PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS — SECTION E. 1^9 



fringement of which renders him unclean, and so liable to 

 punishment and death — such is tribalism. How profound the 

 chano^c to an individualism that is sound and wise and stronij 

 and clean, possessing- the dj'namic within, the light of reason 

 that had been put out and now js restored ! 



The contrast between the two is so remarkable that we can 

 see at a glance how great is the difificult}^ in the way of efifecting 

 a transition from communism to individualism ; for, if provision 

 is made for almost every possible activity in the life of the 

 individual, and the infringement of any such provision renders 

 the individual concerned liable to the charge of witchcraft, is it 

 any wonder that every individual takes the utmost pains to fulfil 

 every such observance with a super-punctilious care? And it 

 follows naturally that the weakening of the power of the witch- 

 doctor, whose pretensions are dependent upon the detection of 

 even slight departures from the accepted customs, has 

 in corresponding degree been responsible for the breaking 

 down of native custom, a point which is not without 

 importance for the purpose of our study, since it so 

 intimately affects the whole trend of the psychology of the native 

 mind. Accustomed habitually to act according to strict tribal 

 custom, they are now set free to act as individuals, and each man 

 is become a law unto himself, a new and strange experience for 

 individuals, and so they have liberty to adopt new methods in 

 various spheres of activity, and to do things according to the 

 dictates, not of the ancestral custom, but of reason. Neverthe- 

 less, the superstition still retains much of its power. This point 

 of view is conclusively illustrated in connection with the practice 

 of agriculture. So long ag^o as 1822 the Rev. John Campbell, 

 of the London Missionary Society, who made extensive travels 

 in South Africa, recorded that : 



Though fond of potatoes and other European articles of food, they 

 have not been prevailed on to raise them, because to plant such 

 vegetables would be an alteration or an encroachment upon the old 

 system, which they venerate as estabhshed by their wise forefathers : 

 they suppose that by planting them they would be rendered unclean, 

 and the falling of rain be prevented.* 



Bearing this in mind, it is of. no slight interest to turn to the 

 Blue Book on Native Aft'airs relating- to British Bechuanaland. 

 igio, and to read what is said there concerning the same matter. 

 In reviewing the state of agriculture in that territory, and re- 

 marking tipon the lack of jjrogress, it says (p. 8) : 



It should be borne in mind that the individual native cannot be 

 indiscriminately blamed for this. Instances have come to light from 

 time (o time of a native who has planted trees or otherwise taken a 

 step in advance being penalised by the chief, even to the extent of the 

 land being allotted to someone else ; and even a few such cases or tlie 

 threat of such action will effectively discourage enterprise. . . . Tribal 

 tenure is, no doubt, the root cause of much of the backwardness com- 

 plained of 



* " Travels in South Africa," 419-420. 



