94 PRESIDENTIAL .\DDUI':SS SECTION E. 



the white man's law as soniethinj:;- in it to be worshipped (as he 

 was taught to worship the law of the kraal), l)ut as something 

 to be overcome or evaded by ctmning and wile. In this way the 

 process of educating the Native is going on to-day till often 

 he becomes a nuisance to the State and a menace to society. 



On the whole, therefore, it must be confessed that the 

 lessons learned from the example and environment of the white 

 man, and from contact with civilization, do not tend to uplift 

 the Native character, since few Natives have that power of dis- 

 crimination which comes from experience and from intimate 

 association with those oi higher ideals than themselves. 



The influence of the white man and his civilization upon the 

 Bantu, however, is not always a ])aneful one. The result of the 

 work of the Native Affairs Departiiioil, for example, i- most 

 encouraging. As far as my personal observations have led me. 

 I cannot speak too highly of those engaged in thi.s branch of 

 State Administration. As a i^eneral rule, the exami)le set by 

 officials is a good one, and the paternal interest in the Bantu 

 people shown by them, coupled with the administration of im- 

 partial justice and firm discipline, is bound to bear good fruit 

 in the character of the people with whom they deal ; indeed, 

 results may be seen even to-day in the staunch loyalty of the 

 Chiefs and their real affection for the " Government " which 

 protects them. 



The influence of a Government Department, however, is not 

 far-reaching enough to penetrate to the home life and religious 

 observances on which character is really moulded. This can 

 only be done by an appeal to the |)svchic and moral side of man's 

 nature, and such an appeal is outside the province of the Native 

 Attairs Department. The following extract from the Report oif 

 the Select Committee appointed to investigate the question of 

 " Assaults on White Women " points to the same conclusion : 



The evidence of the effect of Christian teaching and education on 

 the character of natives is very strong. These unquestionably exercise 

 an enormous influence for good. Administrative action can go but a 

 short way in that direction. It is a universal complaint that the weakening 

 of tribal control is having a disastrous bearing on social and family Hfe. 

 The effect of the introduction of a civilised form of government results 

 necessarily in the discouragement of ceremonies and customs which, 

 though barbaric in European eyes, has important consequences in regard 

 to tribal, paternal and marital authority, and indirectly, on the moral 

 bearing of the coinmunity. In this evolution, the Commission is convinced 

 that the restraining and directing influence of the Christian religion and 

 education, if imparted on right lines, are absolutely essential. There is 

 abundant testimony of the benelit derived from these agencies, which 

 should receive the fullest possible encouragement in the interests of the 

 white as well as the black races.* 



Testimony of the same kind is borne by those who were 

 responsible for the last " Code " of Native Education in the 

 Transvaal, and by numbers of experts who have examined the 

 question from an unbiassed point of view. 



*- Report of Commission on Assaults on White Women, § 189. 



