l'l<i:sil)i:\TlAL ADDKKSS SKCTION I). I 2^ 



sional man. oi" one clorivin^ his income from the soil, has a 

 nnicli liij^her standard of livini; than of old. lUit this is not 

 the whole story. C'oncurrentl\- with tins there has heen a falling 

 back. A section of the connnnnit\ , oriij^inalh farmers, have l)een 

 nnable to keej) ])ace with the chani^dnij times and ha\'e deterio- 

 rated. ,\ccustonied to re.i^ard niamial labotir as Kaffir's work, 

 and nntrained to aity skilled calling, they gradually lost their 

 place in the connnunity. Vor a time the huntinii;- of fj^ime and 

 then transport riding- gave them employment, l)nt these failed, 

 and they have gradual!)- drifted to tlie towns. Ilere again they 

 had no satisfactor}- place. l)tit the peculiar social conditions of 

 South Africa enabled them to make a living in ways that are 

 full of danger to the community. Along the W'itwatersrand they 

 are the illicit liquor sellecrs. and wor.se, on tlie Basuto border 

 they engage in unlawful traffic, and in many dorps they sul:)sist 

 by exploiting tlie native in many w.iys. Their presence in due 

 both directly and indirectly to the fact that they have been able 

 to escape work, and the penalties due to not working, by living 

 ti]V)t-i the native, to the demoralisation and deterioration oi both 

 wliite and black. 



Forty years ago the whole of the manual labour of the 

 country was done by natives. At that time there were those who 

 thought they saw reason to ho])e that in time the white man 

 might take the place of the native labourer. The four decades 

 have not brought this any nearer. Exce])ting for certain doubtful 

 experiments of the nature of relief work, all the luanual labour 

 is still the prerogative of the black man, and in this field the 

 white man shows no inclination to challenge his supremacy. This 

 monopoly carries with it certain advantages of discipline and 

 training which in other countries tit those who go through this 

 apprenticeship for the higher |>osts. We see one effect of this 

 condition in the class of poor whites, what effect it may ultimately 

 have on the rest of the community we have yet to learn. 



I would now like to summarise the position of the races 

 to-day as compared with what it was 45 years ago. 



T. The indej^endent native .States have been broken up, or 

 are, as in the case of Basutoland and Swaziland, under 

 the government of the white man. 



2. The wars and customs which kept down the native popu- 



lation are no longer possible, and the ])eople are increas- 

 ing steadily in numbers. 



3. Cultivation of the land is .still backward, the lands are 



being worked out, and more and more the natives are 

 dependent on wages earned. 



4. Reserves are overcrowded according to native ideas, and 



further production is curtailed for reasons already jE^iven. 



5. On farms the natives are being more and more restricted. 



and from being peasant farmers and pastoralists, are. 

 becoming dav labjourers. 



