Laws and Peace Preservation Acts, and that we have got to treat natives, where they are in a state of barbarism, in a different way to ourselves. We are to be lords over them. These are my politics on native affairs, and these are the politics of South Africa. Treat the natives as a subject people as long as they continue in a state of barbarism and communal tenure; be the lords over them, and let them be a subject race—and keep the liquor from them.”
Viewed in the light of these extracts, we can see what would have been the line which Mr. Rhodes would have taken in the immediate future of South Africa. First and foremost, Mr. Rhodes would have stood by the flag. He would never be the George Washington of a revolted South Africa—unless, of course, Downing Street should try to play the part of George III. Secondly, he would of necessity have become the centre round which would have gravitated all the forces making for self-government and colonial independence. He was the natural leader of the protest against that militarism which cost us the Transvaal in 1880–81, and which will inevitably produce the same results if it is allowed to place South Africa under the rule of the soldier’s jack-boot. Thirdly, Mr. Rhodes would have undertaken the championship of the Dutch against the dominant party which wished to put them under the harrow.
Extracts give an imperfect idea of Mr. Rhodes’s speeches. I quote therefore one speech in full. It was that which he delivered when he was at the zenith of his fame at the beginning of the year which was to close so disastrously with the Jameson Raid. The speech is that which he addressed to the shareholders of the Chartered Company on January 18th, 1895. It is also interesting as containing a very full description of the condition of things in Rhodesia at that time.
