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sity of sowing and reaping to provide for their sustenance. factor not to be lost sight of in this reckoning is that this precaution may not be deemed necessary in view of occurrences thousands of natives have witnessed in the opening years of the century. They have seen the convoys of the British repeatedly attacked and the commissariat supplies captured. They have the penetration to see that by the exercise of a little ingenuity the same thing would be possible again, that they would be able to provide for their bodily needs without too great risk by raiding the enemy's commissariat from time to time. Consequently in judging the time of rising it would be unwise to place too much dependence on the natives waiting for the ingathering of good crops.

The one sign, however, that may be absolutely relied upon is that any combined aggressive movement of the natives will be heralded by a general exodus from their employers! If Dinizulu's acumen be equal to his reputation, he will be alive to the danger of this fore-warning signal, and will be prepared to meet it. As there is no likelihood of the big centres such as Johannesburg, Pretoria, Middleburgh, Pietermaritzburg, and Durban being attacked in force, it would be easy for boys employed in outside places to act in concert and simultaneously with their brethren without resorting to a general massing. They will not do any daylight fighting by choice; they will not as a body depend on rifles; they will swoop down at night when a club or an assegai is as good as anything else for dealing destruction. The danger is that if they once start they can keep the country in a state of alarm and terror for years if they want, while leaving the big towns alone. They know well enough now how to cut wires, lift rails, place obstacles in the way of traffic and transport, and upset lines of communication equally as effectively as ever the Boers did.

If the outline of Dinizulu's policy be correct, it is no use depending upon the need of the employment of boys of one tribe in the capacity of policemen over another tribe, as, e.g., the Zulu police-boys stationed on the Swazi border. Swazi intentions No. 70. XXIV. 1.-JULY 1906

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are little likely to be divulged by Zulu police-boys, should such be known to them, and vice-versa, when friendly relations are acknowledged to exist between the heads of the tribes. This is a point to be given heed to.

Now the position may or may not be critical, but at least it is disquieting. And we may rightly ask what are the steps taken to protect the white population of the Transvaal, particularly in the country districts? Here and there troops are stationed; here and there volunteer corps exist; and scattered police posts are to be found all through the country.

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Against this, the rural inhabitants individually have the present experienced the greatest difficulty in obtaining permits for rifles; ammunition is difficult to obtain even where rifles are possessed; rifle associations have been consistently discouraged in the hope of making the volunteer movement a success, so that men have had no other course open to obtain the means of self-defence than to join the volunteers. Only a week or two ago a man thirty miles from a small volunteer centre applied to join the corps with the avowed intention of getting arms to protect himself; he felt his position was unsafe in the present temper of the natives. Under existing conditions, if the natives chose to rise in a body, they could wipe out the scattered police posts, farmers, prospectors, and traders, and make havoc in the small dorps before any effective alarm could be given. There never existed so general a state of unpreparedness for such a contingency under the late régime. But it may be urged, the country is surely quite safe with presence of so many British troops; and the result of the late war is certainly not lost on the natives.

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The proper disposition of troops in the country is useful, particularly if the natives know them to be on the alert; the result of the war is not lost on the natives, but the broad impression created is not calculated to act as a strong deterrent. They have been impressed; what they have been impressed by is not success, but the extraordinary numbers opposed to the Boers. "Fana ne skonyan " is their constant simile-the soldiers were

like swarms of locusts; had they simply walked through the country, the Boers would have been trampled under their feet. Numbers, and not fighting capacity, gave them victory. That enormous numbers were needed to keep open the lines of communication is an idea that is not grasped. A native will tell you, if there had been equal Boers and equal British—an expressive gesture and exclamation indicate a clean slate where the British were. It is not complimentary, but it is the native view. Not that they question the bravery of the British soldier; they have seen him, and they know he will stand up be shot at every time, but they do not look upon that as fighting. Consequently their regard for the rank and file exhibits something very nearly approaching contempt, a condition of mind that does not augur well for peace, and does not say much for the deterrent influence of the war waged under their eyes.

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Whether then it be wise to continue the irksome restrictions in force in a country where every British subject in the outside districts and small towns should certainly be armed, and under a penalty should be able to produce their arms for periodical inspection, is a question for the Government to determine.

If a black day come, then to some one it will be reckoned little short of a crime that a needlessly large proportion of the population is defenceless through no fault of their own. The ultimate outcome of a native insurrection would never be a moment in doubt; but it is dreadful to think of the blood that might flow before a wholesome check could be administered.

The Government must be on the qui vive. They should have a first-class system of intelligence-not magistrates, police officers, and sub-native commissioners—but men who are in touch with the natives, who can find out what is going on and watch developments. Such men are to be had if they are sought.

What other steps should be taken, either to allay the general unrest, or to cope with it should that unrest reach a climax, is a question of statesmanship, and statesmanship based on colonial experience.

A more efficient state of preparedness is imperative. In that alone lies the safety of the country, for the natives discontented as they may be, will hesitate long in attacking a watchful and ready foe. The time they will choose, unless their grievances be in the meantime mitigated, and their minds set at rest, will be the time when the British sleep.

J. BENSON KNOWLES.

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THE COMING POWER

ET it be said at once and so get it quickly over, that what is here meant by the coming power is the coming voting power of women. To say that is but to pass boldly by the fearsome phantom which ever holds illusory guard between the shadows and the light. Let us leave the tangled forest of obstruction, and pass on.

It is the point at which we must part with the man of muscle and might, the hero of many a single-handed fight. We thank him for past favours conferred upon himself; we admire his courage, his self-confidence, his conquests, his strength; all the glories of his glorious days: we see all that and we appreciate it. But we cannot keep him for ever for himself, nor can we suffer him to undertake so much. For after all it is we who are the mothers and the housekeepers of the State; it is we who are for ever up-building, re-making, preserving, repairing the waste of the makers of millions and empires, the wasteful ways of their making.

In addition to the presentment of a great god of battles it has taken us women two thousand years to overcome the fashionable prejudices of a certain man whose name was Paul. The Master stood for the elevation of women; Paul and Paul's times required their subjection. It was Paul who won. The victory would have been assured and easy anywhere. But there? and in those times ? . . . We can see the haughty stare of disapproval with which the dominant male must have