THE .NATIVES lis' THE LARGER TOWNS. 605 



There has been some agitation on the part of educated 

 l^Iatives a.gainst any such medical examination being carried out 

 on the ground that Europeans are not also subjected to it. But 

 it has to be remembered that the large mass of Natives in the 

 country, unlike the Europeans, seldom come under clinical treat- 

 ment by qualified medical men, and that the ]X>ssible spread of 

 contagious diseases, including leprosy, syphilis and tuberculosis, 

 is an even greater menace to the Natives than to. the Europeans. 



Pitiable cases have come under my notice shov^ing the need 

 for institutions for the treatment of the two last-mentioned dis- ' 

 eases among the Natives. 



, In the Transvaal and Orange Free State some opposition to 

 the registration of Native women has manifested itself among the 

 Natives, and the recent statement of the Transvaal Natives' 

 grievances to the Prime Minister mentioned a strong objection to 

 Native women having to conform to the Night Passes Ordinance. 



It appears doubtful, however, from the statement' of no less 

 an authority than Mr. H. M. Taberer, General Manager of the 

 Native Recruiting Corporation, whether the women referred to 

 belong to a class who should be free to roam about after nine 

 o'clock at night. He says : 



So far as the Native women of Johannesburg are concerned, I think 

 the position is an absolute scandal. There are probably from 15,000 to 

 20,000 Native women on the Rand, and I say that the sooner they are 

 turned out the better it will be.* 



The Assaults on Women Commission in 1913 recommended 

 that the curfew ref^ulations be aonlied to both sexes, and the 

 obvious reason for this recommendation, the tendency of Native 

 males to impersonate fema^'^s has ^pen much emphasised of 

 recent years. 



In the Cape Province, it is true. Native women of the age of 

 21 are considered to have attained the legal age of majority, and 

 are freed from any restriction thereafter. But in Basutoland, the 

 Native territory in which there is the nearest approach to Native 

 self-government, it has been proved that the Natives themselves 

 are in favour of certain restrictions being maintained in the 

 interests of morality. 



The Basutoland Women's Restriction Proclamation, IQI.S, 

 passed in accordance with a resolution of the Basutoland National 

 Council, provides, under Section 2, that: — 



No Native woman residing in the territory of Basutoland shall leave 

 the said territory without the consent (a) if she shall be married either 

 . according to European law or according to Native custom, of her husband, 

 and (&) if she be unmarried, of her father or natural guardian. 



In Natal under the Identification Passes Act similar restric- 

 •tions are maintained with beneficial effects. 



The new Bill provides for the exclusion from the urban area 

 of any Natives who are unable to give proof of their means of 

 honest livelihood. This provision owes its origin to a recom- 



* Select Committee on Working of Transvaal Liquor Laws. 



