Natal Mounted Police
| Author | W. T. Clarke |
| Published date | 01 July 1931 |
| Date | 01 July 1931 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X3100400303 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Natal Mounted Police
By COLONEL W.
T.
CLARKE
Formerly Officer Commanding
Natal
Mounted
Police.
THE Langalibalele Rebellion in
1873,
and the unfortunate
loss of three members of the Natal Carbineers, might
have been prevented had the Natal Government had at its
disposal a force to move into the Putini Location when the
first signs of rebellion appeared.
The
want of a police force,
therefore, led to a vote being introduced into the Colonial
estimates for the year
1874,
under the head of CColonial
Defence,' and when the Treasurer made the announcement in
the Legislative Council, he
said:
C
It
was the policy of the Government to have at its command such
a force, fully equipped and disciplined, as can move at once, so as to
put
down insubordination in any tribe before it has been able to extend
to other tribes and lead to general disturbance. Such a force is a
mounted police and its place cannot be supplied by any volunteers,
however efficient,nor even by regular troops, although these forces would
be most valuable in giving always their moral, and, in case of necessity,
their material support.
The
necessity of a force was evident.
The
large Native population consists of a number of distinct tribes, not at
present united by any visible bond of union
but
capable of being so
should circumstances arise to cause, and time be given, to mature
hostile demonstration.'
The
demand for a semi-military police force, as above
described, will be apparent when the character of the popula-
tion is taken into consideration, and when it is considered that
the duties are principally in dealing with an uncivilized race of
natives numbering a million and a half and an Indian popu-
lation of
120,000,
scattered over a mountainous country, and
in some districts, where tracts of land (known as locations)
have been specially reserved for natives, almost inaccessible.
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