer to the contention that the Government of a country is liable for the losses of its subjects owing to rebellion, I would quote from a Government Proclamation by Sir Harry Smith dated 27th June 1848, which contains the following words : "Her Majesty's Government has denied that the people of England are bound to indemnify the inhabitants of this or any other Colony against losses or calamities, whether from war or other causes, to which their situation may expose them. ' ' England, with all her wealth, did not compensate her loyal subjects in India for the losses sustained during the recent Mutiny, and I can find no instances on record of such a course being pursued in other countries where rebeUions have occurred. ' For the above reasons I must place on record my protest against this recommendation for compensation to be paid out of the public funds of a poor and embarrassed Colony on principles which are not founded on the practice and precedent of the older and richer countries of the world. ' C. J. Rhodes.' Digitized by Microsoft® BASUTOLAND 141 The robust common sense of this document is very remarkable to us who have seen ' compensation run mad ' since the late war in South Africa, under which both the Imperial and Colonial Grovernments have been bled to the extent of milhons sterling to rehabilitate not loyahsts only, but neutrals and disloyahsts also. I make room here for a characteristic letter written by Ehodes to the Prime Minister (Scanlen), by whose courtesy I am permitted to pubhsh it. It was written during the sittings of the Commission. 'Maseru, Sepfbr. 3, 1882. ' My deae Scanlen, — I feel sure that you will hke a few hnes from me whatever they are worth, as the position here is certainly becoming very strained. I wrote to Merriman last week, but he is running all over the country and it is doubtful if one's letters reach him. I hear Sauer has gone into Tembuland and, critical as afiairs may be there, I reaUy think his presence is required even more up here. Masupha remains in open rebellion, and no warrant is enforceable outside Maseru. Letsie pursues his usual course of trimming with both sides. I had to go to-day to value 2000 trees of a loyal native who is unable to return to his location, which is near Masupha 's. We received notice that it was unsafe to go. I went out last Sunday to make a similar valuation at Sophoniah. News of this reached Masupha and he issued instructions that we were to be turned off if it occurred again. Matters are thus gloomy : Orpen still hopeful, but wants time. ' As abandonment is, with your Ministry, out of the question, and the Colony will not fight, there seems nothing left but tc^^'fitmpkcMft^^^^^^ restoration of 142 CECIL JOHN RHODES order by moral influence. The only other alternative IS a Suzerainty, that is, to have a British Resident with a small Border police force. From what I can gather Masupha would agree to this and pay Hut Tax for it. ' ' It is a humiliating course and should only be re- sorted to in the last extremity, but you must not shut your eyes to the fact that your present poHcy may fail. You are attemptmg to restore the authority of the Magistrates by moral persuasion after physical force has failed. The restoration of such authority means the destruction of that of the chiefs, and they know it. Having by Sprigg's folly got back into their old position, they mean, if possible, to keep it. I am hopeful that the continual drunkenness and violence of the chiefs may in time aHenate the people, but the feudal tie is strong and the people cannot at present forget that the boldness of their chiefs saved their guns and (they think) their lands. They utterly mistrust the Cape. With such factors against you, you should be prepared with an alternative policy for next session. Without the recommendation of a Commission I do not see, however, how you can advocate a fresh poHcy. I therefore suggest your appointing such a Commission on the future government of Basutoland. They could be up here with Sauer and see somethiag of us. We are likely to be three months in the country. What I fear is that matters may drift, and you may meet Parliament in the same position as last year. The Commission should consist of men like Gordon, Saul Solomon and others whose opinions the country would respect. I hear Gordon was thinking, on his arrival here, of visiting Masupha. I do not see how he could do so in his capacity of General. It would be his duty to send for Masupha, and Masupha would not Digitized oy Microsoft® BASUTOLAND 143 come. Were he on a Commission he could fairly go to each chief and consult as to the administration of the Territory. I finish by sajdng that matters are bad, very bad, and I write strongly because I do not wish to see our party come to grief over this wretched question. — Yours, C. J. Rhodes.' As we have seen, Gordon did start ofE to visit Masupha, with nearly tragic results ; also that the ' alternative poHcy ' of a Suzerainty with a British Resident proved to be the only practicable way out of the impasse. The Basutos had beaten, or, rather, had worn down, the Colonial forces, and had lost confidence in the Colonial Magistrates. As Rhodes, with true pohtical insight, foresaw, the intervention of the Imperial factor became necessary, and under successive British Resi- dents, such as Sir Marshall Clarke and Sir Godfrey Lagden — men of sterhng character and great tact — order has gradually been evolved out of chaos, and the Territory has advanced in civihsation and prosperity by the exercise of moral authority alone. To students of our history I commend, with much confidence, a close consideration of the progress of Basutoland under officials of the Empire whose only force was their own integrity and uprightness. Digitized by Microsoft® 144 CECIL JOHN KHODES CHAPTEE XII BECHUANALAND (1883) Khodes in politics— Relations with Colonial Dutch— Duel with Kruger— Mankoroane— Montsoia— The Freebooters— Rhodes on Basutoland Compensation— Lieutenant-General Leicester-Smyth— Feeling in Cape Eastern Province — Brand complains of Basutos— Rhodes speaks in the House — Basutoland handed over— Rhodes on the Budget— On the Liquor Question— On Interior Trade— On Railways— Customs Union — Rhodes in Bechuanaland — Republics of Stellaland and Goshen — Rhodes and Scanlen correspond — Rhodes returns to the Colony — Proclamation by Van Niekerk — Rhodes in the House- Advocates absorption of Bechuanaland- Fails — Seeley's Expansion, of England — Baron von Hiibner. Rhodes was now fairly launched on the main stream of political Hfe. He already saw that rising Dutch ambitions were the main obstacle to the success of his policy of Northern expansion. He sympathised en- tirely with their disKke of the fitful intervention of Downing Street. He admired their patriarchal ways, their unstinted hospitahty, and the tenacity with which they struggled for their Ideals in Church and State. But he mistrusted their ultimate pohtical aims. His first efforts were directed towards working with and through them, and for a considerable period his policy was crowned with success. But he knew all along exactly what he wanted, and was resolute to get it. At the back of his mind, in the shade but ever present, was the determination to succeed ; if possible with their aid, but if necessary, without it. In the last resort, he meant fighting. He did not, as yet, reahse that his great adversary was Kruger. It was a duel in the dark. Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 145 On 5th May 1882, he moved the adjournment of the House in order to discuss the question of the Griqualand West and Bechuanaland boundaries. His contention was that the Scanlen Ministry were not making a firm stand for the integrity of the existing boundaries, and he warned the House, in advance of their information, that Boer fihbusters were preparing to erect one or more new Repubhcs on, and even within. Cape borders, and that raids might be expected. He may have suspected that Kruger was an accessory to the move- ment, or he may not. In any case he did not say so. It may be remembered that when the disagreement of the Arbitrators at the Bloemhof Court resulted in the Keate award, the south-western boundary of the Trans- vaal was delimited, not wholly to their satisfaction. The award was never respected by the Boers, and the renewed effort at a settlement made by the Convention of Pretoria was equally ineffectual. During the period I am now reviewing, confusion and disorder ruled throughout the territory. Directly the retrocession of the Transvaal was announced, hostiHties broke out between the rival chiefs inhabiting Bechuana- land. Their rivalries were fomented by Europeans of a low class. Mankoroane and Montsoia, on the one side, declared their preference for British protection : Mas- souw and Moshette, on the other side, expressed their wiUingness to be incorporated with the Transvaal. The situation was fraught with danger. Between October 1881 and July 1882, there was incessant scuffling as of kites and crows. Each side enlisted volunteers — ' mean whites ' as they were termed — whose interest it was to stir up strife in order to acquire land. These freebooters and nineteenth-century soldiers of fortune kept the whole country in a ferment. The result, as ■^ Digitized by Microsoft® VOL. I. K 146 CECIL JOHN RHODES Rhodes had predicted, was the estabhshment of new Repubhcs on our Northern borders. Massouw and his Transvaal alHes formed the RepubHc of Stellaland, while Moshette set up the Repubhc of Goshen. Their recognition would have entirely barred our way to the North. Meanwhile I must recur to the tangled skein of Basutoland afiairs. In April 1883, Rhodes was back there on the business of the Compensation Commission. On 16th May the Commission reported (G. 96 '83), Rhodes, as I have shown, dissenting from the majority of his colleagues, who proposed to extend the principle of compensation so as to include certain Europeans. On 12th September, however, the House accepted the principle, but threw out the proposed award of £25,493 to loyal Basutos, Rhodes concurring, owing to £75,000 compensation having already been made to them in other ways. Gordon had left some months before. The High Commissioner was in London. The control, such as it was, belonged to an ofl&cer styled ' Acting Governor's Agent,' who reported on the 3rd June that the chiefs were all at variance, and that he anticipated grave internal disturbances. In the absence of Sir Hercules Robinson the Cape Parhament was opened on 27th June by the Adminis- trator, Lieutenant-General Leicester-Smyth, who, in his opening speech, excused the lateness of the Session by reminding members that they had abeady, earlier in the year, attended an Extraordinary Session to discuss the problems of Basutoland. The Adminis- trator went on to say that negotiations were still in progress for a satisfactory and enduring settlement of Basuto affairs, that the liberal terms offered by the Colony had been accepted by a majority of the tribe Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 147 but rejected by Masupha. To explain the position to Her Majesty's Government, the Commissioner of Crown Lands had been authorised to proceed to England: full terms were not yet arranged, but the prospect was hopeful. His Excellency added that the determination of the question might not improbably involve the reconsideration of the entire existing relations between the Colony and its Native Dependencies, a plain hint that the Cape might be called upon to accept Gordon's solution, viz. : that all extra- Colonial natives, wherever residing, should be brought under direct Imperial rule. Meanwhile, on 12th July, President Brand, becoming seriously alarmed for the safety of his own State, drew the Administrator's attention to the lawless condition of Basutoland, and requested assurances that some- thing would be done. Six days later, on 18th July, when the Disannexation Bill was before Parhament, Rhodes made a memorable speech which will be found in the collection by ' Vindex ' (p. 44 and supra). Speak- ing with the weight of actual, personal and recent knowledge, he passed in review the various solutions that had been submitted to the House. Fresh from a perusal of Bulwer Lytton's My Novel, he asserted that the Colony had committed the mistake of Squire Hazeldean and ' put the best boy in the stocks.' ' Have you no feehng,' he said, ' for your brethren in the Free State ? Here we have a despatch from President Brand. You may say he was put up to it, but does any one beheve that ? He is plainly in a state of alarm as to the safety of his border. There are two pohcies in the Free State — first that of President Brand, whom I consider the truest Afrikander in South Africa, and then that of men without any stake in the country, who live along the border and sell guns and hquor to Digitized by Microsoft® 148 CECIL JOHN RHODES the Basutos and encourage them to rebel. We have tried every scheme of settlement and failed. We cannot fight ; we must not abandon. We are now at the junction of two paths: one leads to peace and prosperity, the other to ruin and disaster. Every member who votes for the second reading of this Bill will take a true and patriotic course; while every member who votes with the honourable member for Colesberg, if he persists in his amend- ment, will live to regret that, for the sake of a paltry party triumph, he forsook the real interests of the country.' I have not given the speech in full because it con- tained passages not strictly relevant to the question before the House. This hit, for instance, at Hofmeyr, who had recently entreated the House to require its members to dress in black, the costume de rigueur in the Transvaal Volksraad : ' I am still in Oxford tweeds and I think I can legislate in them as well as in sable clothes.' And this, the first, but by no means the last, fling at the Transvaal efforts to divert trade from the Cape Colony : ' Do you know it is high time that we began to think of the Cape Colony ? We have heard so much about the Free State and about the Transvaal, that it is time to think about the interests of our own Colony. By the accident of birth, I was not born in this country, but that is nothing. I have adopted it as my home. I look upon the interests of the Colony first and those of the neighbouring States second. While sympathising with the Transvaal, I think that the Transvaal should return something of that feeling to this Colony, instead of shutting out our industry by leasing everything to foreigners for ten, twenty, or thirty years. At Kim- Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 149 berley your Transvaal trade is ruined by being shut out through foreign monopohes.' It is noteworthy that so far back as 1883, sixteen years before the great war, the self-centred policy of the RepubUc was thus evident, in spite of the fact that its Dutch sympathisers in the Colony were going out of their way to befriend it. Or take this reference to the ' Bond ' programme and its thinly veiled disloyalty : ' I have my owh views as to the future of South Africa, and I believe in a United States of South Africa, but as a portion of the British Empire ! ' Rhodes's views prevailed. The Bill was passed, including a provision that in consideration of the Colony being relieved of the responsibihty for the administration of Basutoland, an annual contribution of £20,000 would be made by the Cape towards the cost of governing the Territory. On September 3rd Scanlen, the Prime Minister, sent to the Governor a copy of the Act and asked for the Royal assent. Lieutenant- General Smyth, doubtless in accordance with instruc- tions, elected, however, to reserve the Act for the signification of Her Majesty's pleasure. On 1st Nov- ember, Lord Derby ungraciously demanded that the subsidy should be paid quarterly in advance. Within twenty-four hours Scanlen, who was by this time in London, gave the requisite assurance, but requested immediate promulgation of the Act, as both President Brand and Captain Blyth, the Governor's Agent in Basutoland, continued to make strong protests against the impoHcy of further delay. The traditional dilatori- ness of the Colonial Office was shocked by the idea of prompt action. On 13th November they intimated to Sir Hercules Robinson, who was still in England, that Digitized by Microsoft® 150 CECIL JOHN RHODES they could not advise Her Majesty to accept the transfer of the Territory until the Basuto tribe had, by formal vote, demanded to be again taken over. A telegram purporting to come from the Colonial Secretary, but in reality drafted by Sir Hercules, was accordingly de- spatched to this effect, insisting on a plain answer to a plain question. In response, Letsie, the paramomit chief, convened a great Pitso for Thursday, 29tli November, to hear the Queen's message, which peremp- torily required the tribe to give unanimous expression to their desire to come under the Imperial Government and undertake to obey the Resident and pay Hut Tax. As it was well known that the tribe were not unanimous, this proviso, though probably not so intended, threatened to wreck the ship within sight of port. Letsie and the other chiefs at the Conference were, it is true, for giving the pledge, but Masupha and his adherents decHned to attend. Indeed Masupha held a rival Pitso on December 5th, at which complete independence was voted for. The recalcitrants were thought to represent nearly one third of the tribe. Letsie was in despair, and telegraphed in the picturesque phraseology so dear to the native mind : ' Abandon me not, even though Masupha refuses to follow me. Aban- donment means our complete destruction. We do not want our independence. Listen, Queen, to my earnest prayer. I and my people will follow faithfully wherever you lead.' Steady pressure on all sides at length terminated the painful indecision of the Secretary of State, and on 17th December he telegraphed to Lieutenant-General Smyth accepting, for the third time, the allegiance of the tribe. And this is how Basutoland affairs stood at the close of 1883. Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 151 Rhodes might have exclaimed with Richeheu, ' Time and I against any two/ I return to Rhodes and the House of Assembly, where he was already a familiar figure, ' as restless,' says one observer, ' as restless- on his seat as a spring doll : rarely does he retain the same attitude for two minutes in succession. When he speaks, he comes to the point at once, but he is somewhat difficult to follow. The statement that he thinks aloud is an apt descrip- tion of his style of address. His conclusion is as abrupt as his commencement, and one only reahses that he has finished by seeing him flop down heavily on his seat and jerk his hands into his trousers' pockets.' On 1st August 1883, he had made an interesting speech during the Budget debate, having seconded an amend- ment to the taxation proposals of the Government. The Treasurer, an amateur financier, proposed to meet the deficit due to the war by a House duty, a revision of stamps and Kcences, and other petty and vexatious imposts. Rhodes declared himself in favour of an income tax, with a heavy excise on Cape spirits, the cheapness of which was demorahsing the native races. On the Hquor question he was always sound. In regard to the income tax, he was twenty years ahead of his time, no such tax being imposed until after his death. His speech, as usual, took a wide range. He never entirely mastered the difficulty of keeping to the point. Collateral thoughts were apt to occur to him and to mix themselves with the thread of his original subject. His allusions to Adam Smith were quite those of a very young man, but his apphcation to Colonial affairs of Smith's economic doctrines was not without force, and his reference to the possible diversion of Cape trade reads Like a prophecy. Digitized by Microsoft® 152 CECIL JOHN RHODES 'I am glad/ he exclaimed, 'that the House has arrived at the conclusion that we must retain our trade with the interior, or they might have found it entirely removed from us. I say this, not in any spirit of hostility to the Transvaal, for if we are to do anything it must be done jointly with the Transvaal. But unless we do something, we shall lose our trade first to Natal and then to Delagoa Bay, owing to the prohibitive tariff of the Transvaal.' The ' something ' he thought the Cape had to do to retain its trade was to extend its railways towards the interior. At this date the line, though authorised, had not reached Kimberley, and there were no railways in either Repubhc. He saw that unless the Colony pushed on energetically, its trade would be captured by ports with superior geographical advantages. This is precisely what has happened. In 1885, Kruger himself was in favour of an extension of the Colonial hue from Kimberley to Pretoria, and opened negotiations on the subject, but the Cape was unready or unwilling, and he fixed on a junction with Delagoa Bay, which possessed for him the double advantage of proximity, and of being a port not under the control of Great Britain. He was intensely annoyed at the refusal of his overtures by Sir Gordon Sprigg, and doubly so because in the same session the Colony exhibited towards him what he considered unwonted unfriendliuess by placing a duty on his Transvaal tobacco. It is noticeable that Rhodes, as will be shown in a subsequent chapter, spoke up strongly for the acceptance of Kruger's railway over- tures. Another vital necessity for the Cape, in order to preserve its carrying trade, was a Customs Union to harmonise rival tariffs and terminate the intricacies of Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 153 the rebate system, and of the transit duty levied on goods destined for the interior States. But no such union was arrived at till 1889. It will be observed that Rhodes was not content merely to retain the traffic of the two Republics. He saw the necessity of increasing the exports of the Colony itself, an important point then, and for years afterwards, strangely neglected. ' One of the most serious things,' he said, ' for the Colony to consider is that during the last ten years our wool and ostrich feathers and other staple industries have not increased in the shghtest degree. Let us attend to the development of our internal resources.' Disregard of this warning has cost the Colony more than it knows. But I must return to the affairs of Bechuanaland. Rhodes had been sent up by Scanlen to see what could be done to protect Colonial interests. Between 26th May and 2nd July 1883, a close telegraphic corre- spondence was maintained between them. Writing from Taimgs on 26th May, Rhodes addressed the Prime Minister as follows, though the letter did not reach its destination until 11th June. ' I beg to forward you the petition of the chief Man- koroane and councillors, making you an offer of the whole of his territory. The Stellaland Boers appear to be leaving him alone just now and he has still a good deal of territory left. Its cession, of course, gives you power to deal with Stellaland. Unless accepted, you will have to reconsider the question of that portion of Grriqualand West which I think evidence will prove we have taken illegally as Waterboer's territory. Mankoroane declines compensation for it. A perusal of Colonel Moysey's report will show you that he considered we had gone too far. I think it Digitized by Microsoft® 154 CECIL JOHN RHODES my duty to go to SteUaland for further evidence on this most important point, as there are several witnesses there who, I hear, were connected with the Mahura- Waterboer treaty. I have also heard that they have been told the Commission is directed against theii interests, and it is as well to explain its objects to them. I hear they are not at all inchned to join the Transvaal, and that there are about 350 of them, a good many being from the Free State and the Colony, and that a good many of the original freebooters have been bought out. I will write fully on my return from SteUaland. If the poUcy of acceptance is adopted by the Cabinet, I strongly urge the immediate placing of a Resident here. I feel confident the question could be settled without firing a single shot, and your trade lines kept open. The alternative is absorption by the Transvaal and stoppage of all Colonial trade with the interior.' He seems to have lost no time in proceediag to his destination. The very next day he addressed a telegram to the chairman of the Griqualand West Boundary Commission at Taungs, reading as follows :— ' Tendency of evidence so far is to throw a large number of Griqualand West farms, for which titles have been issued, into Batlapin territory. Mankoroane has handed me a petition protesting against any division of his country, and offering cession of whole of it un- conditionally to the Cape Government. If your Govern- ment accepts this cession, as a step towards solution of a difficulty, I am inclined to think SteUaland may be dealt with. Petition goes by post.' On the same date (27th May 1883) Rhodes telegraphed also to the Attorney-General, emphasising the unport- ance of not allowing matters to drift by reason of red- Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 155 tape delays : ' For goodness sake/ he says, ' meet Parliament with some policy.' On 2nd June, Rhodes and the Prime Minister had an interesting colloquy over the wire, during which the former reported thus : — ' I have been through Stellaland and been very well received. All having interest in that country, includ- ing head-men, Niekerk and others, say they cannot stand alone, but must be annexed to Cape Colony or Transvaal. Majority I think in favour of former, and all would be with proper management, especially if they could be told soon that the Imperial Govern- ment will not allow of extension of Transvaal boundary. I found Transvaal emissary with Niekerk treating for annexation. Jorissen should be at once informed by Lord Derby that this is impossible. The annexation of Mankoroane's country and Stellaland is the only solution of the Transvaal question. If Transvaal get them. Cape Colony entirely shut out from interior trade, and our railways to Kimberley comparatively useless, as Transvaal will be in possession of Kuruman route as well. I see no difficulty in arranging boun- daries between Stellaland and Goshen. There is ample land for Mankoroane's location. If you think this poUcy a good one, you should act promptly and debar Jorissen from getting any right of extension for the Transvaal. Stellaland consists of 400 farms, has a " Raad " and all the elements of a new Republic. Your people from the Colony are trekking in daily and replacing the freebooters. You cannot expect to clear them out now, nor do I think it is a right thing. It is natural development of country. This is a case of delay being fatal. The Transvaal have helped Stella- land with money and arms, and are now waiting for Digitized by Microsoft® 156 CECIL JOHN RHODES permission from home to annex it. There is an English contmgent in Stellaland anxious to join the Colony, and the Boer section admit a Cape title is worth more than a Transvaal title, but if no movement is made by us they will join the Transvaal, and you may as well stop your railways. BetheU, Montsoia's agent, wiU be here to-day. My suggestion is : Accept Mankoroane's offer, take Stellaland, recognise Stellaland titles, place Residents with Montsoia and Masheh. He has joined with Montsoia and, I hear, Sechele also. The land of Groshen sent for help to Stellaland, which was refused. But let me press on you, you must act at once. The key of the position is to stop Lord Derby from giving the Transvaal the right to extend : secondly, have the courage to take it for the Colony. Let Merriman know, and if you won't telegraph to him, I will tele- graph myself. I may add that on this question the Kimberley vote is won, and I put it to you : if you have to go out, is it not better to go out on what is a real policy ? ' This characteristic and statesmanhke message needs only this elucidation. The fiasco ia Basutoland affairs had rather frightened the Cape Parliament, and Rhodes foresaw that Scanlen might hesitate to take the bold step he recommended. He therefore pointed out that it would win the Kimberley vote, a strong one. Merri- man (Commissioner of PubUc Works) was evidently in England. His instructions were divulged in Scanlen's reply message, which reads, ' Is your proposition to confine Transvaal to its present limits ? When Merriman left it was understood he was to confer with the Secretary of State, and offer to divide the country, giving the Transvaal any portion to which it might have a reasonable claim, we, on our part, Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 157 taking over Mankoroane and extending our borders westwards, thus securing command of the interior trade.' But Rhodes was never fond of half measures where territory was concerned. Back came his swift reply, which is a typical example of his practice, when much moved, of repeating himself again and again in order to drive a point well home. ' Don't part with one inch of territory to Transvaal. They are bouncing. The interior road runs at present moment on the edge of Transvaal boundary. Part with that, and you are driven into the desert. Trans- vaal has issued titles for ground claimed by Stellaland. One of the strongest reasons for Stellaland joining the Cape is that they have given their volunteers titles for land, to which, if they joined the Transvaal, there are already Transvaal titles. My reason for saying don't part with an inch to the Transvaal is that the interior runs close to their present boundary, and knowing, as you do, the desert class of the country, if you part with the road you part with everything. Advise Merriman not to let Transvaal have one inch, and if you have any faith in my statement you can take the country to Sechele's without costing you a sixpence. I repeat again Bethell, Montsoia's agent, will be in this morning. Don't commit yourself, but send me word to talk to him. One of the strongest points with Stellaland for joining the Colony is the question of title. The Transvaal has helped Stellaland with money, men, and arms. They are now waiting for their reward, that is the junction of Stellaland with themselves, and the complete anni- hilation under their protective system of your interior trade. While you have been asleep, they have never failed to have an emissary in Stellaland. The man I Digitized by Microsoft® 158 CECIL JOHN RHODES met is waiting for a despatch from Pretoria to say ttat Jorissen has induced Lord Derby to adopt extension of boundary, on which Repubhc will be offered to Transvaal and accepted by Volksraad now sitting. The man in Stellaland is paid and sent by Transvaal Executive : what stops them is waiting for England's consent. You must turn their flank by accepting this question as Cape one. Stellalanders want secured title, and though the Transvaal is at bottom of whole thing they would join the Cape Colony to-morrow to get security. Land they have taken is unoccupied by natives. It is the hunting veld: there will be no native compHcations : my Commission will report that you have illegally taken a large portion of Mankoroane's territory, and unless you act in the direction pointed out, you will have to pay heavy compensation. Any questions ? ' Scanlen replied as follows : ' Shall communicate the purport of your message to Merriman and show it to my colleagues. The first step, if anything were done, would be to have the country declared British territory. It appears to me unlikely that Lord Derby would do this unless perfectly assured that the British Government would not be brought into conflict with the Transvaal and unlikely that the Cape Parliament would afterwards consent to annexation unless it had a similar assurance. If Lord Derby asks, " Where is the evidence of their desire to come under British rule ? " what answer must be given him ? ' Me. Rhodes — ' Stellanders are wilhng to petition, but if it is hopeless, they are afraid of annoying Trans- vaal section, but they all want, if they can get it, Cape rule, because it makes their farms worth more per morgen than the Transvaal title does. Should I get them to Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 159 petition ? I ask this not from you as Government but privately, will it help 1 ' Me. Scanlen — ' It would help if Lord Derby is to be influenced.' Mr. Rhodes — ' If you are gauging the feehng of the Colony and dare not propose annexation, as the next thing stop Lord Derby from allowing the Transvaal to annex : they have the pluck of bankrupts, and given the right, they would annex up to Egypt to-morrow ! They are moving heaven and earth to annex Stellaland and Goshen. Any questions ? ' Mr. Scanlen — ' Not at present.' On the following day the Prime Minister cabled to Merriman through the Agent-General, giving the purport of Rhodes 's communications, but taking no strong Mne and being apparently somewhat alarmed at the possible consequences of definite action. His message was as follows : — ' ^rd June. Premier to Merriman. ' Rhodes states principal men in Stellaland seek annexation to Colony or Transvaal — thinks majority favour former as giving superior value to land, and paid emissary from Transvaal negotiating for annexa- tion. Colonists replacing freebooters. Urges strongly maintenance convention Une, taking over Mankoroane and Stellaland, recognising Stellaland titles. Says Commission will report encroachment on Mankoroane's territory resulting in demands for compensation — bhinks best solution as suggested. I think it improbable ParHament would take country if there is difference with Transvaal, but would consent if done by arrangement.' To check Rhodes's statements as to the probable loss Digitized by Microsoft® 160 CECIL JOHN EHODES of Colonial trade should the Transvaal obtain an extension of their territory westwards, Scanlen, also on 3rd June, telegraphed to the Civil Commissioner at Kimberley to the following effect :— ' Confidential. Are you of opinion that the trade from the Colony through the country of Mankoroane, Stella- land and Goshen, northwards, is very considerable and that if road through that territory is blocked by formation of Eepubhcs, who will impose their own duties, the interests of the Colony will suffer materially ? Can you form a rough estimate of the value of goods passing over the route indicated ? ' The Civil Commissioner promptly despatched the following reply to these inquiries : — ' M June. To Premier, Cafe Town. ' I don't think the trade from the Colony with Man- koroane's country, etc., is very considerable at present. Much of it must go from Natal via Bloemfontein or Winburg, and the unsettled state of the country would make traders cautious, but the trade will certainly increase when peace is established, and I think nearly the whole of it will pass into our hands when the railway to Kimberley is completed, unless a Republic be formed and heavy custom duties, as in the Transvaal, estab- lished. I am afraid I cannot give you any rehable estimate of value of goods.' Scanlen then despatched the folloMong weighty message to Rhodes : — ' 'Brd June. Premier to Rhodes, Barkly West. ' After communication was interrupted I had to leave town to keep an appointment and was not free until evening. I have sent Merriman a summary of ° Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 161 70ur message and hope to have a reply to this and the former one indicating what bearing this question is having on Basutoland affairs. It could only be in the event of our shoulder being eased in that direction that we could undertake any responsibility. It is unfortun- ate that a question of such moment should arise when the Colony has to meet a large deficiency in revenues and in the last session of this ParKament. Under such circumstances consideration of the question upon its merits is improbable. Can you state approximately the number of Europeans in Stellaland and Goshen, what boundaries they recognise among themselves, and what probabiHty there is of anything like unanimity on the part of the people in desiring annexation to the Colony ? I need not point out that there is a very strong feeling of sympathy with the Transvaal in parts of the Colony, and that it would be hopeless to expect the assent of ParHament to any arrangement supposed to be adverse to the interests of the Transvaal. To ensure acceptance there would need to be either an almost unanimous desire upon the part of the people, or a friendly arrangement with the Transvaal, or both these conditions concurring. When at Bloemfontein, Wolf, now member for Kimberley, in reply to a remark Df mine as to the interior, twice said he had often beard of this trade, but disbeheved in its existence. Can you give any estimate of its extent or value ? Assuming that a railway should be made from Delagoa Bay into the Transvaal, could the Colony compete and bold the trade or a reasonable share of it ? ' A prompt reply came from Rhodes, ' Will answer your [questions to-morrow at nine o'clock when you come into office. They re^ffi^^fei^mg over.' VOL. I. L 162 CECIL JOHN RHODES The answer duly arrived and reads thus : — ' Stellaland has about four hundred men entitled to a farm each. In Goshen about one hundred and sixty farms are claimed, but Moshette only offers ninety and we are told is quarrelhng with Boers who we hear are in a bad way. Eor boundaries between Stellaland and Goshen see Moysey's map. The line runs from a point somewhere near Gouwss Saltpan on Transvaal Con- vention boundary in a north-westerly direction south- westward of SetlagoH River, Stellaland being south and Goshen north of it. The boundaries of Stellaland as now defined are approximately as follows. From Koppie Eukel with Convention boundary to near Gouwss Saltpan, thence north-westward with common boundary of Goshen towards Desert, thence south- westerly passing within about thirty miles of Kuruman to within about twenty-five mQes of Griqualand West boundary, thence easterly more or less parallel to Griqualand West boundary and cutting about eight miles to northward of Taungs to a beacon on Harts River on a piece of ground marked one hundred and fifty-one B. and thence to Koppie Eukel. My strong opinion is that majority of Stellaland people are anxious to join Cape Colony, but until they know there is a chance of annexation do not care to declare openly for Colony for fear of offending Transvaal. Mekerk suggested joint Transvaal and Cape Commission to settle question, and says they must join one or other as they cannot go on as at present. Large meeting for Nachtmaal at Vreiburg on sixth and seventh inst., when petition akeady started will be signed tor joining Colony. Stellaland will not care to part with any of its land to Transvaal and my impression is that Niekerk Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 163 and Delarey, their head men, are in favour of Colony. I think boundary of Goshen could be adjusted so as to satisfy reasonable claims of Transvaal to " inspected " farms and stiU preserve our trade route to interior. The furthest route westward that can be used without going through the desert is that from Taungs northward to Kunana and thence to near Eamahlabama as per Moysey's map. The more usual road is that at the Harts River and then along the edge of the Convention boundary. Our trade with and through Transvaal is practically stopped on account of heavy import duties. The trade with Bechuana territories and interior last year, which was a bad one owing to disturbances, was about one hundred and twenty thousand pounds by firms I know, who inform me that if Transvaal is allowed to extend its boundary across present route they will be obHged to go to Pretoria and import through Natal. On even terms I think we have every chance of competing with Delagoa Bay. Study map. If SteUaland elect to be annexed to Colony I don't see how Transvaal can object, seeing that the far greater part of it was never claimed by Transvaal. Moysey's map shows nearly aU inspected farms in Goshen not in SteUaland, and no portion of latter was occupied by Boers. Goshen is bounded as follows : northward by Molopo River, south-westward by SteUaland and east- ward by Convention line of Transvaal through it. I think a friendly arrangement as regards a boundary might be made with Transvaal and conflict with it avoided, securing our route to interior and Montsoia's rights, which latter are of importance to Imperial Government. The territory claimed by Mankoroane, and which he now wishes to cede, includes whole of SteUaland but noi^^.gf ^gp|hen,^r very Uttle of it, if 164 CECIL JOHN RHODES any. It is bounded south by Griqualand West, east- ward by Convention line, northward by Setlagoli River and westward by desert, including Kurmnan. We leave this to-morrow for Griquatown unless you wish me to communicate with you. Please let me know.' I quote here from a letter written to Rhodes by a Transvaal burgher. The place and date, Bloemhof, 3rd June 1883. ' This morning after you left I had a long talk with Niekerk and am convinced his desire is to be with you, but owing to the manner in which he has had to do with our Transvaal authorities, he does not like to show his hand too quickly. General Schoeman went through to Pretoria yesterday. He does not like the aspect of things there. This place and Christiana are being comimandeered for men and goods to fight Mapoch. There is great discontent. People are flying from the Transvaal to Stellaland. Niekerk tells me Mapoch is getting the best of it.' From the Prime Minister came a message to Rhodes on 4th June, ' I have no reply from Merriman to either of my cables on subject of Bechuanaland.' And again on 5th June as follows : — From Premier, to Rhodes, Kimberley. 'Confidential. I have just read a telegram from Bethell to the Private Secretary of the High Com- missioner. I should be glad if you will ask him to show you a copy of it. If he is correct, there would appear a combination forming amongst the Chiefs to turn out the freebooters, and assumption of British authority would probably stop this.' ■^ Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 165 Rhodes sent the following rephes on 4th and 6th June respectively : — 4ih June. ' Bethell says natives have combined and that war will commence in three weeks, but declaration of British rule or protectorate would stop their action. Montsoia's son will be here in a few days. Bethell says he would send him back to his father to stop war if there was any chance of British interference. Bethell is here trying to buy ammunition. Could not British Government be induced to annex, with understanding that Cape and Transvaal should reHeve it, and arrange boimdaries by means of joint Commission ? Farms in Goshen not yet inspected or allotted. Boers there divided against themselves, find that, after native requirements are met in Goshen, very Httle land would remain, power of Goshen and Stellaland Boers much overestimated. I feel question could easily be settled, without cost or bloodshed, by prompt action. Should I unofficially send Montsoia message to refrain from attacking pending discussion in Cape Parhament and at home ? I thiak Bethell's statements should be taken with caution. I leave here at ten o'clock for Griquatown." 6th June 1883. ' Bethell reiterates that combined action has been arranged within fourteen days. Daumas certainly told me at Taungs that Bechuanas had agreed to combined action against Boers. Bethell wants some assurance, as he would at once start back to stop Montsoia. I do not see you can give this, but if your message from Merriman was favourable I could give him guarded sense of this on my responsibiHty without committing Digitized by Microsofm 166 CECIL JOHN RHODES Government. The difficulty is that I am starting for Griquatown ; Commission has akeady gone. Bethell says he leaves on Saturday, you will find that he is applying for powder. Should I wait, telling Commission to go on without me and begin evidence, or leave matter as it is ? Of course he may simply be exaggerat- ing ; quantity of powder asked for would be indication, please reply, as I am saddled up.' The comphcations referred to in the foregoing messages did not tend to clear up the situation. It is, however, abundantly clear that the pohcy of Rhodes, swift action, was the only true remedy for the ahnost intolerable anarchy on the Colonial borders. But the great god Routine loves procrastination, and the wheels of State revolve but slowly. The following message was despatched on 6th June : — From Premier to Rhodes, Kimherley. ' 6th June. — Confidential. Thanks for your message just received, which I shall send to Administrator for perusal. I have communicated with Merrunan, and Admitiistrator with Secretary of State. By all means take steps to stop commencement of hostihties, if possible. Once fighting commences, all chance of arrangements will be lost. Am hourly expectmg news from Merriman.' Scanlen seems to have followed this message up with another of the same date. ' June 6.— It would not be possible to give Bethell any assurance until information comes from England. If anything can be done, first step would be to declare country British Territory. Next, Letters Patent author- •' Digitized by Microsofi® BECHUANALAND 167 ising its annexation to Colony, and then Bill. Pro- bably (illegible) would be taken first. I must await news from Merriman. Perhaps it will be as well for you to remain for the present, instructing Commissioner to take evidence. No application for powder come yet.' On the 7th June the Prime Minister again wired : — ' Ju. 7. — No news yet. Bethell telegraphed to Secre- tary of High Commissioner, " I have informed them," i.e. your Commission, " that I was ready to accept protectorate of Baralongs, with expulsion of Moshette's Boers, but cannot agree to annexation Mankoroane's country, giving Stellaland Boers titles to country. This is too great premium on freebooting." This is contrary to opinion expressed in your conversation on 2nd that SteUaland titles should be recognised. And it would therefore appear that Mankoroane would expect as a result of annexation that the intruders should be expelled either by British or Colonial Govern- ment. Neither will, I am sure, undertake that task.' To elucidate the development of the situation, I give the following : — Paraphrase of Cypher telegram. From Administrator, Cape Town, to Lord Derby, London. ' 11th June. — Confidential. Bethell telegraphs, " News received this morning from Bechuanaland, ' all chiefs but one have joined, will fight next week.' " Three courses would prevent spread war into Transvaal : First — Immediate proclamation annexing country, promising ejection freebooters. Second — Insist Trans- vaal preserve neutrahty, when natives will respect Digitized by Microsoft® 168 CECIL JOHN RHODES frontier. Third— Offer to proclaim Protectorate when natives driven freebooters over Transvaal border. Imperial protectorate preferred to Colonial. Message sent before Thursday will reach him. Colonial Grovern- ment has refused to allow him purchase ammunition for purposes for war. As question is, I understand, under the consideration of Her Majesty's Government, I think it right to keep you informed, but have no wish to press Imperial action, which, if sohtary, might pro- duce serious complications.' The following is the next message from Rhodes :— To Premier, Cape Town. ' Just returned : report finished. Boundary recom- mended as fair, wiU cut seventy farms into Batlapin territory, of which about thirty have titles. Your only solution is to take over whole Mankoroane territory, and then arrange Stellaland. Have just got your telegram of seventh. Bethell talks nonsense, he has nothing to do with Mankoroane. Daumas thoroughly understood from me Stellaland could not be cleared ; even if it was, after clearance you would sell it as Crown land. As I told you before, with exception of Harts River, it is chiefly hunting veld. It is better to leave Boers and charge high quitrent. I did not differ with Bethell, as he is wanted to work Montsoia, but he has nothing to do with Stellaland, only with Goshen. He took advantage of my absence to try and bounce you. Solution always suggested by me is, recognition of Boers of Stellaland. Goshen is different, they are unable to hold their own, unable to occupy, and could not be retained without removal of natives ; as far as I can learn, they are in a bad way and not in possession of country hke Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 169 Stellaland. News from Stellaland just received — there are two parties, one for Cape, one for Transvaal, even latter would join Cape if Home Government does not concede at once right to Transvaal to extend, they are waiting result of Jorissen mission. You must stop extension of Transvaal boundary. Melville leaves to-morrow and will give you aU news.' I now subjoin copy of telegram from Premier to Rhodes, Kimberley : — ' June 15. — Confidential. Your message received. No information whatever relating to Bechuanaland has been communicated by Merriman in reply to the messages I sent, nor has anything come officially, and we shall have to await information by mail or on Merriman's return. He leaves to-day. He telegraphs the conditions upon which Imperial Government will take over Basutos. That they give satisfactory evidence of their desire to remain under the Crown, provide revenue required, and undertake to be obedient to laws and orders of H.C. Arrangements with Free State for preserving border relations. Colony to undertake by provisions to be embodied in Repeal Act to pay over Customs duties on goods imported into that territory, or equivalent for such revenue. This is the substance of the conditions telegraphed. I wrote you on eleventh.' The next message of the series is the following : — From Rhodes, Kimberley, to Premier, Cape Town. ' Mankoroane has sent message that he will sit per- fectly still awaiting result of Cape and home action. Daumas will have nothing to do with Bethell's insane project to commence hostihties. I have certified for Digitized by Microsoft® 170 CECIL JOHN RHODES some powder, lead and cartridges for Mankoroane for hunting purposes. His people are starving and lie wishes to send out his hunters. I do this on distmct pledge from Daumas that he wiU not in any way use it for hostihties. He is a gentleman and can he trusted. I have a;sked him to send Montsoia a message to sit still and wait. Bethell is a firebrand and simply wants fighting.' A fortnight's lull ensued, and then came the follow- ing :— From Rhodes, Kimberley, to Scanlen, Premier, Cape Town. 'You wiU see Stewart's message to High Conmiis- sioner. Brown of Kuruman also sends message that they are preparing for war. I do not think myself that they will break out, but of course the right thing would be to send some one to Mankoroane at once, who should also communicate with Montsoia, that is if you iatend doing anything. AU chance of war would then be stopped. The unfortunate thing is when action is required no one has courage to take a bold step.' The following is a copy of the reply telegram from Scanlen to Rhodes : — ' June 28.— I have conferred with the High Com- missioner with reference to the message from Stewart. He has had no instructions or reply to the communica- tions he made to the Secretary of State, and, as previ- ously intimated, Merriman made no allusion to the subject in his messages. It does not appear that any- thing can be done at present, and we must await Mem- man's arrival with the despatches coming by the same boat.' Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 171 On 2nd July the following were exchanged : — From Rhodes to Premier, Cafe Town. ' Have waited till Wednesday hoping Merriman may arrive on Tuesday, as he might send me a message and I could send word to Mankoroane. I have also long letters from Stellaland. On what day do you expect him?' From Premier to Rhodes, Kimherley. 'July 2. — The Trojan is advertised as due on Thursday. She may arrive on Wednesday afternoon, but I doubt if sooner. I am disposed to think it would be advantage- ous to you to meet Merriman here as soon after his arrival as possible, and learn fully what has transpired.' Rhodes evidently acted on the suggestion and returned to Cape Town. We have already seen that he spoke there on the 18th July. But with aU his energy he could not bring his own friends or the Home Government to a prompt decision, failing which, Niekerk, on 6th August, issued the following Proclama- tion : — STELLALAND Peoclamation Of His HonoTir Gerrit Jacobus van Niekerk, Administrator of the Government of Stellaland, thereto authorised by the Territorial Paramount Chief David Massouw Riet Taaibosch, by virtue of the deed of appointment of the 18th January, and in conformity with the Treaty of Peace of the 26th July 1883, and the proclamation of the 16th January 1883. To all who may see or hear read these presents Greeting : Whereas for the proper maintenance of law, and also for the promotion of the interests of the inhabitants of this Digitized by Microsoft® 172 CECIL JOHN ERODES territory, it is necessary that, in conformity with above- mentioned Treaty of Peace of the 26th of July 1883, this country should be proclaimed to be an Independent State : NOW, therefore, I, Gerrit Jacobus van Niekerk, Admini- strator of the Government of Stellaland, have deemed it ex- pedient, as I hereby do, to proclaim the territory known until this present time as SteUaland, and situate on and such : to the south and north of the Harts Eiver, to be the Eepublic of Stellaland, and that the seat of Government of this Eepublic shall be the already estabhshed village of Vrijburg. And this Proclamation shall be and shall remain of force imtil such time that the cession of the 19th of September 1882, shall be complied with. Thus done at Vrijburg, EepubHc of SteUaland, this 6tli day of August, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty Three. God save the country and the nation ! G. J. Van Niekeek, Administrator. Thus far, therefore, the efforts of Ehodes to see justice done and British paramountcy maintained were unavailing. Amid circumstances of great discouragement his strenuous efforts during the Session of 1883, to keep open the route to the North, were frustrated by the apathy of Parhament, many of its members virtually betraying the interests confided to them in order to aggrandise the Transvaal EepubHc. Ehodes and his Delimitation Commission came back to Cape Town, as I have shown, with a cession of all lower Bechuana- land in their pockets, and a petition from the wMte inhabitants of SteUaland to be annexed to the Cape. The first document was vahdly executed by Mankoroane, who preferred to come under civiKsed rule, rather than witness a continuance of the practice in vogue with the Dutch freebooters of annexing his best lands. On Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 173 16th August, Ehodes played his first card by moving ' That this House place a Resident with Mankoroane.' He spoke at a disadvantage, having recently had an attack of ' camp ' fever at Kimberley. He prepared no speech and was without notes, but the resolute purpose within him overleapt all barriers. He could not influence votes or overcome the prejudices of the ' Transvaal party,' but his speech was Hstened to with interest, and he impressed himself on the House as a coming force. He gave, indeed, a masterly exposition of the situation. ' I feel,' he said, ' that the House has not yet risen to the supreme importance of this question which is far more momentous than that of Basutoland or the Transkei. You are deahng with a question upon the proper treatment of which depends the whole future of this Colony. I look upon this Bechuanaland territory as the Suez Canal of the trade of this country, the key of its road to the interior. The question before us is this : whether the Colony is to be confined within its present borders, or whether it is to become the dominant State in South Africa, and spread its civiHsation over the interior. Last year I moved for a Commission on the northern boundaries of Griqualand West. The Commission arrived at the conclusion that the boundary claimed by us went further than we were entitled to go under Waterboer's concession. We pointed out that seventy farms in the territory were really outside the Colony and were the property of Mankoroane. That is one reason, though a minor one, why the Colony has a practical interest in the settlement of this Bechuanaland question. I call it a minor reason because a much larger reason is the future of the trade of this Colony. I come now to the second factor in Digitized by Microsoft® 174 CECIL JOHN RHODES the question, which is Stellaland. The Republic of Stellaland also offers us its Territory. I feel that it is our duty, when our younger sons go out, so to speak, to acquire land, to follow in their steps with civil^ed government. Is not this the principle of the British Government ? I refer you to a despatch of Sir Peregrine Maitland, to show that this is exactly what was done forty years ago in the case of the Free State farms taken from the Basutos. I solemnly warn the House that if it fails to secure control of the interior, we shall fall from our position of the paramount State, which is our right in any future scheme of Federal Union.' One of the permanent officials of the House says of this speech, ' It made a great impression on me. I do not pretend that I saw with hun the great future that was coming, nor did Members, but I recognised a man who had formed a very definite opinion on a matter concerning which he stood very much alone, and whose determination was only strengthened by opposi- tion.' The remarks I have quoted are to the point, for in the speech we have distinct allusion to the territories beyond the Cape borders, the vast country now known as Rhodesia. The desirabihty of preserving access to the North is also dwelt upon, with a view to maintain the status of the Cape in the coming Federation. In this Rhodes never wavered. With profound policy, he kept the Imperial factor in the background and urged annexation solely in Colonial interests. But the effort was in vain. The House would have none of it. The offers of Mankoroane and of the Stellalanders were both declined. Then Rhodes played his second card. The High Commissioner, as we have seen, was in London. Rhodes, Digitized by Microsoft® BECHUANALAND 175 whose personality had akeady made an impression on him, wrote suggesting the temporary acquisition of the Territory on the joint account of the Home and Colonial Governments, each side contributing one half of the expense of administration. Lord Derby and the Cape Premier both acquiesced, and the situation was for the moment saved. But even this reasonable compromise was eventually rejected by the short- sighted vote of the parochial Parhament in Cape Town. On 10th September, Rhodes spoke again in support of a motion to prohibit the sale of Hquor to any native within five miles of any proclaimed diamond area. The ' brandy interest ' was strong enough to defeat the proposal. The House rose and Rhodes returned to Kimberley, much disgusted with the situation. We can imagine him, if we hke, finding solace in a remarkable and far-reaching book, recently pubHshed — Seeley's Expansion of England. Shrewd observers predicted the early fall of the Ministry, followed by perhaps an appeal to the country. Cape credit was at a low ebb, and Scanlen was only able to negotiate a loan on terms less favourable than those obtained by one of the Colonial MunicipaHties. It may be interesting to place on record here the impressions of a keen and cultivated traveller, who came into contact with Rhodes in July 1883. Baron von Hiibner, formerly Austrian Ambassador in Paris, was in Cape Town during the session. In his dehghtful book. Through the British Empire, he writes as follows : — ' But who is the young man seated at the same table, with an intelligent look, a grave deportment, and a sympathetic air ? Like so many others, he left England and came here when quite young, obscure and poor. He bought a small farm, and failed. He then did what Digitized by Microsoft® 176 CECIL JOHN RHODES others do in similar cases ; he went to the diamond fields. There fortune smiled upon him, and by his energy, activity, and perseverance he earned her favours. He returned to the Cape a rich man. But then he discovered something more rare and hard to find than a diamond mine. He discovered that gold is not everything in the world ; that learning and education are wanted also. He returned post-haste to England, took to studying hard, and, ransacking the mines of science, came back here again, a graduate of Oxford and a man of good manners. From that day it was an easy matter to obtain election to the House of Assembly, where he holds a position of some dis- tinction and controls a certain number of votes. He is looked upon as one of the members of the first Ministry which will be formed from the ranks of the Opposition. But his ambition does not stop there. He aims still higher. He hopes to enter the Bnghsh Parhament, and who knows but that some day he will figure in the Queen's Cabinet 1 If he succeeds in so doiag, he will not be the first who has reached that goal by passing through the Colonies. The path which he has taken, and means to take, marks him out to me as one of those many links, almost invisible to the naked eye, but which collectively form a bond strong enough to bind the colonies firmly to the mother country and the mother country to the colonies.' Digitized by Microsoft® THE DIAMOND INDUSTEY 177 CHAPTER XIII THE DIAMOND INDUSTRY (1884-1888) Rhodes at Kimberley — De Beers Mining Company — Local depression — Retains his faith — Merriman and Stow — J. B. Robinson — Mining Board debt — Rhodes and Barnato — Rhodes in Paris — Compagnie Frangaise — Struggle with Barnato — Rhodes wins — Formation of De Beers Consolidated Mines — Comprehensive Trust Deed — Legal diffi- culties — Rhodes urged to confine himself to politics — Circumvents the Supreme Court — Discovery of alluvial gold — Mr. G. P. Moodie — Quartz mining — Discovery of conglomerate reefs — Foundation of Johannesburg — Rhodes acquires interests there. Dispirited at his failure to move the Dutch phlegm of the Cape Parliament, Rhodes, at the close of the session of 1883, found no solace on returning to Kim- berley. The place was indeed in a condition of gloom and despondency. The De Beers Mining Company, which he had founded three years earlier with a capital of £200,000, was slowly gathering strength, but its pecuni- ary position was not free from embarrassment, and to ordinary observers it gave, as yet, no sign of being the Aaron's Rod of the ' dry diggings.' It was not until 1885 that, by the absorption of additional ' claims,' it became a Adsibly important enterprise with a capital of £841 ,000. Meanwhile the permanence of the diamond industry was far from being assured. Thousands of energetic diggers were at work, sometimes buoyed up by high hopes, but oftener oppressed with care and anxiety. Only Rhodes, Barnato and a few other men preserved serenity of mind, and never permitted a doubt to overcloud their robust faith in ultimate success. ^j , Digitized by Microsoft® jl 178 CECIL JOHN RHODES The Mining Board, which in 1874 replaced the old Diggers' Committee, seemed to have reached the end of its resom:ces. It had done good work, but at dis- proportionate cost. Its power to levy rates had been used to the full and exhausted. For some time it had been issuing acceptances, and borrowing from the local Banks until its credit had become seriously weakened. The creditors were clamouring for pay- ment. At one time the assistance of the Cape Govern- ment had been rather confidently rehed on. But the expectation had been disappointed. During the session Mr. Merriman, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, had officially announced that no such aid would be forth- coming. The importance of preserving the greatest industry of the Colony was unrecognised, and, in fact, the Government were hard put to it themselves to maintain an equihbrium in their finances. The Diamond Mines were left, fortimately perhaps, to work out their own salvation. But a leading Editor remarked to me at the time that it was ' almost a toss up between a boom and bankruptcy.' It was the general conviction that as diamonds were only articles of luxury, appeahng to a Mmited circle of wealthy purchasers, the markets of the world would soon be glutted, and the value of the stones seriously impaired. Fluctuations in value did occur, with an ever downward tendency, and the ultimate triumph of Rhodes over pessimistic criticism is due to the fact that he kept steadily in view the true remedy, amalgamation of interests and a restriction of the output, until the circle of his customers could be extended. But this process of consohdation, with its accompanying diminution of competition and regulatipn of production, took several years to accomplish. Mean- while Rhodes pursued his course with dogged determina- Digitized by Microsoft® THE DIAMOND INDUSTRY 179 tion and, when interrogated on the point, always answered the question by asking another, ' When,' he would say, ' did you ever meet a woman who owned to having diamonds enough ? ' But early in 1885 affairs appeared to be approaching a crisis. The Banks by this time had become, against their will, the compulsory owners of many mining claims on which they had advanced money. Their anxiety at the novel position in which they found themselves, and their determination to realise their securities at any sacrifice, were disturbing factors in the situation. Mr. J. X. Merriman, now out of office, came to Kitnberley to study the question on the spot, and Mr. — afterwards Sir — Philipson-Stow, came out from England for the same purpose. Rhodes was at this time endeavouring to amalgamate the Anglo- African, Griqualand West, Hercules and other claims in the Du Toit's Pan Mines. Mr. J. B. Robinson, another leading claim-holder, was ostensibly in favour of the scheme, but Rhodes, rightly or wrongly, held that he was secretly working against it, and the conviction of his bad faith created a prejudice against him, which ripened into a standing feud. Meanwhile, a further heavy fall of reef in the De Beers Mine created some alarm in the minds of Rhodes 's staunchest supporters. The growth of the Mining Board debt also caused grave anxiety. A leading claim-holder wrote to me on 29th April 1885, that an ominous whisper of repudiation was in the air. ' Application,' he wrote, ' should be made to Parliament for a short Act empowering a Com- mission to take evidence and give a final decision. It will be a disgrace to this place and to the Colony if repudiation is permitted. It is a queer thing to see countenancin§,|)^c^^^;^mg^tous policy.' 180 CECIL JOHN RHODES It will be seen that the position of Rhodes was not an easy one. He had his full share of monetary troubles. Financially he was far less strong than Bamato, and the claims he had acquired in the De Beers Mine were poorer, claim for claim, than those held by his com- petitor in the Kimberley Mine. He had none of Bar- nato's Ught-hearted geniahty or, as some called it, irresponsible frivohty. He possessed few intimate friends, and not even to all of them did he disclose his hand. Mere acquaintances disliked his moody silences, varied with fits of rather boisterous fun. They con- sidered him exclusive, morose, rough and overbearing. And it must be admitted that he was a good hater, violent when thwarted, and at times blunt to the point of rudeness. It is difiicult to be sufficiently uncon- ventional to shock a miaiug camp, but he shocked it. In dress he was almost disreputable. He seldom took pains to ingratiate himself with any one, and a man who too openly scorns his fellows must expect to suffer social ostracism and to have his character traduced. It would be idle to deny that for a time there were unfavourable rumours in circulation regarding him, or that he was, in many circles, unpopular. But hke Gallio he ' cared for none of those things.' Behind a mask of iadifierence, he strove strenuously for wealth, because wealth was power, and he coveted power in order to gain supremacy over rival interests, and because he aimed at making Kimberley a force to be reckoned with and a help to his ripening pohcy of Northern expansion. To superficial observers he was a cynical, surly dreamer. Only Jameson knew, and Beit and Rudd, and a very few others. To the rest of his httle world he was an unknown quantity, and his manners were mishked, but few important transactions Digitized by Microsoft® THE DIAMOND INDUSTRY 181 were mooted without his being approached for assist- ance or advice. While Rhodes was thus slowly but pertinaciously- increasing his hold on the De Beers Mine by the purchase of claims which could no longer be advantageously worked by the individual digger, Barnato was pursuing an identical pohcy in regard to the Kimberley Mine. Both knew their own home ground thoroughly. ' Both,' as Raymond in his Memoir of Barnato says, ' were firmly convinced that the diamonds came from below and would be found richer in the greater depths, and each looked forward to the amalgamation of the Companies and interests surroundiug him as the only practical means of reducing the costs and risks of mining. From 1881 the history of the one man is the history of the other, for they were advancing on converging lines which were, as yet, so far apart that they seemed to be parallel. Nothing is more certain than that neither Rhodes nor Barnato had any idea that they would be brought into direct opposition.' A contest, however, was bound to come. When Rhodes was master in his own house at De Beers and Barnato was almost equally in control of the Kimberley Mine, the question of amalgamating the two companies was certain to arise. There could not be two kings at Brentford, nor could the output be regulated except by the absolute supremacy of one corporation. It was to be a fight to a finish. Barnato had the abihties necessary for the struggle, and financially he was the stronger, but there was one chink in his armour. He had failed to secure the important interests of the Compagnie Frangaise in the Kimberley Mine, and without their co-operation his defences were incomplete. Rhodes grasped the position. On 6th July 1887, he Digitized by Microsoft® 182 CECIL JOHN RHODES sailed from the Cape with a trusted engineer, arranged in London for the requisite financial support, and then, visiting Paris, purchased the entire assets of the French company for £1,400,000. This was a serious blow to his rival, whose only chance now was to induce shareholders to refuse to confirm the bargain made by their Board of Directors. Rhodes consequently re- turned to Kimberley, and after some desultory fighting, expensive to both sides, he seemed to lose heart and offered to cede the newly acquu-ed claims to Barnato for the exact amount they had cost him, taking payment in shares of the Kimberley Mining Company. This was considered very generally as an acknowledgment of defeat. Barnato accepted the offer with effusion, and the honours rested, or seemed to rest, with him. But only for a moment. Rhodes loved ' playing the game ' and was never more formidable than when his back was to the wall. The transaction gave him a very large shareholding in the Kimberley Mine. This he increased steadily by further purchases. One by one Barnato 's supporters sold their holdings to the new bidder, until the latter held a majority which gave him a controlhng interest in the Mine. Barnato was, to use his own expression, ' bested,' and he surrendered with a good grace. The whole story is well told by Mr. Gardiner WilHams and Mr. Harry Rajmiond. If Rhodes's sole title to fame rested on his success in saving a great industry from ruinous competition and inevitable extinction, this biography would scarcely be justified. Many a business man has performed an equally service- able feat. The desire to accumulate riches is a splendid spur to energy, but the general pubMc are only indirectly concerned in the matter. If Rhodes is to Kve in history, it is not his" wealth, but his use of it, that interests us. Digitized by Microsoft® THE DIAMOND INDUSTRY 183 And it is to his public rather than to his private career I desire to draw attention. To acquire wealth is easy to a certain order of mind. But the devotion of great wealth to pubhc purposes is much rarer, and had Rhodes never made a fortune by his far-sightedness, to him would still belong the honour of having striven, with extraordinary vehemence of will, to promote the interests of his country. He made mistakes, but he redeemed them, and in season and out of season his thoughts were directed towards the consoHdation, not merely of ephemeral business interests, but of the interests of the Anglo-Saxon race. When later, at Windsor, the Queen asked him, ' And what are you doing in Africa, Mr. Rhodes ? ' his characteristic reply was, ' Extending Your Majesty's dominions, madam.' It was on the same occasion, and therefore may be mentioned here, that the Queen said, ' They say, Mr. Rhodes, you are a woman-hater. I hope it is not true ? ' and received the somewhat evasive reply, ' How could I hate a sex to which Your Majesty belongs ? ' No sooner had Rhodes and Barnato joined forces to found the De Beers ConsoHdation Mines than a fresh difficulty arose over the drafting of the Trust Deed. In those days it was customary for Charters and Trust Deeds to limit specifically the powers conferred on their holders, all acts outside these powers being liable, in certain contingencies, to be treated as ultra vires. Barnato desired to have a Trust Deed for Diamond Mining and for nothing else. There is much to be said for the practice, but Rhodes would have none of it. He declined to be fettered by antiquated restrictions. His idea was that the Company should be legally capable of carrying out any business in the world not in itself unlawful. The contest again was a stubborn one. Digitized by Microsoft® 184 CECIL JOHN EHODES When, in the crisis of the fight, Ehodes absented himself from the negotiations in order to sit for days by the bedside of his dying secretary, Neville Pickering, it looked to many men as if the great project would be wrecked in sight of port. But ultimately Rhodes re- sumed the suspended conference, and after an all-mght sitting his iron will prevailed, Barnato gave way with the remark, ' You have a fancy for building an empire in the North, and I suppose you must have your way.' Under these circumstances, that great Corporation, De Beers Consolidated Mines, came into existence, being registered at Kimberley on 13th March 1888. The Trust Deed placed no restrictions on the Directors as to the extent of the capital. The Company was empowered to shift its headquarters to any place on the habitable globe. It could acquire any asset it pleased by purchase, amalgamation, grant, concession, lease, Hcence, barter, or otherwise. It could hold houses, lands, farms, tracts of country, quarries, mines, water- rights, privileges, waterworks, hereditaments and other- wise. It could deal in diamonds and aU precious stones, gold and other minerals, ores, coals, earth and any other valuable product or substance, and also in machinery, plant, utensils, trade marks, patents for inventions, and all other property, movable and im- movable, in Africa or elsewhere. It could carry on a mining, trading or other business anywhere in the world, construct, maintain and operate tramways, railways, roads, tunnels, canals, gasworks, electric works, reservoirs, water-courses, furnaces, smelting works, factories and any other works ' conducive to any of its objects.' It could promote, form, undertake and estabhsh any institutions or companies (trading, manufacturing, banking or other) calculated to ad- Digitized by Microsoft® THE DIAMOND INDUSTEY 185 vantage the Company. And lastly, it could acquire 'tracts of country' in Africa or elsewhere, together with any rights that might be granted by the rulers thereof, and expend thereon any sums deemed re- quisite for the maintenance and good government thereof. I have quoted only a few of the powers taken by Rhodes. No wonder Barnato hesitated for a while to Hnk his fortunes with such a company. The very lawyer who drew up the deed was appalled by its comprehensiveness. Nor have the wide powers been a dead letter. The Company has built railways, tram-Hnes and roads, estabhshed immense dynamite works, electric and other factories, model villages, cattle ranches, fruit farms and in a hundred ways availed itself of the latitude given to it in its Trust Deed. Only four men really combined to form the Corporation — Ehodes, Barnato, Beit and Stow. Be- tween them they held all but an infinitesimal fraction of the shares, and they created themselves Life Governors and Directors of the Company with power to appoint a fifth. One further difficulty, a legal one, remained. Some dissentient shareholders in the Kimberley Mining Company protested against amalgamation with a corporation which was not ' a similar company.' It certainly was not by any means a similar company. The objectors carried their case to the Supreme Court and won it. Their counsel, Mr. — now Sir James — Rose-Innes, is reported to have said (20th August 1888), ' The Company, my Lord, can do anything and everything. Since the time of the East India Company, no company has had such power as this. They are not confined to Africa : they are authorised to take steps for the good government of any country, Digitized by Microsoft® 186 CECIL JOHN EHODES so that, if they obtain a charter from the Secretary of State, they could annex a portion of territory in Central Africa, raise and maintain a standing army, and under- take warhke operations. Yet it is argued that this Company is formed for the same purpose as the Central Company which digs for diamonds in the Eomberley Mine.' The Court held, very naturally, that the De Beers ConsoUdated Mines, being a Company with powers as extensive as those of any company that ever existed, was not an ordinary Diamond Mining Company 'of a similar nature ' to the Central Company and, there- fore, that the Directors of the latter could not legally amalgamate with the former. This appeared at first sight a decided check, and Rhodes's friends seemed to have hoped he would now pay closer attention to poHtics. I find Sauer, for instance, writing to him on 10th September 1888, ' I am of opinion you should give your time and attention to other things than mining : I mean, of course, to the poHtics of this Colony and the States adjoining — ^in fact, the whole of South Africa. Things cannot go on as they have been for the last four years. Assuming that the relative strength of parties will remain as at present, it will mean that office and power are separated. Hofmeyr's decision not to take ofiice I regret exceedingly. The elections are moving along slowly,, and I don't yet know who all the candidates are.' There would appear to have been a rumour that Merriman, whose versatiHty was already acknowledged, might abandon his friends and join Sprigg, if the latter 's overthrow was found impracticable. On 3rd October ILoimeyr writes to Rhodes, ' I should like Merriman to offer to enter Sprigg's Ministry. I fancy he would Digitized by Microsoft® THE DIAMOND INDUSTRY 187 meet with a reception which even he would not soon forget.' Rhodes, however, was not to be diverted from his determination to consohdate diamond interests. He at once ran the proverbial coach and four through the judgment of the Supreme Court by placing the Central Company in hquidation, and purchasing all its assets for the De Beers Company. ' If,' he used to say, ' you cannot manage a thing one way, try another.' In this way, court or no court, the amalgamation of the Mines was carried to a conclusion on 29th January 1889. And thus the eighties drew to a close. The industry was saved and Rhodes found himself, at the age of thirty-six, the guiding spirit of the largest corpora- tion in the world. It must not, however, be inferred that the amalgama- tion of interests was locally popular. The reduction of expenditure told heavily on certain sections of the population, and Rhodes's life was so seriously en- dangered that his friends, unknown to him, placed him for some time under pohce protection. The whole of his time was not, however, devoted to this great work. Every year from 1882 to 1888, both inclusive, he attended the sittings of the House of Assembly in Cape Town, speaking with increasing weight and frequency. Nor were his energies confined to Parhament. Throughout the period I have just narrated, another industry was arising in South Africa, destined in its magnitude to dwarf even the diamond industry at Kimberley. For many years alluvial gold had been worked at various points in the Northern Transvaal. In 1882, Mr. G. P. Moodie, an ex-Surveyor- Greneral of that territory, who had acquired a block of farms on the De Kaap range, threw them open to Digitized by Microsoft® 188 CECIL JOHN RHODES prospectors, with the result of founding the town of Barberton. Quartz mining became an accompMed fact, and in November 1884, the district was proclaimed a pubhc gold field, and in 1886 the Sheba Mine of extraordinary richness was discovered. But both alluvial and quartz mining were soon to be thrown into the shade. When leaving Pretoria in 1881, after signing the Convention, Sir Hercules Eobinsoni accompanied by the Imperial Secretary, Captain- now Sir — Graham Bower, rode across country to Bloem- fontein. Reining in their tired horses on the summit of a bleak and elevated ridge of ahnost uninhabited country, Sir Hercules observed to his companion, ' If we were in Austraha, Bower, what would you say of this formation ? Would you not prospect for gold ?' The formation was the conglomerate or banket series of the Witwaters- rand, in the centre of which now stands the world- famed town of Johannesburg. For several years more it lay there undiscovered until it was 'rushed' by enterprising diggers, many of them from Kimberley, and on 20th September 1886, it was declared to be a pubhc gold field. Mr. Rudd, Rhodes's partner, wbo from 1883 to 1888 represented Kimberley in the House of Assembly, proceeded to the Rand, where the two men acquired valuable interests and founded, in 1886, a great corporation, still in existence, the ConsoHdated Gold Fields of South Africa, and several smaller com- panies, to one of which Rhodes gave the name of his old College. But I must now revert to the Parliamentary situation in the Cape Colony. Digitized by Microsoft® PAELIAMENTAEY LIFE 189 CHAPTER XIV PAELIAMENTARY LIFE (1884-1885) Fall of Scanlen Ministry— Upington Prime Minister — Basutoland and Bechuanaland again — Rev. Jolin Mackenzie^Ehodes on the trade route — Sir Hercules Robinson — Kruger's Proclamation — The Warren Expedition — Warren and the High Commissioner — Rhodes and Warren — Rhodes meets Kruger — Dr. Leyds — Debate in the Assembly — Secretary of State upholds Rhodes. The Scanlen Ministry, succeeding to place, if not to power, on the faU of the Sprigg Administration in 1881, were now visibly weak. Hofmeyx had for six months been a member of the Cabinet without portfoho, but had retired on the ground of ill-health. Sauer and Merriman remained, but the Ministry as a whole were unfavourably regarded as too British to suit the rising power of the Bond. When, upon the 19th March, the Treasurer of the Colony resigned, the Premier, looking around for a strong man, offered the post to Rhodes, by whom it was accepted. His tenure of the office was short-Hved. The Dutch party in the house could not brook the Premier's affront in supporting, however timidly, Her Majesty's Government in its Bechuana- land policy. Not caring, however, to play with their cards upon the table, they censured the Ministry for decUning to prohibit the importation of seed potatoes, a step which they professed to think would expose Cape vineyards to the much-dxeaded phylloxera. With any stick one may beat a dog. Nobody seriously thought that phylloxera could be conveyed on a tuber, but the excuse served, and on 12th May, 1884, Scanlen Digitized by Microsoft® 190 CECIL JOHN RHODES resigned. The Bond, while tenacious of power, had never been greedy for office and the direct responsibility it entails. They, therefore, declined to form a Ministry, and the task was assigned to Sir Thomas Upiagton. The administration thus constructed was of a type generally associated with the name of a warming-pan. Ehodes became one of the opposition leaders, and in that capacity delivered, on 9th June, a scathing criticism of the taxing measures of his successor. Throughout 1884-85, the affairs both of Basutoland and Bechuanaland continued to cause anxiety. Brand was frequently under the necessity of contenting his burghers by entering protests agaiast the alleged unrest in Basutoland. On 15th January 1884, he telegraphed to General Smyth that Joel and Masupha had gathered armed forces around them and were bent on creating a breach of the peace. Ten days later, the Colonial Office displaced Captain Blyth, C.M.G., the experienced Colonial officer hitherto acting as Eesident. Colonel — ^now Sir — Marshal Clarke, R.A., who had seen service in the Transvaal, was appointed to the office. It was a dangerous experiment, but, thanks to the ability and discretion of the newcomer, it gradually succeeded. On 19th March there was an impressive leave-taking, when Letsie, addressing the departing Resident in full Pitso, warmly thanked him for his eminent services. ' You have done great good,' he said, ' go in peace.' For many months Brand lost no opportunity of direct- ing attention to the unsettled condition of the tribe under Imperial rule, the moral sought to be enforced being that the Basutos, under the sway of the Free State, would be far more effectively controlled. On 15th July he complained direct to Sir Hercules Robinson that he had been forced to call out a Burgher Com- Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTARY LIFE 191 mando to protect his borders. A few days later, Clarke, on being interrogated, declared that the unrest was due to the action of the Free State in encroaching on Baralong territory. The President returned to the charge again and again, but in November the High Commissioner, in a pubhshed Despatch to the Secretary of State, warmly defended the administration of his subordinate. Throughout the early months of 1885 the representations of Brand were incessant, and on 21st January, the High Commissioner, writing to Lord Derby, forwarded an enclosure from Clarke stating that Masupha's excuse for arming was summed up in his own words, ' The Boers tell me night and day that British troops are on their way to Basutoland.' Fortun- ately, however, tact and firmness prevailed. The High Commissioner, whose fund of common sense was enor- mous, refused to be rushed, and the situation gradually solved itself without recourse to arms. The condition of Bechuanaland was more alarming. The territory was fairly well known in England owing to the travels of Burchell, Moffat, Oswell, Gordon-Ctmmaing, Hepburn, Mackenzie and Selous. Livingstone himself at an earher date had sounded a note of warning. ' The Boers,' he wrote, ' resolved to shut up the interior, and I to open it. We shall see who succeeds, they or I.' On 27th February 1884, the Convention of London, modifying that of Pretoria, was signed. If the British authorities beheved their further concessions would restrain the Transvaal from prosecuting plans of aggression, they were speedily undeceived. In two days Kruger raided East and West in support of his freebooters in Zululand and Bechuanaland. His pohcy was severely condemned by Mr. Merriman in a speech dehvered at Graham's Town the following year. ' From Digitized by Microsoft® 192 CECIL JOHN KHODES the time/ he said, ' the Convention was signed, the pohcy of the Transvaal was to push out bands of freebooters, and to get them involved in quarrels with the natives. They wished to push their border over the land westwards and reahse the dream of President Pretorius, which was that the Transvaal should stretch from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. The result was robbery, rapine and murder.' This defiance by the President was too much for the High Commissioner. Captain Bower was sent up to Taungs, arriving there on the 12th March. A proclama- tion followed, formally annexing Bechuanaland, and appointing a Resident in the person of the Rev. John Mackenzie, a veteran missionary but not in all respects a judicious pohtical agent. On 11th July the High Commissioner cabled to the Secretary of State for funds wherewith to raise one hundred mounted poHce to check cattle-raiding. For once Lord Derby made up his mind with almost indecent haste, and forwarded £10,000 on the following day. On 15th July Sir Hercules again cabled to say that Mackenzie now requisitioned for two hundred men, which he did not recommend, adding that in his opinion all the cattle owned by Mankoroane and Montsoia were not worth the ex- penditure involved, and he went on to complain that he experienced great difficulty in obtaining facts from the Resident Commissioner, but, for his part, he thought he could rely on the loyalty of Stellaland burghers, seeing how justly they had been treated by Rhodes. Reading between the hnes, one sees that His Excellency was losing confidence in Mackenzie. Matters were in this critical position when, on 16th July, Rhodes rose in the House of Assembly to make one more appeal to members to take a broad and Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTARY LIFE 193 statesmanlike view of the situation. Speaking of this speech an ofl&cial of the House says, ' It was in the old House in the Good Hope Lodge — the last session there. Rhodes stood with his back to the wall, on the Speaker's left. He spoke with great power and conviction, still pointing a warning and prophetic finger to the North. It is impossible to read the speech without being struck with its marvellous foresight." On this particular occasion he argued forcibly against a poUcy of drift. ' Is this House prepared,' he said, ' to allow these petty Repubhcs to form a wall across our trade route ? Axe we to allow the Transvaal and its alhes to acquire the whole of the interior ? Bechuana- land is the neck of the bottle and commands the route to the Zambesi. We must secure it, unless we are prepared to see the whole of the North pass out of our hands. I do not want to part with the key of the interior, leaving us settled just on this small peninsula. I want the Cape Colony to be able to deal with the question of confederation as the dominant State of South Africa.' His appeal did not commend itself to those whose definite pohcy was to aggrandise the Dutch Repubhcs, but the majority of the House concurred with Rhodes in desiring to retain the Hiaterland for the Cape Colony. Fortunately, also, there was one man in South Africa who not only recognised the strength of Rhodes's argument, but who had the will and the power to help him. In the long roU of illustrious pubhc servants who have striven to protect the rights of the Crown in South Africa, there is no name more entitled to honour than that of Sir Hercules Robinson. His second term of ofiice was not an unqualified success, for he was then broken by age and infirmity. The appointment was ynr J Digitized by Microsoft® jj 194 CECIL JOHN RHODES none of his seeking, and he only yielded against his better judgment to pressure from the highest quarters. There is an element of pathos in his visit to Pretoria after the Raid, when, in enfeebled health and accom- panied by a trained nurse, he was called upon to con- duct the most dehcate negotiations with the wily Boer President flushed with a recent moral and material victory. But in 1884 he was ia the prime of life, a man of fine presence, stately dignity, pleasant address, sound business and diplomatic instincts and, withal, cool, wary and sagacious in judgment. As Governor of the Cape his powers were constitutionally limited, and the Dutch party in ParUament were often beyond the range of his influence; but as the High Com- missioner he possessed wide and undefined authority, capable, in hands as firm as his, of produciag strikiag results. Distrusting the goodwill of the Cape Govern- ment to act loyally on the pohcy of Rhodes, he took immediate steps to protect its interests. On 19th July Major Lowe, the Assistant Commissioner under Mac- kenzie, was warned that the border pohce just raised might not improbably be attacked on their way to Taungs, and Captain Dawkins was sent up to Kimberley to buy additional horses. Lowe reported that Mac- kenzie was organising forces in excess of instructions. The High Commissioner, distrusting Mackenzie's dis- cretion, recalled him to Cape Town, ostensibly for conference, and offered the post to Rhodes with the title of Deputy Commissioner. The offer was at once accepted, and within a fortnight of his speech in the House, Rhodes was on the Border. On 30th July the High Commissioner wired to Lowe not to move a policeman without Rhodes's instructions and, as a further precaution, the message was repeated Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTARY LIFE 195 the following day through Captain Dawkias. Duiing August Rhodes kept the High Commissioner fully- advised of his proceedings. On 25th August, he and General Joubert arrived at Rooi-Grond together. His reception was a hostile one, as Joubert, and De la Rey, who was with him, exercised a strong influence on the freebooters of Goshen, who were nearly all Transvaal burghers. In the very presence of the Deputy Commissioner a force started that night to attack Mafeking and drive out Montsoia, Rhodes had no force and, therefore, adopted the only course open to him, of retiring from the Territory after warning the Boers that they were transgressing the terms of the London Convention, and were thus virtually at war with Her Majesty's Government. On 1st September he arrived at Commando Drift, and on 8th September he came to an amicable and satisfactory arrangement with the Stellalanders, whose titles he again frankly recognised with His Excellency's entire approval. On this crucial point Mackenzie had created a disquiet- ing feehng by proclaiming all the farms to be the property of H.M. Government. The settlers, on the other hand, again accepted the flag, and the terms offered of local self-government pending annexation. The peril was averted. Van Niekerk, the Boer Commandant, at pubhc meetings held at Vryburg on 22nd March and 10th May, had absolutely dechned to acknowledge Mackenzie as Resident, whereas, early in September, Rhodes was able to report that the armed burghers — 400 in number — had dispersed, and that he left the Territory amid cheers for the Queen. Meanwhile Joubert had returned to Pretoria, and on 16th September Kruger pubhshed a proclamation in the Official Gazette annexing the whole of Montsoia 's Digitized by Microsoft® 196 CECIL JOHN RHODES territory ' in the interests of hunaanity/ thus cutting the Cape Colony entirely ofi from access to the North. This was too much for the High Commissioner, who, on 8th October, was able to inform Kruger that he had received instructions from Lord Derby to state that Her Majesty's Government regarded the proclamation as a breach of the Convention, and required its with- drawal. Had the protest been unaccompanied by a show of force, the Transvaal would not improbably have defied it, or entered upon a prolonged negotiation to gain time. But Sir Hercules Robinson, acting on the advice of Rhodes, meant business. Immediate steps were taken to strengthen the Cape garrison. The spirit of Cape loyalists was aroused. At a mass meeting held in Cape Town strong resolutions were adopted in favour of Imperial intervention. The Bond leaders threatened armed resistance on the part of their friends. But H.M. Government stood firm, and it was announced that they intended to send a strong expedition to Bechuanaland under Sir Charles Warren, who had akeady seen service in South Africa. On 10th November, his commission as Special Com- missioner was signed, and in a letter from the Colonial Ofl&ce of even date he was instructed to clear out the filibusters, restore order, reinstate the evicted natives, prevent further depredations and hold the country for the Crown. It was also intimated to the Transvaal that they would be held responsible for the expense of the expedition. Kruger's first open attempt to thwart the policy of Rhodes thus met with a signal repulse. Her Majesty's Government was for once in earnest. Under date the 26th November 1884, Ernest Rhodes writes to his brother to say that the expeditionary Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTARY LIFE 197 force would consist at the outset of 8000 men, but would be raised to 20,000 if necessary. He adds the interesting family item of news that all three brothers had received their company, he himself being gazetted Captain on 12th September, Frank (then at Dongola), 15th October, and Elmhirst on 16th October. ' Close running,' he remarks. Early in December, Warren reached Cape Town and had an interview with the High Conamissioner, the nature of which I give in the latter's own words. ' On the afternoon of the 6th December Sir Charles Warren had an interview with me which lasted for more than an hour, during which we discussed very fully in all its bearings the mission on which he was proceeding. I pointed out what I understood to be the position in Goshen, and the possible assistance which might be given to the freebooters of Rooi-Grrond by their sympa- thisers in the Transvaal and Free State. I then alluded to Stellaland, which was at that moment in a quiet state, and remarked upon the importance of preventing the Stellalanders either joining the Goshenites or interfering with the troops passing through their country for Rooi-Grond. Sir Charles Warren inquired how this very desirable result could be effected, and I repUed that if I were in his position I should at once take two steps : (1) I should invite Mr. Rhodes, who had come down to Cape Town, to return to Stellaland with a view of keeping that country quiet until the troops had passed through on their way to Goshen ; (2) I should telegraph to Mr. Niekerk that we were prepared to adhere to the terms of the agreement of the 8th September, provided it was respected by the people of Stellaland. I added that I thought if the Stellaland people saw that their land titles which had Digitized by Microsoft® 198 CECIL JOHN RHODES been promised to them were safe, they would not jeopardise their claims by interfering with the passage of troops through the country. Sir Charles Warren at once replied that he was prepared to adopt both suggestions ; but added that he feared Mr. Rhodes, whom he had seen, would not care to return to Stella- land. I said I thought he would consent to do so ; that he had undertaken so far a disagreeable and thank- less duty at great personal inconvenience, and without remuneration ; and that if he were told that he could still be of public service, I felt sure he would not allow any personal considerations, such as a contemplated visit to England, to interfere. It was arranged that Mr. Rhodes should be asked, and Sir Charles Warren then inquired as to the terms of the telegram, which I had suggested should be sent to Mr. Niekerk. I drafted a telegram, with which he expressed himself satisfied, and said he was ready to transmit it. I suggested he might take a night to consider it, as I was not anxious to hurry him into decision. He replied that he had made up his mind, and required no time for consideration. I commenced pointing out to him the nature of the agreement of the 8th September, and the points upon which it differed from Mr. Mackenzie's previous agreement, which was cancelled by it. He appeared a Mttle impatient with these explanations, and said he knew all about Mr. Rhodes's agreement, having read it carefully in the Blue-book on his passage out. I again suggested that he should think well over the telegram before despatching it, at which he evinced a little irritation, remarking that when he had come to a decision he was not in the habit of reconsider- ing it.' It is important to remember this interview, as bearing Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTARY LIFE 199 on the serious differences of opinion which occurred, later on, between Rhodes and Warren. Meanwhile, the latter proceeded to his destination, having with him a picked force of 4000 men, of whom one half were regular troops. Kj-uger was evidently alarmed at the turn affairs had taken, and especially at being held responsible for the cost of the expedition. His finances were already in disorder. Towards the end of 1884 the credit of the Boer Government was at a low ebb, and the President, in a conciliatory mood, offered to meet Warren at Fourteen Streams on the Border, to discuss boundary questions in a friendly way, with a view to avoid the necessity of the further progress of the expedition. Early in 1885, the inter- view took place. A summary of Mr. Rhodes's account of it, sent to the High Commissioner, is as follows (Bechuanaland Blue Book, C4432) :— ' From the time of Sir Charles Warren's arrival on the Border, communications of such a nature began to reach me day by day, that I proceeded to Barkly West to confer with the Special Commissioner, with a view to remove misconceptions under which he was evidently labouring. I reached Barkly West on 21st January, and at once perceived that the General's irritation was due to an impression on his part that I was not acting in a sufficient degree of subordination to himself. He went so far, indeed, as to threaten resignation if some change were not made in my official status. As my sole desire was to assist him in his task, I had no hesita- tion in assuring him of my readiness to act directly under him instead of under your Excellency, whose commission I held, but on the understandmg that the engagements entered into with the people of Stellaland should not be disturbed. From Barkly West I pro- Digitized by Microsoft® 200 CECIL JOHN KHODES ceeded with the Special Commissioner, at his request, to meet President Kruger at Fourteen Streams. Mr. Mackenzie was also of the party, and I ventured upon representing to Sir Charles Warren that I did not think the presence of that gentleman at the conference would be calculated either to forward negotiations or promote a good personal understanding between our- selves and the representatives of the South African Eepubhc. The General, in the exercise of his discretion, did not think well to be guided by my advice, and in the result it became fully apparent that the presence of Mr. Mackenzie at the conference was provocative of much suspicion and irritation on the part of President Kruger and his advisers. The President, again, had invited us to a friendly conference, and it had been agreed that both parties should be accompanied to Fourteen Streams by nothing more than a personal escort. There was never the sHghtest reason — ^none at any rate with which I was acquainted — to fear that an act of treachery was in contemplation, and the fact of our moving to the place of meeting as though we were in an enemy's country, with scouts in advance, and sldrmishers thrown out on either side, was not only to my mind ridiculous in itself, but suggested a feeling of distrust which was deeply wounding, and justly so, to the susceptibilities of Mr. Kruger and the officers of his Government by whom he was accompanied. The Special Commissioner arrived at Vryburg on the 7th February, and on the 14th he met the burghers who had come into camp in response to his invitation. His speech on that occasion was devoted mainly to the question of land titles, and here again I found it utterly impossible to concur in the hne which the Special Commissioner pursued. Stellaland, with the exception Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTARY LIFE 201 of its southern boundary, had never been accurately defined, and on that side where a line had been laid down, on the recognition of which the integrity of the Conunando Drift Agreement to a great extent depended, Sir Charles pubHcly intimated his intention of pre- scribing an entirely different boundary. The effect of this intimation was to nulhfy to the extent of a considerable number of farms the assurances of the 8th September, frequently repeated, that all duly issued land titles within the recognised limits of Stellaland would be regarded as binding and valid. The action of Sir Charles in repudiating the hne agreed upon by a joint Commission I could only regard as a breach of faith.' The letter to the High Commissioner from which I have quoted was a very lengthy one, and closed with an offer of resignation. It seems clear that Rhodes was much moved, and for a while contemplated the abandon- ment of Colonial politics. ' I hear from our sisters,' writes Ernest from the Melbourne Club, 24th Novem- ber 1885, ' that you are thinking of going round the world.' It is evident that Warren was profoundly jealous of his masterful subordinate, and, while an excellent mihtary officer, was unable to grasp the necessity of accepting the situation so far as it had already received official sanction. Rhodes, however, was supported by the High Commissioner, and his view was upheld by Lord Derby who, in a Despatch dated 30th May, laid it down that the Stellaland titles were to be generally recognised and maintained, except in cases of flagrant coercion. The interview with Kruger, though marred by the unreasonable attitude of the British Commander, was noteworthy for several reasons. It was the first Digitized by Microsoft® 202 CECIL JOHN RHODES occasion on which Ehodes and Kruger met. UntO then neither knew the other's strength. Rhodes came away with a feehng of sincere admiration for the abiUties of the Boer President and playfully described himself as ' one of the young Burghers.' Kruger, who knew a man when he saw him, instinctively recog- nised in Rhodes a formidable opponent. It may also be noted as the first appearance in South African affairs of a young man, twenty-six years of age, who accompanied Kruger in the capacity of secretary. Dr. Leyds, of Dutch descent but born iu Java, was a brilliant diplomatist, suave and poHshed in manner and of great intellectual power, and he subsequently came to exercise supreme influence over the mind of the President, an influence which in the long-run cost the Republic its independence. At the conference, Kruger protested that he had been powerless to check the raiders except by annexation. Rhodes, however, with not unnatural heat, exclaimed, ' I blame only one man for the events that followed my arrival at Eooi-Grond, and that is Joubert. Why is he not here to answer for himself ? ' There was not, and there could not be, any satisfactory answer to this question, but Kruger readily agreed that Rhodes, accompanied by Leyds, should proceed to Stellaland to settle as to who was re- sponsible for the cattle-raiding there, and he frankly promised to enforce their award against his own Burghers. On completion of this work Rhodes returned to Kimberley, and on the 19th May 1885, he left there to attend the Cape Parliament. It was in those days still an arduous journey, railway communication not being opened till the following November. It is beyond my purpose to deal further with the Warren Expedition, Digitized by Microsoft® PAELIAMENTARY LIFE 203 which, cost the British taxpayer £1,500,000, none of which was ever recovered from the Transvaal. The result was to check Boer aggression for a time and to define our boimdaries with greater precision. All Bechuana- land south of the Molopo, and including the Kalahari, was formed into British Bechuanaland. The remainder of the territory to the north was declared a Protectorate. The route to the North was saved. Despite the pueril- ities of the Cape Parhament and the eccentricities of Warren, Rhodes triumphed. The Special Com- missioner in his way also triumphed, for he check- mated the Boers without bloodshed. On the 24th September he sailed for England. Prior to leaving, he visited Khama, who occupied an extensive territory from the western Matabele border to Lake Ngami. That chief, always with a leaning to civihsation, offered his domains to the Imperial Government, but the cold fit was already on us, and his overtures were re- jected. On the 30th June, three months before Warren left. Sir Thomas Scanlen raised an important debate in the Cape Assembly by moving for copies of all correspondence between the Governor and his Ministers on the subject of Bechuanaland, with special reference to the resignation of the Deputy Commissioner. Rhodes made a masterly and illuminating speech on the occa- sion, which will be found in ' Vindex.' I need only quote his concluding words : — ' When I went to Kimberley I saw a report in the papers of the settlement proposed by Sir Charles Warren, which contained a provision that no man but those of English descent should have a grant of land in the country. If this question had been raised by my honorable friends opposite, they might have been Digitized by Microsoft® 204 CECIL JOHN RHODES charged with trying to get up a question of race dis- tinction. I think all would recognise that I am an Enghshman, and one of my strongest feehngs is loyalty to my own country. If the report of such a condition in the settlement by Sir Charles Warren is correct, that no man of Dutch descent is to have a farm, it would be better for the Enghsh colonists to retire. I remember, when a youngster, reading m my English history that the supremacy of my country was due to its adherence to two cardinal axioms ; that the word of the nation, when once pledged, was never broken, and that when a man accepted the citizenship of the British Empire, there was no distinction between races. It has been my misfortune in one year to meet with the breach of one and the proposed breach of the other. The result will be that when the troops are gone, we shall have to deal with sullen feehng, discontent and hostihty. The proposed settlement of Bechuanaland is based on the exclusion of colonists of Dutch descent. I raise my voice in most solemn protest against such a course, and it is the duty of every Enghshman in the House to record his protest against it. In conclusion, I wish to say that the breach of solemn pledges and the introduction of race distinctions must result in bringing calamity on this country, and if such a pohcy is pursued it will endanger the whole of our social relationship with colonists of Dutch descent, and endanger the supremacy of Her Majesty in this country.' It would be difficult to sum up the situation more effectively. The Secretary of State sided entirely with Rhodes in the line he had taken up, and his Despatch, No. 17 of 16th September 1886, to the High Commissioner, gave adequate expression to this view. In handing Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTARY LIFE 205 Rhodes a copy of the Despatch, the Imperial Secretary wrote as follows • — 'GOVEKNMENT HoUSE, CAPIC ToWN, 13i!A October 1886. ' Sir, — I am directed by His Excellency the High Commissioner to enclose for your information a copy of a despatch which he has received from the Secretary of State acknowledging the honourable and valuable pubhc services gratuitously rendered by you at a critical time in the affairs of Bechuanaland. ' His Excellency desires at the same time to express his own grateful appreciation of the disinterested and effective assistance which you rendered to him at that juncture. — I have, etc., (Sd.) 'Geaham Bower. Imperial Secretary. ' The Hon. Cecil J. Rhodes, M.L.A., Kimberley.' Digitized by Microsoft® 206 CECIL JOHN EHODES CHAPTEK XV PAKLIAMENTAKY LIFE (1885-1885)— Continued Finances of Transvaal — Arrival of Hollanders — Closer Union with Free State — Growth of unrest — Transvaal Franchise — German annexations — Transvaal Eailway Concession — Scramble for Africa — Dilke on Ehodes — Ehodes writes to Lord Harris — Session of 1886 — Eastern Pondoland — Merriman on Responsible Government — Ehodes on Religious Education — Sunday trains — Ehodes on the Sinking Fund- On Irrigation — On the Excise — On treatment of Interior States— On Protection — Ehodes in Pretoria. I HAVE already mentioned that early in 1885 the finances of the Transvaal were seriously embarrassed, A crisis was only averted by the discovery of payable gold. But for the Uitlander, the ship of State would have been driven on the rocks. President Kruger had other anxieties of a domestic nature, one of which is touched on in the subjoined extract from a Transvaal correspondent, which bears date January 8th. ' The President is doing everything in his power to prevent further compHcations. He has lost a good deal of influence in consequence. The Doppers still believe heartily in him, but many of the ordinary Boers are for putting Joubert in his place. It would not surprise me were he called on to resign. An attempt will be made to re-elect Joubert as Commandant-General, but he is playing a deep game and assures me that he will not accept office under the present Government. There are many people here who would hke to bring about a renewal of hostilities. The imported Hollanders especially, are fishing in troubled waters. The Volkstem Digitized by Microsoft® PAELIAMENTAEY LIFE 207 allows no opportunity to pass of impressing on its readers that they have the Lord on their side, and the Boer is a firm behever in Divine intervention/ It is not customary to give Kruger the credit of ever being a restraining force, but South African history cannot be read in its true perspective without clear recognition of the fact that the President was at times the sport of circumstance and driven into difficult positions, of which, in his sober judgment, he disap- proved. But no man is, at aU times, his own master. In a letter received from Sir Hercules Robinson in July 1885, I observe that he deplores the unsatisfactory financial condition of the Repubhc, and aUudes with regret to the rumour then in circulation, that the unsold lands of the State were about to be mortgaged to a private money-lender. In 1886 the Transvaal again made overtures to the Free State for closer union, but their proposals were declined by the latter under the advice of Brand, who was still resolutely bent on not being entangled in the comphcations with the Paramount Power, which he clearly foresaw. In the same year. Her Majesty's Government recognised the new Boer Repubhc in Zululand, which was, a year or so later, annexed to the Transvaal. Slowly, and almost silently, the struggle for supremacy between the two white races in South Africa was gathering to a head. Some years were yet to elapse before the final conflict took place, but already, as my correspondence amply shows, it was foreseen. Consciously on the part of the leaders on both sides ; unconsciously on the part of the rank and file, events were marshaUing themselves for the great contest. Alike amid triumphs and temporary rebuffs, Kruger kept his eye steadily on the object he had in view. Digitized by Microsoft® 208 CECIL JOHN EHODES It was his misfortune that his mind dwelt more on the weakness of successive British Governments, than on the stubborn character of the race they represented. Rhodes had, for the moment, preserved our right of access to the North, and was steadily endeavouring to convince the Dutch-speaking colonists of the Cape that their primary duty was to theu? own Colony rather than to their Transvaal cousins. But his success was precarious. Kruger strove to keep aHve the Republican elements in the whole country, and was soUcitous to hold down the British and foreign citizens now flocking into his state in search of gold. It was a conflict of ambitions and ideals, to be solved by the sword. In 1874, the Transvaal franchise, hitherto free to all comers, was amended so as to require landless men to have one year's residential qualifications. In 1882 the period was raised to five years, and in 1887 to fifteen years. I am not blaming aspirations but recording facts. Under all the circumstances, in- stinctive efforts for self-preservation were natural and even praiseworthy. It was only when these efforts went farther and were directed towards obtaining mastery from the mountains to the sea, that serious trouble arose. The introduction of a third factor in the internal affairs of South Africa must not be wholly disregarded. The Upington Ministry (1884-86), which maintained itself in office by the grace of the Bond, must, in justice, bear the main blame of permitting Germany to secure a footing on the sub-continent. The story need only be briefly touched upon here.^ In January 1884, 1 Herr Luderitz of Bremen had obtained in 1882 by treaties with native chiefs a considerable area of land around Angra Pequina, and was desirous of knowing on what exact footing he stood. Digitized by Microsoft® PAELIAMENTAEY LIFE 209 Her Majesty's Grovernment, under quite legitimate pressure from Bismarck, had informed the Scanlen Administration that Germany desired to know whether her numerous subjects trading in South-West Africa were, or were not, assured of Colonial protection in case of need. Rhodes himself was a subordinate member of that Ministry for some weeks (20th March to 12th May), but it is beheved that the Premier could not be brought to reahse the urgency of the question. In any case the Ministry went out of office without replying. On 29th May the new Premier, Upington, gave a vague and unsatisfactory reply to the Despatch. Bismarck again pressed for assurances,^ and on 21st June Her Majesty's Government felt bound to admit that Germany would be within her rights if she took independent action. The Cape Colony had already, some years before, annexed Walfisch Bay, the only practicable port of entry to the territory, but Her Majesty's Government, though strongly pressed by Sir Bartle Frere to do so, declined to annex the Hinter- land. Now, on the 16th July, the Cape formally claimed the country, but before she could follow up this step by efEective occupation, the German flag was hoisted at Angra Pequina, and all Damaraland and Namaqualand between 26 degrees south and the Portuguese border, an area of over 320,000 square miles, became a domain of the German Empire. Futile protests were subsequently made, but, for good or ill, Germany had definitely undertaken her share of the white man's burden in South Africa. It was a striking warning, not lost upon those who saw beyond the 1 Failing to secure which he cabled to the German Consul-General in Cape Town on 24th April declaring that Luderitz and his possessions could rely on German protection. •' '^ Digitized by Microsoft® VOL. I. 210 CECIL JOHN RHODES ephemeral politics of the day. Withm a fortnight, on the 23rd August, the Transvaal Volksraad gave to a group of German and Dutch capitalists the exclusive right to construct railways withia the EepubHc, a decision that immensely increased foreign prestige at our expense. In September, Germany attempted to gain a substantial footing on the East Coast of Africa by occupying St. Lucia Bay in Zululand, but on the 13th November Sir Henry Bulwer, the Lieutenant- Governor of Natal, relying on a cession of the port to Great Britain by Panda in 1843, hoisted our flag there and thus preserved the territory. The scramble for Africa had now fully developed, and the Cape Colony, before the year closed, formally annexed Tembuland, Bomvanaland, Goalekaland and the Xesibe district, while Her Majesty's Government declared Lower Bechuanaland a Crown Colony, and in 1887 warned Portugal to keep her hands off Matabeleland. Simultaneously, the Boers made renewed efforts to induce the Swazis to acknowledge their supremacy. It is necessary to bear these facts in mind if we are to understand aright the history of succeeding years. Meanwhile, it may be interesting to record the impression made by Rhodes, shortly after this date, on a competent critic who will not be accused of undue partiality. Sir Charles Dilke, in his Problems of Greakr Britain says, ' Another remarkable figure in the Colony, as popular in South Africa as he was once popular at Oxford, is that of Mr. Rhodes of Diamond Mine fame. I believe that, though of an old Enghsh family, he may be said to have sent himself to Oriel College after he had been for some time in Africa. When he first took to poHtics, which was during a pause in his under- graduate career, he belonged to the Anti-Dutch party, Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTAKY LIFE 211 but he has modified his views with the lapse of time. His wealth, in itself, makes him a considerable power in South Africa, where there have until lately been but few rich men : and although his official experience has been short, he was Treasurer of the Colony for seven weeks in 1886, and might be a Minister to-day if he cared to be one. " The Diamond King," as this modest strong gentleman hates to be called, is a man of common sense, who loudly proclaims the excellent principle that Dutch and Enghsh should work together for the welfare of South Africa.' The proceedings of the Cape Parliament at this time caused much uneasiness in the minds of responsible Colonists. The Government was inherently weak and never really master in its own house. ' Your estimate,' wrote Mr. Merriman to me on 24th July 1885, ' of our Parhamentary proceedings is only too correct. Any one with money to lose may well be apprehensive as to the possible development of legislation in the Colony.' I have already referred to the only reported speech of Rhodes during the Session of 1885, a speech delivered on 30th June. Some weeks earher he had despatched the following characteristic letter to Lord Harris, then Under Secretary of State for India : — 'Civil Sekvick Club, Cape Town, June ll&b. ' My Loed, — On reading your motion for papers in reference to Bechuanaland, I gather you are not quite so prejudiced as the generahty of the Enghsh public. I should be glad if you would obtain my letter of resignation which has been in Lord Derby's hands for the last two months. I suppose he will have laid it on the table with the papers promised before Whitsuntide. Digitized by Microsoft® 212 CECIL JOHN RHODES I have also by this mail replied to a memorandum of Sir Charles Warren, which wiU afford information. I merely ask for fair criticism. My main object in the whole question has been to retain the interior and shut the Transvaal in, and I felt that England would not stand permanently the cost of a Crown Colony in the interior. A protectorate is Uable to be abandoned at any moment, so I worked, throughout, for annexation to Cape Colony. Once made Enghsh territory, it could not be abandoned. If you will read the papers by this light you will understand the whole case. The Rev. John Mackenzie and his contingent have persistently mis- represented my objects, but unfortunately he has succeeded in gaining most of the Enghsh press who do not understand the question. By Warren's uncon- trolled action with him you have lost for this year all chance of Colonial annexation. This would not matter if you are prepared to face the cost of a Crown Colony in the interior, which I estimate at about £300,000 per annum. You are now spending about £150,000 per month. I am so afraid the British pubhc will get sick of it and clear out, and then it will drift back to the Transvaal. If Warren had worked with the Governor we could have carried annexation to the Colony. As it is, nothing has been done. You have spent one million and a half and are practically just where you started. Though personally unacquainted with you, I have often heard of you through my brother Frank who was at Eton with you. — Yours truly, • C. J. Rhodes. ' PS. — Do not be led away by the assertion that I am pro-Dutch in my sympathies. I had to consider the best mode of permanently checking the expansion of Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTARY LIFE 213 the Boer Republics in the interior. The only solution I can see is to enclose them by the Cape Colony. The British public, I feel, will never stand the permanent expense of a Crown Colony so far removed from the sea. It cannot be made self-supporting, as it would have very few sources of revenue. Having no ports it would receive no Customs, which are the chief support of a Colony, and, directed by an Imperial ofl&cer on the Mackenzie hnes, you would have to keep a large pohce force against possible Boer encroachments. If the mother country is prepared to face such an expenditure, I say by aU means adopt such a poUcy. But my instructions have always been that after asserting British supremacy the course desired was Colonial annexation. Against this, Warren has agitated ever since he went into the country and I feel I have been placed in a false position. The Niekerk trial came to an end as soon as he was sent to the Colony. The Crown Prosecutor at Kimberley declined to prosecute on the ground of there being no evidence. I mention this, as it may be stated that it is due to the pro-Boer sympathies of Cape pohticians that it was not proceeded with. The real facts are that the barrister who decided on the merits of the case is an Oxford man and certainly thoroughly English iu his views. It would have been better for all parties if Warren had sent Niekerk at once to the Colony instead of keeping him in confine- ment for nearly four months, and submitting him to the farce of an irregular trial in Bechuanaland, at the close of which he re-arrested Niekerk and sent him to the Colony, only to be released as soon as his case was submitted to a qualified legal mind. Conduct such as Warren's is just heaping up future trouble in this country and destropng all chance of success for those Digitized by Microsoft® 214 CECIL JOHN EHODBS who are earnestly working to cement the two national- ities on the basis of true loyalty to the British flag.' The letter and the postscript, which is longer than the letter, will be found to constitute an able explanation and defence of his attitude in regard to Bechuanaland affairs. He dishked being misunderstood, and was anxious to put himself right with Enghsh official opinion. He was between two fires. The ' Big-drum ' party at the Cape distrusted him as at heart a pro-Boer, because he desired justice for all, and, for that reason, had recognised the title-deeds of those Dutch Stellalanders whose claims were based on effective occupation, and because he resented Warren's action in re-opening a closed question. He also vehemently opposed that officer's high-handed procedure in arresting and pro- secuting Van Niekerk, the Dutch Administrator of Stellaland, who had abided by the terms of settlement agreed upon. On the other hand, the Transvaal Boers and their friends at the Cape instinctively recognised, with their customary acuteness, that they had to deal with a strong man, whose underlying motive, though unexpressed in words, was the extension of British authority. It must be confessed that, man for man, the Dutch in South Africa are abler pohticians than the English. Their outlook in the past may have been narrow, but it was intense. Whatever aims they had, they prosecuted them with fervour and conviction, free ahke from the shilly-shally pohcy of the Home Government and from the internal dissensions of the English-speaking Colonists. They held strongly the principle of nationahty. What they failed to see, and what Rhodes saw, was that South Africa was not ripe_ for nationhood ; that its inhabitants, even if Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTAEY LIFE 215 united, could not, for many years, stand alone, and if independent and debarred from the protection of our army and our navy, would fall a prey to the first European power desirous of an additional oversea possession. As a dream it was, therefore, a vain one. Rhodes, on the contrary, reahsed that South Africa could only grow to maturity under the folds of our flag and as an integral portion of our Empire. History wUl, in the long-run, confirm the justice of our current behef that, but for Rhodes, the Transvaal and not England would have developed into the preponderating power in South Africa. His persistence alone prevented the rise of a Dutch Repubhc from the Zambesi to the sea — a Repubhc without a navy and therefore at the mercy of any ambitious foreign State. He also saw that the expansion of our Empire, to be lasting, must be on an economic basis, and must come about through spontaneous Colonial action and not through the direct and artificial intervention of Downing Street. This, and not more than this, is what he and Sir Hercules Robinson meant when, in a much misunderstood phrase, they pubhcly advocated the ' ehmination of the Imperial factor." They recognised that expansion, to be effective, must be natural ; and at the wish and ex- pense of the Colony concerned. If the Home Govern- ment called the tune, of course they paid the piper, but Rhodes held that interference with Colonial affairs was seldom wise, and should be discouraged except in grave emergencies. In affording me the privilege of pubhshing the pre- ceding letter Lord Harris observes, ' By the time Rhodes's letter reached me I was posted to the India Office, and I had enough to do with India without follow- ing up South African affairs, but I sent a copy to my Digitized by Microsoft® 216 CECIL JOHN RHODES colleague at the Colonial Office and advised Rhodes that I had done so. His letter, I think most will agree, is an extraordiaarily accurate forecast of events, and the conclusion shows that, although the means he adopted were to some miuds tortuous, the end he aimed at was most loyal to the mother country and, as things have turned out, the most adaptable to South Africa.' The pohcy of Rhodes duxmg the sessions of 1885-86 has thus been summarised by ' Vmdex ' :— 'The true poHcy then was, Mr. Rhodes was con- vinced, to cultivate in every possible way friendly relations with the Transvaal, and to trust to conunercial intercourse to melt away the strong racial animosity which existed there. Accordingly, during the period 1886-88 and, of course, long after, Mr. Rhodes directed his poHtical labours to win the confidence of the Bond party at the Cape, and at the same time to draw closer to the Transvaal by means of a railway and a Customs Union, which would advantage the material interests of the Cape as well as the Transvaal. This is the key to his pohcy of unification from this time onward, and the key to the understanding of his pohtical attitude and his pubHc utterances, as may be seen from the speeches of this period. Against him he had the Boer ideal of exclusiveness and isolation, with the intense natural suspiciousness of the Boer and his hereditary dishke and distrust of the British Government; and at the head of these antagonistic forces he had, of course, the unresting rivahy and ambition of the strong representative of the Great Trek, President Krug;er. At first, no doubt. President Kruger did not perceive the real trend of the proposed railway union and commercial union with the Cape, and was not opposed to them, and would have come to terms had the oppor- Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTARY LIFE 217 tunity not been thrown away by Sir Gordon Sprigg's Cabinet. Mr. Rhodes was not then a power in Cape poHtics, and ahnost alone he fought for the acceptance of the Transvaal proposals. The offer of free trade and railway communication with the Transvaal was refused, in spite of Mr. Rhodes's efiorts, and when the Cape Government afterwards attempted to get what they had refused, the result was a humiliating failure.' The third session of the seventh Parliament of the Colony was opened on 9th April 1886, by the Acting Administrator, Lieutenant-General Torrens, who, after referring to the Governor's absence through ill-health, announced the arrival of the dreaded vine disease caused by the Phylloxera Vastatrix, and stated in respect to Native Affairs that the annexation of the Transkeian territories was now complete, and that prolonged negotiations were proceeding with Umquikela paramount chief of Eastern Pondoland. The speech went on to make a hit at Rhodes by declaring that a monopoly of Diamond Mining was to be deprecated. It did not occur to Ministers that the amalgamation of diamond interests had saved the principal industry of the Colony from extinction. In his Budget speech on 15th April, Sprigg, now Prime Minister, said of Merriman, ' We all know that the hon. member does not beheve in parhamentary govern m en t. He did not beheve in it in 1882 and he does not beheve in it now.' In his reply, Merriman gloried in the charge, saying, ' There is hardly a man outside the House who is not heartily sick of Responsible Government.' On 30th April Rhodes took part in a debate on School Regulations, and took his usual direct line on education, declaring that although he was in favour Digitized by Microsoft® 218 CECIL JOHN EHODES of State Education, lie would couple with it religious instruction if the people wished it. ' In the education of our people,' he said, ' lies our only hope of killing race differences.' (Hear, hear.) The speech was on Hofmeyr's motion ' That the managers may provide for the religious instruction of scholars during the ordinary hours of instruction, but no scholar shall be compelled to attend without the consent of parents or guardians.' The motion was carried by 46 to 11. On 6th May another Dutch member moved to reduce the number of Sunday trains, and Rhodes, m support, characterised them as a real scandal. The motion was carried by 49 to 5. On 11th May, on the Estimates, Rhodes supported Hofmeyr in his objection to suspend the Sinking Fund in order to square the Budget, as proposed by Sprigg. On 14th May Rhodes brought forward a motion in favour of irrigation iu the Harts River Valley and it was carried without a division. On the same date he spoke on the Excise Bill, saying it was uncertain in its incidence, expensive to collect, and the cause of grave inconvenience. He quoted Adam Smith and Fawcett ia support of his views. The repeal of the Act was carried by 35 to 31. On 19th May he supported a motion in favour of the ' Precious Stones Mines Act Amendment Bill,' and it was carried. On the same date he moved to impose road rates on native huts within Location areas and on Crown Lands. The resolution was carried by 34 to 10. Here was evidently a young man who knew what he wanted, and how to get it. On 20th June an important question came before the House, The Transvaal and Orange Free States had applied for a share of the Customs duties collected on Digitized by Microsoft® PARLIAMENTARY LIFE 219 their goods at Cape ports. Upington moved to appoint a Committee to confer with those States, but without power to bind the Colony. But he was dead against their claim to share in the duties. Wiener, Tudhope and Vintcent concurred : Merriman, Sauer and Innes were for fair and even generous dealing. Rhodes made a weighty speech in favour of treating the interior States with justice, and even with generosity, and as a result of his advocacy the Resolution to confer with the two Repubhcs was unanimously agreed to. His speech was a long one. I quote only one extract from it. ' If,' he said, ' we take a statesmanhke view of the situation, we should deal with the Transvaal about the internal customs and the extension of the railway to Pretoria. They are hard up, and as they have no customs duties, and must get revenue some way, they must put a duty on goods from the Colony. If we are going to approach the Republics by laying down the law that we will not give them any share of the duties, we shall only increase the feehng existing at present. It is time to approach this question from a much wider point of view, and deal with them on the basis of giving them some share of our Customs. It might seem as though I were asking the House to give up revenue, but if the Delagoa Bay Railway is about to be con- structed our trade will go through that port. That is the question we must deal with, and if we make no concession, we shall get no Customs duties at all, for we shall lose our trade and our railway receipts. Now is the time to act or we shall find our trade gone, hostile tariffs estabhshed against us, and the reason for which we built our railways swept away. I think the House should weigh this question in a broad spirit and with Digitized by Microsoft® 220 CECIL JOHN KHODES the idea always before us that we should be the dominant State of South Africa.' To understand the points here put it is necessary to know that, in the absence of a general Customs Union, the Coast Colonies were, at that period, pursuing a pohcy of flagrant injustice towards the interior States. To assist in meeting, as they said, the cost of dock accommodation, they persisted in retaining the whole of the Customs duties levied at their ports on goods destined for Transvaal consumption. This course, Ehodes argued, would inevitably drive the Republics to exploit Delagoa Bay to the detriment of Cape ports. Such, in fact, was the natural result, and by the time the Cape reahsed the fatuity of its conduct and agreed to substitute a mere transit duty to cover the cost of collection, it was too late : trade had been diverted, never to return, and whereas Cape ports once enjoyed nearly seventy per cent, of the traffic, the bulk of it has now passed to other ports. Selfishness, whether national or individual, does not pay. In this instance, as in others, Ehodes was ia advance of his time. Three years later a Customs Convention gave the Orange Free State three-fourths of the Customs duties collected at the Cape, retaining twenty-five per cent. for cost of collection. The charge is now reduced to five per cent. On 15th June Rhodes presented two petitions to the House and spoke on the Transkeian Territories Repre- sentation Bill and against the foohsh proposal to give the franchise to raw natives. On 16th June he censured the Prime Mmister for sending a telegram to a parliamentary candidate in which he spoke of the ' Dutch ' vote and the ' English ' vote. And at an evening sitting on the same day he Digitized by Microsoft® PAELIAMENTARY LIFE 221 carried against the Government, by 26 to 23, a new- clause in the Labourers' Wages (Kimberley Compound) Bill. On 18th June he again spoke on the same Bill, and on 22nd June on the Employers' LiabiUty Bill. On 25th June ParUament was prorogued by Pro- clamation. Before returning to Kimberley at the close of the session, Ehodes paid a visit to the Paarl, an exclusively Dutch village of singular beauty, the Mecca of Afri- kanderdom, and the birthplace of that admirably organised pohtical association, the Bond. It was a daring ' raid ' on his part, but he was anxious to work with the Dutch if possible, fully recognising that progress was bound to be arrested if their dead weight was against it. In the hope of inducing them to further the interests of their own Colony before all other interests, he ad- dressed them on 21st June at some length, and met with an enthusiastic reception. He avowed himself a Pro- tectionist, and this, in itself, was a passport to their good graces. The Dutch Colonists have never been converts to Free Trade. In their estimation the farmer is the prop of the State, and his products require to be reasonably protected against outside competition. Rhodes himseH regarded the Colony as mainly depen- dent on its mining and agricultural development, and he always spoke with contempt of Colonial efforts to establish what he called ' bastard industries.' Roughly put, he desired to see Great Britain for many years to come the workshop of the world, sending out her manufactured goods to the Colonies, receiving in pay- ment raw materials and food stuffs. In strict accord with these principles, he said in the course of his Paarl speech, ' We must protect our grain and our wine and Digitized by Microsoft® 222 CECIL JOHN RHODES whatever the country can economically produce. Where we fail is in the idea that we can produce our own blankets and dress stuffs. There is time enough to think over that. First of all let us see that when the farmer puts his plough into the soil, he reaps a profit- able harvest.' It is not surprising that with a pastoral and agricultural people hke the Cape Dutch, a prominent young EngHsh poHtician, enunciating these views, became persona grata. The views, moreover, were honestly held. Only six weeks before, in an Irrigation Debate in the House on 7th May, Rhodes had said :— ' The House has been wandering year by year in the direction of improper Protection. A Bill has been put m to encourage cotton and woollen manufactures. The true Protection hes in the encouragement of the growth of our grain and wine. I maintain that this country could produce its own grain ; and if a slight protective duty on com would so develop the agricul- tural interest of the country as to enable it to grow its own com, the duty would be a right thing. In the years 1874-82 the country paid no less than three nuUions sterling for foreign wheat and flour. In 1884 it was £343,000, and in 1885 £296,000, when, m the latter year, there was a fairer crop. There is not a piece of money in the whole civiHsed world small enough to represent the infinitesimal increase in the cost of a loaf of bread under a tax of one shilling on every 100 lbs. of imported corn. The Protection party has been led away by the cry for cotton and woollen manufactures ; the real Protection is to stop the drain on the country by its payment for foreign corn, and produce our own. I am desirous of repaying my constituents for the confidence they have placed in me for years past ; but I am still more desirous of passing Digitized by Microsoft® PAKLIAMENTARY LIFE 223 a measure which would turn a barren desert into a fruitful cornfield.' From these views he never subsequently wavered. The unthinking party-cry, ' Africa for the Afrikanders/ i.e. an Africa outside the Empire, was an offence to him ; but complete self-government within the Empire, for which he strove, was common ground with all loyal Colonists whatever their nationahty, and it was a party with this poHcy he aspired to lead. It was some few months after the close of the session of 1886, probably in December of that year, that Rhodes went over from Kitnberley to Pretoria. The visit attracted little attention, and its object is still somewhat obscure ; but he is believed to have inter- viewed the President or some other member of the Transvaal Executive on the subject of railway extension. Be this as it may, he came away with very strong views as to the value of Delagoa Bay and the probable pro- sperity of the Repubhc. From undoubted authority I learn that he made a serious effort to purchase land and house property in Pretoria itseK, and authorised a trustworthy agent to spend £100,000 in that direction. The project fell through because, with the innate conservatism of Boer landowners, holders would not sell. Digitized by Microsoft® 224 CECIL JOHN KHODES CHAPTER XVI THE COLONY AND THE 'BOND' (1887) Political Changes— Amatongaland— Count Pfeil— Kruger and Brand- General Beyers — Rise of the Bond— Rev. S. J. du Toit— Merriman on the Bond — Cronwright-Schreiner on the Bond— Du Plessis— Borckenhagen — The Farmers' Association— Hofmeyr — Rhodes on the Native Franchise— On the Native Liquor Question — Railway Con- struction — Rhodes visits England and returns— Swift Macneill. At this stage in the career of Rhodes it is necessary to narrate the establishment and growth of ' The Afrikander Bond.' At the date at which I have now arrived, that organ- isation, though still in course of development, was already sufficiently powerful to mould the policy of the Colony. Before the year 1886 closed, the Upington Ministry underwent nominal reconstruction. The Premier retired but retained the office of Attorney- General. His successor, Sir Gordon Sprigg, had previ- ously been Treasurer. The other portfoHos were un- changed. The cards were shuffled, but it was the same pack. The new Ministry, like the old, was opportunist, and incapable of any action distasteful to the Bond. Living from hand to mouth is not, however, a charge specially applicable to Cape Ministries. The tail some- times wags the dog in other and more important countries enjoying, or at least possessing, Parhamentary institutions. Rhodes chafed under it, but had in his turn to submit, though with a difference. The Colony had its own troubles. Its finances were not prosperous, and it had, as usual, a native war on its hands. The Digitized by Microsoft® THE COLONY AND THE BOND 225 Goaleka tribe under Kreli, a warrior conspicuous in earlier wars, was in rebellion and invaded the Colony from beyond the Kei. After a stiff struggle he was driven off in October 1887, and deposed. The recogni- tion of chieftainships ended. ' Who is KreU ? ' said the Prime Minister shortly afterwards. And he an- swered his own question, ' A black man hving in the division of East London.' In June of the same year there were troubles in Amatongaland, a district lying between Swaziland and the coast. The Queen Regent, alarmed by the pre- tensions of Portugal, was further agitated by the persistent efforts of the Transvaal to gain a footing in her country and thus afford the Repubhc access to the sea. On her urgent entreaty, the High Com- missioner came to an arrangement that, in return for the protection of Her Majesty's Government, she would make no alhance with, or cession of territory to, any other power without our sanction. In Swaziland also, Boer pressure was unrelaxed. Joubert and Smit, as Special Envoys, endeavoured to induce the King to cede his territory to the Transvaal. Faihng in this they obtained from him a curious document constituting Kruger his executor and general heir. Her Majesty's Government declined to recognise the will. Headed off in this direction, the President again turned his attention to the North. With what concern Rhodes watched his ambitions in that quarter can readily be conceived. Nor was Kruger his only competitor for the reversionary rights of Matabeleland and the far interior. Count Pfeil, a German agent, started in 1887 to visit Lo Bengula, more probably on business than for pleasure. Instead of taking the ordinary route through Bechuanaland, he travelled by way of Pretoria, ^^^- ^- Digitized by Microsoft® ^' 226 CECIL JOHN KHODES and his mission was only suspended by a serious illness contracted in the malarial districts of the Northern Transvaal. It was about this time, or a httle later, that Rhodes thus expressed himself to a new acquaint- ance at the Civil Service Club in Cape Town : — ' Other people besides myself have hobbies/ he remarked ; ' some are for collecting pictures or coins, or even butterflies ; others for acquiring land or houses. I venture to think that mine is better than any of these, My aim in Hfe is to secure a country, by the nature of its soil and climate fit for white habitation, and which may prove suitable for British occupation. This is what our country urgently needs, and I could have no greater happiness than to be the means of obtaitung for Great Britain sufiicient land for this purpose. That is my ideal.' ' I felt,' says my correspondent, ' that this was the utterance of a great mind.' It is only fair to President Kruger to add that his ambitions in the same direction were equally legitunate, and what we deem patriotic effort in the one case cannot be dismissed as mere intrigue in the other. Looking back now, it is easy to understand the friction and heat engendered by this clashing of warring aspira- tions. The various annexations referred to in precedmg chapters were not accompHshed without rousing deep resentment in the minds of those who were defeated in the struggle. The Free State, so long as Brand ruled, was content to pursue the even tenor of its way. The aims of the Transvaal were more ambitious. Hitherto Kruger had been more or less restrained by that ' eternal want of pence that vexes pubKc men.' This was now to be changed. In 1881, after the retrocession, the revenue was under £38,000, and was collected Digitized by Microsoft® THE COLONY AND THE BOND 227 with difficulty. In 1887 the revenue exceeded £637,000, and advanced so rapidly, owing to the activity displayed on the Rand, that in 1899, the year of the second war, it had risen to £4,000,000. The Uitlanders were, in reahty, Kruger's best asset. Unfortunately he never knew it. An influential Transvaal leader. General Beyers, who will not be suspected of unfriendliness or disloyalty to his old President, puts the case in a nutshell. Speak- ing at Burghersdorp in January 1908, he tells the following anecdote : — ' President Kiuger,' he said, ' once put a question to Brand. " Men are pouring into my country. What am I to do with them ? " ' " Make them your friends," repHed Brand.' Sagacious advice, the acceptance of which would have averted a fratricidal war, and saved the lives of thousands of brave men of both races ! The rising power of the Republic and of its friends in the Cape Colony convinced Rhodes in 1887 that to preserve for his country the vast hinterland of South Africa he must, to use his own expression, ' square ' the Bond. Its organisation was sufficiently complete to determine the fate of Ministries. But its avowed aim, thus far, could not by any stretch of charity be construed as other than disaffected, if not disloyal. It was under these circumstances that Rhodes made his first overtures to them at the Paarl. A brief history of the rise of the Bond is thus necessary to elucidate the situation with which, as a practical statesman, he had to deal. The founder of the organisa- tion was an astute but emotional Minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, residing at the Paarl, where in 1880 he edited a paper entitled The Patriot. The Rev. Digitized by Microsoft® 228 CECIL JOHN EHODES S. J. du Toit, for such was his name, skilfully used the vernacular press to fan into a flame the smouldering discontent of the Dutch with British rule. His appeal to racial feeling naturally met with considerable success during the first Boer war. Subsequently he republished his articles in pamphlet form under the title of De Transvaalse Oorlog, in which, with that remarkable fluency of which the ' Taal ' permits, he advocated the formation of an association to focus Afrikander sentiment. His suggestions came at an opportune moment, and did not fall on stony ground, ' This,' he said, ' is our time to establish the Bond, The English Government talks of a Confederation vmder the British flag. That will never happen. Let them take that away and within a year the free Afri- kander flag would be established. War against the Enghsh language must begin. It must be considered a disgrace to speak English. The aim of the Bond is national development under our own flag.' Mr. du Toit had no difficulty in achieving his aims in the Cape Colony. In the Transvaal he met with less success. President Kruger always looked askance at poHtical movements even where ostensibly engineered in his own support. An imperium in imferio was abhorrent to him, and he regarded all delegation of authority with disfavour. It was on these grounds he afterwards stubbornly opposed the grant of municipal government. In the Free State, Brand, though for other and better reasons, was equally hostile ; but Mr. du Toit gained the warm support of Mr. Reitz, one of the judges, and Mr. Borckenhagen, a German who edited a local paper of a violent type. The aims of the Bond were thus set forth by them. ' The object of the Afrikander Bond is the establish- Digitized by Microsoft® THE COLONY AND THE BOND 229 ment of a South African nationality through the cultiva- tion of a true love of this our Fatherland. This must be attained by the promotion and defence of the national language and by Afrikanders, both pohtically and socially, making their power felt as a nation.' The tendency of these appeals was, of course, pointed out in Cape press organs loyal to the Constitution. In a speech made by Mr. Merriman at Graham's Town in January 1885, he fiercely assailed the new party. ' Each one of you,' he said, ' will have to make up his mind whether he is prepared to see this Colony remain a part of the British Empire, which carries with it obligations as well as privileges, or whether he is pre- pared to obey the dictates of the Bond. Some years ago, when the poison first began to be distilled in this country, I felt it must come to this — was England or the Transvaal to be the paramount force in South Africa ? What can you think of the objects of the Bond when you find Judge Reitz advocating a Repubhc of South Africa under one flag 1 My quarrel with the Bond is that it stirs up race differences. Its main object is to make the Transvaal Repubhc the para- mount power. That is the reason of its hostihty to John Brand, an Afrikander of Afrikanders, a true friend of the EngUsh.' Mr. Cronwright-Schreiner at a later date (7th October 1893), used equally emphatic language. ' What,' said he, ' is the Afrikander Bond ? It is anti-English in its aims. Its officers and its language are Dutch, and it is striving to gain such power as absolutely to control the Cape Parhament. The vast majority of Bondsmen are nearly iUiterate, and governed almost entirely by emotion instead of reason.' But pontics, it has been said, accustoms one to Digitized by Microsoft® 230 CECIL JOHN RHODES strange bedfellows, and such is the irony of events that the founder of the Bond lived to be drummed out of its ranks as too EngUsh, while Mr. Merriman and Mr. Cronwright-Schreiner, its sharpest assailants, came to be its prominent defenders, and the former^ its Parhamentary chief. Inconsistency has been charitably defined as holding two opinions at the same time. With a year's interval no charge of inconsis- tency can apparently arise. It is a comfortable creed. At a still later date (1898) a Mr. Du Plessis thus addressed his fellow Bondsmen : ' Never forget, young Afrikanders, how the EngUsh dominion was to youi fathers, as the Kingdom of Egypt, from which the Lord helped them to go free. Keep now from Enghsh ways, so in time, under God's blessing, it shall be for the Afrikander nation to rule over a Confederation strong enough to defend itself against the mighty British Empire.' But the ethics of the Bond cannot be fairly deduced from the shrill and vehement censure of its political opponents, nor from the extravagant utterances of its extreme supporters. By its own words and acts it is entitled to be judged. A recorded conversation between Rhodes and Borckenhagen is not evidence, and I give it only for what it may be worth. 'Mr. Rhodes,' said Borckenhagen, ' we want a United South Africa.' ' So do I,' replied Rhodes. ' I am with you entirely.' ' We will take you as our leader,' said the German pro-Boer ; ' there is only one small thing : we must be independent of the rest of the world.' ' No,' said Rhodes, ' you take me for a rogue or a fool. I should be a rogue to forfeit my history and traditions, and a fool because I should be hated by my own country- men and distrusted by yours.' Digitized by Microsoft® THE COLONY AND THE BOND 231 But what then were the original and fundamental principles of the Bond stated in its own words ? In its first Congress, held at Graafi Reinet in 1882, a pro- gramme of principles was submitted and adopted after discussion but without a division. Its governing clause ran thus, ' In itself acknowledging no single form of government as the only suitable form and whilst acknowledging the form of government at present existing, the ' Bond ' means that the aim. of our national development must be a united South Africa under its own flag.' For reasons of pohcy not difiicult to understand, it was not deemed desirable to pubHsh ofl&cially the definition arrived at, but all branches of the organisation subsequently started in the Cape Colony were formed on this basis, and the text of the Resolution was annexed to the Minutes of the Congress held in 1884. When in 1886 the fuU Constitution of the Bond was formu- lated and made pubUc, this leading principle was, in milder terms, thus stated. ' The first object of the Bond is the formation of a South African nationahty by means of imion and co-operation as a preparation for its ultimate purpose, a united South Africa. The Bond tries to attain this object by constitutional methods, giving to respective governments and legis- latures all the support to which they are entitled.' This cryptic utterance fairly represents the pohcy of the Bond when Rhodes set himself to win its support for his scheme of Northern expansion. A brief explana- tion may be useful of the reasons determining the Bond's modification of its original programme. The suppression of an open declaration of disloyalty was necessary to induce an important body, the Farmers' Association, to join the younger organisation, for its Digitized by Microsoft® 232 CECIL JOHN KHODES members were chiefly Eastern Province men of English descent, who would not tolerate any repudiation of the flag. Mr. du Toit himself, as the years passed, was sobered by sad experience. Soon after founding the Bond, he was appointed Superintendent-General of Education in the Transvaal and, while there, came into conflict with the Hollanders whose influence over the President was then becoming supreme, and who disliked a Cape Afrikander with ideas. They therefore procured his dismissal, and from that date onward he developed a critical tone towards Krugerism and even towards the political organisation he had done so much to create — an attitude which led to his being driven from the counsels of the party by disciplinary methods akin to those employed by the Parnellite leaders against independent supporters in the House of Commons. The change in Bond tactics was accelerated by a sober- ing influence of responsibihty. A power that can make and unmake Ministries, sooner or later acquires a tinge of statesmanship. Even Tammany would cease to be were it not sagaciously led. This sagacious leadership was supplied by Mr. Jan Hofmeyr, of whom it is impossible to speak without admiration. Ill-health, and the reluctance to accept office due to physical infirmity, alone prevented Mr. Hofmeyr from occupying the position of Premier of the Cape Colony. But he was for years a power behind the throne. Disliking pubUcity, the nickname of 'The Mole ' was given him by the satirical wit of Mr. Mern- man, as appropriate to what his opponents described as an underground pohcy. But he was, until his death, the brain of the Afrikander Bond. More than this, he was the trusted Councillor in emergencies of successive High Commissioners. As an Imperial statesman, he Digitized by Microsoft® THE COLONY AND THE BOND 233 displayed his great abiKties both at Ottawa and in London. Aknost at any time he could have formed a Coahtion Ministry enjoying very general respect, and a nationahty which in one generation produced a Brand, a De VilHers and a Hofmejrr, cannot be shght- ingly regarded by sensible men. It is not to be wondered at that a pohtical body controlled by Mr. Hofmeyr became a power in the land and gradually shed the extreme opinions of its inmaaturity. I have dwelt in some detail on the growth of the Bond, because, being feared, it is often mahgned, and because it is necessary to understand the motives of Rhodes in endeavouring to arrive at a working aUiance with its members, formidable ahke for their numbers and the strength and sincerity of their convictions. His aim was not to weaken their power but to deflect their policy, and to impress upon them that their first duty was to the Empire of which they formed a constitutional part, and not to the Repubhcan burghers of a neighbouring State with whom their sole connection was the accident of distant kinship. His speech at the Paarl may be taken as the first outward and visible sign of the entente cordiale which subsequently existed and which remained practically operative until the Raid. He made concessions to their prejudices, with many of which, indeed, he heartily sympathised, and, over a period of several years, he succeeded in maintaining the integrity of our Empice in South Africa by the aid of an Association formed expressly to destroy it. On 23rd June 1887, Rhodes made an interesting speech in the House on the subject of the Native Franchise, the occasion being a full-dress debate on a Parhamentary Registration Bill, introduced by the Sprigg Administra- Digitized by Microsoft® 234 CECIL JOHN EHODES tion to alter the Constitution Ordinance in order to restrict the unlimited franchise held by natives. It must be borne in mind that the franchise had never been granted by the Colony itself, but by the terms of a Constitution drafted by the armchair pohticians in Downing Street, as to which the Cape had never been adequately consulted. It being the function of an opposition to oppose, the proposals of the Government were freely assailed, but Rhodes would not lend himself to a counterfeit resistance and broke away from his party. He pointed out with great force that the native franchise existed in no other State in South Africa, and would long ago have been limi ted at the Cape so as to apply only to educated men of colour, had not the mutual jealousies of Dutch and Bnghsh caused the two European races to bid, one against the other, for the native vote. He declared against the ' blanket ' vote, i.e. the vote given to raw natives still in a state of barbarism ; and he prophesied that, while such a franchise remained in the Cape Constitution, there could be no Federation with other States. With equal emphasis, however, he spoke in favour of an educational and property franchise for natives possessing those qualifications. Some years later he embodied his principles in the well-known formula ' Equal rights for aU civilised persons.' He said, ' It was not intended by the spirit of the Ordinance that raw natives should have a vote, and whether it was intended or not, the critical test remains : is it right that they should have a vote ? Does this House think it is right that men in a state of pure barbarism should have the franchise 1 The natives do not want it. All a native has to do under this Bill is to build himself a house worth £25 and he becomes an ordinary citizen. For myself, I tell the Bond that Digitized by Microsoft® THE COLONY AND THE BOND 235 if I cannot retain my position in the House on the European vote, I wish to be cleared out, for I am above going to the native vote for support. So long as the natives continue in a state of barbarism and communal tenure, we must be the lords over them and keep them from Uquor. Why should we not settle all these differences between Dutch and Enghsh, of which the native question is the greatest ? What is the use of talking about a united South Africa if the native question remains undealt with ? Does the House think the RepubHcs would join with the Colony on its present native franchise 1 It is impossible. It is for the reasons I have given, of precedent, justice and pohcy, that I shall vote for this Bill' The desire of the Missionaries and their friends, backed by the Bond, prevailed. Unrestricted franchise remained unrepealed. But the views of Rhodes, as enunciated more than twenty years ago, are now the views of all thinking men. They were not inimical to native interests. On the contrary, they taught the high and salutary doctrine that the franchise is a trust, and that a man should endeavour to make himself worthy to possess it. Racial differences now, as then, alone prevent the law being placed on a rational footing. It is quite certain that the Union since arrived at will be incomplete until the franchise of the various South African Colonies are assimilated, and a compromise, fair to the natives, arrived at. A week after making the speech summarised above, Rhodes again addressed the House, urging that hquor should be kept from the natives at Kimberley, and made a pointed appeal to the wine farmers he had lately met at the Paarl. ' If,' he said, ' there is one class in the House that might be expected to object to the Bill Digitized by Microsoft® 236 CECIL JOHN KHODES it is those members who represent the wine and brandy interest, for that interest, I confess, would suffer loss by the diminution of the hquor traffic. I hope, however, that many of them will be with me on the Hquor question even if their interests suffer. I put it to their consciences whether this hquor traffic to the natives should not be stopped within mining areas.' The arguments of Rhodes prevailed, and the intoler- able condition of drunkenness on the Diamond Fields came to an end, much to the advantage of the natives and also of the Colony, for money heretofore spent ia drink came to be remitted to the Transkeian territories for the purchase of cattle, and the gradual growth of wealth and civiUsation in those and other native districts was thereby assured. Rhodes, contrary to his wont, addressed, on the 6th July 1887, a long letter to the Cafe Argus, in which he gave a masterly review of the railway situation. The concluding sentence deserves to be recorded, though in a condensed form. ' What,' he writes, ' I have now said would have been my contribution to any discussion on the question if I were m my seat when it took place. I feel that the present is an opportunity that may not recur. The Free State is in the humour to join hands with us to mark its resentment at the pohcy of isolation pursued by the Transvaal, and if the right steps are taken promptly, the Delagoa Bay Extension Railway, which would send all the Witwatersrand traffic through Lourengo Marques, wiU not be made for years. It is emphatically a case of the first in the field. If we are first and make good our grip, we shall not be soon or easily disposed of.' The imminence of the peril foreseen by Rhodes may Digitized by Microsoft® THE COLONY AND THE BOND 237 be judged by the fact that on the 14th December following the section of the Delagoa Bay line was com- pleted to the Transvaal border. There the terminus might have remained for many years had the pohcy of Rhodes prevailed, but the Cape decKned to be ' hustled/ the golden opportunity was lost, and with it, eventually, the carrying trade of the Colony. Had a line been at once constructed to the Transvaal via the Free State, as the latter wished and as Rhodes urged, any subsequent construction on the Delagoa Bay side would have been deemed by the Free State an unfriendly act. Divide et impera may well have been in the mind of Rhodes when he thus strove to separate the interests of the two Republics. In the coming struggle with Krugerism, as to which he was under no illusions, it made all the difference to him, and eventually to England, whether the Free State was for him or against him. Having launched his Parthian arrow, Rhodes sailed for England the same day on urgent affairs connected with the amalgamation of the Diamond Mines, as already mentioned in an earUer chapter. His return to South Africa took place in the autumn, when one of his fellow-travellers, Mr. Swift M'Neill, succeeded in interesting him in that eternal and ap- parently insoluble problem — the Irish question. Digitized by Microsoft® 238 CECIL JOHN RHODES CHAPTER XVn NORTHEKN EXPANSION (1888) Amalgamation of Diamond interests— Rhodes and Kruger— Piet Grobelaar —J. S. Moflfat— Treaty Tvith Lo Bengula— 0. D. Rudd— Eoohfort Maguire— Piet Joubert and Lo Bengula— Description of Lo Bengula —Sir S. Shippard— Colonel Goold-Adams— Bishop of Bloemfontein- Signature of Concession- Other Concessions- Rhodes in England again— Irish Home Rule— Letter to Parnell— Makes his third Will- Rhodes in the House of Assembly— Death of President Brand— My acquaintance with Rhodes— Customs Convention— Rhodes speaks at Barkly West— Again visits England— Purchase of Dalston Estate- Returns to Kimberley- Visits Cape Town for cricket match. Events moved rapidly with Rhodes in 1888. His activities were incessant. He had his parhamentary duties to perform, his schemes of amalgamation at Kimberley to bring to completion, added to which he had acquired important interests ia the rising gold- mining centre at Johannesburg. But above and beyond all these, his thoughts were centred on Northern Ex- pansion. The hostility of the Transvaal President to the growth of sohdarity between the Colonies was very marked. On the 30th January, a conference between delegates from the Cape Colony, Natal and the Free State met at Cape Town to discuss the practicabihty of a Customs Union. The Transvaal dechned to be represented, and even Natal, after discussion, felt herself unable to join on the bases proposed. But agreement between the Cape and the Free State was reached on February 18th, an agreement confirmed by Parliament in August, which resulted in a formal Digitized by Microsoft® NORTHERN EXPANSION 239 treaty ratified by both States later on. Under this Convention the Colony undertook to hand over to the RepubHc three-fourths of the duties collected on goods in transit. The pohcy of Rhodes prevailed : the right of an interior State to a refund of duty was recognised, a long-standing grievance was redressed, and a shock was given to the growing alUance between the two Repubhcs. On the 31st March Rhodes was at Kimberley, where he presided over a Special General Meeting of the old De Beers Mining Company, to confirm the purchase of the French Company's claims and the merging of the Company in his newly formed De Beers Consolidated Mines. His speech, which is to be found set forth in 'Vindex,' is worthy of perusal. On the 12th May he took the chair at the eighth and last annual general meeting of the old company, at which a hearty vote of thanks to him for his services was proposed by his great rival, Barnato. But, as already stated, he had much more on his hands this year than the mere preservation of his fortune by the reorganisation of the diamond industry. The time had arrived to strike and strike hard, if he was to win in his struggle with Kruger for British supremacy in the far North. Although the bovmdaries of the Transvaal had been repeatedly delimited, and were again settled by a Convention signed at Pretoria on 11th June of this very year, the Boers had never frankly abandoned their hopes of adding Mashonaland and Matabeleland to their dominions. Late in 1887 Kruger sent up Piet Grobe- laar as his agent with the title of Consul, with a view to make another effort to come to terms with Lo Bengula. It was a flagrant breach of the Conventions on which the independence of the RepubHc rested. The sleepy Cape Colony made no protest. But Rhodes Digitized by Microsoft® 240 CECIL JOHN RHODES came hurriedly down from Kimberley to Graham's Town, where the High Commissioner was on a visit and urged him to proclaim a formal Protectorate over the Northern Territories. In the absence of instruc- tions, Sir Hercules Eobinson, not unnaturally, declined to take^such definite action, but he consented to adopt Rhodes's alternative suggestion, and Mr. J. S. Mofiat the Assistant Commissioner in Bechuanaland, a man of much tact, was sent on a special mission to the Matabele king. In the meantime Grobelaar, having instilled what suspicion he could into the king's mind, proceeded to Khama's country where he was killed by Mokhuch- wane, a petty chief, under circumstances which led the Transvaal to put in a heavy claim for compensation. Lo Bengula, thus worried by the Boers on one side and by the Portuguese on the other, readily signed a treaty with Mofiat on the Amatonga model, by which he bound himself not to enter into any correspondence or agreement with any other State without the sanction of the High Commissioner. The precise text of the Treaty runs as follows : — 'nth February 1888. ' The Chief Lo Bengula, ruler of the tribe known as the Amandebele, together with the Mashona and Makalaka, tribu- taries of the same, hereby agrees to the following articles and conditions. ' That peace and amity shall continue for ever between Her Britannic Majesty, her people and the Amandebele people : and the contracting chief Lo Bengula engages to use his utmost endeavours to prevent any rupture of the same, to cause the strict observance of the treaty, and so to carry out the spirit of the treaty of friendship which was entered into between his late father, the chief Umziligazi, with the then Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, in the year of our Lord 1836. Digitized by Microsoft® NORTHEEN EXPANSION 241 ' It is further agreed by Lo Bengula, chief in and over the Amandebele country, with its dependencies aforesaid, on behalf of himself and people, that he will refrain from entering into any correspondence or treaty with any foreign State or Power, to sell, aUenate or cede, or permit or countenance any sale, alienation or cession of the whole or part of the said Amandebele country under his chieftainship, or upon any other subject without the previous knowledge and sanction of Her Majesty's High Com- missioner in South Africa. ' In faith of which I, Lo Bengula, on my part, have herewith set my hand at G-ubulawayo, Amandebeleland, the 11th day of February, and of Her Majesty's Eeign the 51st. ' Lo Bengula X his mark. ' Two witnesses. ' Coimtersigned J. S. Moffat.' The document, it will be seen, is dated llth February 1888, and the High Commissioner, duly instructed, gave his ratification on 25th April. Kruger subse- quently questioned the vahdity of the Treaty on the ground that a prior Treaty had been made with Grobe- laar, but on the 12th November 1888, Lo Bengula informed Moffat that his signature to the latter docu- ment had been obtained by fraud. Meanwhile Rhodes had not been idle on his own account. In January 1888 he and his friend Alfred Beit had despatched an agent, Mr. Fry, to the King's kraal at Bulawayo to watch events, and although the mission led to no result, owing mainly to Mr. Fry's illness and return, he was at once replaced by a large and well-equipped party led by Mr. C. D. Rudd, Rhodes's old partner on the Diamond Fields, Mr. Rochfort Maguire, a former college friend, and Mr. Frank Thompson, the latter well acquainted with Matabeleland and its formidable ruler. During their prolonged residence in the country, they were shown a very interesting letter VOL. I. Digitized by Microsoft® Q 242 CECIL JOHN RHODES from Piet Joubert, Commandant-General of the Trans- vaal, dated Marico, 9tli March, 1882, addressed, 'Tc^ the great ruler, the chief Lo Bengula, the son of Umzd- likatse, the great King of the Matabele Nation/ The document enlarged on the defeat of Great Britain in the first Boer War, and expressed a hope that there would be eternal friendship between the Transvaal Republic and Matabeleland so long as one Boer and one Matabele remained ahve. To use the vernacular of Dickens, it sought to impress on Lo Bengula that Codlin was the friend, not Short, an amusing com- mentary on the fond belief then held in England, but not in South Africa, that the Boers were in a grateful mood over our magnanimity in regard to the retroces- sion of the Transvaal. The expedition obtained many other proofs of the persistence with which Kruger was striving to obtain a footing in Matabeleland. They therefore kept in close touch with the great chief, following him about as he shifted his royal kraal. This he did repeatedly, seldom residing more than a fortnight ia one place, relays of his favourite wives being brought in from time to time and kept very busy manufacturing beer for the dusky Court. Lo Bengula travelled in a Dutch-built waggon, where he always slept, partly for reasons of dignity, but partly also for greater security. It may be freely conceded that he was a remarkable man. A somewhat grotesque costume of four yards of blue calico over his shoulders and a string of tigers' tails round his waist could not make his imposiag figure ridiculous. In early days he was an athlete and a fine shot, and, though, as years went by, his voracious appetite rendered Hm conspicuously obese, he was every inch a ruler. He had sixty-eight wives, including several Swazi princesses, but left no Digitized by Microsoft® a o o H < a H Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® NOETHEEN EXPANSION 243 heir who fulfilled the conditions of native law. The envoys had ample opportunity to observe the Draconian severity with which the King enforced submission to his autocratic authority, and some of their experiences can, even now, hardly be recalled without a shudder. They were much struck, however, by his capacity for government, and by the evidences they saw of his far-reaching grasp of the details of his administration. Very Httle went on in his wide dominions of which he was not instantly and acciirately apprised. But, though he placed Httle rehance on the value of his land and less on its metals, he was visibly resolute not to part with one jot or tittle of his sovereign rights. For a time he played ofi one apphcant against another and proved himself a past master in the arts of pro- crastination. But at length the persistence of the envoys prevailed. After lengthy interviews with the four principal Indunas, the latter reported direct to the King in favour of a mineral concession, A formal Indaba was then held at the KJraal on the Ungusa Eiver on the 30th October 1888, when the King in Council presided. Previous negotiations were recited with the prolixity dear to the native mind, but in the end, after two days, the opinion of the tribe and its head-men confirmed the recommendation of the Indunas. It was the critical moment. Per a while no one spoke. The proposed Concession lay on the table. The massive bronze figure of Lo Bengula loomed large in the eyes of those standing around, and his inscrutable and blood- shot eyes sent a thrill through the assembly. Then, after an ominous pause, the King lurched suddenly forward, seized a pen and afiixed his mark. Had he been able to forecast the future, a massacre and not a treaty would hB)^;zl^&ivft^riii&/?@anction. But the 244 CECIL JOHN EHODES recent visit of Sir Sidney Shippard, who was accom- panied by Colonel Goold-Adams and the Bishop of Bloemfontein (Knight-Bruce), had apparently convinced him that his true interest lay in concihating the English rather than the Boer element in his Territory. Sir Sidney Shippard had only left him a week before he made up his mind. His official description of the King described him as resembhng a majestic statue. Here is the exact text of the grant : — ' Know all men by these presents, that whereas Charles Dunell Eudd, of Kimberley ; Eochfort Maguiie, of London ; and Francis Eobert Thompson, of Kimberley, hereinafter called the grantees, have covenanted and agreed, and do hereby covenant and agree, to pay to me, my heirs and successors, the sum of one hundred pounds sterUng, British currency, on the first day of every lunar month ; and, further, to dehver at my royal kraal one thousand Martini-Henry breech-loading rifles, together with one hundred thousand rounds of suitable ball cartridge, five hundred of the said rifles and fifty thousand of the said cartridges to be ordered from England forthwith and delivered with reasonable despatch, and the remainder of the said rifles and cartridges to be delivered as soon as the said grantees shall have commenced to work mining machinery within my territory ; and further, to deliver on the Zambesi Eiver a steamboat with guns suitable for defensive purposes upon the said river, or in lieu of the said steamboat, should I so elect, to pay to me the sum of five hundred pounds sterhng, British currency. On the execution of these presents, I, Lo Bengula, King of Matabeleland, Mashonaland, and other ad- joining territories, in exercise of my sovereign powers, and in the presence and with the consent of my council of indunas, do hereby grant and assign unto the said grantees, their heirs, representatives, and assigns, jointly and severally, the complete and exclusive charge over all metals and minerals situated and contained in my Idngdoms, principalities, and dominions, together with full power to do all things that they may deem necessary to win and procure the same, and to hold, collect, and Digitized by MicrosoftS) NORTHERN EXPANSION 245 enjoy the profits and revenues, if any, derivable from the said metals and minerals, subject to the aforesaid payment ; and whereas I have been much molested of late by divers persons seeking and desiring to obtain grants and concessions of land and mining rights in my territories, I do hereby authorise the said grantees, their heirs, representatives, and assigns, to take all necessary and laAS^ful steps to exclude from my kingdom, principaUties, and dominions all persons seeking land, metals, minerals, or mining rights therein, and I do hereby undertake to render them all such needful assistance as they may from time to time require for the exclusion of such persons, and to grant no concessions of land or mining rights from and after this date without their consent and concurrence ; provided that, if at any time the said monthly payment of one hundred pounds shall be in arrear for a period of three months, then this grant shall cease and determine from the date of the last-made payment ; and, further, provided, that nothing contained in these presents shall extend to or afEect a grant made by me of certain mining rights in a portion of my territory south of the Ramaquaban River, which grant is commonly known as the Tati Concession. ' This, given under my hand this thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord 1888, at my royal kraal. ' Lo Bengula X his mark. ' Witnesses : Chas. D. Helm. ' C. D. Rudd. ' J. F. Dreyer. ' RocHFORT Maguire. ' F. R. Thompson.' It will be shown later that the document thus drama- tically signed was sold for shares in the Chartered Company equivalent in value to £1,000,000 sterKng. The Concession as regards mineral rights was complete and unqualified. As regards lands and surface rights, it only imdertook to grant no concessions from that date. There were land concessions already in existence, not all of them of acknowledged validity. But they had to be faced, especially one known as Baities' Con- cession, after ^^10^^ bimMsM e^P^o^er of that 246 CECIL JOHN RHODES name. All these grants were subsequently acquired, one by one, by Rhodes and his group, not without much tedious negotiation and, in one instance, htigation. But Rhodes, fresh from his recent experiences at Kimberley, was not easily deterred, and I shall show in a subsequent chapter how, having secured the entire land and mineral rights over an area the size of Central Europe, he apphed for administrative powers and ob- tained them under a Royal Charter. In a speech dehvered to the shareholders of his Company in London on the 29th November 1892, he commented forcibly on the immense difficulties he had encountered in meeting the ' paper ' claims of alleged concessionaires. ' I may refer,' he said, ' to one of the greatest diffi- culties we have had. You may think it has been with the Boers, or the Portuguese, or Lo Bengula. No ! it has been with the concession hunters. They came like locusts ; they followed us everywhere but did nothing whatever, and whenever they found us in occupation of a district, they came with a piece of paper from some wretched petty native chief and claimed the whole of ovir results.' There was, in short, the usual rough and tumble incidental to the exploitation of a new coimtry. Claimants had to be bought ofi or fought off, but Rhodes was exactly the man for the work, and by one means or another all rivals were in time extinguished, and the work of colonisation was allowed to proceed under the formal sanction of the Crown. On 5th December 1888, the High Commissioner received from Mr. Rudd and forwarded to the Colonial Office, a copy of the Con- cession, and took the opportunity of sajring, ' The rush of concession hunters to Matabeleland has produced a condition of affairs dangerous to the peace of the Digitized by Microsoft® NORTHERN EXPANSION 247 country. I trust, therefore, that the effect of this concession to a gentleman of character and financial standing will be to check the inroad of adventurers as well as to secure the cautious development of the country, with a proper consideration for the feelings and prejudices of the natives.' But I must not anticipate. It is necessary to revert to Rhodes's own movements while his agents, with their Kves in their hands, were negotiating with the Matabele king. Shortly after he met his shareholders at Kimberley, on the 12th May 1888, he visited England, partly on business connected with the Diamond Mines, but partly to start the requisite spade-work in regard to the great Chartered Company which had already taken shape in his mind. While in London, he took his first and ahnost his only plunge into British politics, by giving £10,000 to Mr. Parnell for the benefit of the Irish parhamentary party. The gift was much criti- cised at the time, and writers of the baser sort, whose practice is to impute the lowest conceivable motives for the obscurer actions of pubhc men, did not hesitate to assert that his desire was to ' square ' the Irish vote as he had ' squared ' Lo Bengula and Barnato and the Bond, and as he once expressed an opinion that, if necessary, he could square the Mahdi. But, as is often the case, the motive so sedulously dug for was aU the time on the surface. It is true that the money was thrown away. No audited account of its disburse- ment was ever vouchsafed. It was accepted by Parnell with cold civility, and what he thought of it and its donor must be left to the imagination. But the motive is transparently simple. Gladstone, in his Home Rule Bill of 1886, had proposed to exclude the Irish members from the House of Commons, and Parnell, for purposes Digitized by Microsoft® 248 CECIL JOHN ERODES of his own, had acquiesced. Rhodes regarded this poHcy as a Separatist one. His greatest aim in hfe, to which all his other aims were merely subsidiary, was not to disintegrate, but to consolidate, the Empire, He knew, as every pohtical student knows, that Ireland is over-represented in the Imperial Parhament, but between that and total exclusion there was a great gulf fixed. His ambition was to strengthen the Imperial tie, and the Bill, in his opinion, weakened that tie. Cardinal Manning was of the same opinion. Rhodes was, therefore, anxious to convert Parnell, even if such conversion necessitated a cash payment. His views should be studied in the hght of his own words in his celebrated letter to Parnell, dated from the Westminster Palace Hotel on the 19th June 1888. ' Side by side,' he wrote, ' with the tendency to decentraUsation in local affairs, there is growing up a feehng for the necessity of greater union in Imperial matters. The primary tie which binds our Empire together is the one of self-defence. The Colonies are already commencing to co-operate with, and contribute to, the mother country for this purpose, but if they are to contribute permanently and beneficially, they will have to be represented in the Imperial Parhament where the disposition of their contributions must be decided on. I do not think it can be denied that the presence of two or three AustraUan members in the House would, in recent years, have prevented much misunderstanding upon such questions as the New Hebrides, New Guinea and Chinese immigration.' The closing . words read Uke a prophecy when one remembers the very gross misstatements made in the House fifteen years later in regard to Chinese labour in South Africa. It may be as well to add that a draft Digitized by Microsoft® NORTHERN EXPANSION 249 of Rhodes's letter was submitted to Parnell before being finally despatched, and several of the latter's alterations and omissions were accepted by Rhodes, by whom, in a matter of pressing moment, details were nothing where the principle sought for was admitted. Thus, for instance, Rhodes in express terms had approved of Lord Rosebery's recent proposal at Inverness for reduced Irish representation at Westminster. Parnell would not agree to support this. He would have all or none. His failure as a politician may be traced to this unyielding spirit. He could not ' give and take.' Unlike Rhodes, he never realised that compromise is the essence of pohtics. Parnell repUed to the letter on the 23rd June, and on the following day Rhodes sent him £5000 as the first instalment of his donation, adding, ' I feel sure that your cordial approval of the retention of Irish representatives at Westminster will gain you support in many quarters from which it has hitherto been withheld.' Cynics may smile to think with what contempt Parnell, who never understood us, regarded the Imperial Englishman whose simphcity led him to overlook the fact that the funds, thus acquired, would probably be utilised in prosecuting plans for ejecting ' the EngHsh Garrison ' from Ireland. But there is nothing in the transaction that is not honourable to Rhodes. A well-known and much-respected member of Parhament writes to me, ' Many years ago I was dining in what was then the only Ladies' Diniag-Room in the House of Commons. As I entered the room I saw Rhodes sitting at a table with two members, one of whom was the late Mr. Parnell. I nodded to Rhodes as I went by, and was rather surprised to hear afterwards that he had said, " Di^^S^ ^o%^ ^^J- I suppose 250 CECIL JOHN RHODES because he thinks from my company that I have become a Home Ruler ! " I took an early opportunity of telling him that I certainly had not " cut " him and never dreamed of doing so. We then discussed Home Rule, and he certainly was not what we understand by a " Home Ruler " in. any way whatever, but he was greatly impressed with the urgent necessity of Imperial- ising the British Parliament and removing all obstacles, which could be fairly dealt with, from the path of Imperial progress. This was before he had become famous in South Africa, but I remember what a vivid impression he created on my mind by his strong insist- ence on the Imperial idea.' During the progress of this correspondence with the Irish leader, Rhodes, on the 27th June, 1888, sitting in the De Beers Company's office at No. 80 Winchester House, Old Broad Street, made his third WiU. His secretary, Neville Pickering, was dead, and it was necessary to make fresh testamentary dispositions. His fortune was now assured, and he disposed of it in a sentence, making fair provision for his relatives and leaving the entire balance to a private friend as Residu- ary Legatee. In a separate document, as before, he outlined the great purposes to which he desired that his money should be devoted. He then endeavoured, with that strange but not uncommon persistence in such cases, to repurchase his ancestral acres which were still in the possession of another branch of his family. Faihng in this, though only for a while, he returned to Cape Town early in July. His arrival coincided closely with the irreparable disaster that befell South Africa in the death of Sir John Brand, who, on the 14th July, was in very truth ' taken away from the evil to come.' Digitized by Microsoft® NOKTHBRN EXPANSION 251 On 23rd July, Rhodes addressed the House in Com- mittee on the subject of railway extension. His remarks covered much interesting ground, as the following summarised quotation may show. ' I will first deal,' he said, ' with the broad question, the political future of the country. Three or four years ago, the House beHeved that communication should stop at the Vaal River. Little thought was spent upon the interior, but, by a fortunate accident, it was not lost to the Colony. The Home Government stepped in, and the road to the interior is now all right. A change of feehng has come over honourable members since that time. When we approached the Transvaal for free trade and railway communication, we found that, good as our feelings may be to them on racial grounds, still business is business. The result is there has been a change of feeling on the question of sacrificing the Cape Colony to the Transvaal. Instead of the feeling which prevailed four years ago that the Transvaal should have the expansion of the interior and that we should join with them, we now see clearly that if we allow the Transvaal to take the interior they will never join with us. I am fully persuaded that honour- able members feel now that they are Cape Colonists first, and that their consideration for the Transvaal must be a secondary matter. I do not think members should consider this question as one on which we should be dictated to. President Kruger has already lost in his efiort to realise his dream of a RepubUc for his people and his people alone. When I remember that his dream was to extend his Repubhc over the whole interior : when I see him sitting in Pretoria, with Bechuanaland gone, and the territory behind it gone, I pity him.' Digitized by Microsoft® 252 CECIL JOHN ERODES This is plain straight talk, but consonant with facts. By his refusal to join a Customs' Union, by his taxation on Cape imports, by his hostihty to Cape railway pro- gress, by his marked preference for Hollanders over the Cape Dutch, Kruger had succeeded in ahenating the sympathies of the Colony and thus played into Rhodes's hands. On 25th July Rhodes again spoke, and succeeded in defeating an absurd proposal to introduce a Ballot Bill applicable to Kimberley alone. Immediately after this, he must have paid a brief business visit to the Diamond Fields, for I find him leaving Kimberley for Cape Town by the mail train of 31st July. It was during the first week in August that I hap- pened to make his acquaintance. Our meeting at the outset was of a stormy character — indeed, he had sent me a message which forecast it. At this date Rhodes regarded banks with imconcealed disfavour. He dis- liked their methodical procedure, their strict adherence to rule and form, their steady bar upon irregular or unusual business transactions. Where he dealt with a bank, he dealt by preference with a Colonial institu- tion managed by a local board ; whereas I was the representative of an Enghsh bank whose headquarters were in London. To the Imperial banks, and to mine in particular, he was pleased to attribute the severe stringency existing at the moment in the money market at Kimberley, whereas it was a much-needed precaution- ary measure against excessive inflation of values and speculation brought about, in part, by himself in his struggle with Barnato. During that contest he had purchased on credit, and at ever rising prices, more than £1,000,000 worth of shares in the Kimberley Central Diamond Mining (i^mmmicrMs^^^^ond shares had NORTHERN EXPANSION 253 thus been artificially raised to figures in excess of their intrinsic value, and I had declined to allow the bank under my charge to be used as a pawn in his game. Hinc illcB lacrimce ! A Kimberley correspondent of mine, writing under date 30th July, said, ' R. says he intends to have it out with you, as the measures you adopted during the late crisis nearly thwarted his plans. He is very simple in some things, but a power here and extraordinarily shrewd for all his simplicity. He is pecuhar in his manners and has a rough tongue at times, but he appreciates being stood up to.' Our first interview took place a few days later, and, acting on the hint, I ' stood up ' to him, with excellent results. We parted on friendly terms, and from that day to the day of his death, he threw all the business he could in my way, and on no single occasion let me see the ' rough side ' of his tongue, but, under varying circumstances, showed me a courtesy and consideration so complete, that I only briefly and tardily mention it here, and pass away from the subject as too sacred for more extended reference. Indeed, after his exceptionally full experience of the seamy side of fife on the Diamond Fields, and of the disillusionment that comes to most men who see poor human nature wallowing in the sty of party politics, Rhodes, to the last, retained a touching confidence in his fellows, and when he once trusted a man he trusted him entirely. On the 18th August he dehvered a further speech in the House of Assembly, in which he urged members to make one more effort to overcome Kruger's opposi- tion to Cape Railway Extension. Two days later the Session ended, or seemed to have ended, but at the last moment, when i0^fe#gBjbj>iE/\^ft)^Wpimbly were akeady 254 CECIL JOHN RHODES homeward bound, the Legislative Council unexpectedly threw out the Customs Convention, which had passed the Lower House and been considered safe. Members were recalled and many came, but not Rhodes, so far as can be ascertained. There was a second session of two days, with Governor's speech and all the custom- ary formalities (23rd, 24th August 1886) and the Convention was passed. Rhodes now paid a visit to his constituents, where on the 28th September and 5th October he addressed them at some length. The former speech will be found in ' Vindex.' The latter does not seem to have been repubhshed, but was to the following effect. His gift to Parnell had become known even in the mining village of Barkly West, and the rumour was current that he was about to abandon the Cape for the EngUsh Parhament. ' I tell you frankly,' he said, ' that I have not the shghtest idea of quitting South Africa for any other country. Here I can do something, but were I to become an English pohtician I should be lost in obscurity. I have been told it is my desire to enter the Enghsh Parhament. It may be a presumption to say so, but I beheve I could at any time obtain a seat there without paying Mr. Parnell £10,000 for it. I gave that money to his cause because in it lies the key of the Federal system, on the basis of perfect Home Rule for every part of the Empire, and in it also the Imperial tie begins.' He then went on to restate his favourite doctrine, that the only chance the Cape Colony had of remaining the leading power in any Confederation was to preserve its access to the Northern Territories and its reversionary right to their administration. ' When,' he saids/grf/JedO^teedoft&e Cape Parhament, NOETHBRN EXPANSION 255 politics were very local. The mist of Table Mountain covered all. The High Commissioner grasped the fact that if Bechuanaland was lost to us, British develop- ment in South Africa was at an end. He persuaded Lord Derby to deal with the question and induced Sir Thomas Scanlen to share in the obKgations. Sir Gordon Sprigg states that by refusing his assent on his accession to ofl&ce, he saved the Colony £1,250,000, but if Scanlen had not intervened, Bechuanaland would have passed to the Transvaal. It was at that time I began to admire the man who was ruling in that Repubhc. I saw that he had inspired the attack on Mankoroane with the object, legitimate from his point of view, of seizing the interior, of stretching across to Walfisch Bay, making the Cape hidebound and ultimately annexing Delagoa Bay. And all this without a sixpence in his Treasury ! But, gentlemen, I have ever held but one view, that is, the government of South Africa by the people of South Africa, with the Imperial flag for defence. I am not desirous to interfere with the freedom of the Transvaal, but the Cape Colony must hold the keys of the interior, and must and shall be the dominant State in South Africa.' It was in connection with this speech that his Dutch friend, De Waal, wrote to him from Pretoria on 12th October, ' I have read your speech with interest, and fuUy endorse its sentiments, I have had a long inter- view with President Kruger on different poHtical matters. He approves entirely of your railway pohcy and appears grateful at what the Cape has done, but is annoyed with Natal for forcing on her railway to his Border, which action, he said, she would soon regret. Oom Paul is also strongly in favour of our annexing Bechuanaland.' Digitized by Microsoft® 256 CECIL JOHN RHODES I have already mentioned that Rhodes tried, but failed, to acquire by purchase the old family estate at Dalston. He was not readily repulsed in a matter of this kind, or indeed in any matter. Before leaving England, he invited Mr. William Rhodes, the owner, to visit him at Kimberley, and the very day of the dehvery of the foregoing speech, 5th October 1888, that gentleman sailed from England accordingly. On arrival at the Diamond Fields, he found Rhodes was in Johannesburg and went on there to see him. They returned together to Kimberley to receive Mr. C. D. Rudd, who had arrived with Lo Bengula's great Con- cession in his pocket. The three proceeded to Cape Town, and before November closed Mr. W. Rhodes again left for England, no longer the possessor of his family estate. No bargain had been struck on shore, but on board ship, in dock, at the very last moment, Cecil Rhodes prevailed, and the property changed hands. The conveyance was on a sheet of notepaper, and its terms were expressed with a brevity and absence of circumlocution horrifying to the legal mind, but it held good, and the estate is now vested in the Trustees of the ' great adventurer." This accomphshed, Rhodes returned to Kimberley. On 12th December I find Sauer telegraphing to him there, ' Pleased to see you down for cricket week,' from which I infer that he was coming down about Christmas to watch inter-colonial cricket on the Western Province ground at Newlands. He and Sauer and Merriman, subsequently colleagues, were already on intimate terms, and had probably arranged a plan of campaign for overthrowing the tenacious Sprigg, who, however, was destined to remain in power for anotheg/^^S/^ijli^J^f. THE EOYAL CHAETEE 257 CHAPTEE XVIII THE ROYAL CHARTER (1889) Non-attendance in Parliament — Rush for Concessions — Thomas Baines — Judicious action of High Commissioner — A. B. Maund — Matabele Indunas in England — Aborigines' Protection Society again — Umshete and Babyan — Grant of Charter — Rhodes meets Stead — F. C. Selous — Nyassaland— Jameson in MatabelelanJ — Railway construction— Sir James Sivewright — Rhodes in Graham's Town — Customs Convention — Transvaal and Orange Free State Treaty— Result of Treaty. During the session of the Cape Parhament in the year 1889, Ehodes, by special leave of the House, was excused attendance. For him it was to be a year of action, not of oratory, and no poUtical speeches of his, of this date, are to be found recorded in the books. Eival claimants to land and mineral concessions in Matabele- land were making themselves extremely troublesome, and some of them were influential persons, having the ear of the English and Colonial press. For a time, as we shall see, even Her Majesty's Government were perplexed, and the ofl&cial answers to awkward questions in the House of Commons were at times evasive, if not disingenuous. But for the sagacity and steady friend- ship of Sir Hercules Eobinson, the great Concession, however formal, might easUy have been cold-shouldered by the Grovemment. Ehodes lay on no bed of roses. So far back as the 8th April 1870, Thomas Baines obtained a Concession, though not a very definite one. Baines was a hunter, explorer and self-taught artist, and a companion of Livingstone wh^gkUd^^cr^Mm^^^^ *^® Victoria VOL. I. ^ 258 CECIL JOHN RHODES Falls. His fearless, though gentle nature, his simphcity and integrity, endeared him to all who knew him, and so impressed Lo Bengula that for years afterwards the king's name for him was ' the good white man.' The meeting between them took place only three months after the king assumed the sovereignty, which, strange to say, he did with great reluctance, as a superior heir was believed to be in existence, though hving somewhere beyond the confines of the Territory. Lo Bengula made the most searching inquiries to find the lawful chief, and ' took an oath ' from all the neighbouring States that he was not known to them. It was only when the interregnum threw the country into confusion that he allowed his Nolo episcopari to be overruled. The Concession granted to Baines professed to give him the mining rights over the entire district between the Grovilyo and Guayama Rivers, with the Zambesi as its northern boundary and Sofala as the nearest port. This coincides with Mashonaland between the 18th parallel of south latitude and the 31st degree east longitude. The Concession was soon ceded by Baines to third parties, but without much, if any, advantage to him, for he had no business instincts whatever. Upon his death no one claimed his transferred rights for many years, and it was left for Rhodes to acquire them, which he finally did for a sum of £10,000. Another and far more insistent claimant was the Wood-Francis-Chapman Concessions Company, which, on the strength of an alleged grant, sought to obtain rights over the territory between the Shashi and Mac- loutsie Rivers, a district said to have been awarded to Lo Bengula by President Burgers of the Transvaal, whereas it was also®l«te«l%r(gMma, the Bamangwato THE ROYAL CHARTER 259 chief, as his undoubted patrimony. In May 1889, the Company's agent was in Europe with a power of attorney and, having secured the financial support of a firm of well-known foreign Bankers, he returned to South Africa in the hope of depriving the Rudd Con- cession of half its value. The situation in Matabeleland was becoming very strained. The younger Matjakas, mostly of slave origin, were out of hand, and, to avoid a possible massacre, the Government of the Bechuanaland Protectorate refused the expedition a passage through that territory. On one occasion an entire regiment, 1000 strong, had importuned the kiug for a whole day for permission to make an end of every white man in the country, but he contemptuously dismissed them to their quarters. Nothing daunted, the claimants' agent and his party visited Pretoria and, striking northward through the Transvaal, obtained brief access to Matabeleland, but were turned back by Sir Sidney Shippard under the chief's orders, and were escorted out of the country in October. Some months earher, another similar party under Mr. A. W. Haggard, was ejected by an Impi at the instance, it was said, and under the practical command of Mr. Maguire. On the 8th January 1889, the High Commissioner advised the Colonial Ojffice that the exclusion was justified. That these precautions were necessary may be gathered from the fact that Moffat, the Assistant Commissioner, who was at Gubulawayo in October 1888, reporting to the High Commissioner, said that concessionaires were holding secret meetings with the Indunas and having recourse to bribery on a large scale. Colenbrander, when in London, also stated that the whites were aU armed at the King's own suggestion, and Sf^eWblfmks^S^^ of ^^«i^ ^^^s. 260 CECIL JOHN KHODES Consequent on the distuxbed condition of afiairs, tlie High Commissioner judged it necessary to strengthen the Bechuanaland Border Police by 200 men, and to recall Colonel Carrington, who was on leave, to resume the command. On 24th November 1888, within a month of the signature of the Rudd Concession, an advertisement, by the Chief's request, appeared in the Cafe Times to the following effect : — ' Whereas many speculators and others, seeking concessions of land and mining rights have entered Matabeleland lately against the expressed wishes of the Chief and people. Notice is hereby given that all the mining rights in Matabeleland, Mashonaland and adjoining territories of the Matabele Chief have been already disposed of, and all concession seekers and speculators are hereby warned that their presence is obnoxious to the Chief and people, and those who persist in entering the country hereafter do so at their own risk, and the assistance of all neighbouring Chiefs and States and of all well-disposed persons is solicited in excluding such persons from Matabele territory. — By order, ' Lo Bengula : Chief of the Matabele.' Sir Sidney Shippard, the Administrator of British Bechuanaland, who had been sent up in October 1888, consequent on the Grobelaar incident, had repeated conferences with the king, and his tact no doubt helped to keep the peace. The High Commissioner acted with great prudence in declining to report any alleged concessions to Her Majesty's Government until they had been submitted to and verified by him. Of course, one result of this was that disappointed claimants vilified His Excellency in set terms, and instigated members of the House of Commons to put questions imputing to him interested motives. Few persons realised that he and Rhodes were playing a lone hand for the Empire. Digitized by Microsoft® THE ROYAL CHARTER 261 In January 1889, the South African Trade Section of the London Chamber of Commerce interviewed Lord Knutsford on the subject of Bechuanaland, urging its retention by Her Majesty's Government, rather than its annexation to the Cape Colony. As expansion of the Empire through Colonial action and not through Downing Street was the avowed policy of Rhodes, the deputation had enhsted the services of his opponent, the Rev. John Mackenzie, and the latter enlarged on his favourite theme at great length, but neither he nor the Cape merchants who accompanied him appear to have appreciated the distinction between a Protectorate and a sphere of influence, and Lord Knutsford had to set them right on the point. The attitude of the Colonial Secretary on the main question was quite correct, for he reminded them that the Cape had twice had the opportunity of acquiring the territory but had declined to assume the responsibihty, and that, rather than permit a lapse into anarchy. Her Majesty's Govern- ment had no alternative but to intervene. The para- mount necessity of keeping open the route to the North was, perhaps designedly, not referred to. Before leaving, the deputation complained of the recognition of the Rudd Concession, Mr. H. 0. Arnold-Forster, of aU people, being selected to introduce the subject. The Colonial Secretary, in closing the discussion, remarked with admirable sense, ' As regards concessions made to certain individuals, it is not oxxr business to interfere with them. If our advice is asked we should certainly have no hesitation in giving it, and we should recommend Lo Bengula to be very careful about the conditions he makes. We do not administer his lands. We have a treaty that he wiU not cede his territory to any foreign pow©f;^j#(§»i^ mSrmm^on, but as regards 262 CECIL JOHN ERODES making concessions for mining and other purposes, we leave that, and necessarily so, to him. We have not been asked our opinion on these concessions. It appears that often two concessions are given of the same rights, and it is not uncommon for the result to be that the Chief denies that he has made either. It must be left to the enterprise of individuals to settle these questions with Lo Bengula. I will not sanction any concession which has not been made by bargain with Lo Bengula, submitted to the High Commissioner and approved of by him.' Another claimant, not hitherto mentioned, remains to be noticed. Soon after the Rudd-Maguire expedition left the country, Mr. A. E. Maund arrived on behalf of a sjoidicate called the Exploring Company, and there can be no doubt he was successful in securing a grant of sorts, but invalid as a clear infraction of the Rudd Concession. But Mr. Maund had powerful financial backing and he was a man of resource. Early in February 1889, he was reported in the press as being on his way home, accompanied by two Matabele Indunas who had been commissioned to ascertain whether there was really a ' Great White Queen ' and, incidentally of course, to inform the British public that Mr. Maund and not Mr. Rudd was the holder of a genuine Con- cession from the Chief. It was a masterly strategic move, and stirred Exeter Hall to its depths. At a meeting on the 22nd February of the Gold Fields Company, of which Rhodes and Rudd were managing directors, shareholders were asked to authorise an increase of capital in order to help in the work of developing Matabeleland under the Rudd Concession, an interest in which had been acquired by the Company. One of the sharehofefe«»«eK^fes»©«fehis anxiety regarding THE ROYAL CHARTER 263 the approaching visit of the Indunas, but was assured that the Concession was undoubted. It is clear, how- ever, that the Directors were themselves alarmed, for at a subsequent meeting, held on the 8th March, they stated that Mr. Rhodes was on his way to England, and he arrived before the close of the month. A contest was evidently at hand. On the 13th March, a Proclama- tion appeared in the Cape Gazette that Lo Bengula ruled Mashonaland under British influence, and repudi- ated the pretensions of Portugal. And ten days later a notice appeared in the Bechuanaland News, obviously inspired by rival Concessionaires, which ran as foUows : — ' I hear it is published in the newspapers that I have granted a Concession of the Minerals in all my country to Charles Dunell Rudd, Rochfort Maguire, and Francis Robert Thompson. As there is a great misunderstanding about this, all action in respect of said Concession is hereby suspended pending an investigation to be made by me in my country. {Signed) ' Lo Bengula. ' Royal Kraal, Matabeleland, 18th January 1889. ' The Cape Argus in reproducing the notice cruelly observed, ' Any one can put an advertisement in a newspaper and sign it Lo Bengula. It would have been of interest to see the names of the witnesses appended to the document ! ' As a fact, the notice was afterwards repudiated by the king. On the 11th March, Mr. Chamberlain, then in opposition, put a question in the House as to the Rudd Concession, which elicited from Baron H. de Worms, the Under Secretary for the Colonies, a declaration which made it clear that the clever tactics of the Exploring Company had made a great impression on the Colonial Ofiice. Digitized by Microsoft® 264 CECIL JOHN RHODES ' Her Majesty's Government,' he said, ' have hitherto abstained from interfering with any concession granted by Lo Bengula, as that Chief is not under their pro- tection, is independent, and has not till lately asked for advice. He has now by his messengers requested that some one may be sent to him by the Queen, and we are prepared to do so should he still desire it.' Meanwhile the Indunas had arrived by the Moor on the 24th February, accompanied by Maund, with Colenbrander as interpreter, and for a brief space of time were the ' lions ' of the London season. On the 2nd March they had an audience of the Queen. Babyan, seventy-five years of age, was gifted with a retentive memory and knew the traditions of his tribe better than any man Kving. Umshete, who was ten years younger, had apparently been selected for his fluency of tongue, which had gained for him. the name of the Matabele orator. Having the advantage of genuine colour that did not come out in the wash, and being a novelty to Londoners, they were feted and made much of, as is our custom. A great breakfast was given in their honour by the Aborigines' Protection Society, more suo, to the amused contempt of Colonists. Sir T. Fowell Buxton was, of course, in the chair, and was described as so gentle-looking that he might have been a lady in a frock-coat. Several peers and bishops and Mr. Fred Harrison pleaded prior engagements. Umshete, the orator, dechned to speak as he was not unnaturally suffering from a cold. The transition from a Central African summer to an Enghsh winter rendered the plea a valid one. Babyan, therefore, was deputed to respond, but confined himself to safe topics. He thanked ' the elderly gentlemen ' who had received him, and declared tha^^.;he^^h^ad^^l^d a good breakfast': THE EOYAL CHARTEK 265 in short, the function was a social success, tinged with the proper tone of hostility to the Rudd Concession. In due course the envoys returned to their own country and reported that London was ' a great kraal with houses everywhere.' They carried back with them a mischievous letter from the Colonial Office to Lo Bengula, dated the 26th March 1889, which virtually condemned aU the concessions and might easily have led to a savage massacre of the whites. Fortunately the High Cormnissioner's masterly despatch of the 18th March arrived shortly afterwards, which en- lightened the Home G-overnment as to the impossibiHty of peace in Matabeleland so long as concession hunters were permitted to intrigue against one another, and proved conclusively that the only politic course was to confirm the Rudd Concession. Baron H. de Worms, answering questions in the House and admitting that Mr. Rudd had applied for confirmation of the Conces- sion, still denied that Her Majesty's Grovernment had arrived at any decision in the matter. But the battle was won. The envoys, ' in red ties ' like present-day Labovir members, sailed on or about the 30th March, leaving the field clear for Rhodes, who had just arrived. He, in turn, was to be a London hon later on, but his time had not yet come. So soon as the envoys left England, Rhodes set to work to found the British South Africa Company. Its competitors were absorbed or ' squared,' as pohtical foes preferred to term it. Financial aid was forth- coming, his own Company, the De Beers Consolidated Mines, contributing £200,000 to the first authorised issue of £1,000,000. Thus armed against objections as to the invahdity of his Concessions, or as to the financial weakness of the . new company, Rhodes, 266 CECIL JOHN RHODES within a month of his arrival (30th April 1889) addressed letters to Her Majesty's Government outlining a scheme for the development and government of Bechuanaland, Matabeleland and Mashonaland, and undertaking to extend railways and telegraphs to the Zambesi, to encourage colonisation and push British trade, as well as to exploit the various concessions he had acquired. In other words, he did not ask the Crown for land or mineral rights which, by grant, cession or purchase, he already possessed or was soon to possess ; but for administrative rights which would enable him to make his other rights effective, and maintain law and order among the population whose influx he foresaw. The petition said, in effect, that the responsibihty of the Company would be heavy, but would be rendered less onerous if Her Majesty's Grovernment undertook that the interests which had been legally acquired should receive the recognition and moral support of the Govern- ment under a Royal Charter. The view of the Colonial Office was thus expressed in their letter to the Foreign Office dated 16th May 1889 :— ' In consenting to consider this scheme in more detail, Lord Knutsford has been influenced by the consideration that if such a company is incorporated by Royal Charter, its constitution, objects and operations wiU become more directly subject to control by Her Majesty's Government than if it were left to these gentlemen to incorporate themselves under the Joint Stock Companies Acts, as they are entitled to do. The example of the Imperial East Africa Company shows that such a body may, to some considerable extent, relieve Her Majesty's Goverimaent from diplomatic difficulties and heavy expenditure.' The advantage of expanding the British Empire at Digitized by Microsotm) ^ THE ROYAL CHARTER 267 private expense was perhaps never formulated as a policy with a franker cynicism. Thus encouraged, and after a considerable correspondence with the Colonial Office in June, all of which lies buried in Blue Books and need not be disturbed, a formal petition was presented to the Government on the 13th July 1889, and, after the usual routine procedure, a Royal Charter incorporating the Company was granted on 29th October, a year all but one day since, by the Ingusa River, the Matabele king had affixed his signa- ture to the Rudd Concession. The good offices of the High Commissioner, who was now in London, no doubt expedited the transaction. For the second time in his career Rhodes had played a great game with patient finesse, and again he had triumphed over all obstacles. The text of the Charter will be found in an Appendix. Long before its signature Rhodes was back again at Kimberley, but whilst in London, his Hfe had been a busy one. His practice was to ride in the Park early of a morning, have a late breakfast, negotiate all day, and unbend only after dinner. By steady application to the business of the moment, he achieved great things before sailing. It may perhaps be noted in passing that on one of these days in London (4th April) Rhodes made the acquaintance of Mr. Stead, meeting him at lunch on the invitation of Sir Charles Mills, the Cape Agent- General. Mr. Stead, always a strenuous man both in his likes and his dislikes, came to be the recipient of many of the great man's confidences. By an arrangement with the African Lakes Company, whom he subsidised, Rhodes obtained, about this time, a footing in Nyasaland and, after consultation with Mr. Selous, who ^a|yig J^^nfe|e/^(g^k steps to organise 268 CECIL JOHN RHODES a pioneer expedition with a view to occupy efiectively the territory over which his Concession extended. As it was desirable not to excite the jealousy of Lo Bengula, Dr. Jameson was sent up shortly afterwards to acquaint him with the Company's intention and to seek his friendly co-operation. It was a dehcate mission accomplished with great tact. Lo Bengula, always irritable, was now doubly so, owing to an attack of gout. Of this Dr. Jameson cured him, and in return the king agreed to the coming of the pioneer force, provided they kept an easterly course avoiding or only skirting Matabeleland, and making Mashonaland their objective. Meanwhile, the promise to push on with railway construction was not left unfulfiUed. On 24th October, 1889, Rhodes, in a letter to the Prime Minister, Sir Gordon Sprigg, intimated that the Royal Charter was being granted partly on the strength of his undertaking to push the rails northward, which he was resolute to do, but that he desired to work harmoniously with the Cape Government, and felt that it ' was clearly a case for arrangement.' Sir Gordon concurred, and on the 29th October — the very day the Charter was gaz- etted — a memorandum of agreement was signed between Rhodes acting for the British South Africa Company of the one part, and the Cape Government of the other part, by which the former undertook to construct a railway over Colonial territory from Kimberley to Fourteen Streams, with provisional powers of extension to the boundary of British Bechuanaland and from thence lo Vryburg, a distance in all of 126 miles. The witnesses were Mr. — afterwards Sir — James Sivewright and Mr. — afterwards Sir — C. B. Elliott, the General Manager of the GaT^gEmWM:^^of^^ ^^^ document was THE KOYAL CHAKTEK 269 executed at Lourensford, the former's beautiful seat near Somerset West. Of Mr. Sivewright we shall hear again. Rhodes did not allow the grass to grow under his feet. Within four days the earthworks were com- menced : on the 23rd December the first rails were laid out of Kimberley, and in less than a year the line was completed. A brief reference to other matters of pohtical concern to South Africa in the year 1889 must conclude this chapter. At a banquet given at Graham's Town on 10th January, the Prime Minister, referring to his recent visit to Bloemfontein, said that he had made provisional arrangements with the new President of the Free State for a renewed Customs Convention and the continuation of the Cape railway system through the Republic to the Transvaal border on the Vaal River, The Customs Convention was subsequently concluded, and ratified by Mr. Reitz on the 28th March, and by Sir Hercules Robinson on 5th April : and a railway agreement was arrived at iu June. Meanwhile, several steps were taken to bring about that closer imion of the two RepubHcs for which Kruger had long struggled with Sir John Brand, and struggled in vain. The new President was more amenable. On the 8th March 1889, he signed a railway agreement with the Transvaal, submitting to various restrictions on construction which his predecessor would have spurned. The following day he signed at Potchefstrom two additional treaties. One of them was a harmless docimient reciting that, as there was invincible peace and amity between the two States, so there should be Free Trade amongst their respective burghers, except in contraband. D^e§%eR^/,y^o/fe deeply significant 270 CECIL JOHN RHODES agreement which., beyond a somewhat prolix preamble, contained only two articles. I quote them verbatim :— Art. I. There shall be perpetual peace between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. Art. II. The South African Eepublic and the Orange Free State bind themselves mutually and declare them- selves prepared to assist each other with aU powers and means whenever the independence of either of the States is threatened and attacked from without, unless the State which has to supply as- sistance shows the injustice of the cause of the other State. Done and signed at Potchefstrom the 9th of March 1889. S. I. P. Kkuger, State President, S.A.R. F. W. Reitz, State President, O.F.S. Brand's lifelong policy was thus destroyed at a blow. The offensive and defensive alliance here arrived at was obviously aimed at Great Britain and Great Britain alone, by whose ' magnanimity ' the independent exist- ence of both States was preserved. It is to be noted that the Treaty was signed nearly seven years before the Raid, and more than ten years before the second Boer War. Many thoughtful burghers of the Free State, bred up in the traditions of a sagacious statesman like Brand, disliked being dragged at the chariot wheels of a militant Transvaal, but their protests were unheeded. The independence of the smaller Repubhc was lost in 1889, not in 1902 : at Potchefstrom, not at Vereeniging. Had the Free State kept clear of a quarrel which was not theirs, they would still be a Repubhc. A serious dispute with them BBti9M0li^tbM^ ahnost unthinkable. THE KOYAL CHARTER 271 Their State was governed on lines of equity and common- sense : they had no wealth for cupidity to envy, no pubhc debt, no troublesome ' Uitlander ' question, no grievances unredressed. Their existence depended on the maintenance of the strictest neutrality. But their eyes were holden so that they could not see. Listening to false foreign prophets, to Hollanders hke Leyds and Germans like Borckenhagen, they left the path of safety and perished in the storm which would other- wise have passed them by. Yet not perished, for it has since gladdened the heart of every admirer of John Brand to see that the httle pastoral Republic he loved so well has found an ampler and more enduring freedom imder the folds of the Flag of England. Digitized by Microsoft® PART III CHAPTEE XIX PRIME MINISTER (1890) Departure of Sir Hercules Kobinson — His Mgli character — Succeeded by Sir H. Loch — Diamond Syndicate formed — Allotment of Chartered Shares — Sprigg's comprehensive Kailway Scheme — His Fall — Ehodes forms a Ministry — Speaks at Kimberley — And at Bloemfontein — Attack on his dual position — James Kose-Innes — Merriman — Sauer — Sivewright — Ehodes censures the Colonial Office — Sir Charles Dilke agrees with him — Close of the Session — Bank Failures — Mr. F. Mac- karness — Lord Knutsford — Rhodes again in England — Dines at Windsor. It would be ungracious to pass away from the year 1889 without more extended reference to Sir Hercules Robinson, whose ordinary term of office as Governor of the Cape and High Commissioner terminated during the year by effluxion of time. In accordance with precedent, a renewal of his appointments was naturally expected. On the 1st May he left the Colony, ostensibly on leave of absence, his departure being attended by striking manifestations of esteem and regard. Shortly before sailing he had been entertained by the citizens of Cape Town at a farewell banquet, and had made a speech in which he announced that Her Majesty's Government had requested him to rejoin his post at the termination of his leave, but that his decision depended upon whether he could rely on the firm and consistent support of the Ministry in carrying out views which he strongly held. This unconventional and independent utterance gave great offence in official circles and fluttered''*tee<^dJ6¥ecsst^ in Downing Street. PRIME MINISTER 273 But he was reported to have said much more. The brief cabled surmnary of his speech represented him as declaring that no place remained in South Africa for direct Imperial rule. His best friends in England regarded the expression as indiscreet, and as a virtual surrender to the Bond. Day by day, with wearisome iteration, the Colonial Under Secretary was put to the question in the House of Commons, and although the Minister declined, very properly, to deal with the quotation apart from its context, there can be no doubt that as a rule it was unfavourably construed. The full text of the speech only reached London towards the end of May, when it became abundantly clear that the summary sent over the wire had been in the highest degree misleading. So far from desiring to ehminate the Imperial factor, the High Commissioner had given a masterly exposition of the relative functions of the Imperial and Colonial Governments, declaring that his poHcy was that of Colonial expansion under Imperial sanction — in other words, that Great Britaiu could not and should not undertake to create another India in the interior of Africa, while the Colony should not adopt the Bond principle of expansion on its own account, but with the concurrence and support of the mother country. Even at this late date the speech deserves the close perusal of statesmen both at home and abroad. Sir Hercules drew enthusiastic cheers from his audience by asserting that, while striving to act with equal justice and consideration towards the claims and sensibiUties of all classes and races in the country, he had endeavoured above all to estabhsh, on a broad and secure basis, British authority as the paramount power in South Africa. This was hardly a pohcy of truckhg^,-^Pe^^^/P,^^o^of ehminating the VOL. I. S 274 CECIL JOHN KHODES Imperial factor. Nevertheless the sting remained, and on the 3rd June, when questioned m the House of Lords by the Earl of Camperdown and others. Lord Knutsford admitted that the High Commissioiler had resigned and that his resignation had been accepted. A debate ensued ia which the Earl of Carnarvon and the Earl of Eamberley supported Sir Hercules Eobinson and his pohcy iu the warmest terms, and though the Secretary of State endeavoured to maintain that no disapproval of either had been expressed or imphed, the general feehng was that the High Commissioner had been thrown over, and no doubt the position was accurately and pithily summed up by Sir Hercules himself in a note to me, dated the 25th June, when he wrote, ' I am very sorry not to be returning to South Africa, but I was sick of only shilly-shally support.' It must also be remembered that he had been made the victim of vulgar and insolent questions in the House of Commons, Mr. Bradlaugh having even ac- cused him of abusing his official position to advance his private interests, a monstrous charge, which should have been repudiated by his official superiors with a warmth of language not falling short of the extremest limit permissible by parliamentary practice. But the defence had been lukewarm and Sir Hercules was touched to the quick, being a man of the nicest sense of honour and a gentleman to his finger-tips. It may not be out of place here to say that Imperial Ministers, irrespective of party, are often thought by Colonists to be frequent offenders in this respect, and to be incapable of appreciating their elementary duty of standing up in defence of distant and distinguished servants of the Crown, who are forbidden by etiquette to stand up for the@;^^^g^M/crosoft® PRIME MINISTER 275 It was under the foregoing circumstances that Sir Hercules Robinson retired from the high post he had so conspicuously adorned, and was succeeded by Sir Henry Loch, whose Commission bears date the 20th August 1889. Until his arrival the reins of Govern- ment were held by Lieutenant-General H. A. Smyth. I now arrive at the third and last of the periods into which I propose to divide the career of Cecil Rhodes. The departure of Sir Hercules Robinson was a blow to him, but he became Prime Minister before Sir Henry Loch reached the Colony, and after a brief interval of mutual reserve, he gained the entire confidence of the new High Commissioner. The year 1890, on which I am now entering, was to Rhodes a laborious and anxious one. Already at the head of the De Beers Mines and playing a fairly leading part in developing the Transvaal Gold Mining industry, he also became the guiding spirit of the Chartered Company, and Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. He had to gather up the loose ends of the negotiations necessary to con- sohdate the amalgamation of interests at Kimberley. In doing so, he reahsed that the concentration of the diamond output and its control by one great Corpora- tion, though a great step in advance, was not of itself a complete settlement of the problem he had set himself to solve. Winning the precious stones to the best commercial advantage was one thing. Their sale was quite another matter. To flood the markets of the world meant gradual depreciation of prices. But what those markets could absorb was known, not to the Company at Kimberley, but to experienced dealers in Europe, and to them alone. Before leaving England in 1889, Rhodes accordingly studied the question both in London and gMMe(?%4 Z&R^ife^^ "^ ^^^^^ arrange- 276 CECIL JOHN RHODES ments for the formation of an influential Diamond- buying Syndicate, which undertook, upon carefully drawn conditions, to purchase and dispose of the entire product of the various mines, thus regulating the output and maintaining the value. By this means the supply was restricted to the demand, and it says much for his business capacity that he succeeded, at short notice, in creating a Syndicate of the necessary strength, the use- fulness of which has stood the test of time. Early in 1890, Rhodes was in Cape Town, signing formal agreements with the Govermnent and with the new High Commissioner on behalf of Bechuanaland, for the construction of the first section of the Northern Railway, provisionally provided for by the under- standing arrived at during the preceding October. The documents bear date 23rd January. He was also vigorously pushing another of his great projects, the Trans-Continental Telegraph system, and ere the month closed he had the satisfaction of hearing that an Imperial officer had arrived at Gubulawayo and handed to Lo Bengula a letter from the Queen announcing the grant of the Royal Charter, and recommending the Company to his most favourable consideration. In February he was still in Cape Town, busy with the allotment of 25,000 shares in the British South Africa Company, which, at his request, had been reserved for Colonial applicants. His obvious policy was to enhst the sjm- pathy and support of as many Cape Colonists as possible, and especially Colonists of Dutch extraction. It was reported at the time, and probably with truth, that he had shrewdly allocated the bulk of these shares to members or friends of the Afrikander Bond, whose identification with the Company's work was eminently desirable. Their ag^m^f^cM^ ^^^ in ^is task of PEIME MINISTER 277 Northern Expansion was also to his advantage poUti- cally, as was apparent in the next session of the Cape Parhament. When petitioning the Crown for a Charter, Rhodes foreshadowed the creation of a local board of control in the Colony, and he now endeavoured to carry out the promise. The Presidency of the Board was offered to the Chief Justice, who did not see his way to accept the post, and, owing to the parochial nature of Cape pohtics, men of sufficient breadth of view to act as Directors were not to be found. The project, therefore, lapsed, and the Company continued to be nominally administered by the London Board though in reality, to a great extent, by Rhodes himself. A very competent defender of the Company and its policy was secured in the person of his friend, Mr. Rochfort Maguire, who entered the House of Commons this year as member for North Donegal. The accimiulation of responsibihties thus thrust upon Rhodes entailed such a severe strain that at one time he had resolved to abandon his seat in Parliament, or, at all events, to apply again for leave of absence during the session of 1890. Circumstances, however, compelled him to reconsider his decision. Sic Gordon Sprigg, whose position had for some time been insecure, met the Cape Parhament, in May 1890, with a comprehensive scheme of railway construction, involving an expenditure of more than seven and a half milhons. If he thought that all interests would be conciliated by this forward pohcy, he was soon disillusioned. Individually, many members were gratified at the prospect of seeing a lavish expenditure of pubhc money in their respective districts, but the prudence of the community as a whole revolted against such a vast outlay on subsidiary lines, the bulk ^/9»^k®!*ib)5(MlBl:oHoft^or many years be 278 CECIL JOHN RHODES reKed on to pay interest on construction. Rhodes himself, profound as was his faith in the advantage of railways, was not prepared to add so largely to the pubHc debt, and he therefore joined Mr. Sauer and others in resisting the Government proposals, which, after a stormy and protracted debate, were thrown out, and Sprigg resigned. The Governor sent for Sauer, but the latter, after negotiation, was under the necessity of advising His Excellency that he was unable to form a Ministry, and the responsibihty was then thrown upon Rhodes, who, on the 16th July, mentioned in the Assembly that he had been sent for, and requested a day's adjournment of the House, which was agreed to. On the 17th July he stated that he had been able to form an administration, but he was very nervous and was ahnost inaudible in the gallery. He added that he had desired to hold office without portfoho, but found there was a constitutional difficulty in the way. He did not say what particular office he had assumed, but he claimed the indulgence of the House, and an- nounced that he advocated a purely South African poHcy and, in regard to pubUc expenditure, he should proceed with great caution. Questioned by Sprigg as to the truth of the rumour that he had been sworn in without portfolio — which was the case and a technical irregularity — he required notice of the question, but said that he was now Commissioner of Crown Lands. He then moved the adoption of the Resolution on Railways recently passed in Committee of the whole House on Ways and Means — the Resolution that had upset his predecessor. This was agreed to, but on his first division, on the Ballot Bill, which he opposed, he triumphed only b;f W'H£fe^tys?^one— a close shave. PRIME MINISTER 279 The following is the text of the Grovernor's Commission to Rhodes, dated, it will be seen, 17th July 1890 : — ' COMMISSION ' By his Excellency Sie Henry Brougham Loch, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Knight Commander of the Most Honour- able Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa, and of the Territories and Dependencies thereof, and Her Majesty's High Commissioner, etc., etc. ' To the Honourable Cecil John Ehodes, Esquire. ' Greeting : — ' Under and by virtue of the powers in me vested by Her Majesty's Commission bearing date the 26th day of February 1877, I do hereby, in Her Majesty's name and on Her Majesty's behalf, appoint you, the said Cecil John Ehodes, to hold the Office of Commissioner op Crown Lands and Public Works of THE Colony, during Her Majesty's pleasure, and to charge you with such duties as have hitherto been performed as Com- missioner OE Crown Lands and Public Works by the Honour- able Frederick Schermbrucker the previous holder of the said Office, the appointments to take effect from the 17th day of July 1890. ' Given under my hand and the PubUc Seal of the Colony of the Cape oe Good Hope, at Cape Town, this 17th day of July 1890. (Sgd.) Henry B. Loch.' The circumstances under which Rhodes took office can perhaps be best described in his own words. Speak- ing at Eamberley on 6th September 1890, within less than two months of his acceptance of office, and re- sponding at a banquet to the toast of ' The Ministry,' he is reported as having said : — ' Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, I thank you for the very cordial and hea^^'^immfmrS^iM) 7°^ ^^^® received 280 CECIL JOHN RHODES tlie toast just proposed. I cannot say that " A prophet is not without honour save in his own country," for I am not a prophet, and I think the honour done to me to-night as one of your citizens, on my being raised to the position of Premier of this Colony, is very great indeed ; and I appreciate it extremely. Only about two months ago, being much occupied with the North, I had made up my mind not to attend Parhament, but I found there was a huge Railway Bill proposed, and I thought it was my duty to oppose it, as it would place too great a burden on the revenue of this country. I felt that this community had a very large stake in the prosperity of the country, and a Railway BiU which would cost many millions for railways which it was admitted on all sides would not pay, would be a heavy burden. I hurried down, and we fought the question, and the result you all know. But events hurried on faster than I expected, and before I knew where I was I saw it would be forced upon me to take the responsi- bihty of the government of this country. I thought of the positions I occupied in De Beers and the Chartered Company, and I concluded that one position could be worked with the other, and each to the benefit of all. At any rate I had the courage to undertake it, and I may say that up to the present I have not regretted it. If there is anything that would give me encouragement, it is the kindly and cordial greeting my fellow-citizens have extended to me to-night. I may tell you that before coming to a decision in regard to occupjrLag the position of Premier, I met the various sections of the House. I hope you wiU not be alarmed when I say that I asked the members of the Bond party to meet me. I trust you will agree with me that when I was imder- taking the responsi^|y^$y^ g^^^^gjfgment, the best thing PRIME MINISTER 281 to be done was to ask them plainly to give me their support. I put my views before them, and received from them a promise that they would give me a fair chance in carrying on the administration. I think that if more pains were taken to explain matters to the members of the Bond party, many of the cobwebs would be swept away, and a much better understanding would exist between the different parties. The Govern- ment's poHcy will be a South African poUcy. What we mean is that we will do all in our power, whilst looking after the interests of the Cape Colony, to draw closer and closer the ties between us and the neigh- bouring States. In pursuance of this we have arranged to meet in December next in Bloemfontein, and hope to extend the railway from Bloemfontein to the Vaal River. We feel it is time to arrive at a settlement of the various questions which divide the States of South Africa. It may not come in our time, but I beheve that ultimately the different States will be united. The Government hope that the result of the Swaziland Convention will prove satisfactory to the Transvaal. We feel that if fair ^privileges were granted to every citizen of the Transvaal, the Transvaal would not he dissatisfied at the terms England will deal out to it. I feel sure that if the Transvaal joins with us and the other States in a Customs' Union, the sister Colony of Natal will also join, and that would be one great step towards a union of South Africa. The projected extension of the railway will likewise prove that we are getting nearer to a United South Africa. ' It is customary to speak of a United South Africa as possible within the near future. If we mean a com- plete Union with the same flag, I see very serious difficulties. I ka)^yi$^S$iyt^fec^«pi not prepared at 282 CECIL JOHN RHODES any time to forfeit my flag. I remember a story about the editor of a leading journal in tMs country. He was asked to allow a supervision of his articles in reference to native policy, and he was offered a free hand with everything else. " Well," he asked, " if you take away the direction of my native pohcy, what have I left ? " And so it is with me. If I have to forfeit my flag, what have I left ? If you take away my flag, you take away everything. Holding these views, I can feel some respect for the neighbouring States where men have been born under Repubhcan institutions and with Republican feelings. When I speak of South African Union, I mean that we may attain to perfect free trade as to our own commodities, perfect and complete internal railway communication, and a general Customs' Union, stretching from Delagoa Bay to Walfisch Bay ; and if our statesmen should attain to that, I say they will have done a good work. It has been my good fortune to meet people belonging to both sides of the House, and to hear their approval with regard to the development of the Northern territory. I am glad that the Cape Colony will also share in the develop- ment of the country to the North. I feel assured that within my Ufetime the hmits of the Cape Colony wUl stretch as far as the Zambesi. Many of you are inter- ested in the operations of the Chartered Company northwards ; and it is a pleasure to me to announce that aU risks of a collision are over, and that I believe there will be a peaceable occupation of Mashonaland. I have had the pleasure to-day to receive a telegram announcing the cession of the Barotse country, which I may tell you is over 200,000 square miles in extent. I think we are carrying out a practical object ; we have at least sent five laip^de^ MrcQim citizens to occupy a PEIME MINISTEE 283 new country. To show how great is the wish to go north, I may mention that a Dutch Reformed minister at Colesberg has been called to Mossamedes, a place further even than the country we have annexed. I have often thought that if the people who originally took the Cape Colony had been told that the Colony would to-day extend to the Orange River, they would have laughed at the idea. I beheve that people who Hve a himdred years hence will think that the present annexa- tion is far too short.' He had already spoken earlier in the year (11th May 1890) at a banquet given at Bloemfontein to Sir Henry Loch, who was a very peripatetic High Commissioner ; and he again spoke at a similar function at Vryburg (October 1890) when the High Commissioner was once more on his travels. But he made no speeches of any duration in Parhament this year. On the 21st July, four days after he assumed office, a formidable attack was made on his dual position. The charge was led by Mr. John Laing, an able and courteous opponent, who moved, ' That in the interests of the country it is impohtic and undesirable that the ofl6.cial representative of the British South Africa Company should be Prime Minister of this Colony.' He admitted that the Charter was a great Christianising and civihsing agency and due to Rhodes's abihty, foresight and wonderful organising capacity, but he quoted the Times and Morning Post as throwing doubts on the propriety of his holding office. Several Dutch members, including Le Roex and De Waal, defended Rhodes, who contented himself with the statement that if his interests ever clashed, he would resign. Laing's motion ©^/aBga(3^VW/iAtJSti$®it a division. 284 CECIL JOHN RHODES The following day, sore with his recent defeat, Sprigg again raised the point of Rhodes having been sworn in without portfoUo, but the Speaker intervened and the matter dropped. On the 23rd July Merriman made an able Budget Speech, and Upington endeavoured to revive the question of the dual position, but the attack fell flat. Some brief reference to Rhodes's colleagues in. the Ministry may be conveniently made here. Mr. J. X. Merriman took the Treasurership of the Colony. Mr. J. W. Sauer was Colonial Secretary. Mr. J. Rose-Innes became Attorney-General ; Mr. R. H. Faure, a veteran Dutch pohtician, was Secretary for Native Affairs ; while Mr. J. Sivewright joined as Minister without portfolio, but was entrusted, in September, with the office of Commissioner of Crown Lands and Pubhc Works, held in the interim by the Prime Minister himself, and only given up to faciUtate his journey to the North, as to which some information will be given in a subsequent chapter. The post thus surrendered to Sivewright was of rising importance, carrying with it the administration and control of the entire railway system of the Colony. Mr. Merriman, who has since been Premier himself, is so well-known a figure in South African politics, that it seems almost superfluous to describe him. Born in England, his removal to South Africa took place at an early age, his father being an Archdeacon of the AngKcan Church in Graham's Town, and subse- quently a venerated Bishop of that Diocese. Young Merriman was educated partly in the Colony, partly in England, and entered Parliament in 1869, at the age of twenty-eigh^jS'M'BVMlW'yesEfif before Rhodes. He PRIME MINISTER 285 had already, for nearly three years, been a member of the Molteno Administration, and, afterwards, for more than three years, of the Scanlen Cabinet, but until now he had never been Treasurer of the Colony. By his pohtical foes, whose name is legion, he is always painted with a lurid brush, taunted for his inconsistency, accused of wrecking every Ministry he has ever joined, and being ' everything by fits and nothing long ' ; a master of ' flouts and jeers,' a creature of impulse, way- ward, unrehable and always in extremes. By his friends, of whom he also has troops, he is regarded as the most brilhant and amusing companion, the readiest and weightiest speaker in the House, dexterous in debate, incorruptible in pubhc affairs, charming and lovable in private hfe. Steering a middle course between rancorous prejudice and amiable partiahty, I venture to describe him as the most iateresting Cape figure of his generation, extremely well-read, a preacher and practiser of a simple and strenuous life, but one who is constitutionally unable to suffer fools gladly and who, habitually sitting in the seat of the scornful, draws down upon himself the dislike of many mediocre minds whose pretentious self-importance he has ruthlessly pricked. His commanding figure and singularly flexible voice, his keen sense of humour and nimbleness of repartee made him the spoilt child of the House of Assembly ; and his fluency of speech on any subject once led to his being characterised by a witty American hstener in the Distinguished Strangers' Gallery as ' carrying more sail than ballast ! ' But those who know him best are aware that for all his persiflage, his administrative abilities are of a high order, and Rhodes, who later on parted with him nndpr circumstances of no httle friction, never ceased, unaer circum»u<^oy^^g^ ^^ Microsoft® 286 CECIL JOHN KHODES to the day of his death, to speak of him with affection and respect. Of Mr. Sauer we have akeady heard in connection with General Gordon. Colonial by birth and upbring- ing, a lawyer by profession, he is known to his intimates as ' the Bumbler,' a nickname invented by his friend and colleague Mr. Merriman. If the latter is the orator, Mr. Sauer is the debater and tactician of the party with which he happens to be associated. Mr. Rose-Innes, since Chief Justice of the Transvaal, stands in a somewhat different category. During his political career, it is doubtful whether he ever made an enemy, and owing to his high character he was always a tower of strength to his colleagues. As a fluent speaker and sound lawyer he may have had many equals, but no man of his day was ever more completely possessed of the entire confidence of the average elector, nor was the confidence misplaced. Mr. Sivewright was a Scot by birth, a graduate of the University of Aberdeen, and a telegraph engineer by profession, who for several years was General Manager of the Cape Telegraphs. While in the Ehodes Ministry, he was energetic and resourceful in extending the Cape railways, but he cannot be said to have left in the House of Assembly a reputation commensurate with his unquestioned abilities. Taking the Rhodes Cabinet as a whole, it must be admitted to have been a strong one, and but for un- fortunate internal dissensions, to which I shall subse- quently refer, its duration would, in all probability, have been considerably prolonged. Writing to a friend a few hours before the formation of the Ministry, I said, ' There has been unusual excitement in pohtical circles here lately. oSfP^mo^^oW ^^ o^c^' ^ir Gordon PRIME MINISTER 287 Sprigg committed the indiscretion of launching out upon an adventurous railway policy without ascertain- mg the views of the Bond, and the conservative instincts of the Boers threw him out of office. Sauer, who upset the Ministry, proved unable to form an alter- native administration, and the Governor fell back on Rhodes. The latter is regarded in some quarters as a dangerous visionary, despite his admitted abihty, but any policy of undue adventure on which he might embark would be vetoed by the same power that over- threw Sprigg.' Sir Hercules Robinson, writing to me on the 24th July said, ' I fear the new Government, with Hofmeyr outside acting the part of a candid friend, will not be strong or lasting. He has the power and he ought to take the responsibihty, and it should be forced on him. The last is the third Ministry he has put out, i.e. in 1881, 1884 and 1890, and I wonder Rhodes did not refuse to take office without him.' Few people, if any, reaUsed the fact that whereas, in previous instances, the Bond had used Cape Premiers as puppets, the new Prime Minister was about to use the Bond to advance Cape interests as against Transvaal interests, and to assist in preserving the Imperial tie in South Africa as against the Repubhcan ideals of Kruger- ism. There lay the difference, but it sufficed. The ' strong man armed ' had at length met a man stronger than himself. On the 28th July Rhodes gave notice of motion, ' That this House regrets that the Government of this country was not directly represented in the recent arrangements entered into between the British Govern- ment and the German Empire in so far as those arrange- ments affected Territories south of the Zambesi ; and Digitized by Microsoft® 288 CECIL JOHN RHODES is of opinion that the Government of this Colony should have a voice in any future proposed arrangements of boundaries south of that river/ This led to an interesting debate of several days' duration. Upington, who had been Prime Minister from May 1884 to November 1886, was on his defence. He now declared that Germany had coveted the Terri- tory since 1883 : that in March 1885, during his absence, Sprigg had sent a Minute to the Governor urging that the Cape should be allowed to annex the South-West Territories, but that Lord Derby had cold-shouldered the proposal. He added that he thought the Secretary of State's action or inaction was resented by every man in the Colony. (Hear, hear, from all sides of the House.) Douglass retorted that Upington was himself to blame, as he took sixteen days to reply to a cable from Lord Derby in 1884, though the message was marked urgent. Rhodes, in winding up the debate, said the Home Government had re-arranged our map without consult- ing us, but he thought it would not happen again. His Resolution was thereupon agreed to without a division. On 12th August, Rhodes moved that his Government be authorised to enter into negotiations with the Government of the Orange Free State for the con- struction of a railway from Bloemfontein to the Trans- vaal border and, if negotiations were satisfactory, to construct a line with all possible despatch. This was agreed to, and on the 20th August Parliament was prorogued by the Governor, Sir Henry Loch, in person, who referred with satisfaction to the provision made for carrying into effect the agreement between the Colony and the British Sou^h^fji^c^Corr^ny for the acquisition PRIME MINISTER 289 by the former of the railway line from Kimberley to Vryburg. Rhodes's motion of censure on the Home Govern- ment was cabled to England and led to an immediate letter from Sir Charles Dilke (29th July 1890), who wrote, 'So glad you have taken the Premiership and given notice that the House regrets that the Cape Government was not consulted with regard to the Anglo-German agreement. I was greatly opposed to the agreement.' Having thus wound up the session as quickly as possible, Rhodes proceeded to Kimberley on his way to the North. His speech there on the 6th September has already been given. His return to the seat of Government became, however, imperative, owing to a serious commercial and financial crisis, due to over- speculation at the Gold Fields. His favourite banks, of Colonial origin, failed one after the other, and on the 20th September the premier institution, the Cape of Good Hope Bank, closed its doors. Rhodes was for a while obsessed with the idea that the Imperial Banks were contriving, for purposes of their own, to bring about the downfall of their Colonial competitors, and I well remember the unconventional manner in which he burst into my oflS.ce soon after his arrival, and his surprise when I introduced to him a visitor aheady there as the Chairman of the Cape of Good Hope Bank; and when I added that the latter had just refused to accept my assistance to enable him to weather the storm, on the ground, which I beHeved to be mistaken, that the Bank, having lost its Reserve Fund and a certain proportion of its paid-up capital, was bound by its Trust Deed to put up its shutters. I explained tha^tD^jl^ltl bf MpAm *^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ VOL. I. 'J' 290 CECIL JOHN RHODES locked up but not lost, and I called upon the Prime Minister to urge the Chairman to borrow from me a quarter of a milHon to save his Institution. Arming himself with a formidable ruler and striding rapidly up and down the room, as was his wont when moved, Rhodes argued the point at some length and with scant show of respect for trust deeds, and at times I feared the ruler might even be used for purposes of assault ; but the painful dubieties of the Chairman remained unmoved, and, in spite of our joint entreaties, he allowed the Bank to succumb. The lesson was not lost upon the Prime Minister, who from that moment was a staunch supporter of the Institution I had the honour to represent. The following letter from Mr. Frederic Mackarness will, for many reasons, be of interest : — 'The Reform Club, October 9th, 1890. ' My dear Rhodes, — I hope you wiU allow me to send you a line, though a late one, of congratulation upon your becoming Premier of the Cape Colony. I was abroad when the change of Govermnent occurred, or I should have written before. I hope your Ministry may have a long lease of hfe, and that during that time you may be able not only to extend the limits of the Empire, but perhaps also to do something to draw more closely the scattered portions of it to the mother country. I am sure it can be done without sacrificiag an atom of the self-government now enjoyed by the Colonies. The Americans by their new tarifE wiU be driving the Canadians to consider the question. ' I read with much interest your recent speech at Kimberley. The cablegrams, and even the letters in the Times from tb^Kz&psw/cEQSRia correspondent, gave PEIME MINISTER 291 misleading accounts of your having said " the question of the flag must be left to the future," giving the im- pression that you thought the flag of no importance, an opinion which was at once condemned of course by the ultra Tory papers. So I thought it wise to get published what exactly you said, as reported in the Cafe Argus, and which put a very different complexion on the matter. — Yours very truly, ' Frederic Mackarness.' Before the close of the year Ehodes received the following communication from the Cape Governor : — 'Government House, Cape Town, Isi! Dec. 1890. ' Dear Mr. Rhodes, — The Secretary of State con- siders if your duties as Prime Minister do not interfere with your going to England for a short time, there would be advantage in discussing with you various matters relating to B. S. A. C. ' As these matters cannot fail to have an important influence upon the affairs generally of South Africa — and iadirectly upon those of the Cape Colony — I shall have no objection to your absenting yourself from your duties as Prime Minister, provided you can arrange to be back some weeks before the meeting of Parhament — and that satisfactory arrangements can be made with your colleagues for carrying on the business of the country. — Yours very truly, {Sgd.) 'Henry B. Loch." In accordance with the suggestion of the Secretary of State (Lord Knutsford) Rhodes visited England before Christmas and ^,tMW^i^ok^''''' "^^''^ *° ^^« 292 CECIL JOHN EHODES dislike. He appreciated fully, however, the honour of dining at Windsor Castle, though his conduct there appeared, it is said, to some of the Court officials, to be somewhat unconventional and brusque. Digitized by Microsoft® OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND 293 CHAPTEE XX OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND (1889-90) Size of Territory — Matabele strength — Selous — Preparation for occupation — Sir Francis de Winton — Colonel Carrington— Strength of Expedi- tion — Armament carried — Dr. Jameson — Obstinacy of Lo Bengula — Selous again — Start of the Expedition — Colonel Pennefather — A. R. Colquhoun — At Tuli — Khama — Eadi-Kladi — Frank Johnson — Pro- gress of Pioneers — The Lundi River — Providential Pass — Ultimatum from Lo Bengula — Excitement among the Matabele — Column arrives at Salisbury. The occupation of Mashonaland, a territory embracing an area of 73,000 square miles, must ever be regarded as one of the most venturesome feats accomplished by men of our race during the Victorian era. It is not generally known, however, that the project as originally planned by Khodes was of a far more daring character. Half measures were never palatable to him, and his desire was to march direct on Bulawayo and occupy Matabeleland itself — peaceably, if not interfered with, but in any case to occupy it. Beariag in mind that the Matabele ruler was in the zenith of his power, with a disciplined force of 20,000 men, the terror of a territory the size of Western Europe, the conception was a bold one. But more cautious counsels ultimately prevailed and the ' great adventurer ' was thus prevented from emulating the achievements of Hernando Cortez in Mexico. Something, however, had to be done, and done quickly. Kivals were in the field, and action was im- perative if the Concessions confirmed by the Charter were not to remain a dead letter. Without effective Digitized by Microsoft® 294 CECIL JOHN RHODES occupation of the country, all acquired rights would, sooner or later, have lapsed. I have already mentioned that, while in London in 1889, Rhodes conferred with Mr. Selous, who had happened to come over in the same boat as the two Matabele Indunas, whose historic breakfast in London and departure, wearing red ties, I chronicled in an earher chapter. Mr. Frederick Courteney Selous, justly celebrated ahke as an explorer, hunter, scientific naturahst and delightful writer, had spent many years of his adventurous Hfe in South Central and South Eastern Africa. His knowledge of what is now called Rhodesia was unrivalled, and he was intimately acquainted with the Matabele king and his resources. To him, therefore, Rhodes naturally appealed to undertake the guidance of the Pioneer Column, then already in contemplation. But the precise route Rhodes would not or could not disclose. Selous rephed that he was under contract to conduct a prospecting party to the head waters of the Mazoe by way of the Zambesi, from which expedition he did not expect to return before the close of the year. Rhodes, who had not yet ob- tained the Charter or official authority for its exploita- tion, contented himself by requesting Selous to come and see him on his return to the Cape Colony. The latter accordingly sailed for South Africa in May and after visiting Mozambique, Tete and other Portuguese pos- sessions on the East Coast, and carrying out his ex- pedition with thoroughness and success, returned to Cape Town early in December. A record of this and many other trips has been given in his fascinating volume, Travel and Adventure in South-East Africa. From Tete on the Zambesi, under date 28th October 1889, one day befcgy^^^^^^^^t^^ the Charter, he had OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND 295 written to his business associates in the Colony that if Rhodes desired to take possession of the promised land, there was, in his judgment, no time to be lost, and, as he anticipated the gravest danger in the entrance of the Pioneers into Matabeleland itself, he recom- mended a more circuitous route, starting from the border of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, striking eastward to Tuh, thence north-east and north to Mount Hampden, a prominent hill in North-East Mashonaland so named by him on a previous journey. ' Once get a footing,' he sensibly remarked, ' in Eastern Mashonaland, and before very long the Matabele question will settle itself. Now or never is the time to act. If Mashonaland is not worth this experiment, there is no other country in the interior of Africa that it will pay any company to spend any money upon.' What occurred on Mr. Selous's arrival I cannot do better than give in his own words. ' Upon reaching Cape Town,' he says, ' I proceeded to Kimberley and saw Mr. Rhodes, and was dehghted to find that that far-seeing statesman was fully ahve to the absolute necessity, in British interests, for the immediate occupa- tion of Mashonaland, and was determined that the country should be taken possession of, in the name of the British South Africa Company, during the coming year 1890. I then laid before him the plan for the occupation of the country by a new road, passing to the south and east of the country actually ruled by the Matabele. This plan Mr. Rhodes did not at first approve, but it was finally accepted as the only means of effecting immediate occupation, with the minimum of risk of collision. It is due to Mr. Cecil Rhodes alone, as I cannot too often repeat, that to-day our country's flag flies over Mashonaland, He alone of all Enghsh- Digitized by Microsoft® 296 CECIL JOHN RHODES men possessed at the same time the prescience and breadth of mind to appreciate the ultimate value of the country, combined with the strong will which, in spite of all obstacles, compelled the means and the power successfully to carry out the scheme for its immediate occupation.' For some months the preparations went steadily forward. Official delays and restraints had to be encountered and overcome, though Rhodes chafed and fumed at the inevitable routine. The danger of ia- definite postponement became day by day more obvious. A large Portuguese force, imder Colonel Ignacio de Jesus Xavier, was beHeved to be preparing to enter the Territory from the eastward, while a trek was known to be impending from the Transvaal, 1500 Transvaal burghers having already ' signed on.' Everything pointed to a desperate struggle, but the formahties, so distasteful to Rhodes, had to be observed. The High Commissioner was in communication with the Home Government, and with Sir Francis de Winton, their agent in the Swaziland-Transvaal dispute, and with Colonel Carrington, who was in charge of the Bechuanaland Pohce. The latter, an experienced officer, much impressed with the magnitude of the enterprise, declared that it required a picked force of 2500 men, which would have involved the Company in an ex- penditure far in excess of its resources. Finally, Mr. Frank Johnson, with his partners Messrs. Heany and Borrow, contracted to perform the work with a small but efl&cient force, for the moderate sum of £94,000. The exact personnel of the expedition was as follows : — 500 mounted police, 200 pioneers, a few volunteers and a considerable camp following, in all perhaps 1000 souls, but picked men, many of them young Colonists ac- Digitized by Microsoft® OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND 297 customed to the veld, enthusiastic in the cause and with unbounded confidence in their leaders, and especi- ally in Rhodes, who was justly recognised by all as the moving spirit. The guns with the column were a mixed lot. One of them was a 3-inch 7-pounder gun, dated 1873, with carriage dated 1879, which had seen service in Cape Colony during the native wars. It was taken over from the British Bechuanaland Police by the British South Africa Company in 1890, in order to form part of the armament taken in by the pioneers. It was also taken in the column which subsequently left SaHsbiu?y for Bulawayo and did good service in the difierent engagements in 1893. It was again used in the Rebellion of 1896; and in 1899 it was placed on No. 2 armoured train for the relief of Mafeking, but was returned to Bulawayo, a more modern gun replacing it. Subsequently, at General Baden-PoweU's request, it was presented to Charterhouse School, where it now rests. Already during March 1890, Selous had paid a visit to Khama at Palapye, and obtained his promise of a native contingent to assist in driving the proposed road through the bush. Colenbrander was to have met him there, with 100 Matabele labourers verbally pro- mised by Lo Bengula, but the party did not arrive, nor was their absence explained. Selous reahsed that it was a critical moment and that possibly the King was deliberately pursuing a policy of masterly inactivity. He resolved, with his customary courage, to beard the Matabele monarch at his capital. Riding, almost without a break, over 100 miles to the Tati, he drove from there at his utmost speed, arriving at Gubulawayo in four days. He was cordially received, but found the^^^^^e^.^fract|us child, at once 298 CECIL JOHN RHODES petulant and alarmed. His denial that he had granted Dr. Jameson a right-of-way was not shaken by the reminder of a rehable witness, Mr. Dennis Doyle, who had been present on the occasion. He absolutely refused to aUow a road to be made. ' There is,' he said, ' only one road to Mashonaland, and it goes through my country, and past Bulawayo. If Rhodes wants to send his men round my country, let him send them by sea. He has sent me many emissaries and amongst them Jameson, whom I like and whom, I am told, is Rhodes's mouth: but I am Lo Bengula, and I want to see the big white chief himself — go back and take Rhodes by the hand and bring him here.' With this evasive answer, Selous returned to Kimber- ley after eleven days' hard travelling. Rhodes was disposed to accept the invitation, but men who knew the native character saw in it a ruse to obtain possession of his person as a hostage against the entrance of the column, and it was now reahsed that the road would have to be constructed, not only without Matabele sanction, but in the face perhaps of their active hos- tihty. Jameson, though at considerable risk, decided to make one more effort to keep the peace. He and Selous returned together, that being a condition im- posed by Rhodes ; but at the Tati, Jameson over- rode his chief and, pointing out to Selous the impossi- bihty of guiding the expeditionary force without his aid, he instructed him to turn back and make for the base camp at Macloutsie, and begin his survey of the line of march. Selous reluctantly obeyed and Jameson, travelling entirely alone, once more placed himself in the power of the suspicious king, and remained with him until the expg^^Jpn ^^„^|jgost on its way, when OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND 299 he escaped and joined the column at Palapye. Selous, meanwhile, had formed a camp of his own a few miles from Macloutsie, where he busied himself in perfecting his arrangements. To ' contain ' the Matabele impis, the Bechuanaland Border Police were moved forward by the High Commissioner to Elebi, a strategic position on the south-western border of Matabeleland, thus effectually diverting the king's attention. Thus passed the month of May, on the 27th of which Jameson arrived at Palapye with Selous, who, warned of his coming, had met him on the road. Colonel Pennefather reached the same place the following day. The expedition was now ready, but was not allowed to start until the High Commissioner was satisfied that its constitution and equipment were, in all respects, satisfactory. This caused a httle further delay, utiUsed by Selous to push on with the new road to Tuli, a distance of 50 miles. All formalities were at length overcome : the ofl&cer sent up to examine the force (Lieutenant- General Lord Methuen) handed in a favourable report, and on the 28th Jime, exactly at midwinter, the ex- pedition that was to lead to such momentous results set out on its long and tedious journey of 400 miles. Thanks to the assistance of Khama, the road as far as Tuh was already completed. The pioneers marched ahead, followed by four troops of the pohce. For a few days Methuen remained with the colunm. Colonel Pennefather, of course, was there ; and Dr. Jameson as representative of Khodes, who was detained at Cape Town by the political crisis which, a fortnight later, made him Prime Minister. There, too, was Mr. A. R. Colquhoun, who, later, became the first Administrator of the new State, and with him many younger men, full of enthusi^^^^anjl^ hj^h^ to^^ It was a gallant 300 CECIL JOHN RHODES band, well led and admirably equipped, but the task on which it was engaged might easily have proved beyond its capacity to perform. A glance at the map sufl&ces to show that the enter- prise was a perilous one. On one flank it was exposed to attack by Boer fihbusters, who were known to be on the alert : on the other flank lay the most formidable of all native tribes. The route, except to Selous, was unknown ; and although, traversing as it did many of the tributaries of the Limpopo, there was seldom any lack of water, the pioneers suffered many hardships and annoyances. Long marches by day were generally followed by disturbed nights, by the roar of a hungry lion, or the unearthly screams of prowling hyenas. It was close on the dawn sometimes ere the tired men slept, and it was at dawn, if ever, that a Matabele onslaught would be made. At Tuli they received a shock in the arrival of a small Matabele party, bearing a message from their chief that if the ' white impi ' crossed the river, he would not be responsible for the consequences. A reply was duly made, the purport of which was unknown to the column. The drivers, herds and native labourers generally exhibited, how- ever, uncontrolled panic, and numbers deserted in the night. The expedition was thus threatened with dissolution at the very outset. Fortunately, a further contingent of Khama's men, numbering 200, of whom some were mounted, arrived at the critical moment, led by his own brother Radi-Kladi, and, under the eye of this chief, native desertion ceased, though pitiable terror remained. The colunm resumed its march, protected during the day by a far-flung line of scouts, and at night by a searchlight. It was calculated that no impi would be dgsmt^^ej^.^unt^the envoys returned, OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND 301 which meant, in all, a respite of three weeks. Before leaving Tuli, a strong fort was erected and garrisoned. The pioneers themselves, under Selous and Frank Johnson, led the van protected by fifty rifles. It being the post of greatest danger, of course Jameson was there. The rear, consisting of the entke transport, was guarded by the pohce. On the 9th July, the pioneers reached the Eiver Umsinqwan. Thereafter they had to cut their way, and a way for those that followed them, through seventeen miles of dense bush, no water being procurable. Such was their energy that they accomplished the task in a httle over four days. On 13th July they arrived on the banks of the Umshabetsi River, passing much game and herds of elephant on the way. But no shot was permitted to be fixed. In impressive silence the small column continued on its course, laagering every night as a precaution against sudden attack. On the 14th July, a mounted trooper arrived from Colonel Pennefather ordering a halt, as the convoy was now thirty-five miles behind. Jameson and Selous rode back with him, in order to urge an acceleration of pace, and rmder this stimulus the expeditionary force was once more reunited on the 18th July. Within twenty-four hours, however, the undaunted pioneers, axe in hand, were again in advance, ' A ' troop under an energetic American, Captain Heany, leading the way. Behind came eighty waggons in a stragghng hne, two miles in length. Everybody was on the qui vive by day and night. On 1st August, by a great effort, the Lundi River was reached. Beyond that point it was impossible to obtain local natives to guide the force, and un- fortunately it was exactly that portion of the route that was unkno^^,fo^^glo,j^. ,^W^ an escort of only 302 CECIL JOHN RHODES three men, he accordingly pushed on to reconnoitre. On the second day out he ascended to the top of Zam- amba, one of those bold granite hills so frequently met with in Mashonaland. From its simimit, as far as the eye could reach, he saw a rugged, broken country, peak upon peak, clothed with interminable forest. Beyond the farthest hills lay, he knew, the comparatively open downs beneath Mount Hampden, but, at first sight, no practicable waggon route was discernible. There was indeed one opening visible into the distant hills, but how far it led no one could say. Undismayed, Selous pushed on into this dark gorge, and at sunset on the evening of the 3rd August, from the crown of a hill which he had laboriously climbed, he had the satis- faction of seeing a wide expanse of open country. ' As I stood alone,' he says, ' on that hill and looked first forwards across the grassy downs in the middle of which the thriving township of Victoria now stands, and then backwards down the pass by which I had ascended from the Tukwi River, a weight of responsi- bility, that had at times been almost unbearable, fell from my shoulders, and I breathed a deep sigh of relief. Had any delay taken place, there is no telling what might have happened, for we were cutting a road round the flank of Matabeleland, in the teeth of the remonstrances and unequivocal threats of Lo Bengula.' On the afternoon of the 5th August, the intrepid guide was back at the camp on the Limdi River, and gave intense satisfaction by his announcement that he had discovered a practicable exit from the difficult and dangerous country now being traversed. By a happy inspiration the pass was at once named ' Pro- vidential Pass.' Bight days of toil still remained before the expedition cut ^^^k ^a^.thr^^h the bush country, OCCUPATION OP MASHONALAND 303 but on 14th August they were able to camp at the head of the ravine and the high plateau lay invitingly before them. During the trek up the pass, an ultimatum was received from Lo Bengula, peremptorily ordering Colonel Pennefather to turn back. Colenbrander was the bearer of the message, and had been sent by way of Tuli, the "King professing to believe that the column was still there awaiting his pleasure. The whole of Matabeleland was reported to be seething with wild excitement, the manufacture of new shields and new sandals — the sure sign of a military expedition — being pushed on with feverish haste. But the httle pioneer force was undismayed. Building a strong fort, Fort Victoria, to protect their rear, they pushed on day by day, never resting, until on 1st September they reached the head of the Umgezi Kiver and strengthened their position still further by erecting Fort Charter. Then, for another ten days, they moved steadily forward, preserving all necessary precautions to the very close of the long trek. Scouting was strictly maintained, the men slept in their clothes, and every morning, from reveille to daybreak, they stood to arms against a Matabele attack. But none came. Not a shot was fired, and at length, on 11th September, the Union Jack was formally hoisted on a Mopani pole on the site of the present Sahsbury, a fort was built, a township was laid out, and, by the persistence of Khodes, a new Province was added to the British Empire. The long march will ever be associated with the name of Selous, without whose experienced guidance and sound judgment, success would have been impos- sible. To this4^^^Je^isMve enactment, the 304 CECIL JOHN KHODES settlers still make hoKday on Occupation Day. With- out knowing it, the pioneers had done a great deed. The power of the last of the ferocious miUtary native tribes of South Africa was, in effect, broken for ever. War and rebelhon had still to be faced and put down, but when the disciphned Uttle force was disbanded at Fort Sahsbury, they had dealt, unwittingly, a blow to barbarism from which it never recovered. Only eleven years before at Hlobani, Kambula Kop, Gingilhovo, and Ulundi, the Zulu monarchy had gone down in a tempest of flame and fire, by the lavish expenditure of blood and treasure, and by the disci- phned efforts of large masses of the regular forces of the Crown, and even then only after a disaster ever memorable in the annals of war. Now the Matabele nation, an offshoot of the Zulus and perhaps exceeding them in cruelty and lust, fell from their pride of place before a trifling irregular force and ahnost in solemn silence, with no tumultuous charge of naked barbarians, and no fire of gun, or beat of drum. But the victory was no less decisive. Patience and forethought, and one iron will at Kimberley, had prevailed, and civihsa- tion took root and grew in one of the fairest quarters of Africa, where rapine and murder had for many weary years held undisputed sway. Congratulations, of course, poured in upon Khodes on the accomphshment of his enterprise. I only quote the following : — 'Government House, Cape Town, 23rd Sept. 1890. ' My dear Mr. Rhodes, — I have a telegram from Colonel Pennefather announcing the safe arrival of the expedition at li§f^yi^'^m^]^m — of which you have OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND 305 similar notice. Allow me to sincerely congratulate you upon tlie success thus far of the great work you have inaugurated for the development of, and extension of, civihsation into the heart of South Africa. — Yours very sincerely, 'Henry B. Loch.' Digitized by Microsoft® VOL. I. 306 CECIL JOHN RHODES CHAPTEE XXI A JOURNEY NOETH (1890) Rhodes's anxiety — Speaks at Kimberley — Returns to Cape Town — Accompanies High Commissioner to Bechuanaland — Takes two Dutch companions — Speaks at Vryburg — Warns Kruger — Acquires mineral rights in Barotseland — High Commissioner visits Khama — Rhodes on the Transvaal Border — Rejoins Loch at PaUa — Tries to follow pioneers — Loch raises objections — Rhodes starts but returns — Crosses into Transvaal — Visits Pretoria — Civilities from Kruger — Rhodes back at Kimberley. It is not diflQ.cult to imagine with what anxiety Rhodes had heard, from time to time, of the progress of his pioneer column. Within a few hom^s of the date in July on which they effected their concentration on the banks of the far-off Umshabetsi River, he had been gazetted Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. On the 11th August the second annual meeting of the De Beers Consolidated Mines was held at Kimberley, but again he was not there. ' Our chairman,' said his locum tenens, amid great applause, ' is detained in Cape Town on very important business, and it will be a gratifi- cation to shareholders to know that he has accepted the honourable and responsible position of head of the Government of this Colony.' On 6th September he managed to visit Kimberley, but within a week he was back in Cape Town, endeavour- ing to avert the downfall of the Cape of Good Hope Bank. But his heart was in the North during those anxious days, and before the month closed he was once more in Kimberley, ostensibly to accompany the High Commissioner on %/gjtj9ffi,yteMfe Bechuanaland^ but A JOURNEY NORTH 307 with the, as yet, undisclosed intention of penetrating into Mashonaland. The cares of office did not, I think, weigh heavily on him. The only attraction of the Premiership was that it increased his influence with Colonial pohticians, and helped him to retain for the Empire the Northern hinterland, which would otherwise have passed for a time into Boer hands, and eventually into those of our great trade rival, Germany. Although at once a man of contemplation and of action, he disliked the routine of ofl&ce Kfe. So long as his principles prevailed, he was content to leave all details to subordinates, and, on the whole, he was well served. By political foes he was sometimes accused of not caring overmuch how his work was done provided it was done. It is true that the methods of his agents and instruments were, at this period of his career, not very critically viewed by him, and that he was occasionally compromised by them in a manner distasteful to friends jealous of his name and fame. His ethical standpoint was not a strict one. He probably argued that a man intent on performance, and not on mere talk about performance, must use whatever tools are handy, and that one cannot cut blocks with a razor. There is ground for stating that towards the close of his Hfe, he regretted that he had not always been sufficiently scrupulous in the selec- tion of his agents, but, admitting this, I submit that he was generally served with exceptional fidehty and devotion, and that in great affairs he manifested extraordinary sagacity in the choice of his repre- sentatives. In his Ministerial capacity he was, at all events, in a position to devolve his duties upon the experienced shoulders of Mr. J. X. Merriman, and this being so, he^F^I^Mfcte^"^^^- ^^ P^^'^" 308 CECIL JOHN RHODES ance of his poKcy to conciKate the Bond, he invited two Dutch Members of Parliament to accompany him on his trip, Mr. D. C. de Waal and Mr. M. M. Venter. They were not, as politicians, in the front rank, but he probably regarded them as shrewd observers fairly typical of their class, and, as such, hkely to be useful to him by being given an opportunity of seeing the ' Promised Land.' Mr. de Waal subsequently justified his selection by publishing in Dutch a readable descrip- tion of the trip and presenting Rhodes in a favourable light, thereby augmenting his growing influence in Afrikander circles. Early in the morning of 2nd October, the High Commissioner and his stafi, accompanied by Rhodes and his party, left Kimberley by special train for the North, arriving in the afternoon at Taungs, the Kraal or Stad of our Bechuanaland acquaintance, Mankor- oane. The chief was in a querulous mood, and after a somewhat stormy interview, was dismissed by Sir Henry Loch with scant ceremony. Mr. de Waal's comments on the occurrence are those of the average Dutchman. ' I felt,' he says, ' and Venter felt with me, that there existed far too much ingratitude in Mankoroane and his men towards their benefactors. They should be forced to do labour for the farmers.' In the evening the party reached the raUhead near Vryburg, and had a great reception from the assembled cormnunity, followed by the inevitable dinner, at which Rhodes spoke at some length. ' The speech of the Governor was appreciated much,' says De Waal naively, ' but that of our Premier more, for his was a pohtical one.' Rhodes was apparently in a genial mood. Reminding his audience that o^glyi^pj^jejjfevisit to the Territory A JOURNEY NOETH 309 he had been accused by a high official (Sic Charles Warren) of being dangerous to the peace of the country, he said that he was there that night to bring them a gift that made for peace, a railway, and to announce the completion of his other project, a Customs' Union. And, ever with an eye on the desirabihty of Federation, he added, ' We are simply trying in every way to make you a part of the general system of South Africa.' Then, in a graver tone, he addressed a veiled warning to President Kruger in regard to the raid then being engineered under his auspices for the seizure of Mashona- land. ' It was only the other day,' he said, ' that I was informed on what professed to be good authority, that as regards the Territory we (the Chartered Company) have lately occupied, and which has been guaranteed to us by the Crown, the Government of the Transvaal was already devising the seizure of a part of it. I only mention it to show what mahcious rumours are in circulation. Could you beheve it possible that a friendly neighbouring State, when the ink on a treaty was hardly dry, could enter on a scheme to occupy our Territory 1 The rumour, of course, is groundless.' This ironical sentence could not have been pleasant reading to the President, dehvered, as it was, before Her Majesty's representative, and in the presence of two typical Afrikander Bondsmen, both of them members of the Cape Parhament. I think he must have reahsed that this masterful young man was driving a wedge into the hitherto close ranks of his Cape supporters. At Mafeking, since so famous, there was a similar reception and a similar banquet on the 6th October. Ehodes had recently received the welcome intelligence that the Zambesi was no longer his northern boundary. A ^^j^-Hy'WLZ^ni''^'''' "^''^ '"" 310 CECIL JOHN ERODES Barotseland had been completed, adding enormously to the sphere of the Company's operations. To the pressmen who brought him the news, he said simply, ' See how things grow.' While at Maf eking he rode out to call on the aged chief Montsoia, by whom he was received with demonstrations of sincere attach- ment, and with whom he exchanged presents. On 8th October the High Commissioner continued his journey in a northerly direction in order to pay an official visit to the important Bamangwato chief, Khama. Rhodes and his friends took a more easterly course, entering the Transvaal near Marico. All parties agreed to reunite at Palla camp on the Limpopo River. Mr. de Waal draws a pathetic picture of their first night out, which they spent at De Putten on the Transvaal border under the hospitable roof of Mr. Viljoen, a Dutchman eighty years of age, who declared that he knew the Cape Colony and both the Repubhcs and that Mashonaland surpassed them all in fertiKty. He had been an eyewitness, too, of the nameless cruelties of Lo Bengula and knew his formidable power, and he was filled with forebodings as to the fate of the pioneers of whose expedition he had heard. When he learnt that his visitor was Rhodes himself, the grey-haired old man at once offered his services and those of all his sons to help to repel a Matabele attack, and his wife, who shared his enthusiasm, proudly declared that her husband could still ride as hard and shoot as straight as in his early youth. It is sHght wonder that Rhodes always spoke with pride and respect of the indomitable courage of the Dutch Voortrekker, a courage displayed on many a bloody field unrecorded in the pages of history. On 13th October Jh^^^rt^.^9ut^anned at the junction A JOURNEY NOETH 311 of the Limpopo and Marico Rivers, over 1000 miles from Cape Town ; and on the 16th arrived at Palla camp on the Protectorate side of the Limpopo, where they found a detachment of the Bechuanaland Police. While at the camp, Rhodes received the following telegram from his colleague Merriman. ' Reuter has following. Times this morning suggests that Chartered Company pioneer force now at Mount Hampden should at once take possession of the Zambesi. It is impos- sible, adds that journal, longer to humour the vanity of the Portuguese. Message ends, much better let them loose on the Pungwe before the Germans antici- pate you.' I have not seen Rhodes's reply to this communication. The High Commissioner rejoined them on the follow- ing day, and after a brief rest the entice party moved on to Macloutsie, which was reached on 28th October. There they were welcomed by 100 men of the British South Africa Pohce and 300 men of the Bechuanaland Pohce, the little garrison being maintained at full strength to guard against a Matabele inroad. Mr. de Waal notes, with surprise, that the ranks were filled with young Afrikanders in good health and spirits. Macloutsie was the assigned limit to this tour of m- spection, and the High Commissioner now prepared to return to Cape Town. To his dismay, Rhodes an- nounced his intention of following up the pioneers, if he went by himself. With this decision His Excel- lency remonstrated in the strongest terms, pomtmg out that he had sure information from Mofiat that the Matabele were spoiling for a fight and were ahnost uncontrollable ; and he added that Rhodes, the Prime Minister, had responsibihties which he could not ignore, and that his canture would lead to a costly and danger- ana tua u digitized by Microsoft® 312 CECIL JOHN EHODES ous war. Sir Frederick Carrington and Sir Sidney Shippard, who were present, joined energetically in the protest. Ehodes rejoined calmly that the real object of his tour was not to see Klama's country, with which he was already familiar, but to enter Masho- naland. The meeting broke up, says De Waal, with ' mutual dissatisfaction,' and to avoid further remon- strances, Ehodes and his companions decamped during the night, leaving the High Commissioner to return to Cape Town at his leisure. Curiously enough, Ehodes having returned to Macloutsie the following night to fetch a doctor for Venter, who fancied himself to be HI, met no less a person than Colonel Pennefather, who had ridden back at speed to announce the safe arrival of the pioneers at their destination. After conferring with that officer, he again rejoined his party, who were in camp on the Lotsani Eiver. He brought with him a letter left behind by the High Commissioner, remonstrating with him, in formal terms, on the peril involved in continuing the journey. The two Dutch members now agreed that it would be unbecoming to proceed, and finally it was decided not to go further than the TuH Eiver, which was reached on 1st November. There they rested and received further ominous accounts of the excitement in Matabeleland, and also learnt that aU the rivers, lately so easily forded by the column, were now in full flood. On the 5th November they crossed the majestic Crocodile or Limpopo Eiver and were upon Transvaal soil. The point at which they crossed is still marked on the maps as ' Ehodes's Drift.' Pietersburg was reached on 8th November, and a few days later they halted at a river fondly called by the Boers ' de Groot Nijl.' Here they met some stalwart Matabele lads who had fled from the wrath Digitized by Microsoft® A JOURNEY NORTH 313 of their king. De Waal's comment is characteristic, ' What excellent labourers, I thought, would these men make for the white men. If Kafirs only knew the advantages of serving under white masters, they would gain more civilisation in one year than they do from missionaries in fifty.' The following day they found themselves within a moderate distance of Pretoria, and were met by a mounted trooper in uniform who, after saluting, in- quired in Dutch, ' Are these the waggons of President Rhodes ? ' Satisfied on this point, he dehvered an official invitation to him and his entourage to be the guests of the State, and, later on, State carriages arrived with several Executive members. It must be admitted in justice to the President that he was extremely punctihous in his courtesies to distinguished strangers. They finally arrived in the capital on a Saturday evening, and met with a cordial greeting. It has been afiirmed that Kruger declined to grant an interview on Sunday and, therefore, that Rhodes left without seeing him. This is not correct. The President, always true to his convictions, never ' received ' on Sunday, but the interview duly took place early on Monday morning, and was of a most friendly nature. The two strong men parted with expressions of mutual respect, and Rhodes was escorted out of town in the afternoon by three Ministers of State and a detachment of artillery. ' Artillery— against whom ? ' may have been the Premier's unspoken thought. After a brief stay in Johannesburg, the little company left for Kimberley, where they arrived on the 20th November, and thus ended the first effort of the founder of Rhodesia to pene- trate into the country subsequently called by his name. At Kimberles,-^^^te^,J# ^^^^f^-^^on that 314 CECIL JOHN EHODES his disbanded pioneers were assuming occupation of the farms allotted to them, or were out on the open veld prospecting for gold, and finding many evidences of ancient working. Civil administration was reported to be in fuU swing, and the vast expanse of territory hitherto devastated by annual Matabele raids, was now at peace, and entering on an era of progress under a stable and orderly government. Rhodes had been exactly twenty years in South Africa, and might well be content to rest and be thankful, but such was not his nature. He was abeady looking after ' those things that are before ' and scanning the distant horizon with an ever-widening outlook. To gain space for the expansion of the British race was his ever-present thought, and in season and out of season he toiled and struggled, spending himself and being spent, to found free communities under our flag, which, in their turn, would carry on under more clement skies than those of England the traditions of justice, freedom and commerce which he held to be the dis- tinguishing characteristics of Anglo-Saxon civilisation. He might well have exclaimed with Wordsworth :— ' It is not to be thought of that the flood Of British freedom, which, to the open sea Of the world's praise, from dark antiquity Hath flowed, "with pomp of waters, unwithstood," Eoused though it be full often to a mood Which spurns the check of salutary bands, That this most famous stream in bogs and sands Should perish ; and to evil and to good Be lost for ever. In our halls is hung Armoury of the invincible knights of old ; We must be free or die, who speak the tongue That Shakespeare spake ; the faith and morals hold Which Milton held. — In everything we are sprung Of earth's first blood, have titles manifold.' Digitized by Microsoft® EXPLOITATION OF THE CHARTER 315 CHAPTER XXII EXPLOITATION OF THE CHAETER 'Mtasa's Kraal — Trouble with Portuguese — Selous at Macequece — Another fight with Portuguese— Captain Forbes— Mr. Fiennes— Gungunhama — His Envoys in London— Further Portuguese fighting — Capture of guns — Renny-Tailyour — Lippert Concession — Cost of Concessions — Acquisition of rights in Bechuanaland — Lewanika — Barotseland — North-west Rhodesia — North-east Rhodesia — Rhodes meets Chartered shareholders — Area of acquisitions — Dr. Jameson at Cape Town — Rhodes writes to Mr. Stead. It is, of course, natural, human nature being what it is, that the occupation and development of Rhodesia should have engendered fierce opposition on the part of unsuccessful Concession-holders, as well as on that of neighbouring States. In the press, and sometimes in the Law Courts, conflicting interests made themselves vocal. Controversies raged for months and smouldered for years. One by one competitors were dealt with. Rhodes had a genius for compromise, and gradually the tangled skein was unwound and all rivals disposed of. Brief allusion has abeady been made, in passing, to some of the Concessions which Rhodes found it necessary to acquire or extinguish before he could effectively exploit the Royal Charter. A more extended reference to the subject may now be convenient. The original Rudd Concession over the minerals in Southern Rhodesia did not by any means cover the whole ground. Some idea of the extent of the opposi- tion that had ^o^,lt^}^l;^iJnl' gl^^^«^ ^y P^™^- 316 CECIL JOHN RHODES ing the earlier reports of the directors, and the pro- ceedings at successive meetings of the Company's shareholders. Thus, at the Extraordinary General Meeting held in November 1893, it was reported that the Company had already sustained three assaults in the House of Commons and two in the Law Courts, while other litigants had utilised the pubHc press to carry on an extensive campaign. Attempts to damage the Company in the Commons failed owing to its spirited and convincing defence by Mr. Rochfort Maguire, and both Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Balfour declared that no case for inquiry had been made out. In the Courts assailants fared no better, one Judge ruhng that the attacks were unprecedented, and another that they were outrageous. In the press, or rather in that section of the press which lent itself to the agitation, statements were made which time alone could refute. A well- known weekly paper repeatedly averred, for instance, that there was no gold in Rhodesia, whereas gold to the amount of eleven millions sterling has since been ' won ' and added to our currency. Mr. Hawksley, at the meeting referred to, gave an amusing description of the tactics resorted to in connection with what was then known as the Baines Concession, pointing out that the document had slept from 1871 to 1889, had been treated by Lo Bengula as no longer vahd, and had only been revived as a weapon of ofience against the Charter. Nevertheless, although barred by the Statute of Limitations, the grant had been treated with respect and acquired by the British South Africa Company. Another very disputable claim of the Austral-Africa Company was similarly recognised, not on its merits, but for the sake of peace. It would be te^^^o^us^^tc^-enu^erate all the claims EXPLOITATION OF THE CHAETEK 317 sent in and dealt with. Their acquisition was but a fraction of the various rights secured by the pertinacity of Ehodes. Lo Bengula was a great potentate but he did not exercise unquestioned jurisdiction over the whole territory south of the Zambesi. There was a distinct fringe of native States to which his annual raids seldom, if ever, extended. The powerful chief, Umtasa or 'Mtasa, occupied a fertile portion of Mashonaland, then known as Manicaland, a district marching with the Portuguese frontiers. As is well known. Great Britain, and Portugal were on distinctly unfriendly terms. Major Serpa Pinto's armed invasion of Enghsh soU on the Shire River had led to our demand for his recall, and on 11th January 1890, an ultimatum was delivered and a British squadron sent to Portuguese waters. King Carlos yielded to superior force, but manifested keen resentment which led to his refusal to accept the Order of the Garter. The representatives of Portugal had for many years neglected to secure themselves on their African borders. Our occupation of Mashonaland galvanised them into temporary activity, and it soon came to our knowledge that they were preparing an expedition to demonstrate to 'Mtasa, by a show of force, that they claimed the over-lordship, a claim already frequently made on paper but never enforced. Mr. A. R. Colquhoun, the first Rhodesian Administrator, judged that there was no time to be lost. When our occupation column was still fifty miles from its final destination, he branched off in order to visit 'Mtasa, guided by Selous, whose knowledge of the route was indispensable. Lieutenant Adair Camp- bell of the pioneers, and Mr. Christopher Harrison, the Administrator's Private Secretary, accompanied them. After a deeply j^^^^i^^f ^^^Jni'''' " ^^^^'-^-oded 318 CECIL JOHN RHODES and well-watered mountainous country, the party- reached 'Mtasa's Great EJraal on the slopes of a vast hill, distinguished even in that romantic region for its picturesque beauty. After a full ' Indaba ' a satis- factory Treaty was made with the Chief on 14th Sep- tember 1890, aU native formahties being duly observed. By virtue of this document the Company obtained sole land and mineral rights over a productive and auriferous district. Leaving one sohtary pohceman there, as the emblem of authority, Selous then rode over the mountam to Macequece to give formal notice of the Concession to the Portuguese Commandant, Baron de Rezende, by whom he was received with scant cordiahty. That officer, not unnaturally, resented any appearance of poaching on what he professed to consider his pre- serves. 'Mtasa, however, had aheady given us the most expHcit assurances that neither he, nor any one on his behalf, had ever ceded an inch of his territory to Portugal, or recognised her pretensions to suzerainty, and he added that the Portuguese resided on his borders merely on sufferance. Leaving Macequece, Selous, with his small escort, visited all the various independent Chiefs in Southern and Eastern Mashonaland, obtaining Concessions for the Chartered Company from every one of them except Matoko, the aged chief of the Mabudga tribe, who had never up to that time held any intercourse with Europeans, and who, though friendly, preferred to stand aside and think it over. On the 27th November, Selous arrived at Salisbury under the impression that peace was unbroken. Such, however, was not the case. While he had been on the veld, several events had happened. Early in October, alarmed at a rumour that the Portuguese were q9^feiegw/<9'osf^ce for an unknown EXPLOITATION OF THE CHARTER 319 destination, 'Mtasa appealed to the Company for protection. It was, of course, absolutely necessary to demonstrate our power and our good faith by affording him support. Accordingly on 10th October, a small police force was despatched to the Chief, under Lieu- tenants Graham and Shepstone ; and a detachment of 'A' troop, under Lieutenant the Hon. Eustace Fiennes, then an impetuous young officer, but since a staid member of the House of Commons, was ordered to march across country from Port Charter. Captain P. W. Forbes, a fearless and resourceful soldier, left Salisbury on 31st October to take command, and after several days' hard travelhng, he reached the Chief's Kraal on 4th November. Fiennes had not arrived, and Forbes found himself at the head of about ten or twelve pohcemen and a couple of volunteers. From the 8th to the 15th November, he was practically surrounded by seventy armed men under a Groanese adventurer in the Portuguese service, locally known as Gouveia. 'Mtasa was in abject terror, fearing he had backed the wrong horse, and his anxiety was re- doubled when, on 15th November, Colonel d'Andrada and the irritated Baron de Rezende arrived with a large and weU-armed following and took mihtary possession of the Chief's enclosed kraal. Fortunately on the same day three civil officials of the Company came in from Salisbury, and Lieutenant Fiennes, by a forced march, entered the British camp with twenty troopers. Forbes at once gave a taste of his quahty. With happy audacity he entered the Kraal from the rear and boldly arrested the Portuguese officers with his own hand, while Fiennes and his men disarmed their followers, who submitted and fled. D'Andrada and Gouveia were sent to Salisbury under escOTt, and the Baron Digitized by Microsoft® 320 CECIL JOHN RHODES deported to his own headquarters at Macequece. All of them were men of courage and ability, but the desertion of their levies rendered them powerless to do more than protest, which they did in a copious manner. It was a small skirmish but significant. The iacident entirely reassured 'Mtasa that he was justified in placing himself under the protection of the Company, On 19th December, Selous left Sahsbury to revisit Matoko, and after a long palaver, vividly described by the great hunter in language that cannot be bettered, the octogenarian chief and his head-man, influenced no doubt by our recent summary treatment of Portuguese pretensions, executed a vahd Concession in favour of the Company. The document bears date 5th January 1891. With another powerful chief, Gungunhama of Gaza- land, whose territories also marched with those of Portugal, a satisfactory treaty was likewise made. The arrangement partook of the nature of a lease, and the Chief received his rents with almost childish dehght. Protests from Lisbon were recorded, but the claims of Portugal were not based on treaties or on effective occupation, but on a mere exchange of presents. After full dehberation, the Secretary of State felt justified, on 9th February 1893, in confirming Gungunhama's Concession of mining and territorial rights, though, with that exaggerated and chivalrous deference to the shadowy pretensions of Portugal, which we have always traditionally exhibited in Africa and elsewhere. Lord Ripon qualified his approval as being given only ' so far as it affects or relates to the territories of Gungunhama which He within the British sphere of influence.' This cryptic reservation left the Chief in a rather unenviable position. He had ^gp,f^,y^mklM Ii^dunas to England, EXPLOITATION OF THE CHARTER 321 requesting oux protection, but it was officially refused, and in the end poor G-ungunhama became embroiled with Portugal and, after a gallant resistance, was overthrown and exiled to Lisbon, where he died in captivity. These Indunas, Huluhulu Umteto and Um- fete Inteni by name, were of course officially fgted, shown a review at Aldershot and granted an audience at Windsor. They also attended a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society and were taken the round of our industrial centres, but an East African Blue Book published after their departure recorded Lord Salisbury's decision that the bulk of their territory lay within Portugal's sphere of influence — a decision not visibly in accordance with the facts. Before leaving this portion of my subject, I should add that, after the fiasco with 'Mtasa, the Portuguese arranged a temporary modus vivendi with the Company, which was to expire on 15th May 1891. Unfortunately for their fair fame, their local officials, influenced by resentment and chagrin, violated the truce. On 11th May, a strong mixed Portuguese force made an un- expected attack on the Company's camp near UmtaH. But its commander, Captain Heyman, was a dangerous man to meddle with. The assault was repulsed with severe loss, and the pohce, assuming the offensive, pushed on and occupied Macequece the next day. A Portuguese flag captured on the occasion still hangs in the Ubrary of Groote Schuur. The pohce also captured seven Hotchkiss and two Nordenfeldt guns, and 30,000 rounds of ammunition. The engagement was watched by the dehghted 'Mtasa from a hill weU out of range. It would be unjust to charge Portugal herself with bad faith, but one of the inconveniences of her position as a colonising power has ever been the mabihty of VOL. I. Digitized by Microsoft® x 322 CECIL JOHN ERODES the central authority to restrain the actions of distant officials. With regard to the Concessions obtained by the Company in Matabeleland, it will suffice to say that the various interests were practically aheady merged into one when Lord Gifford, on Rhodes's behalf, made provisional apphcation on the 30th May 1889, for the Royal Charter. The apphcation was expressly made on behalf of a Company ' to be formed out of the amalgamation of the most important of the various companies and individuals holding interests in Mashonaland.' The principal parties referred to were the following : the Gold Fields of South Africa, the Exploring Company, the Austral-Africa Company, Baron Erlanger, Rothschild and Sons, Mr. Rhodes, Jules Forges and Company, Mr. Rudd, Mr. Maguire, Mr. Haggard, Mr. Leask, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Fry. The formal petition for the Charter, dated 13th July 1889, was signed by the Dukes of Abercom and Fife, Lord Grifford, Cecil John Rhodes, Alfred Beit, Albert Henry George Grey and George Cawston. It must be borne in mind, however, that the ' principal interests ' above referred to related, in the main, to mineral rights. The Rudd Concession covenanted, it is true, with its holders to grant no further land rights, and empowered them to exclude from the Territory all unauthorised persons seeking Concessions. But it did not, in express terms, convey concessionary rights over the soil. As it seemed essential to possess such rights, recourse was about to be had to Lo Bengula, when it was discovered that he had akeady, on the 22nd April 1891, granted a Land Concession to Mr. E. R. Renny-Tailyour, who transferred it on 15th May following to Mr. Edward Lippert, a GermaB/g/Siy^jgofe^croiTfe latter hastened to EXPLOITATION OF THE CHARTER 323 ofier it to Lord Rothschild, by whom it was de- clined. The Chartered Company naturally contested the validity of this docmnent, on the threefold ground— that it conflicted with the terms of their own Concession : that it had not been signed by the King and his Indunas but only attested by his Elephant Seal, which was in the custody of a local trader : and that it had not been ratified by the Secretary of State. On 12th September 1891, however, Rhodes, through Mr. Rudd, and in strict accordance with his habitual pohcy, purchased the document for what it might be worth, but con- ditionally on its being replaced by a new Concession, vaHdly signed and attested according to native law. The required document, Mr. Moffat being witness, was executed on 11th February 1892, and confirmed by Lord Knutsford, the Secretary of State, on 5th March 1892. This very important agreement, generally known as the Lippert Concession, gives the Chartered Company its undisputed right to deal, as owner, with the entire land rights of Southern Rhodesia. It wiU thus be seen that the Company gradually, step by step, came to possess the three attributes necessary for its efficient working. A. Mineral and other rights obtained under the Rudd and other subsidiary Concessions, ex- amined into and confirmed by Her Majesty's Government. B. Land rights granted under the Lippert, Baines and other Concessions and similarly confirmed. C. Administrative rights conferred by the original Charter and supplementary Orders in Council which from time to time defined, with precision, the Company's boundaries and sphere of opera- Digitized by Microsoft® 324 CECIL JOHN RHODES tions, and authorised its maintenance of an armed force to preserve law and order. It is clear from the foregoing that the Company's property, as distinguished from their governing power, was not derived from, though it was confirmed to them by, the Crown. Their property was acquired from various sources and at various dates, and also in various ways, i.e. by cession, transfer and purchase. Roughly speaking, its acquisition cost, in all, a sum of over £1,300,000 ; while its administration has cost £4,800,000, and its defence another £2,700,000. These are heavy sums to have been found by merchant adventurers for Imperial purposes. It says much for our country that such men, from the spacious days of Elizabeth to the present date, have never been wanting in the endeavour to extend the Empire by private enterprise. Rhodes was not for long contented with his dominions in Matabeleland and Mashonaland. To protect his rear as he pushed North, he addressed himself to the tedious task of acquiring rights from the numerous chiefs in the Bechuanaland Protectorate. A brief summary of these may be given. The Sechele Con- cessions Syndicate, as the assignees of one Sydney Morris, claimed that they held : — A. A Mineral Concession from Sechele, dated 28th August 1889, giving them sole prospecting, manufacturing and banking rights for a period of fifty years. B. A Railway and Telegraph Concession. C. A Trading Concession. D. An Administrative Concession for fifty years. A Concession Cojaataaie®(Mi5roibpopointed by the High EXPLOITATION OF THE CHARTER 325 Commissioner, made short work of these claims, declar- ing them to have been uaiproperly obtained. Ulti- mately a new Concession over all mineral rights was secm:ed for a hmited period, ratified by the Crown and purchased by Rhodes. Another Concession, granted by a brother chief, Sebele, on 8th June 1891, to two men, Riesle and NichoU, was in the form of a perpetual lease over 800 square miles of territory. This was reduced by the Commission to 160 square miles and, in its amended shape, was bought by the Chartered Com- pany at a later date for £12,000 and an annuity to Sebele. A third Concession was obtained on 25th July 1893, from Khama, the paramount Bamangwato chief, giving proprietary rights over the whole of his Territory, under certain specified conditions. This was confirmed to the Chartered Company, also under conditions, by Lord Ripon on 23rd November in the same year. A fourth Concession, dated 22nd July 1898, was granted by Linchwe, the chief of the Bakhat- las, to Mr. Julius Weil, by whom one half interest therein was transferred to the Chartered Company. A fifth, known as the Bangwaketsi Concession, was given by the chief Bathoen and purchased by the Company on 4th May 1889. Under this Concession the Company has developed and settled a considerable area called the Lobatsi block. A sixth Concession was from Moremi, chief of the Batwanas, and was dated 28th August 1889. The document conferred on its holders sole prospecting and other valuable rights, The acquisition of this Concession cost the Company, later on, £52,000. A seventh Concession was secured to the Company over all that land, virtually derelict, which had been abandoned by Khama, and which lay Digitized by Microsoft® 326 CECIL JOHN RHODES between th.e Bangwaketsi Native Reserve and the Transvaal border. In ternas of this grant, and under the sanction of Her Majesty's Government, the Tuh and Gaberones blocks have been surveyed and in part beneficially occupied by settlers under the Company. Lastly, the disputed territory referred to in a previous chapter, i.e. the country between the Macloutsie and Shashi Rivers, came under the jurisdiction of the Company. It had been claimed by Lo Bengula and by Khama, and both chiefs had granted, or were believed to have granted, Concessions which over- lapped. The area of this district is 4000 square miles. Working agreements were come to with all parties in possession, but the formal confirmation of the Crown is still awaited. Long ere the negotiations relating to the above grants approached completion, Rhodes was far on his way to the interior, and adding province to province. The great chief Lewanika, once a barbarian of the Lo Bengula type, but already softened by missionary influence, had granted various Concessions in 1890, which had been transferred to the Company. The Directors in the fijcst Report to 31st March 1891, say, ' Understanding that Lewanika, king of the Barotse nation, whose power extends over an enormous tract of country to the North of Bechuanaland, was desirous to come under the protection of Great Britain, Mr. Rhodes despatched a mission to that chief, with the object of establishing friendly relations and of obtain- ing Concessions from him. The Barotse king had akeady granted a mineral and trading Concession over a portion of his country to Mr. Ware. Terms were made for the purchase of this Concession, and the Company's Missiogtg^^^^|kfej^„|9^rrange with the king EXPLOITATION OF THE CHARTER 327 tliat it should be merged into a larger Mineral and TradiQg Concession over the whole of the Barotse country, covering an area estimated at 225,000 square miles. As proof of his good will, Lewanika has sent to the Directors two magnificent elephant tusks each weighing over 100 lbs.' A further Concession over all the land and minerals within a radius of fifteen miles of the Victoria Palls was obtained on 8th March 1905, and finally, on 23rd January 1906, a cession was made to the Company under the sanction of Her Majesty's Government, of the whole of Barotseland, with the exception of Lewamka's own reserve, due safeguards being intro- duced for the protection of the tribe. Some time before this, the territory had been recognised by Orders in Coimcil as an integral portion of the Chartered Company's domain, and has since been governed by the Company through its own Admini- strator, whose position is somewhat analogous to that of an Imperial Resident at the court of an Indian feudatory prince. The country is known as North- Westem Rhodesia and its affairs fall within the cog- nisance of the High Commissioner. By other treaties of a similar nature, as well as by occupation, a third province, entitled North-Eastern Rhodesia, has been gradually built up by the Company and recognised by Her Majesty's Government. This province, bounded in part by its sister provinces, stretches away in a north-easterly direction and touches the upper end of Lake Nyasa, and the southern end of Lake Tanganyika. Among the enterprises absorbed in the process of forming North-Eastern Rhodesia may be mentioned the African Lakes Company, a spirited British enter- Digitized by Microsoft® 328 CECIL JOHN RHODES prise engaged in commercial and missionary work, but crippled in its finances by the necessity of wagiag incessant war against the slave trade. The Chartered Company came to its assistance with a grant of £20,000, and ultimately took over its engagements and assets. Mr. H. H. Johnston, C.B.— now Sir Harry Johnston- became the first Administrator of the new Province, holding at the same time the position of Commissioner for British Central Africa or Nyasaland. The Imperial Government contemplated, for a time, the abandonment of this valuable possession, and it is not sufficiently reahsed that the Territory was only saved to the Empire by the action of Rhodes, who induced the Chartered Company to pay an annual subsidy of £10,000, being practically the whole cost of its ad- ministration. In his speech to shareholders on 29th November 1892, Rhodes made a caustic allusion to this transaction. ' It is not,' he said, ' a case of Her Majesty's Government paying for the Charter, but the Chartered Company is assisting the Government to govern its Territory (cheers) and the Company is paying £10,000 a year to the Protectorate on the shores of Lake Nyasa. I do not complain, but if there were a little more public spirit, this sort of thing would not happen.' Some idea of the extent of the country covered by the Concessions enumerated in this chapter may be gathered by a glance at the map of South Central Africa. The three Rhodesias form a compact territory, centrally situated, stretching between 8 and 26 Deg. South Latitude, and from 20 to 34 Deg. East Longitude. The only blot on the picture is due to Lord SaHsbury in allowing Germany to drive a wedge of territory into the heart of North- Western Rhodesia in order to gain Digitized by Microsoft® ° EXPLOITATION OF THE CHARTEK 329 iccess to the Zambesi. Its boundaries are as follows : dn the south, British Bechuanaland (now mcorporated n the Cape Colony) ; on the south-east, the Transvaal ; Dn the east, the possessions of Portugal and Nyasaland ; m the north-east, German East Africa ; on the north, ihe Congo State; on the west, German South-West ifrica and Portuguese Territory. The area, according to the latest calculations, may DC stated thus : — Bechuanaland, 275,000 square miles. S. Rhodesia, 148,575 „ N.-W. Rhodesia, 137,105 N.-E. Rhodesia, 150,330 )r a total of 711,010 square miles, a large proportion )f which is high plateau land, fertile, weU-watered and n parts well- wooded ; a land where, with ordinary ittention to hygiene, Europeans thrive and can rear heir children without having to send them to Europe it an early age : emphatically, as Rhodes often said, I. land for ' more homes,' where the denizens of our )vercrowded towns will, in the not distant future, eside in ever-increasing numbers. Making every allow- ince for the loyal service of his associates, this vast area Lad been added to the Empire by the genius and per- istence of one man, and it is only fitting that it should •e called after his name. For a while it was loosely ,nd inaccurately described as Zambesia, but the lopular instinct, so seldom wrong, gave it at an early .ate the name of its founder. On 27th October 1894, )r. Jameson, at a banquet in Cape Town, so called it mid loud applause, and finally, early in 1895, official anction was given to the title, and thus Rhodes had be rare satisfacl0)^y^]feyiMc/>§M?€Aoiigh to see this 330 CECIL JOHN RHODES well-merited recognition of his great and lasting achieve- ment. It only remains to compare the area of the Company's territory with that of older States : — Great Britain, 121,000 square miles. France, 207,000 Prussia, 134,600 Austria, 116,000 „ Spain, 190,000 The united area of these great European States is not much in excess of the dominions of the Chartered Company. It is not too much to say that there is nothing in the climate of Rhodesia to prevent it from ultimately supporting a white population equal to that of any European country of equivalent size ; and from this fact alone, with the exercise of a little imagination, we may measure the extent of the benefit which Rhodes has conferred on his mother country. ' I desire,' he said himself, in his celebrated letter to Mr. Stead, ' I desire to act for the benefit of those who, I think, are the greatest people the world has ever seen, but whose fault is that they do not know their strength and their greatness, and their destiny.' A curious commentary on this remark is that the shareholders are scattered literally all over Europe. In other words, the Province added by Rhodes to the Empire was built up and developed, in part, with foreign money, our greatest trade rivals thus un- consciously aiding us to enlarge our Dominions. Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX 331 APPENDIX CHARTER OF INCORPORATION OF THE BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY VICTOEIA by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith. To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting : WHEREAS a Humble Petition has been presented to Us in Our Council by The Most Noble JAMES Duke of ABEECORN Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath ; The Most Noble ALEXANDER WILLIAM GEORGE Duke OF FIFE Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Privy Councillor; The Right Honourable EDRIC FREDERICK Lord GIFFORD, V.C. ; CECIL JOHN RHODES, of Kimberley, in the Cape Colony, Member of the Executive Council and of the House of Assembly of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope ; ALFRED BEIT, of 29, Holborn Viaduct, London, Merchant; ALBERT HENRY GEORGE GREY, of Howick, Northumberland, Esquire; and GEORGE CAWSTON, of 18, Lennox Gardens, London, Esquire, Barrister-al^Law. AND WHEREAS the said Petition states amongst other things : — ■ That the Petitioners and others are associated for the purpose of forming a Company or Association, to be incorporated, if to Us should seem fit, for the objects in the said Petition set forth, under the corporate name of The British South Africa Company. That the existence of a powerful British Company, controlled by those of Our subjects in whom We have confidence, and having its principal field of operations in that region of South Africa lying to the north of Bechuanaland and to the west of Portuguese EaEti0mel,by>nikl^&^T^i^Seo\is to the com- 332 CECIL JOHN RHODES mercial and other interests of Our subjects in the United Kingdom and in Our Colonies. That the Petitioners desire to carry into effect divers concessions and agreements which have been made by certain of the chiefs and tribes inhabiting the said region, and such other concessions agreements grants and treaties as the Petitioners may hereafter obtain within the said region or elsewhere in Africa, with the view of promoting trade commerce civiliza- tion and good government (including the regulation of liquor traffic with the natives) in the territories which are or may be comprised or referred to in such concessions agreements grants and treaties as aforesaid. That the Petitioners believe that if the said concessions agree- ments grants and treaties can be carried into effect, the condition of the natives inhabiting the said territories will be materially improved and their civilization advanced, and an organization established which will tend to the suppression of the slave trade in the said territories, and to the opening up of the said territories to the immigration of Europeans, and to the lawful trade and commerce of Our subjects and of other nations. That the success of the enterprise in which the Petitioners are engaged would be greatly advanced if it should seem fit to Us to grant them Our Royal Charter of Incorporation as a British Company under the said name or title, or such other name or title, and with such powers, as to Us may seem fit for the purpose of more effectually carrying into effect the objects aforesaid. That large sums of money have been subscribed for the purposes of the intended Company by the Petitioners and others, who are prepared also to subscribe or to procure such further sums as may hereafter be found requisite for the development of the said enterprise, in the event of Our being pleased to grant to them Our Eoyal Charter of Incorporation as aforesaid. NOW, THEREFORE, We, having taken the said Petition into Our Royal consideration in Our Council, and being satisfied that the intentions of the Petitioners are praiseworthy and deserve encouragement, and that the enterprise in the Petition described may be productive oi dj^^fyPW^r^ft^''^^ therein, by Our Pre- APPENDIX 333 ■ogative Royal and of Our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, have constituted erected and incorporated, and by ibis Our Charter for Us and Our Heirs and Eoyal successors do constitute erect and incorporate into one body politic and corporate ay the name of The British South Africa Company the said James Duke of Abercorn, Alexander William George Duke of Fife, Edric Frederick Lord GifFord, Cecil John Rhodes, Alfred Beit, Albert Henry George Grey and George Cawston, and such other persons and such bodies as from time to time become and are members of the body politic and corporate by these presents con- stituted, erected and incorporated with perpetual succession and a common seal, with power to break alter or renew the same at dis- cretion, and with the further authorities powers and privileges conferred, and subject to the conditions imposed by this Our Charter: And We do hereby accordingly will, ordain, give, grant, constitute, appoint and declare as follows (that is to say) ;— 1. The principal field of the operations of The British South Africa Company (in this Our Charter referred to as 'the Company ') shall be the region of South Africa lying immediately to the north of British Bechuanaland, and to the north and west of the South African Republic, and to the west of the Portuguese Dominions. 2. The Company is hereby authorized and empowered to hold, use and retain for the purposes of the Company and on the terms of this Our Charter, the full benefit of the concessions and agree- ments made as aforesaid, so far as they are valid, or any of them, and all interests, authorities and powers comprised or referred to in the said concessions and agreements. Provided always that nothing herein contained shall prejudice or afTect any other valid and subsisting concessions or agreements which may have been made by any of the chiefs or tribes aforesaid. And m particular nothing herein contained shall prejudice or affect certam conces- sions granted in and subsequent to the year 1880, relatnig to the territory usually known as the District of the Tati, nor shall any- thing herein contained be construed as g-^S -.y^J""t^^^°"' admliistrative, or otherwise, within the said District of the Tati, the Hmits of which District are as follows, viz. : from the place wherr^Te Shasi River rises to its junction with the Tati and Smaquaban Rivers, thence along the Ramaquaban River to where S rriand thenc^k>ug-:J^->il^^-fa«A^fe*l^ose rivers. 334 CECIL JOHN RHODES 3. The Company is hereby further authorized and empowered, subject to the approval of one of Our Principal Secretaries of State (herein referred to as ' Our Secretary of State '), from time to time, to acquire by any concession agreement grant or treaty, all or any rigbts interests autborities jurisdictions and powers of any kind or nature whatever, including powers necessary for the purposes of government, and the preservation of public order in or for the protection of territories, lands, or property, comprised or referred to in the concessions and agreements made as afore- said or affecting other territories, lands, or property in Africa, or the inhabitants thereof, and to hold, use and exercise such terri- tories, lands, property, rights, interests, authorities, jurisdictions and powers respectively for the purposes of the Company and on the terms of this Our Charter. 4. Provided that no powers of government or administration shall be exercised under or in relation to any such last-mentioned concession agreement grant or treaty, until a copy of such conces- sion agreement grant or treaty in such form and with such maps or particulars as Our Secretary of State approves verified as he requires, has been transmitted to him, and he has signified his approval thereof either absolutely or subject to any conditions or reservations, And provided also that no rights, interests, autho- rities, jurisdictions, or powers of any description shall be acquired by the Company within the said District of the Tati as herein- before described without the previous consent in writing of the owners for the time being of the Concessions above referred to relating to the said District, and the approval of Our Secretary of State. 5. The Company shall be bound by and shall fulfil all and singular the stipulations on its part contained in any such conces- sion agreement grant or treaty as aforesaid, subject to any subse- quent agreement affecting those stipulations approved by Our Secretary of State. 6. The Company shall always be and remain British in character and domicile, and shall have its principal office in Great Britain, and the Company's principal representative in South Africa, and the Directors shall always be natural born British subjects or persons who have been naturalized as British subjects by or under an Act of Parliament of Our United Kingdom; but this Article shall not disqualify any person nominated a Director by this Our Charter, or ^^itiSiSWyVck^slM^^''^''''' ^' "" ^^'"^°*°' '^^" APPENDIX 335 ave been approved by Our Secretary of State, from acting in bat capacity. 7. In case at any time any difference arises between any chief r tribe inhabiting any of the territories aforesaid and the !ompany, that difference shall, if Our Secretary of State so equire, be submitted by the Company to him for his decision, nd the Company shall act in accordance with such decision. 8. If at any time Our Secretary of State thinks fit to dissent rom or object to any of the dealings of the Company with any sreign power and to make known to the Company any suggestion Dunded on that dissent or objection, the Company shall act in ccordance with such suggestion. 9. If at any time Our Secretary of State thinks fit to object to he exercise by the Company of any authority, power or right rithin any part of the territories aforesaid, on the ground of there leing an adverse claim to or in respect of that part, the Company hall defer to that objection until such time as any such claim has een withdrawn or finally dealt with or settled by Our Secretary f State. 10. The Company shall to the best of its ability preserve peace nd order in such ways and manners as it shall consider necessary, nd may with that object make ordinances (to be approved by )ur Secretary of State) and may establish and maintain a force of lolice. 11. The Company shall to the best of its ability discourage nd, so far as may be practicable, abolish by degrees, any system f slave trade or domestic servitude in the territories aforesaid. 12. The Company shall regulate the traffic in spirits and other itoxicating liquors within the territories aforesaid, so as, as far as racticable, to prevent the sale of any spirits or other intoxicating iquor to any natives. 13. The Company as such, or its officers as such, shall not in ny way interfere with the religion of any class or tribe of the copies of the territories aforesaid or of any of the inhabitants bereof, except so far as may be necessary in the interest of umanity and all forms of religious worship or religious ordinances lay be exercised within the said territories and no hindrance hall be offered thereto except as aforesaid. U. In the ^dmii^$m'>Wr(»4i**M;'5Wr»>»' ittiWi! Wf'!»