they turned their whole attention to obtaining the abolition of the
disastrous enactment which took that evil under its protection. They
felt that the action of Government in passing that law brought the whole
nation (which is responsible for its Government) under a sentence of
guilt--a sentence of moral death. It lifted off from the shoulders of
individuals, in a measure, the moral responsibility which God had laid
upon them, and took that responsibility on its own shoulders, as
representing the whole nation; it foreshadowed a national blight. My
readers know that we destroyed that legislation after a struggle of
eighteen years. In the course of that long struggle, we were constantly
met by an assertion similar in spirit to that made by the speaker to
whom I have referred; and to this day we are met by it in certain
European countries. They say to us, "But for every scandal proceeding
from this social vice, which you cite as committed under the system of
Governmental Regulation and sanction, we can find a parallel in the
streets of London, where no Governmental sanction exists." We are
constantly taunted with this, and possibly we may have to admit its
truth in a measure. But our accusers do not see the immense difference
between Governmental and individual responsibility in this vital
matter, neither do they see how additionally hard, how hopeless, becomes
the position of the slave who, under the Government sanction, has no
appeal to the law of the land; an appeal to the Government which is
itself an upholder of slavery, is impossible. The speaker above cited
concluded by saying: "The best precaution against the abuse of power on
the part of whites living amidst a coloured population is to make the
punishment of misdeeds come home to the persons who are guilty of those
misdeeds; and if he could but get his countrymen to act up to that view
he believed we should really have a better prospect for the future of
South Africa than we had had in the past."