British Quakers and the South African War

Abstract

BRITISH QUAKERS AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR By Richard A. Rempel* In October 1899 Great Britain became involved in a major war for the first time since the Crimean conflict nearly a half a century before. This struggle against the two Boer Republics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, was not, as World War I and World War II, a war for British national survival, but it was unquestionably the greatest imperial war (with the exception of the American Revolution) the country had ever fought. Despite the facts that national independence and conscription were not at stake, the war aroused burning passions and controversies. The small minority of Britishers who opposed the coming and the conduct of the war and pleaded the cause of the Boers were faced with a degree of popular, press and political harassment unequalled since the suppression of dissent in the most repressive years of the Liverpool ministry from 1815 to 1822. Among the most consistent and intrepid opponents of the war were many Quakers who formed part of an outspoken small minority labelled derisively "Pro-Boers." This minority was oppressed and often divided because the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, had by October 1899 educated most Britishers, at least among the upper and middle classes, to believe that the Boers posed a threat to the global security of the British Empire.1 One of his devices was to imply that there was a "Pan-Afrikaner" conspiracy to destroy British power in South Africa.2 Moreover, by appointing Sir Alfred Milner in *Department of History, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario 1.Peter Fraser, Joseph Chamberlain (London, 1966), 174-203. Richard Price argues brilliantly that British working classes, far from being affected by the tides of jingoism which swept the country, were in fact largely indifferent to the struggle or even in large numbers hostile to the war. But if workers often opposed the war they were largely passive and Labour organizations such as the I.L.P. and the trade unions were divided on the war issue. See R. Price, An Imperial War and the British Working Class (London , 1972), ch. 2. 2.G. H. L. LeMay, British Supremacy in South Africa, 1899-1907 (Oxford , 1965), 25 and 31. Chamberlain was encouraged by his Under-Secretary of State, Lord Selborne, who constantiy urged his chief not to give concessions to Kruger. (Birmingham University Library, Selborne to Chamberlain , 23 June 1899, Confidential, JC 10/4/2/41). Similarly, when Milner showed signs of weakening, Selborne warned that Sir Alfred "could not realize the enormous difficulty we have had with public opinion at home. We have only now got 4/5th of the nation behind us because of the infinite patience we showed. . ." (Bodleian Library, Milner Papers, Selborne to Milner, 7 October 1899, vol. 15, Secret). 75 76QUAKER HISTORY 1897 as High Commissioner for South Africa, Chamberlain was able to ensure that one wing of the Liberal party—the Liberal Imperialists—would support his war policy.3 With the Liberals paralyzed Chamberlain and the Pro-Boers both knew that no alternative government could arise to destroy Unionist policies. Thus the Pro-Boers presented little unity, for they ranged from Quakers who condemned the war as un-Christian to Labour leaders , such as Keir Hardie,4 who saw the war as retarding the advance of socialism. Traditionalists such as Leonard Courtney,5 whom John Burns described as "a Puritan and sincere lover of righteous England,"6 viewed the conflict as a betrayal of the historic qualities of English liberty. Burns and the old Radical Henry Labouchere alleged that, along with Chamberlain, Jewish Rand millionaires deliberately engineered the war.7 Intellectuals such as Frederic Harrison and journalists such as C. P. Scott (as well as the Quaker George Cadbury) also espoused the financier conspiracy theory most ably elaborated by J. A. Hobson. But Cadbury and Quakers in general were not guilty of the antisemitism which tinged so many Pro-Boers. Of the churches and sects only the Quakers played a significant role in the anti-war movement. The Baptists alone were united against the war8 but only Dr. John Clifford was an active and 3.H. W. McCready, "Sir Alfred Milner...