ating the
Matabeles were appeased and permanent peace, so far as the natives were
concerned, dawned in Rhodesia. After his feat in the Matopos the
Matabeles called Rhodes "The Man Who Separated the Fighting Bulls." It
was during this period in Rhodesia that Rhodes discovered the place
which he called "The View of the World," and where his remains now lie
in lonely grandeur.

At Groote Schuur, the Rhodes house near Capetown, which he left as the
permanent residence of the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa,
I saw a prized souvenir of the Matopos conferences with the Matabeles.
On the wall in Rhodes' bedroom hangs the faded picture of an old and
shriveled Matabele woman. When I asked General Smuts to tell me who she
was he replied: "That is the woman who acted as the chief negotiator
between Rhodes and the rebels." I afterwards found out that she was one
of the wives of Umziligazi, father of Lobengula, and a noted Zulu
chieftain. Rhodes never forgot the service she rendered him and caused
the photograph of her to be taken.

Following the last Matabele insurrection the Imperial Government which
is represented in Rhodesia by a Resident Commissioner assumed control of
the natives. The Crown was possibly guided by the precedent of Natal,
where a premature Responsible Government was followed by two Zulu wars
which well-nigh wrecked the province. It has become the policy of the
Home Government not to permit a relatively small white population to
rule the natives. Whatever the influence, Rhodesia has had no trouble
with the natives since Rhodes made the peace up in the hills of the
Matopos.

The moment that the war of force ended, another and bloodless war of
words began and it has continued ever since. I mean the fight for
self-government that the settlers have waged against the Chartered
Company. This brings us to a contest that contributes a significant and
little-known chapter to the whole narrative of self-determination among
the small peoples.

Through its Charter the British South Africa Company was able to fasten
a copper-rivetted rule on Rhodesia. Most of the Directors in London,
with the exception of men like Dr. Jameson, knew very little about the
country. There was no resident Director in Africa and the members of the
Board only came out just before the elections. The Administrator was
always a Company man and until 1899 his administrative associates in the
field were the members of an Executive Council