Part 8 (2/2)

One by one the chiefs came down from the hills and succumbed to the persuasiveness and personality of this remarkable man who could deal ild and naked warriors as successfully as he could dictate to a group of hard-headed businessthe Matabeles were appeased and permanent peace, so far as the natives were concerned, dawned in Rhodesia After his feat in the Matopos the Matabeles called Rhodes ”The Man Who Separated the Fighting Bulls” It was during this period in Rhodesia that Rhodes discovered the place which he called ”The View of the World,” and where his rerandeur

At Groote Schuur, the Rhodes house near Capetohich he left as the permanent residence of the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, I saw a prized souvenir of the Matopos conferences with the Matabeles

On the wall in Rhodes' bedroos the faded picture of an old and shriveled Matabele woman When I asked General smuts to tell me who she was he replied: ”That is the wootiator between Rhodes and the rebels” I afterwards found out that she was one of the wives of Uula, and a noted Zulu chieftain Rhodes never forgot the service she rendered hiraph of her to be taken

Following the last Matabele insurrection the Imperial Government which is represented in Rhodesia by a Resident Commissioner assuuided by the precedent of Natal, where a premature Responsible Governh wrecked the province It has become the policy of the Home Government not to permit a relatively small white population to rule the natives Whatever the influence, Rhodesia has had no trouble with the natives since Rhodes made the peace up in the hills of the Matopos

The moment that the war of force ended, another and bloodless war of words began and it has continued ever since I ed against the Chartered Conificant and little-known chapter to the whole narrative of self-deterh its Charter the British South Africa Company was able to fasten a copper-rivetted rule on Rhodesia Most of the Directors in London, with the exception of men like Dr Jameson, knew very little about the country There was no resident Director in Africa and the members of the Board only came out just before the elections The Administrator was always a Company man and until 1899 his administrative associates in the field were the members of an Executive Council nominated by the Company

Meanwhile thousands of men had invested their fortunes in the land and the inevitable time came when they believed that they should have a voice in the conduct of its affairs

This sentiiven a Legislative Council which for the first time enabled the Rhodesians to elect some of their own people to office At first they were only allowed three ave the Chartered interests a majority Subsequently, as the clarew, the number of elected representatives was increased to thirteen, while those noet a majority under the new deal it was only necessary for the Coet the support of four elected members and on account of its relatively vast commercial interest it was usually easy to do this

It would be difficult to find an exact parallel to this situation In An orators call ”Special Privilege,” an institution which thrived before the searchlight of publicity was turned on corporate control and prior to the tis were put into the stewardshi+p of railways These contestants were sorees of success Perhaps the nearest approach to the Rhodesian line-up was the struggle of the California wheat growers against the Southern Pacific Railhich Frank Norris dramatized in his book, ”The Octopus”

All the while the feeling for Responsible Governroup which opposed the Chartered regile the line was sharply drawn between the Charter adherents on one side and unorganized opponents on the other By 1914 the issue was sharply defined The first twenty-five years of the Charter were about to end and the insurgents realized that it was an opportune th The opposition had three plans

Some advocated the conversion of Rhodesia into a Crown Colony, others strongly urged ad stood for Responsible Government It was decided to unite on a common platform of Responsible Government

For the first tiht on its hands and Dr Jameson, who had become president of the corporation, went out to Rhodesia andloyalty to the Charter His appearance stirred memories of the pioneer days and aluard rallied round hin ensued with the result that the whole pro-Charter ticket, with one exception, was elected, although the antis polled 45 per cent of the total vote

Out of this defeat caressives The I within its powers, which pere in the Charter at the end of every ten years, granted a Suppleislative Council could by an absolutethe Crown to establish in Southern Rhodesia the form of Government known as Responsible Government,” provided that it could financially support this procedure

It gave the insurgents fresh hope and it made the Company realize that sooner or later its authority must end

Then the Great War broke Every available man that could possibly be spared went to the Front and the life of the Council was extended until 1920, when a conclusive election was to be held Meanwhile the Co that it ot busy with an atte them were the millions of acres of so-called ”unalienated” or Crown land in Southern Rhodesia The Chartered Company claied that it belonged to them The Government said it was an imperial possession The Privy Council in London upheld the latter contention Thereupon the Coainst the Governhout the years of adislative Council in 1919 asked the British Govern the Charter with some form of Government suited to the needs of the country Lord Milner, the Colonial Secretary, answered in what came to be known as the ”Milner Despatch” In it he said that he did not believe the territory ”in its present stage of development was equal to the financial burden of Responsible Governovernhout Rhodesia was that no election would be held until a Govern, had inquired into the validity of the Coes Early in March 1920, however, the Legislative Council gave notice that the election was set for April 30th It proved to be theever held in Rhodesia The Chartered Coed between the tings of the anti-Charter crowd One favored Responsible Government and the other, aduments for Responsible Government briefly were these: That under the Supplee possible; that the financial burden was not too heavy; that the native question was no bar; that the Ie debt of the Coualism would be introduced; that taxation would not be excessive, and that finally, the right of self-deterht of the British people

The adherents of Union contended that the original idea of Cecil Rhodes was to make Rhodesia a part of the Union of South Africa; that by this procedure the vexing problem of custoovernment in South Africa meets every requirement of self-deter a part of the Union the whole railway question would be settled At present the Rhodesian railways have three ends, one in South Africa at Vryburg, another on the Belgian border, and a third at the sea at Beira It was clai a part of the nationalized railway systee of a British port at the Cape instead of Beira, which is Portuguese In other words, Union meant stability of credit, politics, finance and industry

The outcome of the election was that twelve Responsible Government candidates, one of them a woman, were elected Women voted for the first time in Rhodesia and they solidly opposed the union with South Africa

The thirteenth member elected stood for the conversion of the country into a Crown Colony under representative governn the Chartered Coh it was obviously opposed to Responsible Governhout Rhodesia is that it favors Union because it could dispose of its assets to better advantage

I arrived in Rhodesia immediately after the election The country still sizzled with exciteht for union with South Africa was a former American, now a British subject and who has been a ranchman in Rhodesia for soht of the landslide at the polls it naturally followed that the new Legislative Council at its firstfor Responsible Government The vote elve to five Since this was not an absolute majority, as required by the Supplementary Charter, it is expected that the Iovernment just now The next procedure will probably be a request for representative government under the Crown or some modification of the Charter, and for an I power and the country needs money just as much as its needs ht shon between Crown Colony or Union at the next election, Union in Froathered in conversation with the leaders of both factions, there would have been a bigger vote, possibly victory for Union, but for the Nationalist movement in South Africa, which I described in a previous chapter The Rhodesians want no racial entangleainst the Charter It is only a question of tied into Southern Rhodesia for, with the passing of the Company, her destiny becomes identical with that of her sister territory Northern Rhodesia's chief coainst the Company was that it did not spend anythe story of the crusade for Responsible Government you can understand the reason why

Whatever happens, Charter rule in Rhodesia is dooreat Company, born of the vision and imperialism of Cecil Rhodes, and which battled with the wild ory of corporations But Rhodesia re part of the British Empire and the dream of the founder is realized

III

Rhodesia produces much more than trouble for the Chartered Company She is pre-eet still another parallel with the United States because it is no unco to find a farion in the world contains a finer or sturdier hold of youth Likewise, no other colony, and for that id censorshi+p upon settlers Until the high cost of living disorganized all economic standards, no one could establish himself in Rhodesia without ais concerned, this is now increased to 2,000 Therefore, you do not see the signs of failure which so often dot the se this, you can understand why the iid cross-examination at the frontier

Also it is simon-pure British, and more like Natal in this respect than any other territory under the Union-jack I had a convincing demonstration in a personal experience I made a speech at the Bulawayo Club The notice was short but I was surprised to find more than a hundredclothes Soet there, others had come hundreds of miles by motor car