\gQ BANTU INDUSTRIES. 



people in recent years. Successive bad seasons and excessively 

 high prices have reduced many of them to the verge of starvation, 

 in consequence of which scores of men, women and children have, 

 at one hospital in the Eastern Province of the Cape, been found 

 'to be suffering from scurvy. Is it small wonder that there has 

 been muttering and discontent ? Unless speedy relief is brought 

 to them many will be driven from their homes to find work in the 

 towns. This would be a calamity of the first order for South 

 Africa. Natives deteriorate rapidly under the conditions of town 

 life, both morally and physically. To allow a steady migration 

 of the Bantu to our large towns is to create in these a native sub- 

 merged tenth which will before long offer an immensely difficult 

 problem. A thousand times rather anticipate the somewhat hope- 

 less cry of "Back to the land" by giving those who have not yet 

 left it such conditions as will induce them to remain where they 

 are. 



That this can be done has been proved by practical experience 

 in the United States. The late Dr. Frissell, of Hampton, Vir- 

 ginia, whose name is much honoured in America, wrote that won- 

 derful things had been done by means of demonstration farms. 

 "Whole communities of coloured folk who had been anxious to 

 abandon their country homes and move to the cities were, through 

 the application of scientific principles to agriculture, enabled to 

 double and sometimes quadruple their crops. Better homes, roads, 

 schools and churches were thus made possible, and a measure of 

 contentment was restored. 



The policy of segregating the races has found favour with 

 many thoughtful people as the line along which the most hopeful 

 solution of our great native problem lies. Enforced segregation is 

 at the stage we have already reached impracticable. The hands of 

 time's clock cannot be turned back. But voluntary segregation is 

 both possible and practicable. Improve the conditions of life in 

 the native areas and the Natives will wish to remain in them. 

 Young men may want to go out for a time and work ; but the 

 Native has a great love for his home. To him, be it never so 

 humble, there's no place like home, and he will be glad to return 

 and settle down on the land if that be made reasonably possible 

 to him. 



It will be agreed that there is a great and urgent work to 

 be done in setting every available member of the Bantu race within 

 the Union to useful productive work suited to his capacity and 

 environment. In this direction Rhodesia has progressed further 

 than the Union, for a very capable and energetic man, a Cam- 

 bridge graduate, has been appointed as Director of Native 

 Development. 



There are three main lines along which it seems that indus- 

 trial development should be undertaken. 



The first is agriculture. It would have been thought that a 

 live Department of Agriculture blessed with even a small degree 

 of vision would have seized upon the immense possibilities of agri- 

 cultural expansion latent in our native population. They are 



