ENGLISH OPINION AND THE NATAL RISING. D URING the early part
of the week public opinion was seriously exercised over certain reports from Natal. On the authority of a Johannesburg paper, it was announced that the motto of the white troops throughout the recent operations had been "No quarter," that the native levies had been in the habit of slaughtering the wounded, that prisoners had been killed when shifting camp, and that the corpse of Bambaata had been subjected to shocking indignities. If such reports were true, then small wonder that, the mind of this country was perturbed. We may condemn those who jumped too readily to the darkest conclusions, but we cannot condemn those who felt uneasy about them. No patriot could believe that his countrymen were guilty of such crimes without a feeling of horror, though we may add that most patriotic people would be chary of believing in them without good evidence. The Govern- ment have investigated the matter, and in the House of Commons on Wednesday the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies made a statement which must go far to relieve our anxiety. It was not true that three thousand natives had been killed since the Mome Valley fight, for the total number slain throughout the whole operations was only three thousand five hundred. There might have been isolated cases of the killing of the wounded by native levies when beyond the supervision of white officers, but the Government of Natal had not heard of them. The state- ment that the white troops gave no quarter was untrue, as is shown by the fact that two thousand prisoners have been taken. Kraals were only burned when military exigencies demanded it, and the cattle of the rebels, while impounded for the Government, were never looted privately. As for the corpse of Bambaata, the case stands as follows. It was essential to ascertain whether the rebel chief was really killed, and Major Platt, of the Natal Medical Corps, was sent to find the body, and bring it back for the purposes of identification. It was found, however, that it was in a state of decom- position so advanced that it was impossible to remove it. No way remained but decapitation. The head was brought into camp, "kept covered and in privacy under an armed guard, and only shown to persons who stated that they knew Bambaata intimately and would be able to recognise him. When the identification was complete, and it was proved beyond doubt that the head was that of Bambaata, it was returned to the spot and interred with the body."
We see that some papers are declaring that Mr. Churchill has in effect admitted the rumoured atrocities. To us—and, we believe, to all reasonable, we had almost said to all sane, people —it will appear that his statement absolutely disposes of them. It is im- possible to argue with those who are always prepared to give the benefit of the doubt against their fellow- countrymen, for their blindness is wilful. But we would appeal to the ordinary man, whose conscience is neither dulled nor morbidly active, who has no bias against the Colonists, and who does not believe that his countrymen change their nature in changing their latitude, to consider how vitally necessary it is to keep an open and balanced mind in such questions. Too many people are ready to jump to the view that a Colony, merely because it is a Colony, will be apt to do things which public opinion at home would not tolerate. We believe, on the contrary, that a Colony is not less humane in practice than we are, though it may be inclined to use a different language from ours. Living in close juxtaposition to the natives, it will speak of them in a rough-and-ready practical tone, and not with the academic detachment of English humanitarians. But it speaks • with first-hand knowledge, and, being compelled to have the natives as neighbours, it is very little inclined to treat them unwisely. The tone of the Natal Press, for example, during the recent rising has contrasted favourably with that of many English papers. There has been very little screaming for vengeance and high-handed Bistnarckian methods. Natal has for many years been on good terms with her native population, she knows their merits and their strength, and on a priori grounds she is far more likely to do nothing to imperil the chances of a final settlement than people at home who have no direct interest in it. We do not think that there has been any tendency to wax theatrical and exaggerate the danger. Every one with any first-hand South African experience knows that the Boer War made trouble with the natives sooner or later inevitable. There is every ground for believing that a movement was beginning all over the sub-continent which only needed organisation to become a menace to white civilisation. The Natal rising was probably in large part accidental and unpremeditated, but the general danger remained. In these circumstances, we maintain that Natal has shown real self-control. There has been none of the panic with which her critics in Britain are anxious to credit her. We would urge on all thinking men the need of being moderate and sympathetic in their criticisms of Natal in such a crisis. It is possible, no doubt, that a Colony might follow a course of action which the conscience of the Empire would condemn, and which it might be necessary for the Crown to veto. It is possible, but, in our view, most improbable. We desire to see a sleepless watchfulness maintained in all matters of public morality, but this conscience should not be allowed to degenerate into a Pharisaical self-righteousness. And unless sym- pathy and common-sense temper our criticism, self- righteous it will become.
It is forgotten, also, by many that war is in essence a cruel business, more especially a. war with natives. The episode of Bambaata's head seems to us wholly defensible. It was necessary to make certain of his death, and the identification was completed with all the decency possible. To see an outrage in such an act is to condemn every operation of war. The possibility that the native levies may have killed the wounded is regrettable, but we do not see how it could have been averted. In a country of thick bush and difficult hills, where all operations must partake of the nature of a "drive," native levies could not be dispensed with, and it is impossible to keep them always under the eye of a white officer. That every precaution was taken against excess is shown by the fact that "out of the thousands of native women who have been involved in the area affected by the operations, only one case of assault has been heard of." Native levies were used in the Zulu War by the Imperial authorities, and the Natal Government are con- vinced that there has been no killing of the wounded comparable to what took place in that campaign. As to the number slain in battle, we must rememb3r that a Zulu fights to win, and not to make a good show. "Regrettable incidents" and white flags do not come within his philosophy of war. As for the allegation that "No quarter" was the watchword of the white troops, founded apparently upon the reports of white soldiers themselves, we do not suppose there was ever a war in which this boast was not made. It is especially frequent among irregular regiments, and in the Boer War it was the common brag of the garrulous trooper. On such evidence the charge is not worth a moment's consideration.
As our readers know well, we would be the last to decry a sentiment that was truly and sanely humane. We only ask that humanitarianism be tempered with a little common-sense and common justice, for with- out these it will most assuredly fail of its purpose. A native enemy, in our opinion, should be given the same rights as any other opponent. When we fight him we desire to defeat him, and for the purpose we use the latest inventions of science ; but he is entitled to the same treat- ment in and after battle as any other foe. Brutality is not only a moral stain upon the white men who are guilty of it; it is extremely bad policy. For, remember, these natives are, like ourselves, citizens of the Empire, and their development is as much part of our political problem as the well-being of the whites. Any course which lowers our prestige and leaves behind it a lasting bitterness is the most short-sighted of policies. This we believe the people of Natal recognise as clearly as any Englishman. But when this has been said, we would add that undue suspicion and intemperate accusations are subject to the same charges. They are a discredit to those who are guilty of them, and they compromise most seriously the chances of a wise settlement.
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