tish obtained final control of the Cape, and
in 1846 put an end to their former policy of "hands off" by making a
British province, called Kaffraria, of all the country lying between
the Kei and the Keiskama Rivers. In 1865 this province was formally
annexed to and incorporated in the English state, called Cape Colony,
which had been set up on the Cape. From this time colony after colony
was formed, annexed and incorporated by both British and Boers, the
latter of whom had marched northward in "the Great Trek" of 1836. The
Boers formed the Republic of Natal in 1838, but moved out in 1842, and
Natal was annexed to the British Cape Colony in 1844. The Boers,
continuing northward, next set up Transvaal and the Orange Free State.
The constitution of the latter bears the date 1854, and of the former
1858.

Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State, then, are the
South African States which were set up by British and Boer--now
five-sixths Negro and one-sixth European in population. An examination
of the constitutions and laws of these republics, as they appear on
the statute books and in practice, reveals that the relationship
between European and native has not been the same in all of the
states.

CAPE COLONY

Cape Colony, farthest south and the oldest of the four states, was
founded upon the principle of political equality of all inhabitants,
black and white. A proclamation of the Duke of Newcastle (1853)
contained the following statement:

"It is the earnest desire of Her Majesty's Government that all
her subjects at the Cape, without distinction of class or colour,
should be united by one bond of loyalty, and we believe that the
exercise of political rights by all alike will prove one of the
best methods of attaining this object."[4]

At the first, every activity of the British colonizers seemed to be
pointing toward the day when they would relinquish all direct
governmental authority and turn it over into the hands of the natives.
Districts were under the control of native boards elected by popular
vote and sending representatives to the Grand Council. Black and white
alike shared the privilege of franchise. Such social distinctions as
were made were personal, not sanctioned by law.

NATAL

Natal is likewise a British colony, but from the first has adopted a
policy toward the native entirely different from that of Cape Colony.
Politically shrewd, she does not flatly den