THE UNIVERSAL RACES CONGRESS. 



By J\Irs. Julia F. Soli. v. 



At the end of July a congress was hekl in London of special 

 interest to the Educational section of the South African xA.sso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science: it met to 



" discuss ill the light of modern knowledge and the modern conscience 

 the general relations between West and East and between so-called white 

 and so-called coloured people with a view to encouraging between them 

 a fuller understanding and a heartier co-operation." 



]t was iitly preceded by a meeting of anthropologists, professors 

 of one of the youngest of sciences, but a science that has already 

 undermined certain cherished convictions and shown that, as Dr. 

 Frazer states, " even superstition has rendered great service to 

 humanity " ; while in his last great book on " Totemism and 

 Exogamy " he has shown that even Parliamentary government, 

 i.e., government by the grand Council of the nation, is neither 

 an J'^nglish nor Aryan, but a human institution. 



The increased facilities for intercourse and the increase of 

 travel. Imth European and non-European, has produced a revo- 

 lution which compels all thinking people to give some considera- 

 tion to the problems of how to deal with varying civilisations, 

 and the " Conflict of Colour," as Putnam Weale calls it, is an 

 ever present fact ; nor can we forget that in the " War of the 

 Civilisations," Europe has shown frequently not only her newest 

 weapons but also her oldest barbarities. Yet Sir Oliver Lodge 

 well points out, 



" in cold blood and in the light of sanity and reason the settling of dis- 

 putes by means of bodily violence is manifestly uncivilised and barbarous." 



A few 3^ears ago an Asiatic race beat in fair fight a great 

 European and Christian nation — a nation whose might and pre- 

 datory desires at one time disturbed the peace of many English 

 statesmen, and with this Asiatic people England formed an alli- 

 ance ; it marked an epoch not only in the history of the Empire, 

 but in the history of the world : the consequences lie yet in the 

 lap of the gods. 



P'or many years the missionary and an occasional scientist 

 were the only Europeans who endeavoured to observe the golden 

 rule towards people of other civilisations; the majority, whether 

 traders, travellers or soldiers, for the most part so iDehaved as 

 to lead an Imperial poet to declare that " East of Suez, there 

 ain't no Ten Commandments," forgetting that morality and equity 

 know neither latitude nor longitude, and there is a certain fixed 

 minimum of obligation recognised by all but the lowest and most 

 degenerate of savages. Sir William Butler, in his recently pub- 

 lished Autobiography, reflects thus (of the Zulus) : 



" People wonder how men whom we call barbarous have so often in 

 their lives a natural level of right and wrong, a sense of good and evil, 



