140 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SECTION E. 



Unfortunately, the writer of the report did not realise that 

 it was not the communism in land tenure merely, but the com- 

 munism in. general, cemented by witchcraft, that is accountable 

 for the unprogressive character of native life, as we have been 

 trying to show. 



It will at last be observed though, that after nearly 90 

 years of contact with the white man, and some 60 years' ex- 

 perience of the white man's education, the natives are still pro- 

 foundly influenced by the traditional ideas. This, it must be 

 emphasised, is largely due to the underlying belief in witch- 

 craft, the binding factor of communism, which is the root-cause 

 of everything unprogressive in native life to-day. As we have 

 already seen, as soon as a man departed even slightly from 

 accepted tribal custom, even to the extent of planting a tree, he 

 became conspicuous and so an object of suspicion. If any 

 untoward event took place, such as a sudden death, or a strange 

 illness, or a drought, the witch-doctor, in searching for a cause, 

 was sure to " smell out " this unhappy man. In the old days 

 men thus smelt out were tortured until they proeluced the charms 

 (and consequently many an innocent individual found 'it con- 

 venient to produce them at an early stage in the torture!) which 

 had wrought the evil, and (usually) they were killed, together 

 with their wives and children, so that the " bad seed '' might be 

 exterminated. The huts, too, were burned and the cattle con- 

 fiscated by the chief. Even to-day witchcraft is still a powerful 

 factor in native life, the chief bulwark of heathenism to be over- 

 thrown by Christian missions and the other progressive forces. 

 Until it is wholly exploded the breakdown of tribalism on the 

 one hand, and the general progress of the natives on the other 

 hand, is bound to be much retarded ; and with this as a serious 

 statement of the position, it will be appreciated how great a 

 contribution was made towards the advancement of the Natives 

 when the Government threw all its weight on the side of the 

 discouragement of witchcraft. 



Unhappily, as those who had seen the evils of the witch- 

 craft that obtained in the early days when first white met black 

 passed away, and their knowledg-e, experience, and influence was 

 withdrawn, a new generation of officials, and missionaries too, 

 arose who did not (and do not) realise the issues at stake; and 

 in consequence, instead of completing the policy of suppression, 

 witchcraft was allowed to continue as long as it was practised 

 in a quiet way. It is this continuance, perhaps almost one might 

 say this revival of witchcraft, to which this paper draws attention 

 and takes exception. It is time that it were finally ended. 



Of course, various factors and influences have been at work 

 hastening the decay of the wizard's power. Thus, since ignorance 

 is the foundation and basis of witchcraft, education has 

 obviously played a large part in breaking its power, even though 

 Christian teaching has not yet replaced it, in the religious aspect 

 of the life of the nation. Furthermore, the introduction of 



