Much could be said about this native question apart from the subject of drink, for it is one which is very difficult of just appreciation by any but those who have had considerable experience of and personal contact with the natives.  It is one upon which there is a great divergence of views between the people of Europe and the people of South Africa.  South Africans believe that they view it from the rational standpoint, they believe also that Europeans as a rule view it more from the sentimental.  The people who form their opinions from the writings and reports of missionaries only, or who have in their mind’s eye the picturesque savage in his war apparel as seen at Earl’s Court, or the idealized native of the novelist, cannot possibly understand the real native.  The writer holds South African views upon the native question, that is to say that the natives are to all intents and purposes a race of children, and should be treated as such, with strict justice and absolute fidelity to promise, whether it be of punishment or reward:  a simple consistent policy which the native mind can grasp and will consequently respect.

With this in mind it will, perhaps, be believed that the recital of certain instances of injustice is not made with the object of appealing to sentimentalism, or of obliquely influencing opinions which might otherwise be unfavourable or indifferent.  The cases quoted in this volume are those which have been decided by the courts, or the evidence in support of them is given, and they are presented because they are typical cases, and not, except in the matter of public exposure, isolated ones.  The report of the case of Toeremetsjani, the native chieftainess,{48} is taken verbatim from one of the newspapers of the time.  The woman is the head of the Secocoeni tribe, whose successful resistance to the Transvaal Government was one of the alleged causes of the annexation.  A good deal could be said about the ways of Native Commissioners in such matters.  Much also could be said about the case of the British Indians and the effect upon the population of India which is produced by the coming and going of thousands of these annually between India and the Transvaal, and their recital of the treatment to which they are subjected, their tales of appeals to the great British Government, and their account of the latter’s inability to protect them.  Much also could be said of the Cape Boy question, but sufficient prominence has been given to these matters by the publication of the official documents and the report of the inquiry into Field-Cornet Lombaard’s conduct, which was held at the instance of the British Government.