340 DOES IT I'AV T(^ EDUCATli THE NATIN E r 



to legislate for him." Wliv this chanioe? Because the natives 

 are advancing more rapidly than most people have heretofore 

 thought possible ; and because the Euro])eans are coming to realise 

 that the progress of the country is inextricably bound u]) with the 

 proper development of the native races. 



A brief analysis of the situation will reveal the extreme diffi- 

 culty of the problem. In the Union there are one and a quarter 

 million whites as against four and a half million natives. With 

 the latter living on a very small percentage of the land ; much of 

 this land being far from arable; with production being at a 

 mininnnu throtigh lack of improved methods of agriculture ; and 

 with a constant demand for labour in the cities, with its assurance 

 of a regular income, we find an increasingly large number of 

 natives Hocking to the large centres, where they come into the 

 closest contact with Europeans — a contact that is admittedly too 

 often prodtictive of more harm than good. Among these urban 

 natives there are signs of organisation into bands or unions, and 

 we may reasonably expect a more frequent use of trade union 

 weapons of boycott and strike. Attempts at territorial segregation 

 are being made and opposed, for different reasons, by both Euro- 

 peans and natives. With civilisation thus overwhelming them — 

 a civilisation that is difficult for them to understand or to appre- 

 ciate—the question of race adjustment becomes the paramount one 

 facing the thinking people of South Africa. The problem bristles 

 with so many difficulties that it is not to be wondered at that not a 

 few des])air of the ftiture of our land. 



And yet there is much in the outlook ti) encourage. Those of 

 us who are perhaps most closely associated with the native, and 

 who are giving our lives for his uplift, believe that the native 

 himself is making a large contribution toward the working out 

 of the problem, and we feel that if the European will but be 

 just and patient — very just and very patient — the seeds that are 

 being sown by missionaries and other friends of the natives, will 

 bear fruit and yield a harvest of progress, contentment, and good- 

 will between the races. We also take courage in our work, 

 because we can feel that the old prejudice against Christianising 

 and educating the native is rapidly dying. The South African 

 Native Affairs Commission of 1903 ; Lord Selborne, in his address 

 before the University of the Cape of Good Hope in 1907; Dr. 

 Loram, in his book on the education of the native in 1917; all 

 students of the problem, have testified to the value of Christianity 

 and education for these people. 



The change of attitude of the ordinary citizen towards tlie 

 work is also noticeable. Eleven years ago. when I interviewed 

 employers of native boys, almost every other one had some remark 

 to make about spoiling the native. Within the past few weeks 

 I have again interviewed, the employers of 185 students, and in 

 no single instance was I criticised for spoiling the native. In.^tead 

 of a sneer. I was offered a chair, and freqtiently a cigarette — 

 evidences of friendliness that were appreciated — in contrast to 

 past experiences. 



