MilnersKindergarten SaulDubow PDF

Colonial Nationalism, the Milner Kindergarten and the Rise of 'South Africanism', 1902-10
Author(s): Saul Dubow

Source: History Workshop Journal, No. 43 (Spring, 1997), pp. 53-85
Published by: Oxford University Press
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ColonialNationalism,The Milner
Kindergartenandthe Rise of 'South
Africanism',1902 101
by Saul Dubow
And so, you see, the true Imperialist is also the best South African. (Lord
Milner,1905)
I believe in the British Empire ... I believe in this my native land. (Percy Fitz-
Patrick,1903)
More than fifteen years ago, Shula Marksand StanleyTrapidopublished

'LordMilnerand the South AfricanState' in the pages of this journal,an
articlewhichhas exerted an importantand enduringimpacton the under-
standing of late-nineteenthcentury British imperialismin the Southern
African context.2Its significancehas to do with its interventioninto two
contentiousareasof debate.In the firstplaceMarksandTrapidochallenged
the view thatthe originsof the SouthAfrican(Boer) warof 1899-1902could
be explained in terms of the machinationsand motivationsof particular
individuals(Rhodes,Milner,Chamberlain,and so on). Rather,they argued,
the causesof the warhad to be locatedwithinthe deeperstructuralcontext
of imperialismitself,in particularthe need to maintainBritain'splace at the
centreof the internationalmoneymarketby securingeffectivecontrolover
the Transvaal'sgoldminingindustry.3
Secondly,Marksand Trapidooffered a strikinglynew interpretationof
the post-warreconstructionera in South Africa. As againstthose writers
who insistedthatMilner'sambitiousschemesto enshrineBritishsupremacy
in South Africa ended in failurewith the creationof the Union of South
Africa in 1910 under the leadershipof the Boer leader General Botha4,
MarksandTrapidodemonstratedthatcertainkey Milneriteobjectiveswere
indeed achieved.The creationof a modernstate bureaucracyservedas the
basis for social engineeringon a grand scale, a process in which social
relationsboth in the countrysideand the city were transformedto servethe
long-term interests of capitalist development. Most importantly,the
requirementsof the mining industryfor a cheap and controlledAfrican
labour force were satisfied.5Moreover,as MartinLegassickhad already
begun to show,many of the key foundationalpolicies upon which twenti-
eth-centurywhite supremacywas based were articulatedin the Milnerite
reconstructionperiod,most notablyin the recommendationsof the 1903-5
South African Native Affairs Commission which envisaged a system of
territorially-based
racialsegregation.6
History Workshop Journal Issue 43 ? History Workshop Journal 1997

View of the Union Buildings, Pretoria, designed by Herbert Baker in 1909 to house governme
Baker intended the two dome-capped towers with identical wings, linked by a concave colonna
equality and partnership. A larger dome on the hill to the rear, as well as a separate and pa
leaders could be received, was never built.

MilnerKindergarten 55
A remarkablefeatureof 'LordMilnerandthe SouthAfricanState'is the

way in which it has inflectedtwo historiographicaltraditionswhichrarely
addresseach other directly:on the one hand,argumentsabout the nature
of imperialism;on the other,discussionaboutthe emergenceof segregation
and apartheidin twentieth century South Africa. Regrettably,those tra-
ditions have remainedbifurcated.Most of the criticalreaction to 'Lord
Milnerand the South AfricanState' has centered on its claimsabout the
originsof the SouthAfricanWar.7The article'ssignificancefor the develop-
ment of modern South Africanpolitical economy has been widely noted
andits lessonsabsorbed.8But the taskof reintegratingimperialandindigen-
ous SouthAfricanhistoriesin the post-SouthAfricanwarera is only begin-
ning.9
One of the purposesof thispaper,therefore,is to attemptto revivea dia-
logue betweenthese two traditions,with particularreferenceto the politics
of imperialand nationalidentity duringthe first decade of the twentieth
century.Duringthe 1950sand60s,the studyof empireandpoliticsfromthe
Jameson Raid to the emergence of Union was an important topic of
researchactivity,especiallyas liberalhistoriansdebatedthe 'imperialfactor'
in South Africa in terms of its benignor maligninfluence.10 Subsequently,
interest in white politics and constitutionaldevelopment has virtually
ceased.Thisis not altogethersurprisinggiven the rise of Africanhistoryin
the 1960sand of marxisant social historyin the 1970s- both of whichchal-
lenged historiescentredon elites and decision-makers.However,renewed
interest in the 1980s in the politics of identity and ethnicityprovidesthe
opportunityto revisitold problemsin new ways.
The centralpurposeof this paper is to examine attemptsto overcome
enmitiesof Boer and Britonin the decade between the SouthAfricanWar
and the achievementof Union. By looking at the consciouscreationof a
sense of white 'South Africanism',in particularthroughthe stimuluspro-
vided by membersof the Milner'Kindergarten',I shall argue (i) that the
assertionof colonialnationalismwas a crucialdimensionin the processof
cultural and political rapprochement which secured the basis of white
supremacyin South Africa and (ii) that this process helped to redefine
South Africa'srole in the empire and, by extension,the broaderrelation-
ship between Britainand its overseaswhite dominions.
II
Even before the formalend of the South AfricanWarin May 1902Milner
beganto planthe reconstructionof SouthAfrica.His declaredobjectivewas
to secure Britishsupremacyand he pursuedhis policies in the uncompro-
mising and single-mindedmanner of an imperial proconsul. Amongst
Milner'smost importantprioritieswas to rebuildthe goldminingindustry
of the Transvaal,to transformthe instrumentsof governmentin the four
colonies, to settle English-speakingfarmersin the rural districtsof the

56 HistoryWorkshopJournal
Orange River Colony and the Transvaal,and to encourage large-scale

schemesfor Britishimmigration.
The zeal with which Milner worked to secure British supremacywas
rootedin the idiomof socialimperialismandthe convictionthatthe British
were a superiorracewhose manifestdestinyit was to lead the world.In the
immediate aftermathof the war Milner,supportedby the collection of
Britishofficialshe recruitedas his 'Kindergarten', workedenergeticallyto
press home the advantageoccasionedby the imperialvictory.1'This burst
of activitycontrastedwith the sense of exhaustionthat South Africa now
experienced.The war had exacted a huge toll on the resources of the
country.Agriculturalproductionwas badlyaffectedby drought,the mining
industryfaced a chronicshortageof labour,therewere tens of thousandsof
displacedrefugeesandprisoners-of-war, andthe departureof Britishtroops
accentuatedthe problemsof depressedcommercialactivity.Althoughsome
sectorsof the economybegan to revive (the gold miningindustryreached
its pre-warproductionvalue in 1904) expectationsof rapidand sustained
recoveryprovedunfounded.12
In the long-term,as Marks and Trapidopointed out, Milnerismcon-
tributedsignificantlyto the developmentof a moderncapitaliststatecapable
of serving,directlyor indirectly,the requirementsof the miningindustryand
the broadneedsof empire.13 By the timeof Milner'sdeparturein April1905,
however,many of his professed objectiveseither remainedunfulfilledor
appearedto havefailed.Milner'sanglicisationpolicieswere deeplyresented
by Afrikaners,Britishimmigrationand settlementproved much less suc-
cessfulthananticipated,theTransvaalgovernmenthadslippedfromMilner's
effective control, and the highly contentiousdecision to import Chinese
labourfor the gold mineswas on the point of being reversed.14
Milner'spost-warplansbeganto encounteroppositioneven
Significantly,
before the declarationof peace in 1902. As a preconditionto his recon-
structionproject,Milner campaignedto suspend the constitutionof the
Cape,calculatingthat SouthAfricacould only be successfullytransformed
if all four coloniescouldbe treatedas an integralunit.However,Capepoli-
ticians mounted determinedresistanceto any reductionin their consti-
tutional status. In the Cape parliamentthe opposition leader, John X.
Merriman,launched an impassioned attack on Milner's high-handed
approachas a 'raidupon the libertiesof this country'.15 Merrimanwas sup-
ported by the PrimeMinisterof the Cape,Sir Gordon Sprigg,who broke
withhis ownpartyon the issue.At the 1902ColonialConferencein London,
Sprigg'soppositionto suspensionwasreinforcedby the oppositionmounted
by otherDominionleaderswho understoodthe implicationsfor the auton-
omy of their own countries.Milner'splans were finally thwartedby the
Britishcabinetand he receivedan officialrebukefrom Chamberlain.16
Thisabortiveattackon the Capeconstitutionsignalsthe persistenceof a
stubbornstrainof Capecolonialnationalismwhich,despiteremainingloyal
to the idea of empire,refusedto accept the subserviencedemandedby its

Milneritevariant.In his memoirs,J. T. Molteno (who served as the first

speakerof the Union parliament)denouncedMilneritepoliciesas 'insane'.
Invertingconventionalusage of the term,he noted that those who fought
against suspension were the 'true loyalists of South Africa'. And he
shrewdlycommentedthat historiansshould trace the originsof Union to
that struggle.17 Notably,the historianRodney Davenportmaintainsthat it
was out of the failureof the suspensionmovement- and the positiveper-
sonal encounterbetween the Cape AfrikanerpoliticianJ. H. Hofmeyrand
the colonial secretaryJoseph Chamberlainin 1903 - that a new mood of
conciliationbeganto emergein the SouthAfricancolonies.18
In the lightof the failedsuspensionistinitiativeit is notablethat,towards
the end of his time in SouthAfrica,Milnerbeganto modifythe stridencyof
his language.At Bloemfonteinin January1904 he reaffirmedhis commit-
ment to the 'establishmentin SouthAfricaof a greatand civilizedand pro-
gressivecommunity,one from CapeTownto the Zambesi- independentin
the managementof its own affairs,but still remaining,from its own firm
desire,a memberof the greatcommunityof free nationsgatheredtogether
underthe Britishflag.'19But he concludedthat this objectivecould not be
accomplishedin a short space of time. Milnerenvisionedan organiccon-
ception of Empire composed of a federationof states and founded on a
sharedcommitmentto 'pan-Britannic'values.The realisationof this idea
necessitateda shift awayfromoutrightcolonialdominationand an accept-
ance insteadof principlesof mutualityand cooperation.
A few monthslaterMilnerprotestedthat,althoughhe was 'an Imperial-
ist out and out', this did not mean that he believed in 'the dominationof
Great Britain over the other parts of the Empire'.20And, in a farewell
address to South Africa delivered in Johannesburgin March 1905, he
reflectedon his workas well as the futureof the Empire.Here againMilner
triedto redefinethe conceptof 'Imperial'in a mannerthat did not connote
'domination,ascendancy,the rule of a superiorState over vassalStates'.He
acknowledgedthat the Dutch could'neverown a perfectallegiancemerely
to GreatBritain',just as the Britishcouldnot 'acceptallegianceto anybody
politic which excludestheir motherland'.The solutionwas for Britishand
Dutch alike to 'unite in loyal devotion to an Empire-State,in whichGreat
Britain and South Africa would be partners,and could work cordially
togetherfor the good of South Africa as a memberof that greaterwhole.
And so, you see, the true Imperialist is also the best South African.'21
The suggestionthat one could expressones SouthAfricanismthrougha
commitmentto imperialismwas to become an importantpartof the project
of Milner'ssuccessors,as was the idea that the Empirecould be redefined
in terms of mutual cooperation between its constituent elements. This
involvedan acceptanceof conciliationandconsensusanda disavowalof the
idea of supremacyandcoercion.But Milnerhimselfwasscepticalof the lan-
guage of conciliation.As a convictionpoliticianhe was consumedby the
fear that any concessionto the 'duplicitous'Boers would ultimatelyresult

in the loss of South Africa to the BritishEmpire.22 Towardsthe end of his

stay in SouthAfricaMilnerhimselfbeganto feel that he was no longerthe
appropriatepersonto save SouthAfricafor the Empire.23 Undoubtedly,the
political baggage which he carriedfrom the pre-warperiod, his authori-
tarianstyle,andhis disparagingattitudeto 'the Boer',meantthathe was ill-
suitedto reinventthe relationshipbetween Britainand the dominions.
It was left to Milner'sKindergartento worktowardsa federationof the
South Africancolonies and, in the longer term, to redefinethe empirein
termsof an 'organic'federationof states - ultimatelythe Commonwealth.
The Kindergartencontinued to stress their allegiance to Milner for a
mixtureof motives.These includedpersonalloyalties (amountingto hero
worshipin some cases) as well as the desire to benefitfrom the authority
and patronagewhichMilnercontinuedto exert withinBritishpoliticallife.
But it is also truethatMilner'sdepartureliberatedhis youngfollowersfrom
the immediate gaze of a patron whose authority and personality had
become all too consuming.The observationthat Milner'stole awayquietly,
regrettedby no one, not even by the magnatesof the Rand'24,is therefore
probablytrue even of his most ardentsupporters- who realisedby 1905
that Milnerhad become somethingof a liability.25
Milner'sreplacement,LordSelborne,wasappointedHighCommissioner
beforethe fall of the ConservativeGovernment.26 His arrivalsignalleda sig-
nificantmeasureof continuitywithMilner'spolicies,but his style was much
softerand his approachmoreflexible.Thismeantthat Selbornewas able to
adaptto the significantchangeof politicalclimatewhichoccurredwhen the
Liberalscame to power under Campbell-Bannerman in December 1905.
The Liberalparty,though committedto imperialism,preferredto see the
imperial relationshipin terms of the principles of liberty,justice and
self-government.27 This reinvigorateddiscourseof liberalimperialismwas
infusedwith the languageof politicalradicalismand high moralpurpose.It
was forcefullyexpressedduringthe 1906sessionof the House of Commons
when Milner was censured for authorisingthe flogging of indentured
Chinesemineworkers.28
The political situationin South Africa was transformedfollowing the
victory of the Liberals.In February1906, immediatelyafter his historic
meeting with Smuts, Campbell-Bannermanannounced the decision to
revoke the Conservative-sponsored Lyttletonconstitution,a move which
cleared the way for responsiblegovernmentin the Transvaaland Orange
River colonies.The formationof new politicalpartiesalso opened up the
field of domesticpolitics and creatednew possibilitiesfor reform.In par-
ticular,the prospectof closerunion betweenthe four colonies was revived.
Supportersof this processwere concerned,however,that if decisive steps
towardscloserunionwere not takenimmediately,the opportunityto attain
the objectiveof closer union mightslip by.
Of course,the idea of federatingthe colonies of South Africa was not
new.Sir George Greyhad attemptedthis in the 1850sand Carnarvonmade

federation his primaryaim in the 1870s. In 1882 the Afrikaner Bond

declaredas one of its principalaimsthe creationof (an implicitlyindepen-
dent) 'United South Africa'. Rhodes, too, envisioned a union of South
Africanstates,with particularemphasison its role as a constituentelement
of the British empire.29Greater coordinationof policy in South Africa
formedpartof Milner'spoliticalplansthroughouthis time in SouthAfrica.
But now,in 1906,the possibilityof federationwas once againon the agenda.
The difference this time was that a sympatheticgovernmentin Britain
wouldfacilitateratherthandictatethe process.Moreover,it was beginning
to be recognisedthat previousattemptsat federationhad failed because
they were imposed from above; federationwould only succeed if it was
activelysupportedby a majorityof those directlyaffected.
One of the firstsystematicstatementsof the desirabilityof closer union
at this time was delivered by RichardFeetham,an active Kindergarten
member,in October1906.30Addressingthe inauguralmeetingof the Fort-
nightly Club (a select Johannesburg-based political think-tankwith close
ties to the Kindergarten)Feethamsketchedout the basisof a formof Union
or Federationwhichwouldbe generallyconsideredequitableand practica-
ble. In this regardfissiparousas well as unifyingforceswere operative.The
battlesbetweenthe coloniesover railwayratesandrivalriesbetweendiffer-
ent portswere a powerfuldemonstrationof the tendencytowardsdisunion.
On the other hand,the 'commonperil'symbolisedby the recentBambatha
rebellionin Natal indicatedthe need for inter-colonialcooperation.Apart
from fears of internaland externalthreats,there were powerfuleconomic
reasons in favour of collective action. Importantprioritiesin this regard
were the need to deal with'the labourquestion'and to addressthe 'sphere
of native affairs'.31
Feetham'saddresswas distinctivein its emphasison practicaland con-
crete matters.He was impatientwiththose who invokedfederationin order
'to adorn the perorationsof after-dinnerspeeches,and the preamblesof
politicalprogrammes'.In short,the issuehadto be addressedas a realisable
goal ratherthan as a 'a vague and pious aspiration'.32 The strategyhitherto
adoptedby the Kindergartenthereforebalancedhigh-mindedidealismwith
rationalargumentand pragmaticappealsto the commoninterestsshared
by whiteSouthAfricans.Attachingthemselveswhereverpossibleto figures
with politicalinfluence,Kindergartenmembersacted as effective lobbyists
by developingspecialisedexpertisein the mechanicsof constitutionaland
administrativereform.
In the post-Milneriteworldwithinwhichthey operated,membersof the
Kindergartenwere well awarethat issues of nationhoodand identitycould
only crediblybe addressedby politicianswho carriednaturalconstituencies.
TheirassociationwithMilnerandtheiroccupationof key rolesin the Trans-
vaal administrationaffordedthem accessto centresof politicalpower and
influence.But that legacy,tarnishedas it was by memoriesof the Jameson
Raid and the war,amountedto a severe handicap.Wherethey were able to

play an importantrole was in promptingEnglish-speakingpoliticiansand

the widerpublicto rethinkthe relationshipbetween'Boer' and 'Briton'as
well as SouthAfrica'srole in the Empire.33
III
The Kindergarten'simportanceto SouthAfricanreconstructionin the first
decadeof the centuryis widelyacknowledgedthoughoften misunderstood.
It is not my intentionto suggest,as some historiansof thisgingergrouphave
done,that the Kindergartenplayeda leadingrole in the creationof Union.
As HancockandThompsonhave shown,politicianslike Merriman,Smuts
and Steynwere the foremostarchitectsof union;indeed,Smutsand Merri-
mancorrespondedon the need for politicalunificationfromas earlyas 1904
- considerablybeforethe Kindergartentook up the cause.34 The assessment
of Hancockthatthe Kindergartenwere'auxiliaries'to SmutsandMerriman
ratherthan the chief sponsorsof Union thereforestands,thoughit would
be mistakento infer from this that they were merelyincidentalhelpersin
the process. Operatingas catalystsin the intersticesof a deeply divided
politicalworld,theirformativerole was vitalandwithouttheirintervention
it is by no meanscertainthat unificationwouldhave been achieved.
The most prominentchampionof closer unionwithinthe Kindergarten
was Lionel Curtis(1872-1955).Dubbed'the prophet'by his associates,this
sobriquetwas a double-edgedcommenton the fervourwith whichhe took
on the cause of union. Curtisarrivedin South Africa in 1900 in order to
serve the war effort as a bicycledespatchriderin the City ImperialVolun-
teers unit. Laterthat year he joined Milner'spersonalstaffas a privatesec-
retary and he accompaniedMilner to Johannesburgin October 1900 in
orderto establishthe HighCommissioner'spersonalheadquarters.35 Curtis
soon consolidatedhis positionwithinthe Transvaaladministration.Milner
appointedhim JohannesburgTownClerkin 1901 and in 1903 he was pro-
moted to Assistant Colonial Secretaryfor Urban Affairs.Anticipatinga
substantialreorganisationof the Transvaalcolonialadministrationwith the
achievementof self-government,Curtisresignedhis position.Henceforth
he was to devote his energies to the closer union movement.In his diary
Curtis represents this decision as occasioned by his realisation that if
nothingwasdone to createa unitarygovernment,the self-governing'former
republicswould soon drift into collision with the Cape Colony and Natal
and SouthAfricawouldbe landedin anotherwar.'36
It was at New College,Oxford,between 1891and 1894that Curtisorig-
inallymet up withseveralof the futuremembersof the Kindergarten, princi-
pally Lionel Hichins,John Dove and RichardFeetham,as well as more
peripheralmemberslike Leo Amery. During this time Curtissoaked up
many of the ideas that were to influencehis later career.Exposureto the
fashionableneo-Hegelianismof T. H. Green and F. H. Bradleyled him to
embracethe idea of the stateas a creativeforcefor good,whilemembership

of the ChristianSocialUnion reinforcedhis strongevangelicalleaningsand

sensitisedhimto the problemsof the poor.Doses of Ruskiniansocialismand
socialDarwinismleft theirmarkson the youngCurtisas well. After leaving
OxfordCurtiswent to London.He becameinvolvedin philanthropicwork
with the HaileyburyGuildin Stepney(whichwas constitutedalongsimilar
lines to ToynbeeHall). He was introducedto OctaviaHill at this time and
becameconvertedto her distinctivevision of urbanhousingand develop-
ment. Anotherimportantpersonalinfluenceat this time was the maverick
Liberal-UnionistMP LeonardCourtneywho lost his seat in 1900as a con-
sequenceof his pro-Boersympathies.Curtisworkedfor Courtneyfor two
yearsas a part-timesecretary.It was throughCourtneythat Curtisbecame
a privatesecretaryto LordWelbyof the London CountyCouncilin 1899,
andWelbyin turngave Curtisa letterof introductionto Milner.37
Thisfirst-handexperienceof localgovernmentwasput to effectby Curtis
whenhe becameTownClerkof Johannesburg. ForCurtis,localgovernment
was more thanjust a technicalvocation.It was steeped in notionsof moral
purpose and conceptions of collective civic duty. Service in Milner's
administrationprovided Curtis with practical and political skills. Like
Milner,Curtisbelievedstronglyin the creativeforceof rationalbureaucracy
andhe conceivedof the state as a powerfor good.Thisled Curtisto become
a fervent apostle of politicalfederationas an indissolubleorganicunion.
Developed initiallyin the South Africancontext,it was a vision that was
subsequentlyelaborated(witha sense of righteousconvictionborderingon
zealotry)into the idea of the empireas commonwealthand,finally,into his
transcendentconceptof worldgovernment.
Manyof these themeswereincipientlypresentin Curtis's1906resignation
speech as AssistantColonialSecretary.Here, Curtiscelebratedthe Milner-
ite conceptionof publicduty.He reviewedthe post-warachievementsof the
Transvaalcivil service and he underlinedthe importanceof effectivelocal
government.Movingto the questionof self-governmentfor the Transvaal,
Curtis questionedwhether any of the larger issues of the day ('like the
nativesor customs,or railways.. .') couldbe dealtwithexceptby agreement
with the othergovernmentsin SouthAfrica.It was to be hoped,Curtiscon-
tinued,thatprovincialrivalriescouldbe set asidein the interestsof all South
Africa.He recalledthe impetustowardsunion,mentioningin particularthe
ambitionsof Grey,Brand,Frere,KrugerandRhodes.Together,he said,they
had 'left us their own uncompletedtask of makingsuch a countryas men
who call themselvesSouth Africansmightserve at all.' Significantly- and
even provocatively- CurtisincludedBoer as well as Britishleadersin this
unlikely lineage. He acknowledgedthat they had differed over the 'flag
whichshouldfly over that country',addingwith droll understatementthat
the point had now been 'settled'.38 Takentogetherwith Feetham'saddress
two monthsearlier,Curtis'sspeech can be seen as the beginningsof a defi-
nite move withinthe Kindergartento work towardspoliticalunificationof
some sort.The questionwas,how was this to be achieved?

One of the main problemsfaced by the Kindergartenand its associates

was the dividednatureof the English-speakingSouth Africancommunity.
Indeed,to call them a 'community'at this stage is to anticipateevents.The
historianNoel Garsonhaspointedout thatthe term'English-speaking South
African',when applied to the nineteenth century,is anachronistic.The
conceptcame into generaluse only afterUnion,'presumablyas a meansof
emphasizingthe SouthAfricancharacterof this sectionof the white popu-
lation ... and to avoidconfusionwith the Englishor Britishoverseas.'39 In
the pre-Unionperiod,termslike'BritishSouthAfricans'or,morefrequently,
the 'Britishelement','colonialBritish'or simply'British'werein generalcur-
rency.Equally,the term 'Dutch'or 'Boer' was used muchmore frequently
than 'Afrikaner'.40 The absence of a clear sense of SouthAfricanEnglish
identitycanbe explainedby the factthatthe primaryallegiancesof English-
speakerstended to be expressedeither with the Britishempire (of which
South Africa was a part),or with their colonial locality (Cape,Transvaal,
Natal) whichwas itself an extensionof the empire.One notablesupporter
of empire in the Transvaalwho went againstthis trend by conspicuously
identifyinghimselfas 'SouthAfrican'anddaringlyreferringto SouthAfrica
as 'home'was PercyFitzPatrick.41 We shallreturnto him later.
The Cape,with its traditionof Britishsettlementstretchingback to the
early nineteenth century, is the area where local patriotism amongst
English-speakerswasmostdeeplyrootedandhostilityto the 'new'imperial-
ism most marked.Withina decade of the grantof responsiblegovernment
to the Cape in 1872,English-speakingpoliticiansand Dutch-speakingsup-
porters of the Afrikaner Bond gained valuable experience of political
cooperation.From 1889 to the JamesonRaid in 1895 a strong working
alliancedevelopedbetween Cecil Rhodes and J. H. Hofmeyr.It was out of
this milieuthat avowedlynon-sectionalCape politicians(like J. H. De Vil-
liers,J.C. Molteno,W.P.Schreiner,F S. MalanandJohnX. Merriman)came
to prominence;suchindividualslater came to play a vital partin creatinga
politicalclimatesympatheticto Union.
The alliance between Rhodes and Hofmeyr was shattered by the
JamesonRaid and the revelationthat Rhodes was the arch-conspirator in
the failed attemptto bringdownthe Krugergovernmentin the Transvaal.42
But, as Tamarkinhas recentlyshown,the break was all the more difficult
because it representeda betrayalof a partnershipbased on sincerelyheld
ideals.ManyleadingCape Bondsmenwere deeply committedto an inclu-
sivist vision 'in which Cape Afrikanerethnicity,white Cape colonialism,
pan-Afrikanersolidarity,and British imperialism,lived side by side, not
withouttension,but on the whole quitehappily.'43 The emotionalandpoliti-
cal traumaof Rhodes'sbetrayalwas acutelyfelt by leadingEnglish-speak-
ing liberalslike the CapepremierW.P.Schreinerwho,at the 1897House of
Commonsenquiryinto the Raid, challengedChamberlain'sdescriptionof
Britainas the 'paramount'powerin SouthAfrica.Discussingthe complex-
ities of English-speakingcolonial identityin a mannerthat anticipatesthe

idea of the English-speakingSouthAfrican,Schreinersaid of himself:'I am

South Africanfirst,but I think I am Englishafter that.'44A year later,he
stood for the parliamentaryconstituencyof Malmesburyon the platformof
'true Imperialismand true Colonialism- a slogan carefullycalculatedto
appealto patrioticAfrikanerBondsmenand Englishmoderatesalike.45
By contrast,English-speakersin Natal,the most archetypallycolonialof
colonies,were least likely to identifythemselvesas South African.At the
1902 ColonialConference,the Natal premier,A. H. Hime,hadjoined with
the premierof New Zealandin supportingMilner'smove to suspendthe
Cape constitution.46 Natal'sjingoismwas conditionedby feelings of econ-
omic marginalityand physicalvulnerabilityin a situationwhere colonists
werevastlyoutnumberedby Zulu-speakingAfricansandIndianimmigrants.
Natal's heavy dependenceon revenuesgained by acting as a conduitfor
tradeto andfromthe Transvaalonly servedto exacerbateits fearof 'Dutch'
domination.47 The absenceof a Natalianpoliticianof nationalstandingin the
periodleadingup to Unionwasconspicuous.Thisfact,combinedwithNatal's
insistent parochialism,determined that its contributionto Union was
minimaland its commitmentto SouthAfricaambivalentand grudging.
English-speakersin the Transvaalwere conspicuouson accountof their
dominanceof commerce,trade and the goldminingindustry.The so-called
'Uitlander'(foreigner)communitywas called into being as a resultof the
JamesonRaid and the outbreakof war.Theiridentityin the aftermathof
the South African war was unstable and their loyalties to the Empire
stronglyinfluencedby recentpoliticalevents.In addition,English-speakers
in the Transvaalwere politically split along lines of class and ideology
between supportersof the LabourParty,the Progressives,and the Respon-
sibles (renamedthe NationalAssociationin 1907).
It is precisely from within this unstable, factionalised,and rootless
English-speakingconstituencyin the Transvaalthat moves to define a
commonsense of SouthAfricanEnglishidentitywereinitiated.TheKinder-
gartenwas to play an importantrole in this project.Theirsignificancewas
heightened by the fact that they occupied key positions in the adminis-
trationof the Transvaal,the regionwhere South Africa'seconomicwealth
was concentrated.But the task of persuadingwhitesin the four coloniesof
South Africa were immense. C. W. de Kiewiet's comment-cum-question
aboutthe period1895is almostas validfor 1905:By whatmeans'. . . would
the Transvaaland the Statesby whichit was surroundedrecognizethat the
gold-mineswere SouthAfricangold-mines,that its white andblacklabour-
ers came from every cornerof South Africa,that the Balkanmentalityof
Natal politicians,the superioritycomplex of the Cape, and the hothouse
patriotismof Transvaalpoliticianswere makingthe landrankwithintrigue,
suspicion,and plot?'48
Fromthe end of 1906membersof the Kindergartenworkedassiduously
to bring about closer union. They frequentlymet at the imposinghouse,
known as 'the Moot', built for Feethamand other Kindergartenmembers

by the leadingarchitectof reconstruction,HerbertBaker.49Historianshave

long been fascinatedby the mystiquesurroundingthe Kindergartenand'the
Moot':theiryouthand bachelorstatus,theirprivilegedOxfordbackground
and attachmentto undergraduaterituals,as well as their connectionsto
Milnerandsubsequenteminencein inter-warBritishsociety,haveprovoked
reactionsof curiouswondermentand disapprovalin equal measure.Taken
together,the elementsof this collectiveportraithave workedto sustainan
imageof an immenselyclevergroupof youngmenwhose secretendeavours
to maintainthe empireproceededeither in the light of sharedBalliol and
New College nostrums,or in the name of their mentor,Milner.The very
appellation'Kindergarten'sumsup the measureof distrustand admiration
whichthey have evoked.50
Some treatmentsof the Kindergartenare so captivatedby the individual
personalities and collective mystique of the group that South Africa
emergesonly as an incidentalbackdropto their actions.Thus,the import-
ance of South Africa in the makingof the Kindergartenis apt to be over-
looked.As enthusiasticandimpressionablementhe Kindergartenmembers
were undoubtedlycaughtup with the thrillof playinga part in the recon-
structionof a new society.Theirfeelings of excitementwere closely bound
up withwhatBill Schwarzhas evocativelytermed,in the contextof the writ-
ings of JohnBuchan,'theromanceof the veld'.51Similarexpressionsof awe
in relationto the physicalgrandeurof SouthAfricacan be seen in the writ-
ings of other membersof the group.In Lionel Curtis'swar diary he fre-
quentlyexpressesunexpecteddelightin the majesticlandscape,lushscenery
and distinctiveflora of the veld.52This sentiment is carried over into
passionateexpressionsof sympathywith the plight of the Boers, who are
romanticallycast as heroicpeople of the soil.53Thus,Curtisexpressesrevul-
sion at the policyof farm-burnings, the wantondestructionof property,and
the ungallantbehaviourof ordinaryBritishsoldiers- towardsBoer women
in particular.54He also expressesstrongdisdaintowardsthe acquisitiveand
bigoted Uitlanders.55 Curtis'sfellow Kindergartenmemberand close col-
laborator,PhilipKerr,was likewiseimmediately
struckby the magicof SouthAfricanscenery.His firstimpressionof the

Karrooas 'a most ghastlyplace,lookinglike "themorningafterCreation
... just Natureall red and naked"'changedin the cool of the evening.
'Everythingwasstillandthe line woundawaylike a snakein the distance,
unfencedand unembanked,a light streakin a barrenland.The sunset
was a noveltyto my Northerneyes. . ..56
It is temptingto suggestthat this sense of awakeninghas a widersymbol-

ism;that the open skies and unboundedveld representedthe potentialof a
new country in contrast to the constrictionsof 'old' England. Kerr and
Curtis'sapprehensionof South Africa'sphysicalenvironmentencouraged
themto identifymorecloselyandfulsomelywiththisnewcountrythantheir

stereotypedimage as acolytesof Milnermight suggest.Indeed,the recep-

tivenessof the Kindergartento localSouthAfricanperspectiveswas crucial
to theirsubsequentpoliticalinfluence.
It is clear that,by late 1906,the Kindergartenhad come to acknowledge
the importanceof 'the SouthAfricanview' as a fundamentalworkingprin-
ciple.Theynow accepted- out of a combinationof strategicpoliticalcalcu-
lation and genuineconviction- thatfederationor unioncouldnot be built,
as Merrimansaid of Milner'splans,'from the roof downwards'.57 In his
addressto the FortnightlyClubin AugustFeethamrecordedas one of the
principalreasonsfor movingswiftlytowardsfederation,his opinionthat a
futureSouth Africawould be 'Dutch ratherthan Britishin sentimentand
character.. .'.58Curtisarrivedat a similarposition,concludingthat a legacy
of misguidedimperialistpolicieswas in partthe cause of disunionin South
Africa.Thus,he informedMilnerin September1906thatcloserunioncould
only be realisedwiththe cooperationof Afrikaners,declaring'I havealways
told you that I am muchmore of a pro-Boerthanyou.'59
The Kindergarten's decisionto workin alliancewith Afrikanersin order
to overcomethe problemsof Britishand Dutch'racialism'was complicated
by widespreadmistrusttowardstheir motives and ambitions.In January
1907,for example,PatrickDuncanand Lionel Curtiswere unsuccessfulin
theireffortsto persuadeSmutsandBothato meet at the houseof the mining
magnate,landownerand prominentProgressivepolitician,Abe Bailey,in
orderto establisha cross-partyorganisationdedicatedto securingunion of
the South African colonies. The invitationwas graciouslydeclined, not
because the leadersof Het Volk were againstthe idea, but ratherbecause
they were suspiciousof Bailey and his associatesand consideredit vital to
controlthe pace and directionof the closerunionmovementthemselves.60
The Kindergarten's associationwith imperialistinterestswas a sourceof
considerablesuspicion.In the Smuts-Merriman correspondence, forinstance,
they are frequentlyportrayedas a cipherfor the plutocratsof the Transvaal
and the imperialistambitionsof Milnerand his acolytes.Merrimannever
changedhisviewsandenjoyedmakingbarbedcommentsaboutSelborneand
the Kindergarten.61 But Smutsprovedmore flexiblebecausehe considered
that'CurtisandCo' wouldmakeusefulallies.He wasevidentlyimpressedby
the contributionmadeby Curtis,Feethamand Kerrto the 1906-8 Transvaal
IndigencyCommission,underthe chairmanshipof J.W. Quinn.62 Thiswide-
rangingreportprovideda detailedanalysisof the growingsocialproblemof
povertyamongst(largely)Afrikanerwhitesin the urbanand ruralareasof
the Transvaaland warned of the dangersof white 'demoralisation'and
'degeneration'.Consonantwiththe viewsof archsegregationists likeW.Why-
bergh who argued that South Africa could only remain a 'white man's
country'if whitesperformedmanualworkthemselves,it outlinedmeasures
to enable whitesto competemore efficientlyagainstAfricanlabour,identi-
fyingeducationand trainingas one of the most effectivewaysof countering
the ignoranceandprejudicewhichkeptBoersin a stateof 'backwardness'.63

IV
How, then, should we interpret the Kindergarten'sovertures towards
Afrikanerdom?One responsemightbe to explaintheirmotivesin termsof
politicalexpediency;specifically,as an attempt,in the light of the evident
failureof Milner'sanglicisationpolicies,to preserveBritishsupremacyby
seekingto coopt moderateAfrikanerallies.Suchan interpretation,though
truein part,is too limited.Fromtheirwritingsandactions,it is evidentthat
the Kindergartenwas respondingto widershiftsin the relationshipbetween
Britainand its white settler colonies.The experienceof the South African
Warencouragedfearsthatthe Edwardianempirewasin a state of incipient
decline.At the 1907ColonialConference,Australia,Canada,New Zealand
andSouthAfricaassumedthe statusof 'self-governingDominions',a desig-
nationsymbolisinggreaterequalityin the relationshipbetweenthe British
metropoleandits settlercolonialoffshoots.64 In orderto makesense of this
processit was necessaryto reexaminethoroughlythe place of the domin-
ions in the empire and to reconceptualisethe natureof imperialloyalty.
Here the Kindergartenwas to play an importantfacilitativerole.
An importantlead was providedby the journalistand publicistRichard
Jebb who, like several members of the Kindergarten,graduatedfrom
Oxford in the mid-1890s.In 1905 Jebb published a highly original and
provocativework, Studies in Colonial Nationalism. Curtisread it thatsame
year and its ideas were soon to exert a profoundinfluenceon the Kinder-
garten's thinking,as well as on Lord Selborne.65The essence of Jebb's
outlook was containedin the idea of the empire as a field of 'expanding
loyalties'. By 'loyalty',Jebb meant not only devotion to Britain and the
monarchy,but also the emergence of what he termed colonial 'self-
respect'.66Studies in Colonial Nationalism was writtenafterJebbhad spent
some three years travellingin Canada,Australasiaand other parts of the
empire.In it he describedhow the same forcesof nationalismthat had ani-
mated Europe and the United States in the nineteenthcenturywere now
beginningto emergein Canada,Australiaand New Zealand:
Colonialloyalty,rooted in the past,is slowly givingway before national
patriotism,reachingto the future.As the evolutionproceeds,the Empire
is valuedless for its own sake,and more in proportionas it subservesthe
interestsand ideals of separatenationalism.67
The underlyingmessage was that the Empirecould only be sustainedby
workingin associationwith local nationalisms;to resist these forces was
futile. Jebb considered that the force of colonial nationalismwas most
pronouncedin Canadaand Australia,and least developedin New Zealand
and South Africa.But the trendswere similar.Notwithstandinghis lack of
direct acquaintancewith South African affairs he concluded that the
countrywas unlike other 'younger'societies in that it 'containsa prepon-
deratingand rapidlyincreasingpopulationof indigenouscolouredraces.'

The development of South Africa as a 'white man's country' therefore

dependedfar more on the need to grapplewith this realitythan the ques-
tion of employingChineselabouron the mines:'Thenativeis the only racial
questionwhichreallydarkensthe futureof SouthAfrica.'68
In 1906Jebb toured South Africa on assignmentfor the MorningPost.
Curtistravelledto the Cape to confer with him. Jebb'scall for Boer and
Britonto dispensewiththeirracialaffiliationsanduniteinsteadon the basis
of mutualinterestsand a commonSouth Africanpatriotism,fitted in per-
fectlywiththe mood of the Kindergarten.So did his definitionof 'imperial-
ism' as the commitmentto 'closerunion of the Empire,in any form'.69The
language of mutual loyalties and shared interests was idealistic and the
vision of a new imperialrelationshipsincerelyfelt. Underlyingthis high-
minded vision, however,was a strong measure of pragmaticand shrewd
calculation;indeed,Alex May arguesthat Jebb'smessagewas interpreted
by the Kindergartenas a vindicationof the 'New Imperialist'view that the
settlercolonieswere now readyto sharesome of the burdensandresponsi-
bilitiesof empire.70
In additionto Jebb'sinput, Moot discussionswere considerablyinflu-
enced by E S. Oliver'srecentlypublishedstudy AlexanderHamilton:An
Essay on AmericanUnion.This text, dealing with the importanceof cen-
tralisedpowerin the Americanfederalsystem,provideda futherimportant
intellectualprop duringthe Kindergarten'sdeliberationsin late 1906. In
particular,it helped to sharpentheir thinkingon the constitutionalaspects
of sovereigntyandfacilitatedtheirpresentationof the argumentsfor South
Africancloser union in termsof widerhistoricalexperience.71
Historicalanalogies drawn from the United States, Canadaand Aus-
tralia,wereto becomethe stock-in-tradeof Kindergartenpropaganda.They
were stronglypresent,for example,in the introductionto the 1907Selborne
Memorandumwhich constitutesone of the definingpronouncementsin
favourof closerunion.Thedocumentwaspublishedin the nameof the High
Commissioner,Lord Selborne.In fact, it arose out of a series of intensive
and secretivediscussionsamongstthe Kindergartenduringthe latter part
of 1906;Curtiswas responsiblefor the initialdrafting.72
The effort taken by the Kindergartento conceal the authorshipof the
Memorandum(which they conspiratoriallyreferredto as 'the Egg') was
determinedby the realisationthatthey wouldbe mosteffectiveif theywere
able to workquietlythroughestablishedpoliticalfigures.In the case of the
Memorandum,a fictitiousaccountof its originswas deliberatelyput about:
this was thatSelbornehad been persuadedto writeit followinga requestto
himfromthe governmentof the CapeColonyto providean overviewof the
South Africanpoliticalsituationwith special regardto the desirabilityof
bringingabout a centralnationalgovernmentunderBritishSouth African
administration.73 In order to solicit this 'request',Curtishad succeededin
winningover the supportnot only of the Cape premierL. S. Jameson,but
also F S. Malan,a leading member of the AfrikanerBond. Malan was

naturallysympatheticas he hadrecentlyauthoreda seriesof pro-federation

articlesin the newspaperOns Land whichwere then translatedand pub-
lished in the Starwhose editor,Geoffrey Robinson(later Dawson),was a
key Kindergartenmember.74
The need to securebi-partisansupportfor unionwas well understoodby
the authorsof the Memorandum.In his responseto Jameson,Selbornecom-
plied with his 'request'noting that 'no healthy movementtowardsfeder-
ationcan emanatefromanyauthorityotherthanthe people of SouthAfrica
themselves'.75It is significant,too, that the openingpassageof the Memo-
randumspoke of the need for the two principal'races'of South Africa-
Britishand Dutch - to overcometheir historicdifferences.Employingthe
fashionableeugenicdiscourseof the dayin a mannerwhichportrayedracial
mixtureas nationallyadvantageous,the Memorandumrecordedthat both
nationalitieswereTeutonicin origin:'.. . the fusionbetweenthemis merely
a matterof time,as it was with the Saxonsand Normans,who were related
to one anotherin a similardegree of kinship.'Thedivisionsof race andlan-
guagein SouthAfrica,it was thereforeclaimed,wereratherless severethan
those existingin Irelandor Canadawhere the physicalseparationof the
rivalnationalitiesacted to check the processof fusion.76
Most of the nine chaptersof the SelborneMemorandumwere devotedto
practicalargumentsin favour of centralisedgovernment.These included
policy analysisof issues such as the railwaynetwork and rating system,
customs and trade policies, labour, institutionsof government,and the
'native question'.The Memorandum,as Thompsonpoints out, was a skil-
fully draftedpiece of propaganda,calculatedto appeal to the majorityof
the electorate:consideredas a whole,'It was a call to white SouthAfricans
to unitein theirown interests.'77Manyof the themesmentionedabovewere
elaborated at even greater length in another Kindergartenproject, The
Governmentof SouthAfrica.This appearedin several moderatelypriced
instalmentsin 1908withoutindicationas to authorship.In the same year a
volume entitled The Framework of Union: A Comparison of Some Union
Constitutionswas publishedanonymously.The objectiveof these volumes
wasto drawon comparativeinternationalexperienceof federalgovernment
andto set out statisticalinformationandpolicyguidelinesdesignedto shape
the parametersfor futurediscussionsof union.78
Financefor such activitieshad been discreetlyraisedin 1906 and 1907
throughsubventionsfromthe RhodesTrust(of whichMilnerwas a trustee)
andsympatheticindividualsin SouthAfricalike Abe Bailey.Greatcarewas
takento keep the sourcesof theirfundssecretso as to avoidallegationsthat
the Kindergartenwas a tool of outside imperialistinterests,in particular
LordMilner.79 By the beginningof 1908the momentumin favourof Union
had developed sufficientlyfor the Kindergartento become more open
about its activities.In addition,it was deemed necessaryto popularisethe
message contained in the Selborne Memorandum and The Government of
SouthAfricaby influencingpublicopiniondirectly.

An importantinitiativein this regardwas the creationof a networkof

CloserUnion Societies.The firstof these groupings,intendedto spreadthe
gospel of union by means of lectures,pamphlets and discussions,was
founded in Cape Townin May 1908underthe presidencyof the ex-Cape
premier,W. P Schreiner.By March1909 over sixty similarlocal organis-
ationswererapidlyestablishedin citiesandtownsthroughoutSouthAfrica.
Individualbranchesof the Closer Union movementwere constitutionally
autonomousandnotionallyled by the localdignitariesandopinion-formers
who were drafted onto their committees.But Curtis worked furiously
behindthe scenes in orderto stimulatetheir developmentand shape their
thinking- to the point wherehis enthusiasmwasjokinglyreferredto by J.
W. Quinn as a 'publicnuisance'.80Curtisalso acted in an organisational
capacityas joint secretaryof the Associationof Closer Union Societies,a
coordinatingbodyfoundedin Durbanin October1908(at the verytimethat
delegates to the NationalConventionwere meetingin Durbanto discuss
the termsof politicalunion).81
The reportof an addressgiven by Curtisin December1908to the Kim-
berley and Beaconsfieldbranchesof the CloserUnion movementprovides
a good illustrationof Kindergartenthinkingandrhetoricat the time.Much
of the addresswas taken up with an attackon 'racialism'whichwas itself
saidto be a consequenceof disunion.Curtisdeclaredthathe andhis friends
had becomeconvincedof the desirabilityof unionafterpatientand dispas-
sionate considerationof the facts.A single governmentanswerableto the
people of SouthAfricaas a whole was whatwas wanted.And that govern-
ment should be founded on the basis of 'equalrights'and the will of the
majority.Facedwith the objectionof those who fearedthat in practicethis
would mean a 'confederacyof Boer republics',he repliedby referenceto
historicalprecedent.Englandhadonce triedto governAmericaas a minor-
ity 'andwe lost it'. Canadawas almostlost as well until,in the 1840s,Lords
Durhamand Elgin set about 'makingCanadaa nation in the full sense of
the word'.The same ideal had been appliedto Australiaand this was what
they were now tryingin SouthAfrica.82
Curtis closely reflected Jebb's analysis when he concluded that the
empirecouldnot be held togetheraccordingto the theorythat the colonies
were dependenciesenjoyinga limitedmeasureof self-government; each of
these large colonialpossessionsshould insteadbe encouraged'to become
an Englandin the true sense of the word,in the belief that when that was
done the Empire would be held together,not like a numberof hetero-
geneousstonesboundtogetherwithironties,but like an arch,becauseeach
stone wouldbe made in a shapethat fittedinto every other.'83
Uncharacteristically andintriguingly- for someonewho tendedto down-
playhisprivatepersonain politicalactivities- Curtisinvokedhis ownexperi-
ence. He presentedhimselfas someone who was proudboth to have been
bornEnglishandto haveservedLordMilner.Whenhe spokeof Englandas
'Home',he meantthat.But he hadcome to SouthAfricato dedicatehis life

to the country'and in that other sense of the word his home was South
Africa'.Thismessagewaspickedup in the vote of thankswhereMrA. Brink
endorsed Curtis'smessage of South Africa as 'a strong and self-reliant
nation'.He assuredthe audiencethat althoughCurtiswas a relativenew-
comer,he was not in any sense an 'uitlander':'The Governmentof South
Africawasa standingmonumentto MrCurtis'szeal andhonestyin the cause
of closerunionand an incontrovertibletestimony,if any was needed,of the
spiritof SouthAfricanismwithwhichhe was permeated(applause).'84
V
In orderto providethe CloserUnion movementwithdirectionandto reach
out morebroadlyto the publicat largethe Kindergartendecidedto produce
a journal,TheState.Theprojectbeganto takeshapetowardsthe end of 1907
whenCurtiswasin Englandraisingfundsandvisitinghis family.PhilipKerr
(whosejob withthe Inter-ColonialCouncilwasdue to end as a resultof self-
government)was appointededitor andfinancialguaranteeswere provided
fromthe ever-willingpocketof Abe Bailey.85It was only in December1908,
however,that the firstedition appeared.
TheStatewas an ambitiousandbold venturein a countrywherekey ele-
ments of national public debate (such as a national newspaper)were
lacking.Publishedmonthlyin bothEnglishandDutch TheStatewasexpen-
sivelyprintedandattractivelylaid-out- despitesellingfor only 6d a copy.86
As the officialorgan of the Closer Union societies The Stateserved as a
mediumfor the disseminationof news and the discussionof constitutional
issuesbearingon the progressof politicalunification.But its emphasis,as a
'NationalMagazine',was on developinga sense of culturalidentification
withSouthAfrica.87PeterMerringtonhasstrikinglyobservedthat TheState
lay at the centreof a developing'aestheticsof Union';it providedthe focus
for an explosion of culturalactivityon the part of 'a group of architects,
artists,writers,historians,archivistsand photographers,all of whom were
dedicatedto the idea of a united South Africa within the context of the
BritishEmpire.'88
The firstissue stressedits non-sectarianapproachand carriedmessages
of supportfromprominentpoliticiansacrossthe spectrumsuch as JohnX.
Merriman,F. S. Malan,Louis Botha,George Farrar,AbrahamFischerand
JanSmuts.It professedto be 'thoroughlySouthAfricanin its outlook'and
proclaimedthatthe countrycouldonlybecomegreatandunitedwhenthere
was 'a commonsentimentand a commonpatriotismanimatingthe whole
and everypartwith vigorouslife.'89TheStatedebateda wide rangeof con-
temporarypoliticalissues.These includedthe educationalsystem,the role
of white labour,segregationand the future of the African franchise,the
'Asiaticquestion',imperialnavaldefence,the economy,and so on.
Whatdistinguishedthe journalfromother politicalmouthpiecesdealing
with similarthemes was its recognitionthat statecraftand nation-building

were not the same thing;only by developinga genuinespiritof patriotism

was it possible to transcenddivisiveprovincialrivalriesand the legacy of
intra-whiteanimosity.As an unsignedarticleon the closerunionmovement
observed:'A handfulof leadersmayfashiona state,but they cannotcreatea
nation'.90It was withthis in mindthat TheStateventuredbeyondthe politi-
cal,legal andeconomicaspectsof the closerunionmovementexemplifiedin
publications like The Government of South Africa. In a conscious effort to
stimulatethe growth of South Africannationalidentity,prominencewas
accorded to features on South African art and architecture,historical
vignettes,and evocations of the landscapeand its people. Amongst the
regularcontributionswere the series'Fragmentsof Native History'by the
Cape native administratorand authorW. C. Scully,majesticscenic photo-
graphsby LancelotUssherand others,portraitsof politicalpersonagesby J.
M.Solomonandshortstoriesby the prospectorandadventurerFredCornell.
A series of articlesby the architectFrancisMasey entitled'The Begin-
nings of Our Nation' dealt appreciativelywith some of the great Cape
Dutch homesteads.The choice of the westernCape,the firstarea of white
settlementand the politicalhome of the AfrikanerBond, was laden with
symbolicvalue. So was the choice of featured homesteads:two of these
amplyillustratedarticlesdealtwithUitkijk,the residenceof J.W.Sauerand
Schoongezichtbelongingto J.X. Merriman.91 The aestheticappealof Cape
Dutch architecturewas underlinedby HerbertBaker,a protege of Cecil
Rhodesandclose associateof the Kindergarten, whosedomesticandofficial
buildingsdid muchto definethe architectureof 'new'imperialismin South
Africaand Indiaduringthe Edwardianera.92In his 1909manifestoon the
'ArchitecturalNeeds of South Africa'Bakersoughtto elaboratea distinc-
tive and monumental architecturalstyle that was imperial and South
African at one and the same time. He was particularlyimpressedby the
buildingsof the earlyDutch and Huguenotsettlerswho had
... handeddownto us verynobleexamplesof howto buildSouthAfrican

homesteads... these houses are excellentexamplesof the principlesof
the 'grandmanner'simplifiedto meet the needs and conditionsof col-
onial life. The charmof these old Cape homesteadslies much more in
these largerqualitiesthanin theirpicturesquedetail.93
Bakerrecognisedin the often disparagedworkof 'rusticboers'a simplicity

of designthat'correspondedexactlywiththe idealsof domesticbuildinglaid
downby Morrisand the craftsmovement'.94 Moreover,the appealof Cape
Dutcharchitecturelay in the fact thatits 'grandmanner'of buildingechoed
and reiteratedthe definingnatureof the southernAfricanlandscapeitself:
'Greatspaceswashedwith sun'.95
By comparisonwith architecture,commenton the visual arts revealed
some of the ambiguitiesof English-speakingidentificationwith South
Africa.Therewas a complimentaryfeatureon the sculptureof Anton Van

Wouw who, like his seventeenth-centuryDutch predecessors,sought 'to

interpretSouth Africa to the South Africans'.96But criticswritingin The
State were often rathercondescendingaboutlocal artisticachievementsand
commenton the 'conditionof South African art' was expressedwith less
thanfulsomeenthusiasm.97 One solutionto this perceiveddeficiencywas to
separateindigenousproductionfrompossession,so thatpridecouldequally
be taken in the newly expandingcivic collectionsof internationalart - of
which the JohannesburgArt Gallery and the MichaelisGallery in Cape
Townwere shiningexamples.98
Literatureandpoetryinspireda greatersense of criticalappreciation.A
perceptivearticleby 'V' addressedthe problemof whetherpoetrycouldbe
said to be the possessionof any singlenationin view of its universality.99 S.
G. Liebson,writingabout South African fiction,detected a new interest
amongEnglish-languagewritingin the mysteriousand romanticaspectsof
the country:'The eyesore of the agriculturalisthas become the delectable
vision of the poet and novelist. And so of late years there has sprungup
amongus a cult of the veld,a real or fancieddelightin the vastdesolateness
of it.'100One of the writersfeaturedby Liebsonwas Sir PercyFitzPatrick
whose work was said to evoke the adventurousspirit of 'Pioneer South
Africa', an ethos of rough and ready manly comradeshipdefined by an
underlyingand sharedsense of humanity.10'
Jock of the Bushveld,FitzPatrick'sinstantlypopularnovel publishedin
1907,embodiedthe kind of 'SouthAfricanism'which The Statesoughtto
awaken.Set in the heydayof the transport-riding era in the Transvaal,the
eponymoushero of the book was an otherwisenondescriptbull-terrier(the
runtof the litter)whose pluckand determinationneatlycapturedthe ethos
of the frontier.Jockwas framedby a cast of ruggedfolk characters- Boer,
Englishand Zulu- whose identitiesseemed moregenuinelySouthAfrican
than the stereotypesgeneratedby writerslike Buchan or Haggard.The
meaningof Jock was aptly capturedin a contemporaryreviewwhichwel-
comed it as a rare and significantcontributionto South Africannational
literature:'It breathesthe verysoul of the country;it is the spontaneousout-
pouringof a heartfullof sympathywiththosewhomthe "wanderlust" drives
forth into the Silent Places,the hauntsof untamedbeasts,the fascinating
regionsof the mysteriousveld.'102
In 1907- by whichtimeJock hadgone throughseveralreprintings- Fitz-
Patrickwas approachedby GustavPreller,the leadingpropagandistof the
Afrikanernationalistmovementand promoterof Afrikaansas a written
language,who wished to translateJock into the 'Taal'for the purposesof
serialisationin his newspaper,Die Volkstem. FitzPatrickrespondedenthu-
siastically,adding that he was most sympatheticto the need to have the
historyof Boer sufferingsandaspirations'recordedin Dutch'.103 The appeal
of the book was also evidentto the editorsof The State who persuadedFitz-
Patrickto contributefurtherreminscencesabout Jock for the inaugural
issue of the journal.FitzPatrickreportedlyprotestedthat he did not know

what relevanceJock had to politicalunion,but the answernaturallycame

to him from the 'little people of South Africa'who inspiredthe book and
to whomit was dedicated.As one of them said:'Ilove it becauseit's full of
thingsthatwe know,andbecauseit's a truestoryaboutour own country!'104
FitzPatrickhimself deservesfurthercommentbecause he encapsulates
some of the contradictionsandambiguitiesof SouthAfricanEnglish-speak-
ing identityat this time. And, althoughhe is primarilyrememberedtoday
as the authorof Jock,he was also intimatelyinvolvedin politicaland econ-
omic developmentsduringthe reconstructionistera.
Mercurial,independent-mindedand charismatic,FitzPatrickescapes
easy characterisation.105 He was bornin KingWilliam'sTownin 1862,edu-
catedin Englandandthe Cape,andhe spenthis earlyadulthoodon the gold
diggingsin the EasternTransvaalas a digger,traderand transport-rider. In
1891FitzPatrickjoined RandolphChurchill'sexpeditionto Mashonaland,
returningto the Rand in 1892 to take up a position with the prominent
mininghouse Ecksteinand Co, of whichhe becamea partnerin 1898.That
same year he met Milnerto whom he became utterlydevoted. He was a
leadingmemberof the Uitlandercommunityandwasimprisonedas a result
of his role in the JamesonRaidconspiracyas secretaryof the secretReform
Committee.From1902-3 he servedas presidentof the Chamberof Mines,
in which capacity he was one of the chief advocates of the highly
controversialschemeto importChinesecontractlabour.He also becamea
partnerof the CornerHouse mininggroup.As deputy-leaderof the Pro-
gressiveParty,he playedan importantrole in Johannesburgpoliticsand he
representedthe Transvaalat the NationalConventionin 1908.At least on
the surface,his recordappearsto personifythe image of the imperialistin
thrallto capitalistinterests;to Legassickhe was 'the archetypalarticulator
of the politicalinterestsof deep-levelgold mining'.106
On the other hand,FitzPatrickwas intenselyproudboth of havingbeen
bornin SouthAfricaandalso of his IrishCatholicparentage.He wasproud,
too, of the fact that his fatherand grandfatherwere Irishpatriotsand sup-
portersof Daniel O'Connell- thoughthisallegiancedidnot conflictwithhis
belief in imperialism.107 Althoughhe was a confidanteand loyal followerof
Milner,he was mistrustedby the Kindergartencircleand in turnregarded
LionelCurtisas an'impracticalidealistand bore'.'08In his role as secretary
of the Chamberof MinesFitzPatrickfunctionedas a politicalintermediary
betweenMilnerandthe miningmagnatesandon severaloccasionshe acted
to curbthe morerapaciousdemandsof the mineowners.109 His lavishJohan-
nesburglifestylewassustainedby a lucrativepartnership in the CornerHouse
company,but he was far more interestedin politics than businessand he
resignedfromthe CornerHousein 1907in orderto pursuea publiccareer.110
FitzPatrickopposedpoliciesof conciliationat this time and he was slow
to come roundto the Kindergarten's viewson the advantagesof federation.
In the 1907 elections, for example, he opposed and defeated Richard
Solomon,the leaderof the Nationalists(who were closely alignedwith Het

Volk)and employedhighlyemotive'pro-British'rhetoricin doingso.1llBy

1908,however,he had come to acceptthe idea of federationwith enthusi-
asm. At the NationalConventionhe succeededin standingup for'British
interests'whilealso stronglyendorsingthe 'Conventionspirit'of racialcon-
ciliation. Indeed, he is credited with having engineered a bargainwith
GeneralHertzogon the issue of equal languagerightsat a crucialpoint in
the proceedings.112
FitzPatrick'sinconsistency,
flamboyanceandlove of the dramaticgesture
contributedto his personalpopularity.This,togetherwithhis self-appointed
role as guardianof Britishinterestsin the Transvaal,meantthathis support
wasprizedby thosewho werenot necessarilyfollowers.Smutsonce ruefully
commentedof FitzPatrickthat'Youcannotbe the chiefhenchmanof Milner
and aspire to be the saviourof South Africa'.113But that, in a sense, is
exactlywhatFitzPatricksoughtto do.
In keepingwith the spiritof colonialnationalismthat the Kindergarten
sought to foster, FitzPatricksaw no incompatibilityin being British and
SouthAfricanat the sametime.As he proclaimedat a banquetfor the visit-
ing ColonialSecretary,JosephChamberlain,in 1903:'I believe in the British
Empire . . . I believe in this my native land'.114But FitzPatrick arrived at
this positionfroma differentdirectionto the Kindergartenandhe playeda
distinctrole in the creationof South African Englishidentity.In the first
place,FitzPatrick'scommitmentto South Africa was unquestioned:unlike
the Kindergarten,this was the countryin which he lived and died. Fitz-
Patrick'spoliticalrecordand open personalityalso meantthat he was able
to stand as a symbolof reconciliation,whereasthe Kindergarten,in their
stealthy,consideredway,couldonly hope to stimulateandmanipulatesuch
sentiment.Secondly,FitzPatrickwas not interested,as the Kindergarten
was, in remodelling the structureof the Empire; his attention always
remainedfocussedon SouthAfrica.
In thought,if not in style, FitzPatrickremainedMilneriteto the extent
that he never questioned the universalityof the English language and
culture.His watchwordwas 'progress'and he believed in the transforming
power of an expandingeconomyunderpinnedby the valuesof scienceand
modernity.115 Once he saw that politicianslike Smuts were allies in the
marchof enlightenment,he was more than happyto cooperatewith them.
His championshipof the idea of 'equalrights'presumedthat the authority
of the Englishlanguagewas unquestionedand unquestionable- whereas
for Afrikanernationalistslike Hertzog,equalitywas a matterof aspiration
whichwould have to be fought for. Thereinlay the source of muchbitter
conflictin the future.
VI
In the case of FitzPatrick,the tension between his supportof imperialism
and his insistence on being a South African is only an apparent

contradiction.This applies more broadly to the curious form of South

Africanismwhichdevelopedin the lead-upto Union in 1910.Similarten-
sions are evident in colonial nationalistmovementsin other parts of the
Empire.1"6 F. S. L. Lyonshas fascinatinglyexploredthe dilemmafaced by
Anglo-Irishintellectualsin the 1890s who sought to participatein the
developmentof a non-sectarianIrish nationalismand to express,simul-
taneously,their allegiancesto Irishas well as Englishculturaltraditions."17
In Canada,Carl Berger has shown how the cause of imperialfederation
expounded by the CanadaFirst movement sought to express Canadian
identity in terms of common loyalty to the monarchyand a place in the
empire which was as much 'ours' as 'theirs'.Thus,'Canadianimperialism
was one varietyof Canadiannationalism'.1"8 Keith Hancock,in his preco-
cious and brilliantstudyAustralia(1930) spoke of the rise of 'independent
AustralianBritons',a phrasethatlinksthe rise of Australianpatrioticsenti-
ment with a wider sense of imperial - and racial - pride."19Similarly,the his-
torian John Hirst has recently shown that, for much of its history,the
vigoroussense of nationalidentitypromotedby leadingAustralianLabour
Party politicianshas stopped well short of endorsingrepublicanism:'in
being loyal to the empire Australianswere being loyal to themselves'.120
Withthisin mindit is not entirelysurprisingthateven as dominionnational-
ism cameto be expressedwithincreasingforcein the decadeafter1900,the
white dominions sought closer co-operationwith the imperialpolity in
economicand militaryterms.12'
Berger'scomment that the imperialmovement in Canadawas a 'lost
cause'122holdsequallyfor the inclusiveaspirationsof Anglo-Irishnational-
ism.In SouthAfrica,too, Anglo-Afrikanercolonialnationalismwasan aspi-
rantmovementthat was alwaysvulnerableto directchallenge.The rise of
HertzogiteAfrikanernationalismin the yearsimmediatelyfollowingUnion
struckdirectlyat its underlyingambiguity;for Hertzogdemandedthathard
choicesbe madebetweenidentificationwithSouthAfricaandloyaltyto the
empire.Thus,as Garson points out, Afrikanernationalistsoften charged
English-speakingSouth Africans with failing to give South Africa the
'single-mindedlove of countrydue froma patriot,but only a dividedloyalty
or dual allegiance arising from their attachmentto the British connec-
tion.'123
In the fiercepoliticsof nationalistassertion,this challengeto their
ultimateloyaltyincreasinglyplacedEnglish-speaking SouthAfricanson the
defensive and brought to the fore the equivocal nature of their South
Africanidentity.
To some extent, the fragilityof English-speakingcolonial nationalism,
in the period 1902-10, can be explainedin terms of the unlikely circum-
stances in which the process of political union arose. Between 1902 and
1904 the victory of Britishimperialismover the colonies of South Africa
seemed complete:in the Cape electionsof 1904,the unrepentantleaderof
the Progressives,Leander Starr Jameson,was able to campaignon the
slogan'Downwiththe Dutch'andthreeout of fourcolonieswere governed

by pro-British administrations.124 Only a few months later, however,

Jamesonwas markedlymore conciliatory,having realised that his 'Vote
British'electoralcry was futile.125In the ex-republicspoliticallife revived
with the formationof the OrangiaUnie and Het Volk. By 1907the politi-
cal situation was transformedas self-governmentbecame a reality and
federationor uniona possibility.Only a year later,SouthAfricawas seized
by the 'conventionspirit' in which Boer/Britishantagonismswere swept
aside in a mood of exultantoptimismabout the successof racialreconcil-
iation,culminatingin the formalachievementof Union in 1910.126 Yet,just
two yearson the consensusaroundwhichwhiteSouthAfricanismhadbeen
built was being severely tested by Hertzog'sresignationfrom the cabinet
andhis championshipof Afrikanernationalistaspirations.Theeffervescent
- even euphoric- mood of reconciliationon whichEnglish-speakingSouth
Africanismwas briefly built, yielded to profoundpessimismas a conse-
quence of the Afrikanerrebellionof 1914and the oppositionof the Hert-
zogites to South Africa'sinvolvementon the sides of the allies in the First
War.
These events did not immediatelyspell the end of moderate 'South
Africanism',a traditionwhich continuedthroughSmuts'scommitmentto
the Commonwealthuntil the 1948 election. On account of its historical
failurethe importanceand persistenceof moderate'SouthAfricanism'has
been considerablyunderrated.Indeed,its ultimatepoliticalfailurehasmore
or less been takenas a givenin modernSouthAfricanhistoriography. Thus,
the rise of Africanand Afrikanernationalismsin the twentiethcenturyhas
often been presented as an inexorableprocess of cleavage in which the
politicalmiddle-ground- occupiedby English-speakingliberals- became
increasinglymarginalisedandoccluded.The rise to powerof the apartheid-
supportingNational party in 1948 underpinnedthis nationalistteleology
and stimulatedliberalscholarsto brood on the gloomy prospectsof 'race
relations'- the 'whatwentwrong'schoolof historywhichnaturallyfocussed
on the periodaroundthe SouthAfricanwar.127
In the 1970s,a rival marxist-inspiredteleology challengedthe liberal
view:apartheidcame to be seen as an expressionof capitalistinterestsand
moderatessuch as liberal paternalistswere cast as apologistsfor capital-
ism or as 'agents of social control'.For radicalhistoriansthe significance
of Milnerand his followerswas interpretedalmostsolely in termsof their
role in articulatingsegregationistpolicies and in securingconditionspro-
pitious to the developmentof miningcapitalism.There is a basic truthto
this position, but it is an oversimplifiedone. In particular,it doubly con-
flates capitalismand imperialismon the one hand, with capitalismand
racial segregationon the other hand. This propositionreturnsus to the
opening statements of this article and prompts a few concludingcom-
ments.
Therecan be no doubtthat the interestsof capitalistsand the objectives
of Milnerandthe Kindergartenbroadlycoincided.Theideologyof progress,

the commitmentto economic development,and the concern with mod-

ernisingthe machineryof governmentand administration were all areasof
common agreement.But the view that imperialistand capitalistinterests
were intrinsicallythe same- a positionthat owes muchto accusationsmade
in the heat of politicalbattleby contemporarycommentatorslike J.X. Mer-
rimanand J. A. Hobson- is inadequate.128 It confusesthe rhetoricof 'anti-
capitalism'(i.e. hostilityto the powerandinfluenceof the mineowners)with
socialistcondemnationof the capitalistsystem as a whole;it neglects the
possibilitythat Milnerattemptedto use the wealthof the Randfor his own
ends;'29andit findsit difficultto conceiveof 'imperialism'as anythingother
thanan economicphenomenon.Thereis,for example,abundantevidenceto
suggestthat a key figurelike Curtiswas disdainfulof the Transvaalpluto-
crats.In his war diaryhe chidedhimselffor having'listenedto the hoarse
cries of mad moneymakers.'130 And, as an administrator,he soughtto con-
strainthe activitiesof the mineownerswhen he felt that they were avoiding
their social responsibilitiesand endangeringsocial cohesion.13'Similarly,
PercyFitzPatrickwas more thanthe willingamanuensisof the miningmag-
nates;observe,for example,the moderatingrole he playedwhen,as presi-
dent of the Chamberof Mines,he soughtto persuadethe mineowners(much
againsttheirwill) to bearsome of the costsof the Britishwareffortin South
Africaand to play a morepositiverole in Milner'sreconstructioneffort.'32
The chargethat the Kindergartenplayedan instrumentalrole in the cre-
ationof segregationis mucheasierto sustain.But thistoo needsto be quali-
fied. It is a matterof no little irony that the problemsof 'racialism'which
the Kindergartenworked so hard to assuage applied solely to relations
betweenBoers andBritons.Theirconciliationof Afrikanersandtheircom-
mitmentto 'equalrights'did not find a parallelin termsof a more enlight-
ened attitudetowardsblacksandtheyneverquestionedthe assumptionthat
South Africawas a 'whiteman'scountry'.On the contrary,the discussions
and propagandaput out by the Kindergartenindicatea hardeningof atti-
tudes on the 'colourquestion'in whichthe languageof eugenicsand social
Darwinismwas conspicuouslypresent.'33
From the deliberationsof the FortnightlyClub, throughthe Selborne
Memorandum and the Government of South Africa, the desirability of
removing Africans' residual franchise rights and the need to evolve a
commonnativepolicyalongsegregationistlines is statedwith ever-increas-
ing certitude.As Curtisconfidedto PatrickDuncanin 1907in connection
withthe need for closerunion:'Thefact is we have all been movingsteadily
fromthe Capeidea of mixingup whitebrownandblackanddevelopingthe
differentgradesof colour strictlyon the lines of Europeancivilisation,to
the veryoppositeconceptionof encouragingas far as possiblethe blackman
to separatefrom the white and to develop a civilisation,as he is beginning
to do in Basutoland,on his own lines."134
It would be mistakento conclude,however,that the overridingconcern
of the Kindergartenwas the desireto secureracialsegregationfor the sake

of capitalistdevelopment.Rather,segregationshouldbe seen as part of a

packageof policieswhichwas developedin orderto advancethe ultimate
goal of politicalunification.To achieve this end the Kindergartenseized
upon the 'native'(as well as the 'Asiatic')questionas a meansof persuad-
ing white SouthAfricansto burytheirinternaldifferences.
In the propagandaput out by the Kindergarten- for example,theirtreat-
ment of the 1906 Bambathauprisingin Natal - the threatof black resist-
ancewasoften deliberatelyplayedup in orderto inducewhitesto unite.But
the threat was often left deliberatelyvague and, even if Kindergarten
members and associates contributedimportantlyto the developing dis-
course of segregation, they lacked unanimity amongst themselves on
specificquestionssuch as the futureof the Cape Africanfranchiseand the
degree of segregationthat was achievableor desirable.For the main part
the Kindergartensteeredawayfrompreciserecommendationswithrespect
to the 'nativequestion'when they felt specificpolicieswould prove politi-
cally divisiveand harmfulto the cause of unification.135 The significanceof
the 'nativequestion'was routinelyacknowledged- but often as an abstract
problem;if anything,the so-called'Asiaticmenace' was a source of more
immediate anxiety to individuals like Curtis in view of the growing
economicpower of Indiansin the Transvaaland Natal.136
Mobilisingopinionon the need to solve the 'colourquestion'at this time
can thereforebest be seen as a counterpartto the creationof the ideology
of white South Africanismwhich constitutedan essentialpreconditionto
the achievementof the Kindergarten'sprimarygoal: the formationof a
unitarystate withinthe empire.Yet, this conclusionis somewhatdifferent
from the view,embeddedin the earlyrevisionistliterature,that unification
was reallyeffected in orderto solve the 'nativequestion'.At one level this
is so, but the converseis surelyalso true,namely,that a comprehensiveres-
olution of the 'native question' was a preconditionof the creation of a
unifiedwhite South Africa exhibitingcontinuedimperialloyalties.What-
ever the case, South Africa'sbrandof inclusivewhite nationalismnecess-
arilyinvolvedthe exclusionof blacksas sovereigncitizensof a new state.To
this extent it may aptly be termed,in the wordsof Deryck Schreuder,'the
ultimate colonial nationalism'.137
NOTES
1 This paper was conceived during a three-month stint at the Humanities Research
Centre, Australian National University, in late-1995. Its director, lain McCalman, provided
genuine fellowship. I am grateful for the comments and suggestions of a number of readers; in
particular,William Beinart, Donal Lowry,Shula Marks,Christopher Saunders,Bill Schwarz and
lain Smith.
2 'Lord Milner and the South African State', History WorkshopJournal 8 (1979). Shula
Marks and Stanley Trapido have recently produced a major reassessment of this era in their
paper "'A White Man's Country"?The construction of the South African state and the making
of white South African "nationalism", 1902-1914'. There are striking similarities - as well as

differencesof emphasisand nuance- betweentheirnew paperand my own. Both were pre-

sented at a joint seminararrangedat the Instituteof CommonwealthStudies,LondonUni-
versity,on 18 October,1996.
3 MarksandTrapido,'LordMilner',56.
4 D. Denoon,A GrandIllusion.TheFailureof ImperialPolicyin the TransvaalColony
duringthePeriodof Reconstruction 1900-1905(London,1973).
5 MarksandTrapido,'LordMilner',63-4, 68-9, 71-2.
6 Marksand Trapido,'LordMilner',72. In 1972/3MartinLegassickwrote a series of
three pathbreakingarticleson the developmentof segregation.Presentedat the Instituteof
CommonwealthStudies,London,they have only been availablein mimeoform.One of these
articles,'BritishHegemonyandthe Originsof Segregationin SouthAfrica,1901-14',has now
been publishedin W. Beinartand S. Dubow (eds), Segregationand Apartheidin Twentieth
CenturySouthAfrica(London,1995).
7 A. N. Porter,'TheSouthAfricanWar(1899-1902):Contextandmotivereconsidered',
Journalof AfricanHistory31 (1990);I. R. Smith,The Originsof the South AfricanWar
(1899-1902):A reappraisal',SouthAfrican HistoricalJournal22 (1990);S. Marks and S.
Trapido,'Lord Milner and the South African State Reconsidered',in M. Twaddle(ed).
Imperialism, theStateandthe ThirdWorld(London,1992).See also R. Ally,GoldandEmpire:
The Bank of Englandand SouthAfrica'sGold Producers1886-1926(Johannesburg, 1994),
pp. 21-28.
8 See e.g.P Rich,"'Milnerism anda RippingYarn':TransvaalLandSettlementandJohn
Buchan'sNovel "PresterJohn"',in B. Bozzoli (ed), Townand Countrysidein the Transvaal
(Johannesburg,1983), p. 413; A. Ashforth,The Politicsof OfficialDiscoursein Twentieth
CenturySouthAfrica(Oxford,1990),p. 57, fnl.
9 Two recent conferencesare salient here:'South Africa 1895-1921:Test of Empire',
OxfordBrookes University,March,1996;and the LothianFoundationconferenceon 'The
RoundTableMovement',LondonHouse,March,1996.
10 Key monographsincludeL. M.Thompson,TheUnificationof SouthAfrica1902-1910
(Oxford,1960);G.Pyrah,ImperialPolicyandSouthAfrica1902-1910(Oxford,1955);J.Butler,
TheLiberalPartyand theJamesonRaid (Oxford,1968);G. H. L. Le May,BritishSupremacy
in SouthAfrica1899-1907(Oxford,1965).
11 The Kindergarten(forerunnerof the RoundTable)has inspireda considerableschol-
arlyliterature.See,forexample,W.Nimocks,Milner'sYoungMen:The'Kindergarten ' in Edwar-
dianimperialaffairs(Duke UniversityPress,1970);J.Kendle,TheRoundTableMovementand
ImperialUnion(Toronto,1975);C. Quigley,TheAnglo-American Establishment:
FromRhodes
to Cliveden(New York,1981).An excellentreassessmentis providedby AlexanderMay in
'The Round Table,1910-65' D.Phil thesis,Oxford,1995. See also lain Smith,'Milner,the
Kindergartenand SouthAfrica'in A. Mayand A. Bosco (eds), TheRoundTableMovement
(forthcoming).The core membersof the earlyKindergartenincludedPatrickDuncan,Lionel
Curtis,Lionel Hichins,RichardFeetham,JohnDove, RobertH. Brand,PhilipKerr,Dougal
Malcolm,J. F. Perry,Hugh Wyndham,and GeoffreyDawson (Robinson).Close associates
includedLeo Amery,JohnBuchanand HerbertBaker.Most memberswent on to have dis-
tinguishedcareers in politics,industry,journalism,and so on; several were ennobled or
knighted.
12 Thompson,Unification, pp. 12-13,52-60.
13 MarksandTrapido,'LordMilner',52.
14 Denoon,A GrandIllusion,pp.229-30.
15 P. Lewsen(ed), Selectionsfrom the Correspondence of JohnX Merriman1899-1905
(CapeTown,1966),p.466 (AppendixII:Speechdeliveredby J.X. Merrimanin the CapeHouse
of Assembly,11 September1902).ProfessorGoldwinSmith,the LiberalhistorianandRegius
professorat Oxfordwroteencouragingly to MerrimanfromTorontowherehe nowlived:'Col-
oniallibertieshavebeenthrownin thecourseof eventsverymuchintoyourhandsandI delight
in thinkingthat yourhandsare strong'.Lewsen,Selections,p. v.
16 Thompson,Unification, p. 9.
17 J.T Molteno,FurtherSouthAfricanRecollections(London,1926),p. 19.
18 T. R. H. Davenport,TheAfrikanerBond (CapeTown,1966),chap.12.
19 C. Headlam(ed), TheMilnerPapers.SouthAfrica1899-1905vol. II (London,1933),
p. 501.
20 Headlam,MilnerPapers,Vol.II, p. 503.
21 Headlam,MilnerPapers,Vol.II, p. 547 (my emphasis).

22 See Milnerto Chamberlain 6 September1902:'Butas soon as we areout of thispresent

jungle,- and anothersix monthsoughtto see us throughit - a new man will have immense
advantages.He willnot be "stale",in itself a mostimportantpointin a positionrequiringcon-
stantalertnessandtirelessenergy.He willnot excitethe samehostilityas I do amongthe Boers
or theirfriendsat home.He will be able to take "conciliation" seriously.If he does not trust
the Boers (whichI prayhe maynot do), he will be betterable to pretendto trustthem thanI
am,wearyas I feel of theireternalduplicity.'In Headlam,MilnerPapersVol.II,p. 421.See also
Milnerto LadyEdwardCecil,pp.434-5.
23 Milnerto LordSelborne(strictlyprivate)14 April,1905,in Headlam,MilnerPapers
Vol.II, pp.550-1. See also LordMilnerto SirClintonDawkins,21 April,1904,p. 550:'I am an
anachronism. It maybe I wasborntoo late,it maybe I wasborntoo soon'.Thiscommentrefers
to his reluctanceto take up politicalofficein England,but it mayequallyreferto his feeling
abouthis role in SouthAfrica.
24 Molteno,FurtherRecollections, p. 114.
25 See eg. thecommentsof E. M. Paul,'LionelCurtisandthe Unificationof SouthAfrica,
1901-1909',PhD thesis,Universityof South California,1978,pp. 258-9:'Thatthe transition
fromMilnerto Selbornewent so smoothlywas due in partto the fact that Milnerhad hand-
pickedhis successor.Curtisand his friendshad recognizedlong before Milner'sretirement,
thathe was expendable.'
26 On Selbornesee D. E. Torrance,TheStrangeDeathof the LiberalEmpire:LordSel-
bornein SouthAfrica(McGill-Queen'sUniversityPress,1996).
27 Pyrah,ImperialPolicy,chap.1. Note, too, Eric Stokes'scommentin 'Milnerism',His-
toricalJournal5, 1 (1962):'As a seriouspoliticalmovement,capableof enlistingthe English
educatedclasses,imperialismowed more to liberalismthanconservatism.' p. 5.
28 Headlam(ed),MilnerPapersII,p. 560.Milner'ssupportersweregreatlyaggrievedand
a week laterthe House of Lordsrecordedits 'highappreciation'of Milner'sserviceto South
Africaand the empire.
29 B. Williams (ed), The Selborne Memorandum(London, 1925) pp. ix-xii; J. L.
McCracken,TheCapeParliament1854-1910(Oxford,1967),pp. 129-30.
30 Feethamarrivedin Johannesburg in 1902andbecameitsTownClerkin 1903.Withthe
restorationof responsiblegovernmentin the Transvaalin 1905he resumedhis legal career,
laterservingas a Judgeof the SouthAfricanSupremeCourt.
31 R. Feetham,'Some Problemsof South AfricanFederationand Reasons for Facing
Them',pp. 1-2, 4-5. Addressto FortnightlyClub,4 October1906in A146,FortnightlyClub
papers,HistoricalPapers,Universityof the Witwatersrand.
32 R. Feetham,'SomeProblems',pp. 1-2.
33 Maycommentsthat,whereasMilnercontinuedto see British-Afrikaner relationsas a
matterof inevitableracialantagonism,the Kindergartendevelopeda more sanguineassess-
mentof the prospectsfor politicalcooperationas a resultof theirdevelopingrelationshipwith
Smutsand Botha.(See 'TheRoundTable'pp.38-9).
34 W. K. Hancock,Smuts.The SanguineYears,1870-1919 (Cambridge,1962), p. 246;
Thompson,Unification,pp. 70 and ff. See also Davenport,TheAfrikanerBond, p. 281, who
commentsthat the AfrikanerBond adoptedthe slogan'The unificationof the BritishSouth
AfricanColoniesin a FederalUnion'in 1903.Inthe priortwentyyearsits objectivewasframed
moregenerallyas a 'unitedSouthAfrica'.
35 L. Curtis,WithMilnerin SouthAfrica(Oxford,1951),pp. v, 121andff.
36 Curtis,WithMilner,p. 345.Thismaywell have been partof his calculation,but there
is compellingevidenceto suggestthatCurtis'spositionwithintheTransvaaladministration was
becominguncomfortable as a resultof internalsquabbles,includinga disputewiththe Colonial
Secretaryand fellow Kindergartenmember,PatrickDuncan.See D. Lavin,FromEmpireto
Commonwealth:A Biographyof LionelCurtis(Oxford,1995),p. 61.
37 Fordiscussionof the formativeinfluenceson Curtissee Lavin,FromEmpireto Com-
monwealth,chaps 1&2;Paul,'LionelCurtisand the Unificationof SouthAfrica',pp. 19 and
ff., 53-4; De Witt Clinton Ellinwood,'Lord Milner's"Kindergarten". The British Round
Table Group and the Movementfor ImperialReform,1910-1918',WashingtonUniversity
PhD thesis,1962,pp. 69-71,74. See also Leo Amery,My PoliticalLife Vol.I (London,1953),
chap.2.
38 Curtis,WithMilnerin SouthAfrica,pp. 346-54.
39 N. G. Garson, 'English-SpeakingSouth Africans and the British Connection:
1820-1961',in A. De Villiers(ed), English-Speaking SouthAfricaToday(CapeTown,1976),

Milner Kindergarten 81
p. 17.On the dividedandfissiparousSouthAfricanEnglish-speaking 'community'see alsothe

commentsof Denoon in A GrandIllusion,pp. 5-6.
40 H. Giliomee, 'The Non-racialFranchiseand Afrikanerand Coloured Identities',
AfricanAffairs94, 375 (1995). Giliomeenotes that in the 18th and 19th centuriesthe term
'Afrikaner'was'occasionallyused to designateslavesor ex-slavesbornin southernAfricabut
more frequentlyfor whiteswhose highestloyaltywas to the regionratherthanthe Dutch or
Britishmetropole.''Between 1910 and the mid-1930sthe relativelymild form of Afrikaner
nationalismappropriatedthe termbut manynationalistsrefusedto give it an exclusiveethnic
connotation.'pp. 204-5.
41 A. P Cartwright,TheFirstSouthAfrican:Thelife and timesof Sir PercyFitzPatrick
(CapeTown,1971),p. 5.
42 The best account of this period remains Davenport'sAfrikanerBond. See also
McCracken,TheCapeParliament, pp. 115-116.
43 B.Tamarkin,'Milner, the CapeAfrikanersandthe Outbreakof the SouthAfricanWar
- Froma Pointof No Returnto a Dead End',paperpresentedto 'SouthAfrica1895-1921:Test
of Empire'conference,Oxford-BrookesUniversity,March1996,p. 26.
44 SecondReportfrom theSelectCommitteeon BritishSouthAfrica(HMSO,1897),ques-
tions4134,4175;Garson,'English-Speaking SouthAfricans',p. 28.
45 E. A. Walker,W P Schreiner. A SouthAfrican(London,1937),pp.93,112;Davenport,
TheAfrikanerBond,pp. 162-5.
46 E. H. Brookesand C. de B. Webb,A Historyof Natal,2nd edition(Pietermaritzburg,
1987),p. 212.
47 BrookesandWebb,A Historyof Natal,pp. 234,237,282.
48 C.W.De Kiewiet,A Historyof SouthAfrica:SocialandEconomic(Oxford,1941),p. 129.
49 Nimocks,Milner'sYoungMen,p. 46. As Nimocksrecords,Feethamcommissioned
HerbertBakerto buildthe house in late 1905.After its completionin 1906,Feethamshared
the house with Brand,Kerr,Dove and Craik.It was thoughtof 'as a place wherehe and his
friendsmighthold mootsreminiscentof those held by the freemenof Anglo-SaxonEngland.'
50 Accordingto Curtis,WithMilner,p. 344,'ThenicknameKindergarten was givenus in
derisionby SirWilliamMarriotwho was busy makingtroublefor Milnerin Johannesburg.'
OthershavecreditedMerrimanwiththe term.Whatwasintendedas satireor hostilecomment
was soon appropriatedby the Kindergartenas a badgeof distinction.See also J. Buchan,The
AfricanColony(Edinburg,1903),partII.
51 Bill Schwarz,'TheRomanceof the Veld',presentationto LothianFoundationconfer-
ence on 'The RoundTableMovement'.see also J. Buchan,TheAfricanColony(Edinburgh,
1903)partII
52 Curtis,WithMilner,pp. 27, 40, 61-2, 151, 162-3, 194, 165. Like manynew travellers,
Curtisseems unableto encounterthe South Africanlandscapein its own terms;instead,he
drawsanalogieswithEuropeanandEnglishscenery.
53 See eg. Curtis,WithMilner,14 December,1900:'The more I know of the Boers the
more remarkableI thinkof them as a people.They are like an oak whichgrowsno branches
but goes on drivingits roots into the earth.'p. 180.
54 Curtis,WithMilner,pp. 10-11, 17,52, 143,185-6.
55 Curtis,WithMilner.See eg. Curtis'scommentson 24 November1900:'In the townswe
have a cosmopolitanpopulation,ardent,eagerto makemoney,to a greatextentvicious,for if
you maynot callJohannesburg viciousyou mustruleout the wordas inapplicableto anycom-
munity.'p. 167.
56 J. R. M. Butler,LordLothian(PhilipKerr)1882-1940(London,1960),p. 12. See also
pp. 19-20.
57 J. van der Poel (eds), TheSmutsPapers.Vol.II, (Cambridge,1966),p. 173,Merriman
to Smuts,4 June,1904.See also Hancock,SmutsII, p. 247.
58 Feetham,'SomeProblemsof SouthAfricanFederation',p. 5.
59 Lavin,FromEmpireto Commonwealth, p. 68,77.
60 PatrickDuncanPapers,Universityof CapeTownManuscriptsDepartment,BC294
D1.4.1 Duncan to Botha 8 January,1907 and D.1.4.2 Botha to Duncan 14 January,1907;
HancockandVander Poel (eds), TheSmutsPapersII, pp. 314-15,319-20,320-321,Curtisto
Smuts,7 January1907;Curtisto Smuts24 January,1907;Smutsto Merriman,25 January,1907.
See also Hancock,SmutsVol.II, p. 248;Thompson,Unificationof SouthAfrica,pp. 69, 74. As
Thompsonpointsout, Smutswantedto wait untilthe 1907electionsin the Cape and Orange
RiverColonybeforetakingup the causeof Union.

82 History WorkshopJournal
61 See eg. HancockandVander Poel (eds),SmutsPapersII,pp.317-18,347-8,Merriman

to Smuts,19 January,1907;7 July,1907.
62 Hancock,SmutsVol.11, p. 225;Lavin,FromEmpireto Commonwealth, p. 81. See also
Vander Poel,SmutsPapers11,pp. 260-3 Curtisto Smuts25 April 1906,in whichCurtispro-
poses settingup a commissionon whitepoverty.
63 TG 13-'08,Reportof the TransvaalIndigencyCommission1906-08(Pretoria,1908).
64 W. K. Hancock,Surveyof British Commonwealth Affairs Vol. 1 (London, 1937),
pp. 24-5,46-7.
65 Torrance,in TheStrangeDeathof the LiberalEmpire,p. 194,quotesSelbornewriting
to the Governorof Natal,ManfredNathan,in 1908;'Ihavealwaysbelievedthatthe bestchance
for its [the Empire's]futurelies in fosteringwhatJebbcallscolonialnationalism.'
66 J. D. B. Miller,RichardJebband theProblemof Empire(London,1956),p. 12.Foran
insightfulstudyof Jebb'sviews on SouthAfricasee D. Schreuder,'Colonial Nationalismand
"TribalNationalism": Makingthe WhiteSouth AfricanState,1899-1910',in J. Eddy and D.
Schreuder,TheRiseof ColonialNationalism(Sydney,1988).
67 R. Jebb,Studiesin ColonialNationalism(London,1905),pp. 1-2.
68 Jebb,Studies,p. 131.
69 Miller,RichardJebb,pp. 14,29. The phrase'closerunionof the Empire,in any form'
was used in his book TheBritannicQuestion(London,1913),p. 15 (See Miller,p. 9). Miller
pointsout that afterCurtis'stime in SouthAfrica,he andJebbfell out witheach other.Jebb
was suspiciousof Curtis's'centralist'view of imperialrelationsand consideredthat Curtis's
schemeof imperialfederationwouldperpetuateBritishascendancyover the dominions.
70 May,'TheRoundTable',pp. 36-7.
71 On the impactof Hamilton'swork,see Ellinwood,'LordMilner's"Kindergarten"',
pp. 102-9;Mayo,'LionelCurtisand the Unificationof SouthAfrica',pp. 268-70.
72 Thewritingof the SelborneMemorandum is analysedin detailby Lavin,FromEmpire
to Commonwealth, chap.4; Mayo,'LionelCurtisandthe Unificationof SouthAfrica'.
73 A. P.Newton(ed), SelectDocumentsRelatingto the Unionof SouthAfricasecondedn
(London,1968)Vol. II,pp. 38-40.
74 -Thompson,Unificationof SouithAfrica,p. 70;Nimocks,Milner'sYoungMen,pp. 88-9;
Davenport,TheAfrikanerBond,pp. 281-2.
75 Newton,SelectDocumentsII, p. 4;Torrance,TheStrangeDeathof theLiberalEmpire,
chap.8.
76 A Reviewof thePresentMutualRelationsof theBritishSouthAfricanColonies.Mem-
orandumpreparedby the Earl of Selborneat the requestof the Governmentof CapeColony,
I January,1907. Reprintedin Newton, SelectDocumentsII, pp. 54-5. The idea that South
African nationhoodcould emerge from a favourablemixtureof the white races was not
entirelynovel. See eg. 0. Schreiner,Thoughtson SouthAfrica(London,1923)'. . . there is a
subtle but a very real bond, which unites all South Africans,and differentiatesus from all
other peoples in the world. This bond is our mixtureof racesitself.It is this whichdivides
south Africansfrom all other peoples in the worldand makesus one.' pp. 61-2 [Thisessay
was originallypublished in The Cape Times in 1891]. Also 0. Schreiner,Closer Union
(London,1909);'Thewhite race consistsmainlyof two varieties,of rathermixedEuropean
descent,but both largelyTeutonic,and thoughpartlydividedat the presentmomentby tra-
ditionsand the use of two formsof speech,the Taaland the English,they are so essentially
one in blood and characterthat withintwo generationsthey will be inextricablyblendedby
inter-marriage andcommoninterests,as would,indeed,long ago havebeen the case hadit not
been for externalinterference.'p. 42.
77 Thompson,Unificationof SouthAfrica,p. 67.
78 TheGovernmentof SouthAfricawaswrittenby Curtiswiththe assistanceof Duncan,
Brand,Kerrand other Kindergartenmembers.It came out in instalmentswhichwere subse-
quentlyboundinto two volumesat a subsidisedprice of 10s. TheFrameworkof Unionwas
editedby B. K. Long,an associateof the Kindergarten andeditorof the CapeTimes.Formore
detailon the publicationhistoryof these works,see Nimocks,Milner'sYoungMen,pp. 97 and
ff. Nimocksalso pointsout thatup until the publicationof TheGovernment of SouthAfricait
was widelyconsideredthatfederationwas the closestformof politicalassociationpossible;in
anycase,the words'federation'and'union'wereoften usedinterchangeably. Theintroduction
to The Governmentof SouthAfricasignalsa significantshift in thinkingon the part of the
Kindergarten, namely,its commitmentto a unitarygovernmentratherthanfederationalong
Australian,Canadianor United Statesmodels.See pp. 99-101.

79 Nimocks,Milner'sYoungMen,pp.79-80,91.
80 Proceedingsat the Annual Meetingof the Associationof Closer Union Societiesat
Johannesburg, March1909(Johannesburg, 1909),p. 50.
81 Fordetailsaboutthe constitutionand operationof the CloserUnion societiessee eg.
HowardPim papers,A881 HB9, Universityof the Witwatersrand, HistoricalManuscripts
Department;TheState,January,1909,19-29.
82 Pimpapers,A881 Hb9.8,Reportof addressby LionelCurtis,reprintedfromDiamond
FieldsAdvertiser,15 December,1908.
83 As above.
84 As above.
85 Baileywasreportedto havesaid:'I am a SouthAfrican.I meanto be in on thismove-
ment.The timehas come to realisethe dreamsof CecilRhodes.Youyoungmen aredoingthe
writing,but you will wantfundsto runthese CloserUnion Societies.I can'twritebooks,but I
can writecheques.'Obituaryto Baileyin RoundTable,Sept. 1940,cited in Nimocks,Milner's
YoungMen,p. 112.
86 Fordetailson the settingupof TheState,see Nimocks,Milner'sYoungMen,pp.111-16;
Butler,LordLothian,pp.30-3. PhilipKerreditedTheStateuntilthe middleof 1909,afterwhich
it wastakenoverby B. K. Long.Abe Baileywasreplacedby LionelPhillipsas financialbacker
in 1911.On these changessee TheState,June1911,809-11.
87 Proceedingsat theAnnualMeetingof theAssociationof CloserUnionSocieties,'Intro-
duction'.
88 Peter Merrington,'Pageantryand Primitivism:Dorothea Fairbridgeand the "Aes-
theticsof Union"',Journalof SouthernAfricanStudies,21, 4 (1995),644.
89 'ByWayof Introduction',TheState,January1909,1-2.
90 'TheCloserUnion Movement',TheState,January1909,25.The authorwas probably
Curtis.
91 'The Beginningsof Our Nation IV' by F. Massey,TheState,April,1909;'TheBegin-
ningsof our NationVI' by F Massey,TheState,June,1909.
92 T. R. Metcalf,An ImperialVision.Indianarchitecture and Britain'sRaj (Londonand
Boston,1989),pp. 181andff.
93 H. Baker,'TheArchitecturalNeeds of SouthAfrica',TheState,May,1909,522.
94 Metcalf,An ImperialVision,p. 182.Accordingto OliveSchreiner,CloserUnion,p. 23:
'JohnRuskinhassaidthe onlytypeof absolutelynew andbeautifularchitectureevolvedin the
last two centurieshas been the old type of Dutchfarmhouseat the Cape.'
95 Baker,'TheArchitecturalNeeds of SouthAfrica',522. Donal Lowryhas pointedout
to me thatthe phrase'greatspaceswashedwithsun'derivesfromRudyardKipling'spoemon
Rhodes'sdeath,'TheBurial'.
96 JohnStuart,'MrVanVouw'sSculpture.A Visitto his Studio',TheState,June,1910.
97 See eg. MudieThomson,'Artin South Africa',TheState,August,1909,182:'As yet
SouthAfricanart is an effort to till the veld, where the vigoratingwatersare scant,and the
marketfor producehas the competitionof moreculturedand more finishedimportations'; J.
M. Solomon,'TheUnion BuildingsandtheirArchitect',TheState,July,1910,10:'Itis custom-
aryto believethatin SouthAfricawe havelittleor no creativeart.Thismaybe trueof its pic-
torialor plasticforms,butwe belittleourlandwhenwe do not realisethatin our architecture
we possessworkthat standsin the same relationto modernart as does a portraitby Sargent
or a bronzeby Rodin.'
98 TheJohannesburg Art Gallerycollectionwasstartedin 1909,on the initiativeof Lady
FlorencePhillips(wife of the miningmagnateSir LionelPhillips)and with the adviceof the
noted expert Sir Hugh Lane,who was also responsiblefor organisingthe Dublin Gallery.
Financialsupportwas providedby other mine magnatessuch as Otto Beit, JuliusWernher,
HermannEckstein,MaxMichaelisandAbe Bailey.In 1910EdwinLutyenswascommissioned
to design a buildingto house the collection,whichwas intendedto encompassoutstanding
examplesof modernEuropeanart.Interestin buildingup a SouthAfricanartcollectiononly
developedin the yearsleadingup to the secondworldwar.(See Lantern7, 4 (1958);'Johan-
nesburgArt Gallery'by G. S. Smithard,The State,July 1911). Hugh Lane also formedthe
MichaelisGallery,Cape Town,whichwas presentedto the Union in 1913.An articleby T.
MartinWoodin TheStudio76,313(1919),capturedthe mixtureof localprideandinternational
aspirationwhichthe collectionof old mastersembodied:'Thefoundationof a galleryin Cape
Townof paintingsby old mastersis an eventof finesignificance.Not only does it fulfila desire
of the Dominionof SouthAfricathat the art of the racefromwhichso manySouthAfricans

tracetheirdescentshouldbe representedin the country,butit admitsSouthAfricansto a share

in the greattreasuresof Europe.CapeTownis proudof its associationwiththe enterpriseof
the old world.It has neverceased to regarditself as an outpostof the old world.'The article
concludedby notingthat the architectresponsiblefor adaptingthe old Stadhuisin whichthe
Michaeliscollectionwashoused,J.M. Solomon,wasSouthAfrican-bornandthathe 'hasmade
himselfthe exponentof a purelySouthAfricanstyle'.See pp. 92-4.
99 'AnAspect of the Studyof EnglishPoetryin SouthAfrica',TheState,April 1910.
100 S. G. Liebson,'TheSouthAfricaof Fiction',TheState,February1912,135.
101 Liebson,'The South Africa of Fiction',137-8. LiebsoncomparedFitzPatrickto the
AmericanauthorBret Harte.Comparisonsmightalso be madewith the Australiannational-
ist writerBanjoPatterson,whoevokedthe nuggetypioneeringspiritof 'mateship'in hispoems
andballads.
102 TheAfricanMonthly,3, 15 (1908),332. TheAfricanMonthly,edited by A. Burt and
publishedin Grahamstownwas,like TheState,a monthlyliteraryreview.It beganpublication
in 1906.
103 A. P.Cartwright, TheFirstSouthAfrican: Thelifeandtimesof SirPercyFitzPatrick (Cape
Town,1971),p. 157.On Preller,see IsabelHofmeyr,'Buildinga NationfromWords:Afrikaans
Language,LiteratureandEthnicIdentity,1902-1924',in S.MarksandS.Trapido(eds),ThePoli-
ticsof Race,ClassandNationalismin Twentieth CenturySouthAfrica(Harlow,1987).
104 SirP.FitzPatrick, 'Jockof the BushveldandThosewho KnewHim',TheState,January,
1909,30.The 'littlepeople'referboth to the ordinarypeople evokedby FitzPatrickas well as
his own children- for whomJockwas originallywritten.
105 He has attracteda numberof sympatheticbiographies.The best of these is undoubt-
edly A. Duminy and B. Guest, Interferingin Politics:A biographyof Sir PercyFitzPatrick
(Johannesburg, 1987).See also Cartwright,TheFirstSouthAfrican;J. P.Wallis,Fitz:Thestory
of Sir PercyFitzPatrick(London,1955).
106 M. Legassick,'BritishHegemonyand the Originsof Segregationin South Africa,
1901-14',in W.Beinartand S. Dubow (eds), SegregationandApartheidin Twentieth Century
SouthAfrica(London,1995),pp.46.
107 Cartwright,TheFirstSouthAfrican,pp.5-6.
108 Cited in Lavin,FromEmpireto Commonwealth, p. 78. See also Duminyand Guest,
Interferingin Politics,p. 160-1.
109 Duminyand Guest,Interferingin Politics,pp. 97-8, 101-2, 104. See also Cartwright,
TheFirstSouthAfrican,p. 125.
110 Accordingto M.FraserandA. Jeeves(eds),AllthatGlittered:Selected Correspondence
of LionelPhillips1890-1924(CapeTown,1977),p. 144,FitzPatrickwas'easedinto retirement'
in 1907because,in the contextof the new Het Volkadministration in theTransvaal,
his role as
leaderof the ProgressiveAssociationhadbecome'anacutepoliticalembarrassment'. See also
letters84&5in thisvolume.
111 Duminy and Guest, Interferingin Politics,pp. 144-7; Cartwright,The First South
African,p. 139.
112 Duminy and Guest, Interferingin Politics,pp. 171-4; Cartwright,The First South
African,p. 170.
113 Hancockand Van der Poel (eds), SmutsPapersII, p. 329, Smuts to Merriman,23
December,1906.
114 Cartwright,TheFirstSouthAfrican,p. 125.
115 Duminyand Guest,Interferingin Politics,pp. 146,148-9.
116 See, for example,D. L. Cole, 'The Problemof "Nationalism" and "Imperialism" in
BritishSettlementColonies',Journalof BritishStudies,10,2 (1971).
117 F S. L. Lyons,CultureandAnarchyin Ireland1890-1939(Oxford,1979).
118 C. Berger,TheSenseof Power.Studiesin theideasof Canadianimperialism, 1867-1914
(Toronto,1970),pp. 9,66, andpassim.
119 W.K. Hancock,Australia(London,1930),chap.3. cf SchreuderandEddyin TheRise
of ColonialNationalism,pp. 54-5, who also cite Hancockin the contextof a similardiscussion
aboutthe multipleloyaltiescontainedin the idea of colonialnationalism.
120 JohnHirst,'WhoTuggedthe Forelock?',TheAustralian9 December,1995.
121 R. F Holland,BritainandtheCommonwealth Alliance1918-1939(London,1981),p.3.
122 Berger,TheSenseof Power,p. 8.
123 Garson,'English-speaking SouthAfricans',p. 32.
124 Molteno,FurtherRecollections,p. 89.

125 E. A. Walker,Lordde Villiersand His Times(Lopndon,1925),p. 414.

126 Both contemporaryand secondarysourcescommenton the rapiditywith whichthe
politicalclimatechangedafter1904.See,for example,Davenport,TheAfrikanerBond,p. 270;
Molteno,FurtherRecollections, pp. 152,155;R. H. Brand,TheUnionof SouthAfrica(Oxford,
1909),p. 7.
127 Denoon,A GrandIllusion,p. 235.
128 See eg. J.J.van Helten,'BritishCapital,the BritishStateandEconomicInvestmentin
South Africa,1886-1914',in Instituteof CommonwealthStudies,The Societiesof Southern
AfricaCollectedSeminarPapersvol. 9, no. 24,1977/8;B. M. Magubane,TheMakingof a Racist
State:Britishimperialismand the Unionof SouthAfrica(Trenton,New Jersey,1996)
129 See Donald Denoon's"'CapitalistInfluence"and the TransvaalGovernmentduring
the CrownColonyPeriod,1900-1906',HistoricalJournal,10,2 (1968).He records(p. 306)that
i. . . Milner'sown view of the situationat the time was that he saw no choice but to operate
within the existingsituation,and seek help and supportfrom the magnates.Furthermore,
Milnerhoped that the privatesector would be willing and able to supportsuch items of
developmentexpenditureas railwayconstruction.'
130 Curtis,WithMilnerin SouthAfrica,p. 205. Note also May,'TheRoundTable',p. 62,
citingE. Grigg:'It is hardlynecessaryto emphasisethat all the originalRoundTablerscame
fromwealthyandprivilegedbackgrounds. Nevertheless,theywereconvinced"thattherewere
bettergoals in life thanthe makingof money".'
131 As ActingTownClerkof JohannesburgCurtiscame into conflictwith the Transvaal
Chamberof Minesin 1901overthe mines'inclusionwithinthe municipalboundariesof Johan-
nesburg.Curtisfavouredinclusionin order to render them liable for municipaltaxes. He
framedhis argumentsin termsof the mines'socialobligationto Johannesburg (anddrewcom-
parisonswiththe evilsof socialdivisionin LondonandNewYork):'Thereare,therefore,strong
reasonsbaseduponthebroadestpoliticalgroundforsecuringnowandforeverthatthevarious
townshipsshallradiatefromtheireconomiccentres,thateachclassshallbearthe politicaland
social burdenswhichshouldfall to theirlot as membersof an economicwhole,and that one
classshouldnot be allowedto separateits life fromanotherclasswithwhichit is boundup by
an inseparableeconomictie.' See Curtis,WithMilnerin SouthAfrica,p. 260.Thus,I cannot
agreewithCharlesVanOnselenwho,in his pathbreakingsocialhistoryof Johannesburg, por-
traysCurtisoperatingas an agentof socialcontrol,seekingto shape'the geographyof class'
in Johannesburg andto 'providea securefuturefor industrialcapitalism'.See C.VanOnselen,
Studiesin the Social and EconomicHistoryof the Witwatersrand 1886-1914Vol.1 (Harlow,
1982),pp. 29-30, 180-2, 197 and Studiesin the Socialand EconomicHistoryof the Witwater-
srand1886-1914Vol.2, pp. 132-133.
132 DuminyandGuest,Interfering in Politics,pp.97-101.FitzPatricknegotiateda promise
of ?30mfromthe Transvaal(guaranteedby the mininghouses) to the imperialtreasury- an
amountthatwas neverpaid.
133 In The Governmentof SouthAfricaVol.I (CapeTown,1908) a distinctionis made
betweenthe 'natural'antipathybetweenthe whiteand'coloured'racesin SouthAfricawhich
servesto illustratethe differentialmannerin whichsocialDarwinist-typeexplanationscould
be broughtto bear:'Racefeelingis of differentkinds.Antagonismmaymanifestitselfbetween
two peoples whom chance, not inclination,have brought together,like the Saxons and
Normans.They may none the less be capableof co-operatingfor a commonpoliticalobject
and of becoming,in the courseof time,one people.The conflictbetweenthe white racesin
SouthAfricais of this ephemeralkind.But littlereflectionis neededto see thatthe raceques-
tion between black and white in South Africa arises from an antipathywhose roots strike
deeper.TheEuropeanandnegroracesmusthavedivergedwhentheircommonancestorswere
scarcelyentitledto the name of man. For ages the two races have followedseparatepaths,
whichnevercrosseduntileach race had changedas muchalmostas men can changewithout
losingattributescommonto humanity.'pp. 123-4.
134 PatrickDuncanpapersBC 294 C23.3.8,Curtisto Duncan26 November,1907.Legas-
sick,in 'BritishHegemonyand the Originsof Segregation',beginshis paperwiththis quote.
135 Ellinwood,'LordMilner's"Kindergarten" ', pp. 155-61.
136 May,'TheRoundTable',pp. 132-3;Ellinwood,'LordMilner's"Kindergarten"', p. 158.
137 D. Schreuder,'ColonialNationalismand"TribalNationalism"',p. 216.


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Colonial Nationalism, the Milner Kindergarten and the Rise of 'South Africanism', 1902-10

Author(s): Saul Dubow

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

More than fifteen years ago, Shula Marksand StanleyTrapidopublished

History Workshop Journal Issue 43 ? History Workshop Journal 1997

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

A remarkablefeatureof 'LordMilnerandthe SouthAfricanState'is the

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

Orange River Colony and the Transvaal,and to encourage large-scale

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

Milneritevariant.In his memoirs,J. T. Molteno (who served as the first

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in the loss of South Africa to the BritishEmpire.22 Towardsthe end of his

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

federation his primaryaim in the 1870s. In 1882 the Afrikaner Bond

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

play an importantrole was in promptingEnglish-speakingpoliticiansand

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

of the ChristianSocialUnion reinforcedhis strongevangelicalleaningsand

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

One of the main problemsfaced by the Kindergartenand its associates

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

idea of the English-speakingSouthAfrican,Schreinersaid of himself:'I am

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

by the leadingarchitectof reconstruction,HerbertBaker.49Historianshave

struckby the magicof SouthAfricanscenery.His firstimpressionof the

It is temptingto suggestthat this sense of awakeninghas a widersymbol-

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stereotypedimage as acolytesof Milnermight suggest.Indeed,the recep-

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

The development of South Africa as a 'white man's country' therefore

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

naturallysympatheticas he hadrecentlyauthoreda seriesof pro-federation

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

An importantinitiativein this regardwas the creationof a networkof

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

were not the same thing;only by developinga genuinespiritof patriotism

... handeddownto us verynobleexamplesof howto buildSouthAfrican

Bakerrecognisedin the often disparagedworkof 'rusticboers'a simplicity

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Wouw who, like his seventeenth-centuryDutch predecessors,sought 'to

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

what relevanceJock had to politicalunion,but the answernaturallycame

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 22:07:26 PM

Volk)and employedhighlyemotive'pro-British'rhetoricin doingso.1llBy

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contradiction.This applies more broadly to the curious form of South

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by pro-British administrations.124 Only a few months later, however,

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the commitmentto economic development,and the concern with mod-

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of capitalistdevelopment.Rather,segregationshouldbe seen as part of a

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differencesof emphasisand nuance- betweentheirnew paperand my own. Both were pre-

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22 See Milnerto Chamberlain 6 September1902:'Butas soon as we areout of thispresent

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p. 17.On the dividedandfissiparousSouthAfricanEnglish-speaking 'community'see alsothe

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