ready form a
Customs Union, and they have long sought to induce the Transvaal and
Natal to enter into it and thereby establish internal free trade
throughout the country. Natal at last consented (in 1898); but the
Transvaal people steadily refused, desiring to stand as much aloof as
possible from Cape Colony, as well as to raise for themselves a revenue
on imports larger than that which they would receive as partners in the
Customs Union. A reformed Transvaal Government would probably enter the
Customs Union; and this would usher in the further question of a
confederation of all the States and Colonies of South Africa. That
project was mooted by Sir George Grey (when Governor) more than thirty
years ago, and was actively pressed by Lord Carnarvon (when Colonial
Secretary) and Sir Bartle Frere between 1875 and 1880. It failed at that
time, partly owing to the annoyance of the Orange Free State at the loss
of the diamond-fields in 1871, partly to the reluctance of the Dutch
party at the Cape, who were roused against the proposal by their
Transvaal kinsfolk. The desire for it is believed to have moved some of
those who joined in the Transvaal Uitlander movement of 1895-96, and no
one can discuss the future of the country without adverting to it. The
advantages it offers are obvious. A confederation would render in Africa
services similar to those which the federal system has rendered in the
United States and Canada, and which are expected by the colonial
statesmen who have laboured to establish such a system in Australia. I
heard not only railways and finance (including tariff and currency), but
also commercial law and native questions, suggested as matters fit to be
intrusted to a federal authority; while it seemed to be thought that the
scope of such an authority should, on the whole, be narrower than it is
under the Canadian Constitution, or under that of the United States. The
love of local independence is strong in South Africa, but might be
deferred to and appeased, as is being done in Australia, by appropriate
constitutional provisions. So far, no fatal obstacle stands in the way;
but a difficulty has been thought to arise from the fact that whereas
Cape Colony, Natal, and the other British territories are part of the
dominions of the British Crown, the Orange Free State is an independent
Republic, and the Transvaal may be so when federation becomes a
practical issue. "Can a federal tie," it is asked, "bind into one b