LBM) AND POLITICS IN THE TRANSVAAL IN THE 18805

by

R. Cornwell

It is evident that the population of the South African Republic did not constitute a single homogeneous group, devoid of variation in wealth, education and life-style. The diversity of Afrikaner society has frequently been overlooked by historians, however, and the causes of social differentiation completely ignored. The State Archives at Pretoria do contain some enormous collections of largely unused material, which for all their superficial dullness embody a vast amount of detailed and valuable data relating to this very problem. Had one the time and equipment to analyse in detail the information which is to be found in the land registers, estates, death notices and wills, there can be no question but that the result would represent a most notable contribution to the social and economic history of South Africa, If, in addition, it were possible to collect the petitions, ballot papers and voting lisCs,man;y of them still extant, then another dimension could be superimposed. These would, however, be projects of vast size, and although they will, hopefully, be attempted in the future, for the present we shall have to be satisfied with a more modest harvest of information. There is no expectation that, however complete, the bare bones of statistical data will answer all of our questions. They can only be used to suggest the patterns of life extending beyond the range of the livelier facts culled from Volksraad minutes, newspapers, petitions, private correspondence and reminiscences.

The major part of this paper will be concerned trith the social and economic diversity reflected in landownership, and in particular with its causes, general and local. No claim is made to completeness in dealing with the origins of the phenomenon, and attention is paid largely to that material which illustrates aspects of the problem which have previously been neglected. Practical considerations obviously restrict the scope of all research, and my attention, initially focussed on the Boer expansion into Zululand in 1884, soon shifted to those districts which provided the main impetus for their minor exodus from the Transvaal. For the purposes of this paper, then, most of the evidence relates to the district of t~akkerstroom.

The legislatures of the various trekker comMunities had begun in quite generous fashion in regulating the issue of land to their burghers. With sparse

pogul.ations, aopareatly l i n i t l e s s acres of velds, and potentially hos t i le African neigl~bours,such l i be ra l i t y r , ~ ~ s calculated to a t t r zc t new ci t izens t o a id i n the estab1is;ment and delence of the re3ublics.

In the beginning, the burghers of the ijatal, Lydenburg and Potchefstroon settlements were en t i t l ed to a t l ea s t two Tarns aniece, a s burgemed. ( l )

In theory, a bur&ner sbpl-J chose h i s f a n , o r farms, and ,?-;re a description of the selected l m d to the local Laflddrost, \:h:, noted the de ta i l s i n h i s amteel:eninl~boelre(2) and gzve the claimant a cer t i f ied co?y o: t h i s entry, called an ui t t reksel . (3) ?he Governnent perioCically eppointed ins3ection commissions to establish boundzries of tlie f a n s i n a cer tein area; tiiis ste? was necessmy before the -transfer of t i t l e , the issue of deeds and pa:ment or' the nominal land tax. irhcn the inspection comissions arrived, those c la ina l t s to farms i n that s7ecific area rrere expected to cone fomiard with tne i r ui t t reksels . Given the obscurity of the descriotions registered by the La.nddrost, it i s obvious tha t no one, with the possible excention of the claimant himself, could hzve had the vaguest idea of the extent of h i s "farn". I f the aanteekeniny?-boeke of the Landdrost a t ' . . ~ ~ e r s t r o o m i:. Q ~ i c a l , thcrc can be no xroncier that some ~ i e c e s of land were claiiied naay t iner over. ( 4 ) The f i r s t aanteekening here siri~l-y s ta tes tha t A. b. Stool, claimed the fam ";:elte~--eden~' on the 5th ITovember 1856, and tha t it was s i tusted Verzanelberg". The vrhole of ',,'arc2 I vas lno~.n as Verzamelberg, an area r~hicli eventually contained over 60 farms.

Technically, when the situation of a multiale c h i n arose, only tile holder of the oldest uittrcl:se:! received satisfaction, and any subsequent aantee1renin;r vras declzred uitmmeten. (5) The disappointed party could, however, regis ter mother c l a h fo r his burmrre&,, and take h is chances at znother insnection (6) Alreadjr by 1860 tlie Volksraad hed begun to regret i t s fomer l i be ra l i t y r.ritli the State 's only r ea l asset , and new burghers had been res t r ic ted to the regis trat ion of one farm. (7) In 1666 the issue of burmrregten to netbrcomers was suspended alto@t!ier,

lla.angezien e r nisbmi!: vordt pnaEtkt van 3ublieke gronden door niexre inkonclinpn".

Sihich sue;gests thz t speculation m:: seen t o be getting out of hand, and r-ms threatening to leave large areas of the country ~nocc.~~?ied.

Ln 1671 the fur ther amtee!rening of lmcl i n the Re2ublic r.ms s t o ~ n e d com2letely. The X a d ex~ la ined tk,t a ten2orarji halt to the issue of l a d was iiecessar; i n order to restore the credi t of the s tate . Ilo one r r a s being de7rived of h i s rigkts, it ~ w s argued, but tine Raad had acted i n order t o preserve the r ights of tne next generation. (9) It goes without saying t h a t the nublic scarcely ap?recia,ted thi:: reasoning, coning a s i t did f m n some of the nost successful speculation i n the Reyublic. iTo fur ther insooctions were t o be mde i n response to mquests recehed a f t e r 1868, a decision relaxed by the Bmg-hers' Government to include applications mde U, to 10 September 1871. (10)

The aanteekeninpboeke 02" 7:al_l:erstroom l i s t s the regis trat ion of over 1200 c l a h s between 1856 and 1866. (11) The d i s t r i c t as f i na l ly inspected, hovever, contained rather l e s s than 400 farms (12), so that over two-thirds of the aanteekenings here came t o nothing. This was certainly not due t o over- generosity on the part of inspection comissions; few f a m s were inspected t o a s ize t n m the specified 3000 morgen. As the number of registered claims rose, w d tlie pbqrsical l imits of the d i s t r i c t became apparent, sone l a t e r

commissions appear to have made an attempt to satisfy as many burghers as possible; in the middle of kIard 3 they inspected a block of over fifty farms, each approximately 1000 morgen. (13) This sort of device could provide little more than a token solution, totally inadequate to deal with a problem of this magnitude .

Initially, however, the gravity of the situation seems to have been scarcely realized. I~lany of the burghers, improvident or impoverished, soon converted newly acquired land into cash, and trusted to fortune elsewhere. Frequently they did not even wait for their paper claims to be transformed into actual farms, but sold their riats at prices which varied according to the date of registration, and the probability of-acquiring land from the purchased uittreksel . (14)

The land registers of the district illustrate quite clearly the brisk trade in burgerregten, aanteekeninm and farms throughout the 1850s and 160s. The history of famn No. 138 provides a classic example. Aamtekend by D. J. Kruger in January 1857, and inspected in his name in January 1858, Holfontein was transferred to his name by the Government on 19 March 1860. G n that same dw it was retransferred to D. F. Steyn, a purchase price of 53.15s being recorded in these transactions; on 1 August 1861 Step transferred the property to A . F. Bosman for £112.10s, and by 1869 the purchase price had increased to C3OO. By the 1880s the owners were I. S. Badenhorst and J, A. K. Laas, who had received transfer in 1872 and 1873, respectively; both owned 2912 morgen of this unusually large farm. Laas sold his share in 1893, but Badenhorst was still in possession in 1901. It is evident from the dates of transfer as well as from the sums involved that A. F. Bosman was the first of the above who bought the actual farm, the two initial sales being purely speculative transactions. Once the Raad had made it clear that the traditionally easy manner of granting land would cease, the number of farm sales dropped sharply and prices soared. (15) Those who had either sold their rights or failed to realize their claims discovered tiat a rapidly widening gulf separated them from tne prospect of landownership.

At the other end of the social scale some men had made considerable progress in building up consolidated estates. C. F. Labuschagne, Volksraadlid for :iakkerstmom in 1881 and 1882, had established a holding of four adjacent farns in Ward 2, and another block of seven in T;Jard 3, in all a total of nearly 22,000 morgen, most of which he had acquired before 1872. (16)

A source of income independent of the uncertainties and hazards of farming enabled another \\IaMcerstroomer, Commandant Generaal Joubert, to lay the foundations of an incredible estate which was valued at £227,980 in 1902. (17) Iie began with the purchase of Rustfontein in \*lard 1 in 1859, and his early practice as a law-agent, trader and money-lender (18) 'gave him an excellent advantage in the property market. By 1874 Joubert was advertising for landless immigrants to occupy eleven of his farms on longr-term leases, hoping in this way to develop the inheritance intended for his children. (19) That Joubert was able to secure lessees who would agree to most unfavourable terms seems to be an indication of the seriousness of the problems confronting the landless. In a contract made in 1877, one B. J. Boshoff leased Joubertfs farm, "Spandekroon" in Standerton, for the period of eight years. The lessee agreed to erect buildings and to carry out other permanent works on the farm, which improvements were to serve in lieu of rent. In addition, Boshoff undertook the payment of the annual farm tax and promised to take care of Joubertfs sheep should he wish to pasture them there.

Furthemore :

I t . . . de heer P. J. Joubert hout het re& og die Ihf fe rs die e r tans woont a l s de zpen . De heer Boshoff heef het re@ voor zich zelven ook kaffers kralen d- t e la ten rronen ?I-- over by het volle re& 221 hebben . . ." (20)

Th2,t Boshoff valued even a lease on these terms i s evident f ro3 his anxiety that Yne Generd might believe tile l i e s spread bj troublemkers, wino claimed that the farm was being dampd . On the contrary, he had planted f r u i t t rees and erected buildings, and vas doing h is utmost to cope i n d i f f i cu l t t iaes. Yith ap2a;rently unconscious irony he continued:

". . . U weet toch rrel &at ik de 2laats n i e t a l s een xyke man naar krel u i t behoeften noete hiluren anders zon i k l iever een gekocht hebben en g y die mioschien ook ?.~eet of ondervonden heef wat het is voor uwe sonden t e verlcen in die swaar t e betalen en met een vamielie z a l e r zeker n i e t zoo lid, over spreken dan zy die zull:s met een zeer ligbe speculatie gewonnen heef en nu misschien noch kasteelen e r by 1.51 hebben." (21)

The pressure on the land increased rapidly a s the poyulation grew, both with continued immigration from other y?zts of South Africa and the natural increase of these older inhabitants. In 1873 there had been 429 burghers i n the d i s t r i c t (22), a figure which was pract ical ly doubled i n the next ten years. 3y 1885 some 750 burghers l ived i n the f i r s t three ~~iards of :~id:ckerstroom, 01 whoa l e s s than 200 held t i t l e t o land. (23) Certain farms were already being converted into settlements f o r the landless. Llelverdiend i n liard 1, occugied i n 1873 by i t s two owners and three other aen, suynorted 26 burghers and t h e i r families by 1885. (24)

Yere we to include the ward of Piet Zetief i n our calculations, the picture would look even more serious, fo r owing to factcrs peculiar to that area v i r tua l ly none of the inhabitants owned farms. It i s worth looking a t develonments there, fo r they provide an unusually c lear and well documented view of the tensions and at t i tudes created by the insecurity and poverty of a landless existence.

In 1864 the Government of the South African Regublic had e n t e ~ e d in to an weement with Alexander PIcCorlcindale whereby the l a t t e r , on behalf of a con>aqr s t i l l to be formed, received 200 fams, each of 6000 acres a t CA0 apiece. (25) Of these "iTew Scotland" farns only 111 concern us imuediately, for they comprised almost the en t i re ward of P ie t Betief, which pessed under the Landdrostdy of ;&erstroom i n 1882. (26)

P i a n y of the inhabitants of the ~:,?sd had originally owned l m d i n the d i s t r i c t of Utrecht, along tile bord.er dispukd by the Zulu. Constant disorder i n thin asea, hol::ever, had forced then to s e l l out t he i r holdings and seek land elserrhere . Ln October 1873 representatives of t h i s group aqrozclied President Bxcgers about the gossibi l i ty of moving into tlin area Icno~rn as Assepai diver, i n New Scotland. (27) The President, eager to establish a barr ier of white settlement between the Swazi and Zulu nations, was agreeable to the scheme. lie regarded the land granted t o the now deceased IIcCorkindale as fo r f e i t , as the Scot had been unable t o f u l f i l h i s par t of the contract. The President assured al l those vino ranted to s e t t l e i n the wea that they would be gm*~terl tne land in question on condition of occupation. (28) Accepting th i s verbal nronise as

sufficient security for their rights, the new inhabitants of New Scotland erected houses, !:rmls, brater courses and mills. (29) But in Ekxrch 1877 the executors of the KcCorkindale estate sent notices prohibiting them from squatting on lands ~rhich, the President's word notrtithstanding, still belonged to the estate. Sone occupants were forced to choose between either purchasing the land in question or paying a ruinous B4-0 annual rent. (30) The squatters lost no time in approaching the British authorities after annexation. They repeated their history, the poverty into trhich they had been driven by the unsettled conditions of frontier life, and their inability to afford the purchase price demded for the lands they occupied.

ult:e do not desire to trek into the interior, but to live honourable, and peaceably, as 103-ai subjects of her 3ritish FTajesty.

... being all of us Briti~h subjects, intrekkers from the Colony of Hatal ... we now respectfully pray, Your Excellency trill take our condition under your special notice, and we address Your Excellency trith more confidence trusting and looking to Your Excellency as our only remaining ray of hope, as children look up to their father . .." (31)

Despite this remarkably prompt avowal of loyalty made by the squatters, the new authorities could no nore maintain a vague promise against the legal rights of the Estate than could their predecessors. The retrocession bro-t similar pleas a few days after the Republicts restoration. (32)

Tine squatters argued that the violation of the original contracts by ikcorkindale meant that the Sstates* lands not! reverted to the State, and that the executors therefore had no right to drive them from these farms. (33) An individuc~l note from the local veld-comet, and leading s2okesman for the Hew Scotladers, J. F. van Staden, casts a more ~ersona.1 light on the dilemma, and the more emotive issues involved. I-Ie informed the Government

"Dat ik a1 twintig jaren op de grinsen zwerfen en aan alles gehoorzaan tras a m dem over myn bestelde ... en zelf op overeng bjderhand genoomen hebbende tot hel?en reddeng van ons verloorend land en v e r W L t voEc ... P. J. Joubert ken ons deig gezonke elende en reddeloose toestand ..."

IIe concluded that he was a

"redeloose en veramde Icnicht met huis v01 kinderen verarmd door de laatste oorlogt . .." (34)

The volksraad of 1881 concluded, however, that the state was only entitled to the return 02 that land taken by PicCorkindale in excess of the original grant. A commission was appointed to select the land to be returned,'and specific inctsuc-tions were issued that they were to attempt to secure those fams on which squatters lived, in order that the latter might have the opportunity to lease their land. (35) It was hoped that such leases would at least afford some legal nrotection to the occupants of the area, for under the present arrangements tne squatters were not only vulnerable to nressure from the Estate's representative but had no redress against the inroads of newcomers. J. F. van Staden complained that

"hier alle winters vele trek boeren in trekken en onverhoord van plaats tot plaats rondtrekken met

voor behoud dat zy deselfde re& bebben die i k hebben.!' (36)

This s i tuat ion was evidently creating unrest among the older inhabitants, who had burned off the grass and bproved tlie pasture.

The task facing tne comission of selecting the farms, anci exploring the s i tuat ion and llsolutiontlto the lu'evr Scotlmders was no enviable one. In a remarkable l e t t e r to the "Volksstem", the veld-cornet expressed indignation a t that paper's reference t o the inhabitants of Assegaai River as llZ~l~-TJ1ugtelingelf. Bepeating the solemn history of t he i r settlement, he issued warning of t h e i r determination to remain dlere they were, They had acted on 3uzgerls pronise.

"Zoo doende hebben cry ons h ie r neergeplagt, maar wy zyn geplagt met cement, en dynaniet za l nu noodig zyn om het plaksel 10s t e maken. Een man met een Boeren-baatje en een jingoes hart kan het n i e t doen, e r ?Tameer hy ook zulks u i t ondernemen, zal hy e r gans naakt afl,:omen." (37)

The Conmission found the i r work as d i f f i cu l t as might have been expected, and recorded regretful ly of th? meetings held with the occujpnts:

"I-Iet spyt uwe comuissie t e moeten melden dat vele teens tand en v e m ~ x r i n g plaatsgevond heeft door de onbehoorlyke gedr= van eenige der Burgers en die gerekend was de uitvoering der p l ig t van de commissie grootelyks t e vemoeilyken. (38)

The of f ic ia l report lecks the colour of van Stadenfs effor t . The Conrmission had evidently invited the Estates representatives to be present at the meeting. men the bur&ers discovered t h i s they rejected the Comuissioners

"om de loyalen u i t lien midden t e vemryderen ondat die heercn hun vyanden v.wen en de oorlogb en nenen dat gemelde heeren nu nog t e e n de voordeel der burgers vrerlcen za1.I' (39)

This request re f lec ts a s t r a in t o be noted tlroughout tine a3peals addressed to the p v e m e n t a f t e r 1881: the continued association of foreign s p e c ~ a t o r s with tnc British government which had been ousted i n 1881.

The burghers a ~ p a r e n t l y emected the Fiepublic authori t ies t o guarzultee the f u l i f r u i t s of t he i r victory, and t o ensure an end to the hold of speculators over the land. Consequently, xrlien on t h i s occasion the Comuission inTomed the neetinf: thet the exclusion 0:' the part ies renresenting tke Xstcste ~ ~ o u l d constitute m insu l t againzt the Governnent, u?rcar promptly ensued. The good veldcornet found hincelf protecting the Commissioners from forcible eviction ( P O ) by a yublic with vrhon he s p ~ a t h i z e d . Order having been restored, tlie bur&ers were ADather informed the t those farms already sold by the State could not be retained by the government, whether they were occupied or not, an announcement rrhich created fur ther threat of r i o t . Van Standen concluded that i t lras no.;

"g-evaarlyk voor eenige anbtenaar on voor de toekomst aansprekelyk t o blyven char i k reeds vreesde det der d i s t r i c t i n m c h i e of v~etteloosheid vervallen zal" (41),

and, i n a l c t k r t o the Commandant General, he added hints of reoignation fron h i s in\-idiou:: ~ o s i t i o n . (112)

A memorial from 78 inhabitants of the vm,rd dis~els any suspicion that the veld-cornet :ras overstating the feelings of his nei&bours. The petitioners alleged that the Comuission had been misled by McCorkindale's agents. Again tne frustration with the continued povrer of the "10yalists~~ is evident.

"Ook is de Commissie niet er toe overgegaan om die occupaties te bezigtipn die sedert zeven tot tien jaren geoccupeerd zyn en die gedurende stilstand van vrapens voor de Conventie door agenten in boedel van vrylen A McCorkindale a m loyalen onderdanen verkocht is geworden ... Aan ons is door leden der commissie gevraagd gevrorden of vry voor de Lap Schotte Grond gevocht hebben? !fy zeggen jal voor alles brat onze onafhankelykhesid ter onderheeft gebracht, I - J ~ meenen dat ook de Schotte een deel uitmakte van de Annexatie en pry gevoelen ons niet behaam ons verder door loyalen te laten verdntkken . . . (43)

This, and other demands for attention, brought the IlIcCorkindale matter before tie Raad w i n , and in its 1882 sessions (44) the members were asked to consider compensating the squatters. Some members, however, rejected any attempt to push through this paticulaz claim to compensation, without c~nsidering older rights. -;hen the district boundary had been established between .Lydenbur@: and ~hkkerstroom, many burghers who had registered claims to land with the Landdrost of the latter district discovered that these claims fell within Iiydenburg and were therefore forfeit. (45) Already in l866 the f olksraad had decided that reparation must be given (46) and by 1869 it was established that no less than 56 persons had a right to compensation. (47) Delay followed upon delay, however, and the Govenmnentls ignorance of local conditions made action impossible (48), with the result that in 1882 these men had still not received any consideration for their rights. Many of the original claimants had already sold their shares in this doubtful enterprise by this time, with the result that the interested parties were again not fazmrs, occupying the land, but speculators, land agents and the like. (49) Despite the obvious sympathy of some of the members of the Volksraad for the McCorkindale squatters, the Raad was forced to conclude that there were other claims with more solid legal foundation and which vrould have to be met before those of the New Scotlanders. The promise of President Burgers was apparently never met by his successors, and the squatters were forced to compete in auction for leases against men of far greater means. That land which reverted to the Government eventually seems to have found its way into the hands of speculators, both from the Transvaal and abroad, or into the estates of the larger lando~mers of !.;akkerstroom. (50)

Compared with what has gnne before, the analysis of material gained from votirg records trill forn little more than a postscript. The use of voting lists and ballot papers presents the researcher with new problems. (51) Samples of voting made so far have necessarily been restricted to a very short period, essentially that of 1881-86, and too little information has been collected to show any really significant pattern. Perhaps the most striking aspect of political life revealed by this data is the general apathy sho'tm by the majority at elections. In 1883 the population of the Republic had the opportunity to vote for a President for the first time in ten yeass. In l'akkerstroom only 22S: of enfranchised burghers voted. Apart from this the figures reveal little; fmilies tended to vote together; bywoners appear to have made up their minds independently of their landlords; and 3%: of the landed burghers voted as opposed to 18:: of those without property. The results of this small study would hardly be worth a mention were it not for evidence taken from outside the period covered in detail. It is surely worth noting that the ecclesiastical division which occurred in \+lakkerstroom in 1866 is still reflected in the voting behaviour of those involved, as much as twenty years later. Those members of

the Kerkraad who had attabcked Bs van der Eoff all voted for Xmger in 1883, while those who opposed MS riveJ.,Cabt, backed Joubest, who had shared their view In the 860s. (52)

Our land records have already illustrated some of the major aspects of ecomznic C which was already fairly rapid before the discovery wealth. ical and administrative development waa forced to e Rqmblicss population grew and scattered. Central controls slowly

became more effect cy the Landdrost waa

discovery of gold on the Rand added to the pressures for more efficient control, an8 also prov2ded the means for extending this contml, thus adding to the friction between local and central interests.

The new opportunities offered by mining and related enterprises increased the social divergences among the Afrika.ner population, as those with wealth in land aversificed their interests, while an ever increasing number of Afrikaner poor were attracted to the Republic by vague runours of wealth. Politics assumed new importance as %he spoils of power increased, while the extension of administrative control and the p w t h of the press brought an increasing proportion of the burghers into contact with the clearer political issues of the '90s. In 1893 over 2 of the enfranchised burghers of blakkerstroon voted for a Besident (53); althow it is perhaps significant that the voting lists of V& 3. show considerable consistency when compared with those of 1883, it is obvious that only a painf'ully detailed and extensive survey of political behaviour will eventually provide the information vital to an understanding of the mechanics of Transvaal politics, because only then will the interplay of old loyalties and new issues become apparent.

Notes -

(1) Voortrekker \iet~ewim: Notule van die Natalse Volksraad 1839-1845, ed. G. S. Preller, Pretoria, 1924, p. 43. Volksraadsbesluit (VRB) No. 3, 1 April 1840; Locale Wetten: pp. 11-12 a9A footnote VRB Oabcigstad 21 April 1848, art 1; VRB 5 bZa;y 1851, &. 15. ibid., p. 142. V333 28 September 1860, art. 149.

(3) The terms aanteekening, meaning registration, and uittreksel, or extract, were often used syno~ously.

(4) Landdrost Wakkerstroom, Vol. 87, "Register van Aanteekenings van Plaatsen nagGi866n.

( 5 ) Literally "measured outn; this meant it was nullified. (6) Groenboek No. 1. 1884, ltRapport van een Landmeter-Gene- . . . van 1884".

With U s report G, B. von Wie1ligt.l attempted to persuade the Republican authorities of the necessity for a General Survey. Incidentally, he provides

the hictorirsn \lit11 a moot hel-oful s-j of the chaotic s t a t e into which the Tr~nsvaal t S lmd a&.inistration had fal len, w d a guide t!wou& the cor~~le:: and frequently contradictory progerty l e ~ i c l a t i o n enacted by the Vollcsraad .

(7) Locale -,;etten, 2. 1 P 2 . W3 28 S e ~ t . 1360, a r t . ld9.

(8) Staatscourant, 5 Dec. 1866. E?B 25 Oct. 1866, art. 566. ttconcldezin:; .l. -. , . .a; abuse i s nzde o f gublic l a d s by newcomers. " Stmtsco- ant 3yvoe,xel, 19 S e ~ t . 1871. ViiB 11 and 12 Se?t. 1871, z r t s . (2-45; Staatscourmt 3yvoeme1, 26 Sept. 1871. W 16 and l ? Sept. 1871, a r t s . 72-7Ll; Staatccourant Byvoegsel, 3 Oct. 1871. V33 20 Sept. 1871, a r t . 75. Locale Yetten, 2. 53:. V.RB 23-24 Se3t. 1871, art. 10.

Ibid. Land Xegisters, Vols. 90, 72, 93, 37, 102, 105, 106. This ~ras 7

before the inclusion of ? i e t iletief as a fourth trzrd.

Ibid.

Ibid. - ibid.

Ibid. C. F. Labuschgne even the temerity to approach the Gove,rnment i n l a t e r years claiming tha t he had s t i l l received no land f o r h i s ' o u r : ~ ~ e & , his w teeken ing having been nul l i f ied by the a l tc rz t ion of tne Lydenberf;b,;aMccrstroom boundary. He requested the compensation to which he \;as legal ly ent i t led. SS.112 R 2363/84 i n R 1386/86. D. J. Joubcrt. C. F. Labuschzgne to President and Uitvoerende B&. (13) dd. -:akJ:erstroon 10 I k ~ r 1894.

Cstate 150. 0.17175. This incredible sum of money takes no account of the livestock and faxminc implements, almost a l l of which were destroyed i n the war. The ~rea l th of the esta,te lay principally i n land, i n holdin,.;s scattered ovcr mort the Republic. One or" the most significant features i n tne inventory of the es ta te is the amount of land Joubert had acqyired i n Pretoria during the 3090s. The administrative ca9i tal of the Republic had obviously benefited from the rapid economic development of the M d , and .oroyert;. values i n tile t 01.~1s generalpi must have r i sen steeply. One erf acquired by the General i n 1863 near the centre of Pretor ia \par assessed i n 1302 a t over 214,000, the value of three o r four mod fams.

'i'lze es ta te of President -rts r,jife, rezina, vho died i n July 1901, shows a c i m i l z in te res t i n to:.n erven. Xstate No. 0.17667.

Strm,yly enough, Joubertts es tate contains no mention of any shareholdicL-, d e a ~ i t e the f ac t tka t he was a h e a v in-reetor du-cing h i s l i f e t i ne , vrith r:ide intereats i n va~ioun groperty, commercial, nining and nanufacturing e n t c i ~ r i c e s . >'or r2etailn of these, see J. A. I-Iouton: ItGenl. Piet Jcubest i n ilic 'I'rmsvaaloe Gcslried.enistl, &chives Year 3001c, 1957, Vol. 1 (~aro! .~, 1?57), 201-209.

J. L. I~outon, on, c i t . , p. 11. Joubertts dealinm as a moneylender are rrell docwncnted i n the Joubert Verxamelin& Vol. 11. A t the t h e o Y hi= den-iil, bonds t o the mount of C2,7Ct \rere outstanding i n h i s favour - see Z ~ t n t c 0.17172.

.;e l a t e r offered sound advice t o h i s son-in-law, A . H. 14a,lztn, concernin3 tlic necessity of avoiding debt. Hard, stead;- work received i t s just rer:nrd, rrizile soclrzl r-.ora1 ruin ami t ed with divine certainty those I,LIO carcl-cssk s ~ r r e n ~ e r c d to the temptation of easy credi t . I-Iis son hed jv?t ~n-ixten enth.usiacl,:cally o" b a k i n Rewcastle ~ r l ~ i c h roras offering to lortn n2nc7 at 3 ner ceni.

I t . . . de ame !:ere1 ueet nog nie van een bank d i een krois &er

ryken maar die vloik der a m e es. stap maax eers de bank drumpel over als gy aam en verlegen es - dan zal zy we1 kort daas na niet meer a m en verlegen zyn, neen maar eenvoudlig bancroit en dat es de zekere laan van elke arme man di naar di bank stap en plaats van naar de ploeg staart ... blyft uit de bank uit de tmnke de kanteen de h e g - es slag gevaarlyke en echandelyke en de bank es een deur waaz-door vale menschen en deze eers genoemde 3 plaatze syn gekoomn ... begen klyn groi langzaam dat is zoet en zeker en dat es naas gods ordannati en zoo we1 behaagelyk voor hein.

Vol. 15/4 1895, pp. 611-613. P. J. Joubert to 8. H. W a n dd Pretoria 10 Oct. 1885.)

". . . the poor fellow does not yet know anything of a bank, which is the cross (?) of the rich, but the curse of the poor. &rely step across the bank" threshold if you are poor and in want - then you shall shortly be no longer poor and wanting, no, but simply bankrupt, and that is the certain path of every poor man who steps into the bank instead of to the ploughls tail ... Stay out of the bank, out of the jail, the canteen, the bar, it is only dangerous and shameful, and the bank is one door by which maw men have reached these first three places ... Begin small, g m w slowly, that is sweet and sure and that is according to God's ordinance as well as pleasing to Xim.tl

J. A. Mouton, op. cit.,2Ol.

Joubert Verzameling Vol. 51 Doct. 3297, contract dd 19 June 1877.

"... Hr P. J. Joubert reserves the right to the Kaffers living there now, as his own. Mr Boshoff is entitled to allow Kaffers to come and live in kraals there, and over these he shall have unreserved right .l1

Joubert Verzamelhq Vol. 59 Doct. 59, Doct. 3656/528, A. J. Boshoff P* J * l ~ JoubGi ... $&?PE~E*P StEvdEm $02 iI$!i~el8E$ f a m not

as a rich m but out of necessity, otherwise I: would rather have bought one, and you who perhaps also know or have experienced what it is to work for your land and to pay dearly for it, while keeping a family, shall certainly not speak so lightly of it as those who have got their farms throw easy speculation and who now perhaps want castles as well. "

SS. 165, p. 160, "Lyst van Persoonen en Plaatsen in de verschillende wyken van het District \aMrer~troom'~, dd M. W. Stroom, 1 1 % ~ 1873, Landdrost A. A. OIReilly.

Landdrost l!akkerstroom, Vol. 185 Burger lists Land Begisters.

Ibid., ~s.165, pp. 219-220-

EVR 224 (volksraar Inkomende ~tukke) V E t 53/81. Report of the Commission on the FIcCorkindale farms, appointed by VRB of 19 Oct. 1881, art. 134. This report gives a very thorough resume of the contract between the Republican Government and IuIcCorkindale.

Ibid. - SS 231 R. 2918/77 in R 2173/77. B. W. S. Steenkamp and J. H. Potgieter to Sir Theophilus Shepstone, dd. Blesbokspruit, 24 July 1877. SS. 84.0 R 4054/88 in R 3863/83. J. F. van Staden to President and Uitvserende Iiaad dd. Traktaat, New Republic, 23 April 1888.

(29) SS. 237 R 2918/77 in R 2073/77, op. cit.

(30) SS 564 R 4008/81, 3. J. Ferreira, 3. L. van Reenen and others to Vice- President S. J. P. Kruger, dd. Derby l3 Sept. 1881 - enclosure in J. L. van Reenen to Vice-President S. J. P. Kruger dd. Derby 15 Sept. 1881. EVR 223 VRR 22/81. C. Birkenstock and others to VR dd. Assegaai R. - 10 Sept. 1881.

(31) SS 231 R 2073/77~ J. F. van Staden Snr. and 9 others to Sir T. Shepstone dd. Assegaai River District 7 May 1877. The petitioners included J. F. van Staden Jnr., the later veld-cornet.

(32) SS. 586 R 3745/81. J. F. v. Staden, G. H. v. Rooyen and others to Triumvirate dd. Assegaairivier 16 Aug. 1881.

(33) Ibid. (34) SS. 588 R 5496/81. J. F. v. Staden, veld-cornet. Triumvirate and UR.

Paardekraal, 14 Dec. 1881.

(35) Staatset Byv. 8 Dec. 1881, VRB 3 NOV. 1881; UR 6 VRB art. 59, 6 Feb. 1882.

(36) SS 631 R 1703/82. J. F. van Staden to Triumvirate and UR undated, probably l0 lhrch 1882.

"Every winter many trek-boers enter and wander from farm to farm without permission, maintaining that they have the same right as I."

(37) Volkstem Byv. 8 March 1882. J. F. van Staden to ed. dd. New Scotland, 18 Feb. 1882.

ltSo doing we have fixed ourselves here, but we are fixed down with cement, and it will take dynamite to remove us. B man with a Boer jacket and a jingo's heart cannot do it, and if he tries he will come out of it completely naked."

(38) SS. 881 R 1999/82 in R 6072/83. Report of Commission apprd. by URB, art 63 of 1882. 8 Feb. 1882, etc. G. P. Moodie, Chairman, N. J. Smit and A. S. Smit, members, det. Smithfield 11 March 1882.

"Your committee regrets to report that much opposition and confusion has occurred, owing to the improper behaviour of some of the burghers,and which was calculated greatly to hinder the work of the commi~sion.~~

(39) SS. 631 R 1703/82. J. F. v. Staden to TV and UR dd. N.S. 10 March 1882.

Itto remove the loyalists from their midst because those gentlemen were their enemies in the war, and they believed that the aforementioned gentlemen would now continue to work against the interests of the burghers."

(40) Ibid.

(41) Ibid. Wangerous for any official to remain responsible for the future as I already fear that the district shall fall into anarchy or lawle~sness.~~

(42) SS 640 R 2095/82. J. F. van Staden to P. J. Joubert, Cdt. Gen., dd. Witkloof dist., Derby, 8 March 1882.

(43) EVR 225. VRR 109/82. G. F. Scheepers, 77 others, to VR, dd. Blesbokspruit, Derby, 3 April 1882.

"IJor did the commission go on to visit those farms which had been occupied for seven to ten years, and which were sold by the agents of McCorkindale's estate to loyalists during the armistice ... We were asked by the members of the Commission

whether we fought for the piece of Scottish land. We say yes1 for evezy%hing which b down our independence, we cormidez that the Scots cons%itute part of the annexation and we do 90% feel inclined to allow ourselves to be further persectatred by loyalists."

(44) staatset m. 27 July and 3 Aug. 1882. W art. 650-652, 29 and 30 June 1882.

(45) SS 143. R 544172. A. G. Scheffer to m e r e n d Staats President dd. Utrecht, 3 April 1872.

(46) Staatscourant, 13 Jan. 1869 - VR 7 and 9 Nov. 1868, arts. 244 and 245 - confirming VlU 13 Oct. 1866, &S. 398 end 399.

(47) vR 3, art. 9, dd. 23 December 1869. (48) SS 188. R 1042/75. P. F. Henderson, veld-comet Wyk 3 to Wddrost

0. C. Weber dd. Goudhoek 15 May 1875 - enclosure in Landdrost 0. C. Weeber to Staatsecretaris M. W. Stmom, 15 May 1875. P. F. Henderson informed LanddiPost Weeber in 1875 that open land existed

I all along Witrivier. He could not say how many farms there were aa he was ignorant of the whereabouts of the &Corkindale beacons, but he had talked with men who knew the land well, he said, and they assured him that there was enough land for the compensation fanns and more besides.

(49) SS 598. R 19/82. J, Bhmaar to Drienranschap - dd. Pretoria, 30 Dec. 1881. R 397182 in R 19/82. J. Jeppe p.p. R. L. Daly to Driemanschap oria, 14 Jan. 1882. 574/77: Hollard and Keet to SS dd. M. W. Stroom 10 Feb. 1877

encloses a decla.xation by L. 3. Pieterse dated Leheeshoek, 31 July 1865, that he has sold his burgemegte to P. F. Hendemon for e15.

(50) In 1887 a final and unsuccessful attempt was made to secure small farms as compensation for just three or four of the New Scotlanders who had remained in occupation of their claims since 1869 - Staatset. Byr. 12 Oct. 1887. VRB a t . 1165-1167, dd. 19-20 July 1887.

(51) Landdrost Wakkerstroom art. 185. Veld-comet lists and ballot papers, 1866-1893.

(52) F. G. M. du Toit, ed., Rondom 1866, Pretoria 1969, p. 133; G. B. A. Gerdener, Ons Kerk in dAe Txans~asieu, Cape Town, 1934, p. 306.

(53) Landdrost Wakkerstroom, Vol. 185, op. cit.