Say It out Loud - The 1909 Presidential Address, Cape Town, 13th April 1909

From the book: Say It out Loud by Mohamed Adhikari

The 1909 Presidential Address, Cape Town, 13th April 1909 ¹

The President, in formally opening the Congress, said that, in the first place, he thought they would expect him to thank their worthy Mayor and the one whom they called " Schreiner " cheers ­ for being with them that night. He would ask them when he used the term Coloured person " or " person of colour " to understand that he meant everyone who was a British subject in South Africa, and who was not a European. (Cheers). He must ask their indulgence if he made one little departure, that was, that he was going to read the few remarks t he intended to make. Dr Abdurahman proceeded to say: Owing to the financial condition which is still hanging like a pall over this Colony, and to the fact that you have suffered and are suffering quite as much as, if not more than, other sections of the community from the want of work and the consequent shrinkage of your means, I had intended not to put you to great expense and inconvenience attaching to an annual Congress. I was convinced that by means of energetic work done by the various local secretaries, and the general executive, and by regular correspondence between the Branches and the central executive, and with the goodwill of the Government, we could have dispensed with our regular annual Conference this year without seriously impairing the efficiency of the work of the Organisation.

REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES

But in the political life of South Africa changes have ever been serious and sudden and often revolutionary, and never more so than during the past three months. The movement towards a Union of British South Africa, which we all regard as eminently desirable, has so far progressed that a draft South Africa Constitution Act has been prepared, and is now under the consideration of the various Colonial Parliaments. That Constitution will affect our future vitally. It contains clauses, which deal specifically with the political rights of all men of colour. To my mind, these are in danger of being whittled away for purely material advantages, and I consider I would have committed a great dereliction of duty, had I failed, as your President, to summon you to consider in Congress that grave issue. I must, therefore, thank you sincerely for answering so readily and in such numbers to the call, for I know that your attendance here an enormous personal sacrifice of both time and money. Everyone of you has been at a public meeting of Coloured people; so I trust you will realise the grave responsibility that rests upon you, and that your deliberations will receive the recognition they are justly entitled to.

THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION

The chief object for which you have been called together being the consideration of the draft South Africa Act, my remarks will naturally be directed mainly to that question. Before dealing with the proposals in the draft South Africa Act it may not be out of place to call your attention to the to the circumstances connected with the introduction of representative institutions in the Cape Colony, and the honourable part which by the invitation of the Imperial authorities we took.

LORD STANLEY'S DESPATCH

The South African Native and coloured people's delegates in London, 1909. Front row from left to right: Mr Maji J Fredericks, Dr A Abdurahman, hon W. P. Schreiner , Rev. Dr W.E. Rubusana and Mr Tengo Jabavu, Back row from left to right: Mr D. J. Lenders, Mr D Dwanya and J Gerrans

In July 1842, Lord Stanley, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in reply to petitions from this Colony, and chiefly from this old and democratic city. Cape Town, for the grant of Representative Government, forwarded a despatch to the Governor of this Colony, which contains the following: ­ " The law no doubt, especially since the abolition of slavery, places all the Queen's subjects in all possessions of the Crown on a footing of perfect civil quality... It was no light thing to throw down the barriers which have hitherto afforded protection to the great mass of the colonists, and to hazard the consequences of placing them without that protection in the presence of an authority, the abuse of which might work out a great amount of irremediable injustice. ... What is the proposed qualification for the exercise of the franchise by the electors and elected? " To this searching question no reply was given at the time, but when the petition for Representative Government was renewed, it was pointed out that the despatch of 1842 of Lord Stanley's contained questions to which the Imperial authorities had received no reply. The Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Harry Smith, then instructed Mr. Porter, the Attorney General, one of the truest friends of justice, and therefore of the Coloured people to prepare a memorandum on the subject.

MR PORTER'S VIEWS

Mr. Porter wrote as follows: " In proceeding to consider the qualifications of electors, I have to submit to His Excellency that it ought in regard to property to be fixed low. In advocating a low qualification I am not influenced by any notion that it is necessary nowadays to fight class against class, or colour against colour ..... I deem it just and expedient to place the suffrages within the reach of the more intelligent and industrious of the men of colour, because it is a privilege which they would prize, and a privilege which they deserve; and because by showing to all classes, those above and those below them, that no man's station is, in a free country, determined by the accident of his colour, all ranks of men are stimulated to improve or maintain their relative positions. " This memorandum was sent to the members of the Legislative Council, the Chief Justice and two puisne judges for their individual and independent comment. In his covering letter, Sir Harry Smith wrote: " Hence it becomes our duty to observe what sources of improvement have been neglected, what evils have been engendered, and so to recommend the adoption of that form of Government which is best calculated for the greatest happiness of the greatest number. " The replies received from these men all harmonies with the broad spirit pervading the memorandum of Mr. Porter and Sir Harry Smith's letter. All approved of the qualification, and none made any suggestion for the establishment of an obnoxious colour line. And as we all know, the Constitution, which was eventually granted, made no distinction based upon colour ­ a characteristic that is still one of noble features of our benevolent Constitution.

GRANT OF THE CAPE CONSTITUTION

When the Constitution was granted in 1852 the Duke of Newcastle wrote as follows: " It is the it desire of Her Majesty's Government that all subjects at the Cape without distinction of class or colour, should be united by one bond of loyalty and a common interest, and we believe that the exercise of political rights enjoyed by all alike will prove one of the best methods of attaining this. It only remains for me now to assure you that in transmitting to the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope ordinances, which confer one of the most liberal Constitutions, enjoyed by any of the British possession. Her Majesty's Government are actuated by an it desire to lay the foundation of institutions which may carry blessings and privileges as well the wealth and power of the British nation into South Africa, and, whilst appeasing the jealousness of the sometimes conflicting races, to promote the security and prosperity not only of those British origin, but of all the Queen's subjects, so that they may combine for the great common object, the peace and progress of the Colony. "These, ladies and gentlemen, are the basic conditions of the grant of Representative Government to this Colony; and, so far, they have been honourably observed, and have produced those results which were anticipated by far-seeing statesmen of that period, and which have met with the unstinted approbation of own public men. With regard to the movement preparatory to the grant of Representative institutions, the Coloured people played an important part. They held many public meetings, which took part in electing members to the Governor's Council, which prepared the Draft. This was finally submitted to them, and approved, especially on account of the low qualification it contained. At one of the meetings, which was held at Philip's Town, Commandant Andries Hatta, a valiant soldier and a Coloured person, presided, and it is a matter of historical interest that this Congress is favoured with the presence of a worthy son of the old commandant, as one of our delegates. I may say, that prior to all this, free Coloured persons, by the 50 th Ordinance of 1828, had already received their charter of liberty, which was further confirmed by the Royal instructions to Sir Peregrine Maitland.

WELL-FOUNDED FEARS

Now, ladies and gentlemen, before the meeting of the National Convention, I gave expression both at our Congress and in public meetings, to the fear I entertained as regards our political under a Unified Parliament. The draft South Africa Act now proves that those fears well-founded, and the conviction has been strengthened by events that have transpired the past few days in our Parliament. My main objection to the draft Constitution, as I pointed out in an address I delivered in the City Hall, is that it is un-British in that it lays down a colour-line. This is directly opposed to, and is the very antithesis of the conditions under Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, on the advice of the Imperial Parliament, granted Representative Government to the Cape Colony. It is surprising, after the lapse of 50 years, which the " blessings of peace and progress, " as desired by the Duke of Newcastle in the name of the Imperial Parliament, have been steadily maintained, and the bond of union strongly cemented; that after such assuring and encouraging experience, a sudden reversal of this policy should even be thought of. Events have, therefore, proved the wisdom of the liberal policy laid down more than half a century ago by the great men of that period, and faithfully pursued by this Colony. History teaches us that discrimination based upon class or creed or colour is inimical to the stability and progressive development of nations.

A RETROGRESSIVE PRINCIPLE

It is astounding, therefore, that this Colony, which above all has been trusted so magnanimously by the Mother of Parliaments, should consent to the adoption of a principle which is retrogressive and places the vast majority of the people of this great sub-continent under a ban; and it forces one to the conclusion that the light of freedom is about to vanish from this Colony, and that the dark policy of that old Transvaal Republican Constitution, which asserts that there shall be no equality between black and white in either Church or State, will cast its direful shadow over our land. Then, ladies and gentlemen, we shall probably see the fulfilment of that wish, fervently expressed in the Transvaal that the native reserves should be cut up, and the Coloured inhabitants reduced to a state of helotage. In the Transvaal and the misnamed Orange Free State, the Coloured inhabitants are without any civil or political rights. They are regarded as outcasts, and held as political helots. And while the South Africa Draft Act restricts the citizenship of Coloured people to this Colony, and curtails their political privileges hitherto enjoyed, it is to be deplored that the Convention did not contain a sufficient number of enlightened and liberal men to have freed our brethren in the other colonies from their bondage. Time precludes me from entering into a detailed discussion of the various clauses as they affect us. Nevertheless, I must reiterate what I have hitherto said ­ that the safeguard provided under Section 35 is, as General Smuts has already pointed out, no safeguard at all; and if one may judge by the divisions which took place in the House of Assembly last week. General Smuts is undoubtedly right.

A RETROGRESSIVE PRINCIPLE

It is astounding, therefore, that this Colony, which above all has been trusted so magnanimously by the Mother of Parliaments, should consent to the adoption of a principle which is retrogressive and places the vast majority of the people of this great sub-continent under a ban; and it forces one to the conclusion that the light of freedom is about to vanish from this Colony, and that the dark policy of that old Transvaal Republican Constitution, which asserts that there shall be no equality between black and white in either Church or State, will cast its direful shadow over our land. Then, ladies and gentlemen, we shall probably see the fulfilment of that wish, fervently expressed in the Transvaal that the native reserves should be cut up, and the Coloured inhabitants reduced to a state of helotage. In the Transvaal and the misnamed Orange Free State, the Coloured inhabitants are without any civil or political rights. They are regarded as outcasts, and held as political helots. And while the South Africa Draft Act restricts the citizenship of Coloured people to this Colony, and curtails their political privileges hitherto enjoyed, it is to be deplored that the Convention did not contain a sufficient number of enlightened and liberal men to have freed our brethren in the other colonies from their bondage. Time precludes me from entering into a detailed discussion of the various clauses as they affect us. Nevertheless, I must reiterate what I have hitherto said ­ that the safeguard provided under Section 35 is, as General Smuts has already pointed out, no safeguard at all; and if one may judge by the divisions which took place in the House of Assembly last week. General Smuts is undoubtedly right.

IS THE ENTRENCHMENT SUFFICIENT?

It is sad to think that the vast majority of those men who have ever professed themselves the friends of the people of colour should, at the critical moment, have forsaken us. If 75 out of 95 members present could be found to vote against a mere recommendation that the contemplated withdrawal of part of our rights should not be persisted in, and this prior to the existence of a Union Parliament, are we not then driven to fear that under Union the securing of a defection of a modest 10 out of 59 of the Cape representatives will be easily obtained. It is also a great disappointment to us that those that have ever assured us of their profound understanding with the rulers of the North, have failed to obtain an improvement for men of colour in these colonies. Ladies and gentlemen, the eminent statesmen who guided the destinies of Great Britain in those early days of British rule in South Africa had reasoned out the true basis of sound and stable government, and where they had a free hand they insisted upon equal political rights to all men. They knew nothing short of absolute equality of opportunity to every man to rise and progress in the scale of civilisation, and eventually to find his right place in the State, was consistent with the eternal righteousness of rule which England has always observed, and they had learned in the school of bitter experience that no class can maintain that equality of opportunity unless it enjoys full political rights and liberties. No class in a State can progress if its political destinies are in the hands of a ruling caste, or if it be shorn of any portion of these human rights which every philosopher and statesman declare to be inalienable and essential to national stability and permanence.

ILLIBERAL FRANCHISE CLAUSES

To me it seems that many of those delegates who are said to have insisted on illiberal franchise clauses of the draft Constitution as a pre-requisite to Union, found in the Cape delegates a body of men who approved the broad principles of our Constitution, but had not reasoned out for themselves the causes that made those principles the only sure and lasting basis of Constitutional government. Had they arrived at their conviction on the Cape policy by deduction from the fundamental principles of human freedom, and had they also observed how those convictions are corroborated by the experience of the Cape, they would never have consented to the reversal of that policy, or to any diminution of the political rights enjoyed by the people of colour, and would rather have directed their energies to an extension of those same rights to other men of colour in other parts of the Union. How could public men, who must have been acquainted with all the blessings, which had ensued to this Colony from its liberal policy, which the Imperial Parliament had rigidly enunciated in our Constitution, be so foolish as to consent to endanger its continuance? The political freedom conferred on all the people of this colony had been a great guarantee of its peaceful progress, and in the interests of posterity no tampering, actual or potential, should have been permitted. " Hands off that sacred shrine of our rights " should have been the watchword of our delegates. Such we were led to believe was to be the stand they would maintain under all circumstances. But they have without adequate reason deserted that attitude, if we are to take Sir Percy Fitzpatrick's words as a brief and faithful account of the proceedings of the Convention. Sir Percy maintains that there were three difficult and delicate questions which the Convention had to deal with, and a unanimous settlement of which they arrived at only after serious consideration and mature deliberation. These three questions were the capital, the language question, and the basis of representation. The Coloured problem was not one of them. Hence I am driven to conclude that there would have been no danger even of wrecking Union had our delegates stuck to their guns.

STILL TIME FOR HOPE

In conclusion, let me say that civil liberty and slavery are incompatible and irreconcilable, and if any section of a community were deprived of a part of their freedom, they become enslaved in proportion as they are deprived of their freedom. Abraham Lincoln's words that " No State can be half slave and half free " are still true today. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that the Convention will still be persuaded that the only way by which Government can be honourably or safely supported is by cultivating the love and affection of the people, by showing them the value of the Constitution, by seeing that all have their due share of it, and by assuring them that the Constitution is established so that they are not to be the "hewers of wood and the drawers of water" to men who would avail themselves of their labour and their industry, and that it would protect them in the liberties that they enjoy, and extend equal freedom to all. If this will eventually prove to be recognised in the Constitution, if the foul blots be removed from it, then we may hope, though late in the day, that this vast population of colour of South Africa will return a just reward to Europeans and to England for the blessings that have already been conferred upon His Majesty's subjects in this Colony. (Loud cheers)