Chapter XXI Coloured People's Help Rejected / The Offer of Assistance by the South African Coloured Races Rejected

The Africans and their descendants in America have proven to the world that they do not lack courage and military ardour. This the French have recognized by enlisting them in their present struggle. We hope for the sake of the Africans that they will give a good account of themselves, but the coloured race is like the Irish who are invincible in fighting for other nations, but not for themselves. An American on the Great War.

The African Political Organization was early in the field. Dr. Abdurahman, its president, during the first week of the war, had a force of 3,000 coloured men at Capetown ready to take the field against the Germans. These men included those who had fought for the British flag, side by side with the British troops in the Matabele wars and other South African campaigns in various capacities. In a few days the number of this force rose to 5,000 able-bodied men ready to go to the front. A definite offer of the service of this force was communicated to the Union Government, who replied that the offer was under consideration.

Mr. William Hosken, the famous Johannesburg politician, member of the Transvaal Parliament before the unification of South Africa — a gentleman whose legislative talents are now unfortunately in abeyance, because his liberal views on colour are too advanced for the palates of the lily-white voters of his State — offered to pay the cost of recruiting such a coloured force. Application forms were scattered throughout the country, asking volunteers to send in their names and addresses to the A.P.O. headquarters signifying their intention to serve as units of the Hosken Division. Our old friend Mr. N. R. Veldsman, a coloured political organizer of considerable ability, who had been in retirement for the past year or two, came forward, took his place among the coloured leaders, and addressed patriotic meetings at Saron and other Cape districts on behalf of the recruiting movement.

== PATRIOTIC DEMONSTRATION

The City Hall, Capetown, was packed on Monday night, August 31, 1914, with coloured citizens of Capetown, who had assembled to express their loyalty to King George and their determination to support the Government during the present crisis.

Sir Frederick Smith, who presided, thought the coloured people had taken a wise course in calling that meeting to tender their assistance to the Government while Britain was engaged in war. He was confident that that demonstration would receive the grateful appreciation of the Prime Minister, his Cabinet, and also of H.M. King George.

Dr. Abdurahman said that the coloured people had met in public meeting on many occasions, but never in the history of South Africa had they been called together on a more solemn occasion, nor at a more critical juncture, and never when the issues were fraught with greater consequences.

The coloured people had many grievances, but all that must be forgotten while danger was threatening the very existence of the Empire. If the Empire fell, South Africa would fall, Capetown would fall, and Capetown might even be laid in ruins.

Although England was engaged in a life and death struggle, South Africans felt secure and could sleep in peace. That security was due to the supremacy of the British Navy. They had met that night to decide how they could assist the Empire. He moved the following resolution:

"That the coloured citizens of Capetown, in mass meeting assembled, under the auspices of the A.P.O., hereby express their loyalty to H.M. King George V, and take this opportunity of placing on record their recognition of the fact that the security that they at present enjoy is due primarily to the supremacy of the British Navy; and further, they pray that Britain's efforts during the war will be crowned with success. That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to H.E. the Governor-General for transmission to H.M. the King." (Applause.)

Mr. J. C. Carelse, in seconding the resolution, remarked that that was not the time to consider their own troubles, but to show the enemy that they stood together as a united Empire against any foe who dared to lower the Union Jack. The resolution was adopted with enthusiasm.

Mr. N. R. Veldsman appealed to the coloured people to assist those who as a result of the war might suffer. The coloured people should spend less on bioscopes and trivialities, and contribute to a fund which it was proposed to raise. He moved the following resolution:

"That, in order to alleviate the suffering which inevitably accompanied war,

an appeal is hereby made to the coloured citizens of the Union

to contribute to a fund to be administered by the following committee:

The Rt. Rev. Bishop J. A. Johnson, Mrs. Wooding, Mrs. Abdurahman, Mrs. Gow,

Dr. Gool, Dr. Abdurahman, the Rev. F. Gow, Messrs. C. J. Carelse, S. Reagon,

N. R. Veldsman, S. F. Geyer, P. Grever, H. Hartog, B. Baron, H. Cressy,

A. Arendze, H. J. Gordon, R. Hoedemaker, W. A. Roberts, M. J. Fredericks,

Fred Hendricks, H. A. Gamildien, Pfieffer, and George Fife."

The Rev. Mr. Gow seconded the resolution, and said that although the spirit of war was in the air, there was also a spirit of helpfulness in the air. They should at this period forget race and creed and contribute to the fund.

Mrs. Wooding, who spoke in support of the resolution, remarked that the coloured women would be found ready to do their duty whenever the call went forth. The best way to show loyalty to the Empire was by rendering some service. The resolution was unanimously adopted.

Dr. Gool said that another way of giving practical assistance to the Empire was by raising volunteer corps for active service. He moved:

"That the offer made through the A.P.O. to raise volunteers for active service at home or abroad be approved, and that this meeting tenders to the Union Government its loyal support during the present crisis."

Mr. S. Reagon, who seconded, said that they were excluded from the Defence Force. But as the Empire was endangered he hoped an opportunity would be given the coloured people to take a part in the fighting line.

The resolution was agreed to. The sum of 37 Pounds was raised during the evening.

Mr. H. Seymour rendered some patriotic selections on the organ. The meeting concluded with the singing of the National Anthem. ==

At Johannesburg, Mr. Koopman presided over a crowded meeting of the Rand branches of the Coloured Organization, which unanimously endorsed the proposal to raise the corps. Similar meetings, under the respective chairmanship of Mr. Keiler, Mr. Samuels, and Mr. I. Joshua, were held by the Pretoria town and country branches and at Kimberley. At Pretoria, Revs. G. Weavind and Mr. Hanford, both missionaries, also spoke offering to associate themselves with the coloured people in any benevolent efforts undertaken to alleviate the distress that might follow the outbreak of the war. Port Elizabeth and other district branches also moved in the same direction. Capetown, the headquarters of the Organization, was the centre of these activities, and a number of coloured women wrote to the A.P.O. secretary offering their services as nurses to accompany the coloured volunteer force to German South-West Africa, so that the coloured people, as the A.P.O. newspaper puts it, "have closed their book with its ugly record against the Botha Government, and offered the Prime Minister their loyal support during the war."

But while these things were in progress, the Union Defence Force, which had mobilized near the German frontier under Colonel Maritz, rebelled against the Crown, and with their arms and ammunition they joined the Germans. This act of rebellion occasioned the greatest alarm among the coloured population near the boundaries of German South-West Africa. And they appealed to the Government for arms to protect their homes and properties. They remembered what happened during the Boer War, when the Dutch inhabitants of those districts joined their kinsmen from across the Vaal, and how that Natives who were armed always remained free from molestation. That their present fear was not groundless the following declaration shows: —

== I herewith declare that my brother and I were on a visit to the farm Groen Doorn, Cape Province, on the morning of September 16, 1914.

When we got opposite the police camp, we were surprised to see the camp invaded by Germans. The Germans then beckoned us to come up, and told us that we were prisoners, and that we must go with them to the station of Ukamas. My brother on hearing that turned his horse and galloped back. The Germans called on him to halt at once, but he did not stop. Then they fired at him, and shot him dead.

My brother was left lying where he fell. After he was shot I asked if I could go to him, but the Germans would not allow me. Afterwards I was taken to the German camp, where I found all the coloured people of Groen Doorn that were captured by the Germans. Two old women who were too weak to walk all the way were left half-way without either food or water; one of the two was a cripple, and the other an old woman between sixty and seventy years of age.

I stayed at the German camp at Nakob till the first German patrol went back to Groen Doorn to guard. Then that same evening I ran away from the German camp, and fortunately got safe home to my house at Nudab.

I again declare that this story is an exact reproduction of what I have seen with my own eyes.

(X his mark)

Jacobus Bezuidenhout.

Witness: T. Kotzee.

Signed at Keimoes this 6th day of October, 1914.

This statement was conveyed to the Union Government by Mr. M. J. Fredericks, secretary of the African Political Organization. With it there was a request by a meeting of coloured people at Calvinia and adjacent districts near the German frontier asking for arms. General Smuts replied, regretting the situation in which the coloured residents of the districts of Calvinia, Kenhardt, Keimoes, and Upington found themselves; and said that he hoped the Union forces would ere long remove the cause of their anxiety. He added that the question of arming coloured citizens had been carefully considered by the Government, but that, for reasons already published, their request for arms could not be complied with.

Finally General Smuts expressed regret at the shooting of the brother of Jacobus Bezuidenhout. "Apparently the deceased had been shot because he attempted to escape, and in the circumstances," added the General, "the Germans were clearly justified in shooting him."

If General Smuts is right in his concluding remarks, then the Germans are quite justified in pillaging Belgium, as the reason they ravaged that country was because the Belgians refused to comply with a plain request to allow German troops to proceed through Belgium to France. But whatever the view of the South African Government might be on these subjects, we would like to point out that it is against a coloured man's grain to obey the orders of a man, no matter who, if he is at war with the coloured man's chief. It would be nothing unusual for a German to order a coloured man about in times of peace, but once war was declared, it became an outrage upon the traditions of the blacks to obey Germans who were now the enemies of their country.

General Smuts will no doubt remember his own operations in 1901, before he became a British subject.How he then invaded Cape Colony, and got a number of recruits from among the Dutch inhabitants of certain Cape districts.How eventually, when he came to the district of Calvinia, his burghers, reinforced by rebels, found a coloured blacksmith there, by the name of Abraham Ezau.How the burghers demanded certain information from this man, and he refused to supply enemies and rebels of the Crown with any information.That the man was severely ill-treated and tortured, but that he would not disclose anything.And how that a gang of Boers dragged this coloured man out of the town and shot him down; that they also looted Abraham Ezau's shop and took away the murdered man's tools, which his widow never recovered, and for which the writer has been informed she never received any compensation.The Cape Government, prior to the Union, erected a tombstone over the grave of this man, who sacrificed his life for it rather than betray his country.

And the sight of that memorial stone was no doubt a grim reminder to the inhabitants of Calvinia of what would happen if the rebels invaded Calvinia once more.

Burra dur hai Tipperary

Bahoot lumbah koouch wo

Burra dur hai Tipperary

Sakki pas pownchenay ko

Ram ram Piccadilly

Salaam Leicester Square

Burra, burra dur hai Tipperary

Lakin dil hoaye phus-gayah.

"Tipperary" in Hindustani.

The Natives and the Cape coloured Afrikanders were not alone in tendering loyal offers of service to the Government. The Indians of Natal and other coloured residents likewise offered their services to the Government, besides subscribing liberally according to their means to the various war funds. The St. Helenians of Capetown passed the following resolutions, which Mr. S. Reagon, the secretary, forwarded to the Government: —

(1) That this meeting of St. Helenians expresses its unswerving and devoted loyalty to His Majesty King George and His Governments.

(2) That it expresses its full confidence in the Union Government in the present crisis through which the Empire and Union are passing, and congratulates General Botha, and expresses its deep appreciation of his practical patriotism in having taken command of the Union Forces in the field.

(3) That the services of the Association and its members be hereby offered to the Union Government in whatever manner they may be of assistance to ensure the triumph of the Empire and for the maintenance of law and order.

Shortly after the outbreak of the present war, Dr. Abdurahman offered the Government the services of the 5,000 coloured warriors recruited through the A.P.O., and General Smuts replied that the offer was under consideration. Meanwhile the A.P.O. recruiting agency had been continuing its work, and no fewer than 13,000 coloured men had sent in their names and addresses and signified their intention to take the field. So Mr. Fredericks, the secretary of the A.P.O., wrote once more to General Smuts, on October 23, offering the services of these men in the name of the Coloured People's Organization. This offer brought forth the following definite reply, which is couched in identical terms to the one sent on the same date to Dr. Rubusana, who wrote offering the services of 5,000 Natives: —

Department of Defence,

Pretoria,

November 6, 1914.

Sir, — With reference to your letter of the 23rd ult., I beg to inform you that the Union Government greatly appreciates the offer of service of the Cape coloured people.

I am, however, to refer you to the provisions of Section 7 of the South African Defence Act, 1912, and to state that the Government does not desire to avail itself of the services in a combatant capacity of citizens not of European descent in the present hostilities. Apart from other considerations, the present war is one which has its origin among the white peoples of Europe, and the Government is anxious to avoid the employment of coloured citizens in a warfare against whites. ==

No doubt the Government of British South Africa was actuated by the loftiest motives in rejecting voluntary offers of service from citizens of non-European descent; but it is clear that such a reply at such a time ought not to please many people in Great Britain who had to offer the cream of British manhood to defend their portion of the Empire, and then to offer in addition more men to lay down their lives for the safety of the Colonies, including South Africa, a land with thousands of able-bodied and experienced warriors who are willing to defend their own country.For the same reason this decision ought not to please our French Allies, who, besides sacrificing men and money on the battlefields of Continental Europe, must provide more men and money to guard their colonial possessions in different parts of the globe.This decision ought not also to cheer any one in Belgium, where fathers and mothers and their children are separated and starving, a nation living practically in exile, or in bondage, its brave monarch sojourning in foreign territory.

On the other hand, if there is any one place where this decision of the Government of British South Africa would be hailed with the liveliest satisfaction, it is certainly Berlin, and that particularly after the bitter experiences of German troops in encounters with native African troops, both in Continental Europe and in East and West Africa.