258 THE FUTURE OF THE BANTU PEOPLE. 



than the white people are. When the five volumes of the Native 

 Commission of 1913-15 were i)ublished, at something like six 

 guineas, some frontier natives brought the money to their member 

 of Parliament and requested him to procure copies for them. He 

 called their attention to the size of the books, and to the length 

 of time it would take any one man to read them, so that to pass 

 them round meant reading until doomsday. They replied : "They 

 had considered all this: the nights were long; one could read while 

 many listened ; thus they would all know what had been said by 

 witnesses ; what had been proposed by the Commissioners." No 

 white people have ever taken so keen an interest in the doing of 

 Government. It is evidence that these Bantus have ability, and 

 are alive to their own interests. And are not all the happenings of 

 the present time proofs that they are dissatisfied with the gift of 

 " contentment " ; that they are intelligent enough to know that 

 they have rights, and are entitled to justice; that they, and all 

 men, were born equal — at least with the right to equality of oppor- 

 tunity to make the best of life. 



The party politician has his own panacea for all these difii- 

 culties ; but here we are not of these men. Our mission is the 

 advancement of science, by which we mean, so far as natives are 

 concerned, that to rule them rightly we must take all the facts of 

 their life, and of ours, into careful consideration ; and as carefully 

 set forth the general principles drawn from all those facts upon 

 which they are to remain a part of the body ])olitic, and continue 

 to march along the road of progress until the race acquires all 

 that is implied in the word " civilization." 



I have said — I say again — if the few advanced natives are 

 only sports, not to be accounted for, not likely to be followed by 

 others we need not trouble ourselves Avith the native problems. 

 We may hold that white people are here to improve the Bantu 

 people, and be content to leave this to some other coming — and 

 perha})s far-ofl:" time, when something will have to be done. But 

 if these people are now attaining to civilization ; if they are nozv 

 showing that they have the ability to rapidly acquire all the arts 

 and graces and powers of civilized life; if they are displaying 

 intelligence and practical ability of a high order, then upon us ot 

 this present generation is laid the duty of seeing that they receive 

 the example and assistance, we who march in "the foremost files 

 of time " have to give. These native people will have to carry 

 the lamp of civilization to the natives of Central Africa. How 

 they will carry it, and indeed the kind of lamp they carry, A\ill 

 largely depend upon us. 



General Smuts has recently informed an English audience 

 that the natives are being governed in terms of Christian morality, 

 which indicates a sufficiently high ideal, if it be not a present 

 attainment ; and it will satisfy most of us as being the most scien- 

 tific plan that could be devised. But let us remember that ideal 

 has as one of its constituent parts the simple statement that neither 

 science nor Christian morality can be satisfied if colour receives 

 more attention from those who govern than character does. 



(Read, July 5, 1917.) 



