30 president's address. 



Thus the hereditary attributes of all the peoples of colour 

 in South Africa are markedly inferior to those of the white in all 

 that pertains to the requirements of modern civilisation, and there 

 is every reason to expect that they will remain so in the future. 

 For in considerations of this nature the teachings of zoology are 

 overwhelmingly in favour of the unchangeableness of the germ 

 plasm. We may add the opinion of Dr. Stoddard as to the out- 

 standing merit of the white race from which the Europeans in 

 South Africa are derived: "The white race divides itself nto 

 three sub-species — the Nordics, the Alpines, and the Mediter- 

 raneans. All these are good stocks, ranking in genetic worth well 

 above the various coloured races. However, there seems to be no 

 question that the Nordic is far and away the most valuable type, 

 standing at the head of the whole human genus." English and 

 Dutch are predominantly Nordic, and it is in the daily com- 

 petition with these that the Bantu, Indian, and Malay are to lead 

 their lives. In the commingling of these races in South Africa 

 there can be no question as to which will be dominant. In his 

 hereditary endowments the white is far more gifted than the 

 coloured, and must lead. Dominance, however, is not arrogance, 

 nor does superiority necessarily carry with it harshness or unfair- 

 ness. 



The white man is imbued with sympathetic good-will towards 

 the coloured, and is prepared to do all that is reasonable to help 

 him to rise to the highest possibilities of his natural powers; but 

 in the complexities of industrial life each must necessarily occupy 

 the sphere for which his attainments best fit him. There is 

 encouragement for all in a natural distribution of this kind; and 

 it will not be overlooked, both by white and black, that hereditary 

 powers are of little avail unless developed by education and 

 training. 



If the white man has to lead in South Africa he can do so 

 only by training his superior inherent powers, and in my opening 

 remarks I indicated the wide facilities now available in this 

 direction. The native also is securing higher educational oppor- 

 tunities, even to university standards, as at Fort Hare. It is 

 only the superior mental endowment of the European which will 

 keep him ahead, but without training this will count little in the 

 days to come. The racial struggle in South Africa will in the 

 end be one of ability; repressive measures, even if attempted, can 

 be only temporary, and will be the breeders of discontent. By 

 virtue of his higher intelligence, not because of absence of colour, 

 I see the white man leading in South Africa; he will constitute 

 an aristocracy of ability, benevolent to the races less endowed. 

 But the sore of the indigent white must first be healed. 



I cannot close without some reflections on the type of white 

 man which South Africa tends to produce. Whatever he was on 

 first coming here he and his descendants are subject to a different 

 environment from that in Europe and are moulded thereby. I 

 claim to have experience of the more highly educated youth, the 

 public school and the university type, also of the farmer of the 



