138 ITTl RE OF XATIVK RACKS Ol' S. RHODESIA. 



" Recently he had heard a remark that everybody, white and black, 

 had the right to rise to the highest point he was capable of. He agreed 

 with that principle most heartily. No trade unionist would disagree with 



that sentiment. The native had his limitations He had 



clearly stated that he was quite prepared to allow for men, white or 

 black, equal opportunity to the limit of the men's ability. Those best 

 able to judge of what the native's abilities were, were very much divided 

 upon the subject. Broadly speaking, there were very few' natives in this 

 territory who were able to rise beyond the educational ability of a child 

 in the third standard. He was quite willing that the natives should be 

 developed along the lines on which they ought to develop. His belief 

 that the native was unable to rise to the standard of the white man was 

 the compelling factor in making him say that he fully believed that legal 

 enactment of the colour bar would never be necessary. He did not think 

 tlie position would ever arise in which the native in any numbers would 

 come into competition with the white man ; he did not think the native 

 had the ability to rise to tluit point." 



That is very illuminative. Put shortly, it amounts to this : 

 Let everyone, white or black, have the fullest opportunity of 

 development, as the black is quite incapable of developing. In 

 other words, let a Derby winner and a cart-horse have a fair field 

 and no favour — and devil take the hindmost. Exacth', but 

 suppose the cart-horse should turn out to be a race-horse ? I need 

 not remind you that a Grand National winner was once bought- 

 from the shafts of a cab. Suppose the black man should surprise 

 us by showing that he is capable of quite a lot of development ? 

 What then ? I imagine that few here will agree with tlie quota- 

 tion I have just given in its extremely low estimate of the native 

 capacity. It would seem that it- is necessary to consider the 

 question : Of what degree of development is the native capable ? 

 Unless we form some conception of an answer to this question 

 we may make some very startling discoveries along the road we 

 are to travel ; we may possibly find we are on the wrong road 

 altogether^ — the road leading to disaster which we so earnestly 

 desire to avoid. Let us consider, then, of what degree of develop- 

 ment is a native capable. 



Our first step brings us to a parting of the ways. We find 

 two distinct schools of thought, holding diametrically opposed 

 beliefs. We may call them the Schools of Racial Heredit_v and 

 of Environment. 



The first, the School of Racial Heredity, basing itself on the 

 narrowest and most exclusive interpretation of the evolution 

 theory', finds the demarcation between races so distinct as almost 

 to make them different species. It deduces therefroin totally 

 different sets of psychic faculties in black and white. The black 

 races will alwaj's remain essentially inferior in brain power and 

 all other traits to the white ; the most that can be allowed is a 

 certain degree of imitative ability. It is utterly futile to expect 

 that African natives in a totally different stage of evolution should 

 show any brain calibre approaching the Etiropean. This school 

 is closely allied to the school represented by Gobineau and 

 Nietzsche in European ethnology. 



The other, the School of Environment, or Social Heredity, 

 believes that all human ra_ces are endowed with exactly similar 

 faculties, and that the development de])ends entirely on the 

 environment. It ranks the capacity of an Australian aborigine 

 with that of a Western European, It can see no essential differ- 



