272
Rhodesia
saw what was happening in the Union. The growth of separatist and republican sentiment among the Dutch population, evidenced by the increasing support gained by Gen. Hertzog and particularly the rebellion of 1914, inevitably influenced the political orientation of the almost solid British population of Rhodesia. Disinclination to be swallowed up in the Union and dislike of the introduction of bi-lingualism—a necessary result of Rhodesia becoming a province of the Union—were strongly reinforced by real if perhaps exaggerated fears as to the strength of the Dutch nationalist movement. It was possibly due in part to these developments that a proposal put forward by the Company in 1915 for the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Rhodesia secured (in 1917) a majority in the Legislative Council, though it was not proceeded with.
After an exhaustive inquiry the judicial committee of the Privy Council gave its decision as to the ownership of unalienated lands on July 29 1918. It had had before it not only the claims of the Crown and of the Chartered Co. but those of the natives, whose case was put forward without much evidence that it was being pressed by the natives themselves. The judicial committee reported in favour of the Crown. While, however, it decided that the Company could not claim ownership of unalienated land in Southern Rhodesia, it held that it was entitled to be reimbursed for expenses and outlays of administration in current or past years, and that while it continued to administer Southern Rhodesia it was entitled to apply the proceeds of any sale of land towards the reduction of such expenditure. The Company’s exclusive rights to all minerals in the country were confirmed and grants or sales of land made by it were finally legalized.
The next step was to ascertain the amount which would be due to the Company in accordance with the judicial committee’s report should the administration of Southern Rhodesia by the Company cease. At the request of the Chartered Co. a royal commission, of which Lord Cave was chairman, was appointed in July 1919 to ascertain the amount which would have been due to it for its administrative expenses if its governing powers had ceased on March 31 1918. The claim filed by the Company was in round figures for £8,000,000 plus interest on the accumulated deficits. The Cave commission took evidence in Rhodesia and its award was issued in Jan. 1920. The commission rejected the Company’s claim for interest and fixed the amount due to the Company at £4,435,000, subject to deductions (i) in respect of the value of lands appropriated by the Company for commercial purposes, and (2) the proceeds or value of lands and rights alienated by the Company for considerations other than cash, but plus the value of the public works which might be taken over by its administrative successor, estimated at £830,000.
In the interval the campaign for the grant of self-government had been renewed vigorously in Southern Rhodesia. In view of a coming general election the Legislative Council in May 1919 passed a resolution asking the Colonial office publicly to state what proof of fitness “financially and in other respects” would be considered sufficient to justify the grant of responsible government. Lord Milner (then Colonial Secretary) replied in Aug. that he could not regard the territory in its then stage of development as equal to the financial burden of responsible government, and as there appeared to be no great desire for the inclusion of the territory in the Union he advised that matters should be left as they were until the situation became clearer. This reply caused a good deal of dissatisfaction amongst the advocates of responsible government in Rhodesia. The strength of the movement was shown at the general election in May 1920, when the responsible government party secured 12 of the 13 elective seats in the Legislative Council. The I3th member advocated representative government, a half-measure which Lord Milner had considered impracticable.[1] Owing to the successes gained by the Dutch Nationalists at the general election in the Union a few months earlier, opinion in Rhodesia, which, in view of the discouraging attitude of the Colonial Office towards responsible government, had tended to consider more favourably entry into the Union, swung round completely.
The new Legislative Council, at its first meeting in May 1920, passed a resolution praying the Imperial Government to establish responsible government and affirming that—
“The record of the people of Southern Rhodesia establishes that they are capable of fulfilling in the interests of all the inhabitants thereof, irrespective of race, the duties of self-government, and are equally as able to bear the responsibility thereof as other peoples of the Empire to whom the rights of self-government have been granted in the past.”
Lord Milner, in a despatch dated Dec. 22 1920, again urged delay. “In principle” he favoured the Rhodesian demand and the Chartered Co. was willing, he said, to be relieved of its responsibilities, but, chiefly on the ground of finance, he proposed that the Company’s rule should continue till after the next general election, which in the ordinary course would be held early in 1923. If Rhodesia was then still in the same mind, responsible government could be brought into force not later than Oct. 1924. The elected members of the Legislative Council strongly traversed Lord Milner’s arguments and in the end the Colonial Office sought the advice of still another committee.
This committee, of which Lord Buxton, lately governor-general of the Union and high commissioner, was chairman, was appointed on March 7 1921. It acted with promptitude and reported on April 12 following. The electors having so recently expressed their views in favour of the abstract principle of self-government, no advantage would be gained (the committee stated) by another vote on the principle. It recommended therefore that a scheme for responsible government should be drawn up in detail and that by means of a referendum the opinion of the electors on such a definite scheme should be ascertained. If the electors accepted the scheme a proclamation or Order in Council should issue annexing Southern Rhodesia to the dominions of the British Crown and that annexation should be followed by letters patent setting up responsible government. The draft of the constitution, it was suggested, should be drawn up by the Colonial Office in consultation with the elected members of the Legislative Council. Two special provisions were proposed:—
(1) That with regard to the natives the existing authority and control by the high commissioner should be retained; and (2) that control of unalienated land should lie exercised through the high commissioner on the advice of a specially created land board. This unalienated land would be charged with the payment of the sums to which the Chartered Co. was entitled under the Cave award.
Many objections might be and were raised to the proposed manner of dealing with the land question, but the elected members of the Legislative Council, under the leadership of Sir Charles Coghlan, accepted the recommendations of the Buxton committee, and Rhodesian delegates were appointed to confer with the Colonial Office.
Meanwhile the general election in the Union in Feb. 1921 had resulted in the defeat of the Dutch Nationalists (though not in any diminution of their voting strength), and it was arranged that, before any irrevocable step was taken, the Rhodesian delegates should consult with Gen. Smuts, the Prime Minister of the Union, as to the alternative plan of Rhodesia becoming a province of the Union. The conference with Gen. Smuts was held at Cape Town in Sept. 1921, before the delegation left for England. It was made clear that if the Rhodesians had changed their minds and desired admission to the Union they would be welcomed, but that the Union would require the ownership of the unalienated lands.
The influenza epidemic of 1918 took a heavy toll of the natives of Rhodesia; the death-roll was estimated at fully 30,000.
A national tribute was paid to Sir Starr Jameson on May 22 1920, when his body, brought from England, where it had been temporarily interred, was given a last resting-place close to the grave of Cecil Rhodes at the World’s View in the Matoppo Hills.
- ↑ The following is an analysis of the returns, one member being elected unopposed. Votes for responsible government 4,663; for representative government 420; for joining the Union of South Africa 814; for continuance of Chartered Co.’s rule 868; total poll (out of 11,098 electors) 6,765.
