Lord Caernarvon and the Federation scheme in South-Africa

·         Lord Caernarvon and the Federation scheme in South-Africa

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·         When Disraeli took office in January 1874, as British Prime Minister he promised progressive colonial policy. Lord Caernarvon was made Colonial Secretary. He had experience for federation and embarked on a scheme to federate.

·         Conditions were also encouraging the cape was prosperous, well populated; the two Boer Republics were poverty stricken. Caemarvon resurrected the idea of federation in 1870s.

·         Caernarvon's reasons for Federation

·         Like Grey, Caernarvon argued that the South African states would be politically and economically stronger under a federation.

·         He also viewed Africans as the main threat that would be defeated once the white states federated.

·         There was souring relations between the British and the Boers that is there was increased African - Boer hostilities which had caused these. Therefore there was need for a federation to solve such issues once and for all.

·         In Britain there was change of government that is from liberal to that of conservative party who favored the idea.

·         The Prime Minister Disraeli who came in office in 1874 January was also a supporter of the idea.

·         The British Conservative government wished to reward Orange Free State whom they believed to have been maltreated by the British annexation of the diamond fields.

·         Despite his efforts to federate the White states, the idea of federation under him failed to pick off.

·         Why Caernarvon's scheme failed

·         There were however, a number of reasons why the federation plan by Lord Caemarvon failed:

·         The Cape government was not prepared to accept interference from Britain so soon after gaining self government. It was prepared to share its resources with other states. The Cape did not want to share the Agricultural and mineral wealth with poor Boers.

·         The growing prosperity of the Cape was to be great obstacle to Caemarvon's plans, because Prime Minister Molteno was not prepared to support an extension of imperial influence. He was only prepared to consider a federation scheme, if it was started by the Cape colonial government.

·         The Orange Free State and Transvaal were very suspicious of any British initiative, especially after the British annexation of Griqualand West. The Boers of the Transvaal were opposed to giving up any of their newly won freedom. They realized that federation with the Cape would mean the acceptance of the more liberal racial policies of the Cape.

·         Lord Caemarvon blundered when he called a conference in London; only a delegation from Natal arrived. Delegates from other states did not appear and the scheme to the British became unpopular.

·         The Boers opposed the federation who still wanted to maintain their cultural purity and sovereignty.

·         The forceful British annexation of Transvaal in 1877 revived Boer nationalism acting as a final blow to Caemarvon's Federation Scheme. The annexation generated intense hatred for the British by the Transvaalers; opposition to the British united the hitherto divided Boers.

·         Eventually, the Afrikaaner Bond, an organization founded in 1880, spread among the Dutch in the Orange Free State and Transvaal. All this laid the basis for the revolt of 1880 that led to the first Anglo-Boer war, which ended in 1881.

·         Having failed to bring about a Federation by a round table conference, Caemarvon made another scheme. He thought of annexing Transvaal after which the Orange Free State would join.

·         He also thought that since Boers dominated Natal, it would also be easy to convince her to join the other Boer Republics. This would isolate the Cape and in the long run force her to join the federation. However, Caernarvon was to have problems when the British government insisted that Transvaal would finance its own administration.

·         Thus when Transvaal was annexed in 1877, there were no resources to finance the administration. By this time the Cape had become strong politically and economically and the idea of Federation was only left to fail.

·         His tactics which he changed aimed at relentless goal of federation. He also manipulated the Cape and Natal Parliamentarians

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·         The Idea of Federation of The South African White States 1854-1870's

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·         By 1850 South Africa was a melting pot of different races and most significant where the Africans, British, Boers and the coloured. Africans opposed the Boers because they had considered them as subhuman and also because they had taken their land.

·         The British had also taken over land, in the so called declared 'protectorates' of otherwise but they advocated and became their guardians. The Boers hated the British for this.

·         The idea of federation was started in 1854 when Sir George Grey became the Governor of the Cape Colony. He had been a Governor in Switzerland where had applied the federation scheme .

·         Reason for Grey's Federation scheme in South Africa

·         It was clear that before 1837, there was only one dominant government in South Africa. - Cape Colony Government. But later independent Boer republics like Orange Free State and Transvaal were established as well as British Natal and British KafIraria.

·         Others included Goshen land, Stella land, Utrecht and Zoutpansberg as independent smaller Boer states.

·         To Grey the Multiplicity of states necessitated the idea of federation. He believed that the interests of these small nations were bound to clash and cause turmoil and war in South Africa. In his words Grey said: "If a state is successful in a war it is waging a native race will be broken up and more can tell what territories. These small states must be federated to avoid intrigue and commotion"

·         To Grey, Federation was the only way of resolving racial conflicts especially in a region fragmented by white communities. In the Cape there was supposed to be a political and civil equality between the white, coloured and black people as bout on a voting system. In Natal, 100,000 Bantu lived in the same territory as about 7,000 whites.

·         The Transvaal followed the same policy with Orange Free State on the blacks. There was a need for a common racial policy instead of the different racial policies.

·         Thus the need to create a united stand, among the white communities against the Africans. There was need for a United Whites stand against the Africans aimed at increased exploitation.

·         There was need to end interstate wars amongst the whites. These were endangering their own security.

·         Need for a big legislature that would build racial unity among European communities and facilitate efficient policy making in the region, liberal ideas and meaningful development.

·         Federation would enforce or create statesmanship and nationalism in the white communities. Statesmen and liberals would easily emerge from a wider geographical area than from a small one.

·         To Sir George Grey, the federation would help develop Boer republics with the rich Cape Colony would help the former develop socially. This is because the Cape would spare "surplus" resources to help the Boer republics (social development - education and improve religion).

·         Grey argued that the small independent states were incapable of producing well learned judges who would effectively administer justice. A joint judicial council would help solve this.

·         Federation was necessary to increase trade and commerce and it could enlarge raw material sources and market for finished products. Trade barriers would be reduced or removed altogether.

·         Therefore Grey considered a confederation as a better way of utilizing the resources of the region in order to develop a stable political, economic and social system.

·         He emphasized that a blow to economic development was a result of the separate wasteful states and that their weaknesses would endanger the whites in that African societies would take advantage and attack them.

·         He argued that no peace would prevail in South Africa without federation. It is true that lack of federation was the same as lack of peace and this was naive. Grey's ambition was ignored in spite of the fact that he had very much advocated for federation.

·         He was recalled to Britain and only allowed to return to South Africa on the understanding that he did not raise the question of federation again.

·         Why Grey's Federation scheme failed

·         There was opposition from the white communities in South Africa. This is because they had different interests. The Cape Colony under the British mainly the administration opposed the scheme because more money was needed to develop the interior republics. To them federation was a wastage of resources.

·         The Boers were not ready to accept British Imperial ambition and its crown. The British government was not ready to annex the new Boer republics, which would demand much, and they recalled Sir George Grey never to raise the issue again.

·         Different white states in South Africa had different opinions and racial policies for the Africans and other communities. In the Cape Colony, the whites, blacks and the coloreds were considered as equal though the whites were better off politically.

·         In Natal, there was no equality and Africans were in reserves under their own administrative and judicial systems, which had created peace for over thirty years in Natal and creating new arrangements would destabilize the area.

·         The Orange Free State and Transvaal opposed Federation scheme because the Boers did not want to be equaled to the Africans whom they regarded as subhuman.

·         The interior states of South Africa were so poor and had nothing to offer in terms of substantial wealth. The Cape with fertile soils was incomparable to those in the interior. Minerals had been discovered but rumored until 1867. Because of this poverty, the whites at the Cape were not ready to federate with no economic gains and it was not useful for federate with the poor.

·         The Basuto nation could not be easily over thrown to create a white federation. The scheme failed because of the strength of Basuto nation under Moshoeshoe. He had a boundary conflict with the Boers.

·         Grey even mediated between the Boers and the Basuto leading to the signing of the Smith Field Treaty 1857. But war also continued again.

·         After the war, Transvaal and Orange Free Sate wished to form their own union than federation with the British whom they suspected of supporting Moshoeshoe in the 1857 war.

·         The diamonds at Kimberley were discovered in 1867, which proved a strong barrier to federation. With the discovery of Diamonds in 1867, it made clear that there was absence of law and order in the Diamond fields. They also stated that they moved to save Griqualand from Boer slavery.

·         To the Boers who were poor they were concerned with the British behavior. Even some Africans developed a negative attitude towards the British for their craft. All these factors worked against federation plan.

·         Note that by blocking the federation scheme, Britain and South Africa lost the best opportunity to correct some of the mistakes and injustices brought about by the division of the country.

·         If the Great Trek divided the country, the discovery of precious minerals demonstrated the wisdom of Grey's general strategy. The minerals provided an attractive economic incentive to bring about the union of the four areas.