History of Cape Colony From The Second Anglo-Boer War - The Jameson Ministry

The Jameson Ministry

On 18 February Sir Gordon Sprigg resigned and was succeeded by Dr L. S. Jameson, who formed a ministry wholly British in character. The first task of the new government was to introduce (on 4 March) an Additional Representation Bill, to rectify - in part - the disparity in electoral power of the rural and urban districts. Twelve new seats in the House of Assembly were divided among the larger towns, and three members were added to the legislative council. The town voter being mainly British, the bill met with the bitter opposition of the Bond members, who declared that its object was the extinction of their parliamentary power. In fact, the bill was called for by the glaring anomalies in the distribution of seats by which a minority of voters in the country districts returned a majority of members, and it left the towns still inadequately represented. The bill was supported by two or three Dutch members, who were the object of violent attack by the Bondsmen. It became law, and the elections for the additional seats were held in July, after the close of the session. They resulted in strengthening the Progressive majority both in the House of Assembly and in the legislative council - where the Progressives previously had a majority of one only.

At the outset of its career the Jameson ministry had to face a serious financial situation. During the war the supplying of the army in the field had caused an artificial inflation of trade, and the Sprigg ministry had pursued a policy of extravagant expenditure not warranted by the finances of the colony. The slow recovery of the gold-mining and other industries in the Transvaal after the war was reflected in a great decline in trade in Cape Colony during the latter half of 1903, the distress being aggravated by severe drought. When Dr Jameson assumed office he found an empty treasury, and considerable temporary loans had to be raised. Throughout 1904, moreover, revenue continued to shrink - compared with 1903 receipts dropped from £11,701,000 to £9,913,000. The government, besides cutting down official salaries and exercising strict economy, contracted (July 1904) a loan for £3,000,000. It also passed a bill imposing a graduated tax (6d. to 1s. in the pound) on all incomes over £1000. A substantial excise duty was placed on spirits and beer, measures of relief for the brandy-farmers being taken at the same time. The result was that while there was a deficit on the budget of 1904 — 1905 of £731,000, the budget of 1905 — 1906 showed a surplus of £5161. This small surplus was obtained notwithstanding a further shrinkage in revenue.

Dr Jameson’s programme was largely one of material development. In the words of the speech opening the 1905 session of parliament, "without a considerable development of our agricultural and pastoral resources our position as a self-sustaining colony cannot be assured". This reliance on its own resources was the more necessary for the Cape because of the keen rivalry of Natal and Delagoa Bay for the carrying trade of the Transvaal. The opening up of backward districts by railways was vigorously pursued, and in other ways great efforts were made to assist agriculture. These efforts to help the country districts met with cordial recognition from the Dutch farmers, and the release, in May 1904, of all rebel prisoners was another step towards reconciliation. On the exclusion of Chinese from the colony the Bond party were also in agreement with the ministry. An education act passed in 1905 established school boards on a popular franchise and provided for the gradual introduction of compulsory education. The cultivation of friendly relations with the neighbouring colonies was also one of the leading objects of Dr Jameson’s policy. The Bond, on its side, sought to draw closer to Het Volk, the Boer organization in the Transvaal, and similar bodies, and at its 1906 congress, held in March that year at Ceres, a resolution with that aim was passed, the design being to unify, in accordance with the original conception of the Bond, Dutch sentiment and action throughout South Africa.

Native affairs proved a source of considerable anxiety. In January 1905 an inter-colonial native affairs commission reported on the native question as it affected South Africa as a whole, proposals being made for an alteration of the laws in Cape Colony respecting the franchise exercised by natives. In the opinion of the commission the possession of the franchise by the Cape natives under existing conditions was sure to create in time an intolerable situation, and was an unwise and dangerous thing. (The registration of 1905 showed that there were over 23,000 "coloured" voters in the colony.) The commission proposed separate voting by natives only for a fixed number of members of the legislature - the plan adopted in New Zealand with the Māori voters. The privileged position of the Cape native was seen to be an obstacle to the federation of South Africa. The discussion which followed, based partly on the reports that the ministry contemplated disfranchising the natives, led, however, to no immediate results.

Another disturbing factor in connexion with native affairs was the revolt of the Hottentots and Hereros in German South West Africa. In 1904 and the following years large numbers of refugees, including some of the most important chiefs, fled into British territory, and charges were made in Germany that sufficient control over these refugees was not exercised by the Cape government. This trouble, however, came to an end in September 1907. In that month Morenga, a chief who bad been interned by the colonial authorities, but had escaped and recommenced hostilities against the Germans, was once more on the British side of the frontier and, refusing to surrender, was pursued by the Cape Mounted Police and killed after a smart action. The revolt in the German protectorate had been, nearly a year before the death of Morenga, the indirect occasion of a "Boer raid" into Cape Colony. In November 1906 a small party of Transvaal Boers, who had been employed by the Germans against the Hottentots, entered the colony under the leadership of a man named Ferreira, and began raiding farms and forcibly enrolling recruits. Within a week the filibusters were all captured. Ferreira and four companions were tried for murder and convicted, (February 1907), the death sentences being commuted to terms of penal servitude.

As the result of an inter-colonial conference held in Pietermaritzburg in the early months of 1906, a new customs convention of a strongly protective character came into force on 1 June 1906. At the same time the rebate on goods from Britain and reciprocating colonies was increased. The session of parliament which sanctioned this change was notable for the attention devoted to irrigation and railway schemes. But one important measure of a political character was passed in 1906, namely an amnesty act. Under its provisions over 7000 ex-rebels, who would otherwise have had no vote at the ensuing general election, were readmitted to the franchise in 1907.

While the efforts made to develop the agricultural and mineral resources of the country proved successful, the towns continued to suffer from the inflation - over-buying, over-building and over-speculation - which marked the war period. As a consequence, imports further declined during 1906—1907, and receipts being largely dependent on customs the result was a considerably diminished revenue. The accounts for the year ending 30 June 1907 showed a deficit of £640,455. The decline in revenue, £4,000,000 in four years, while not a true reflection of the economic condition of the country - yearly becoming more self-supporting by the increase in home produce - caused general disquiet and injuriously affected the position of the ministry. In the session of 1907 the opposition in the legislative council brought on a crisis by refusing to grant supplies voted by the lower chamber. Dr Jameson contested the constitutional right of the council so to act, and on his advice the governor dissolved parliament in September 1907. Before its dissolution parliament passed an act imposing a profit tax of 10% on diamond- and copper-mining companies earning over £50,000 per annum, and another act establishing an agricultural credit bank.