Gordon Sprigg
Cecil John Rhodes | |
---|---|
In office 6 February 1878 – 8 May 1881 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Governor | Henry Bartle Frere |
Preceded by | Sir John Molteno |
Succeeded by | Thomas Charles Scanlen |
Personal details | |
Born | John Gordon Sprigg 27 April 1830 Ipswich, Suffolk United Kingdom |
Died | 4 February 1913 (aged 82) Cape Town, Cape Province South Africa |
Political party | Progressive |
Sir John Gordon Sprigg,
Early life
Sprigg was born in
He was educated at
His newly acquired property lay near the Cape's frontier, and was therefore surrounded by a large population of non-Christian Xhosa people – whom Sprigg regarded with considerable suspicion. This led him to become very concerned about issues of frontier security, and he regularly prioritised such issues in his political career.[1]
Political career
In 1869, he became the member of the Cape Parliament for East London.
He notably ran the Commission for Frontier Defense which recommended that the defence of the
Sprigg nonetheless joined Molteno's movement for responsible government, and in June 1875 he added his voice to those of other prominent local politicians (such as Saul Solomon, John X. Merriman and Molteno himself) in condemning as impractical Lord Carnarvon's ill-advised scheme to confederate southern Africa under British rule. Lord Carnarvon nevertheless pushed ahead and replaced the Cape governor with his own political ally Henry Bartle Frere with the intent of forcing the region into confederation, and Sprigg, along with fellow parliamentarian John Paterson, prudently re-aligned themselves as pro-federalists. Sprigg was to remain a federalist for the remainder of his career. As the previous opposition leader, John X. Merriman converted and joined the Molteno government, Sprigg and Paterson became the de facto leaders of the opposition.
As the machinations began for bringing the neighbouring states into the British confederation, tensions between the British Empire and the Cape government increased. Molteno himself had a deep suspicion of the British Empire, citing what he believed to be its incompetence and injustice, and he stubbornly obstructed London's decision to deploy imperial troops against the neighbouring Xhosa during the Xhosa Wars. Offers of titles and threats of dismissal failed to persuade him to back down, and an inevitable collision loomed between the Cape government and the British Empire. [3]
First Ministry (1878–1881)
In 1878, Governor Frere appealed to the authority of the
Frere appointed Sprigg on condition that he supported confederation, so Sprigg dutifully began making arrangements for a "Federal Conference" in June 1880. However, local Cape opposition to it was so strong and widespread that Sprigg had to give up on the idea. Elsewhere in southern Africa, Frere's attempts to enforce confederation were sparking wars with the
At the time of taking office, Sprigg faced a parliament which was overwhelmingly supportive of the previous government which Frere had deposed. Sprigg's ability to assume office, and garnering the required majority in the elected
Unlike the preceding, relatively mixed government, Sprigg's cabinet consisted exclusively of British South Africans, dominated by pro-imperialist politicians who all hailed, like Sprigg himself, from the Eastern Province and were descended from the 1820 Settlers. His government consequently came to be known as the "Settler Ministry".[6]
With Governor Henry Bartle Frere's support, Sprigg finally succeeded in implementing the conclusion of his Commission for Frontier Defense, which had been fiercely blocked by the previous government. This involved the disarming of all Black Africans in the Cape, including the soldiers and citizens in its own armed forces. His resultant "Peace Preservation Act" (1878) caused immediate uprisings across the country, that swiftly flared into overt wars. Against the advice of many in parliament, Sprigg went ahead with applying the act in Basutoland – at the time administered by the Cape. The resulting Basuto Gun War, together with continued conflict with the Xhosa, saw the Cape government dragged towards bankruptcy. In fact, colonial instigation and mis-management of the Basuto Gun War is one of the main reasons why Lesotho eventually became an independent country, and not part of modern South Africa.[7]
Sprigg's imperialist policies towards neighboring states including calling in imperial troops during the Basuto Gun War, confiscation of tribal lands, and supporting the expansion of white settlement into Black African territory. This policy eventually crushed and subsumed the last independent Xhosa state, but led to the 1880 Transkeian Rebellion and a further string of conflicts elsewhere in southern Africa.[8]
Rising costs from the lingering wars forced him to cut back on infrastructure projects such as railway construction and other public works. Even his predecessor's veterinary bureau was closed.[9]
In spite of his good relationship with the Colonial Office, Sprigg had little grass-roots support locally, and when Frere was recalled to London to face charges of misconduct, his government fell. He was succeeded as prime minister by locally born Thomas Charles Scanlen.[10]
Sprigg's subsequent terms as prime minister came at a time of increased tension between the colonists of British descent and the Afrikaners, tension that was sharply exacerbated by the Confederation attempt and the subsequent rise of the
Second Ministry (1886–1890)
Sprigg got an opportunity for a second term as prime minister when Thomas Upington resigned due to ill-health. His second term was dominated by two major issues: the voting rights of Black African citizens of the Cape, and the issue of railways.
The Cape constitution guaranteed equal voting rights for citizens of all races through its "Cape Qualified Franchise" system, however Sprigg was concerned about the rapid political mobilisation of the Cape's large and growing African population. In addition, the recent annexation (during Sprigg's first Ministry) of the Transkei Xhosa lands meant that, for the first time, Xhosa people now comprised a majority of the Cape's population. Black African voters already formed a majority of the electorate in several Cape constituencies, and were beginning to form a considerable voting block, especially in the Eastern Cape where he resided.
He circumvented this with his Registration Bill in 1887, which excluded communal land-owners from voting and thus effectively disenfranchised a large proportion of the Cape's Black African citizens. (His successor as prime minister,
He was much less successful in his railway policy. His attempts to extend the
Third Ministry (1896–1898)
A few years later, in 1893, the "Logan scandal" caused the Prime Minister at the time,
In 1897 he traveled to London to attend Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, where a brief controversy ensued. He publicly offered a cruiser to the Royal Navy, on behalf of the Cape, and received an honorary LLD from Edinburgh and an honorary DCL from Oxford. However, upon his return, he was forced to withdraw his promise to the Admiralty, which had not been authorised by parliament.
The major theme of his third ministry was his increasing disagreement with the powerful Afrikaner Bond party, caused partly by his continued political assistance to Rhodes. In early 1898 he attempted to restructure the electoral system so as to favour the predominantly urban towns with a higher population of British South Africans over the predominantly rural towns with a higher Boer population, but his "redistribution bill" was defeated. He then lost a vote of no confidence that was initiated by
Fourth Ministry (1900–1904)
Schreiner was forced to resign in June 1900 because of his anti-war stance, and Sprigg, who was seen in London as an acceptably pro-imperialist candidate, was appointed prime minister for the fourth and last time, though still without parliamentary sanction. However he was now officially representing a political party, the pro-imperialist
Sprigg's final ministry coincided with the
However, in his final term in office, Sprigg distinguished himself more than anything else through his work on the suspension issue. He had begun his fourth term by closely toeing the line of the Colonial Office in London, but this became increasingly difficult, as it brought him into conflict with the largest parties in the Cape parliament. His refusal to launch an inquiry into the harsh sentences passed during martial law lost him further support, which he needed if he was to appease the Colonial Office, but he finally took a stand when
Sprigg strongly supported confederation, as he had since his first Ministry, but he hesitated on the issue of suspending the country's constitution. However, after Rhodes died in 1902, he immediately declared his resolute opposition to the suspension proposal, speaking against it in London and arguably doing more than anyone else to protect the Cape's constitution and to defeat Milner's proposal. Meanwhile, the delicate balancing act that Sprigg needed to perform in order to survive politically became ever more precarious, until a string of defeats in parliament and in the 1904 election toppled his government for the final time. However, his work against suspension came later to be regarded as his greatest deed as a statesman and his strongest claim to political recognition.[14]
Although Sprigg served as prime minister four times— from 1878 to 1881, 1886 to 1890, 1896 to 1898 and 1900 to 1904—he was always appointed by the British governor, never elected democratically. He was appointed as a
The Dictionary of South African Biography (Vol.II) described him thus:
"Small, determined and conceited, Sprigg well deserved Merriman's appellation of "The little Master". He coveted power and clung to it tenaciously, being content to change his colleagues, as long as he was left undisturbed in office. Moreover, his tremendous patience and mastery of parliamentary procedure gave him great advantages over more inspired but less diligent politicians. On the whole, he was a man of integrity and has a strong claim to be placed high in the ranks of South African statesmen."[15]
Later life
Sprigg retired from politics after 1904, although he reappeared briefly in 1908 and voted against a parliamentary colour bar in 1909. In his later life he received an impressive array of awards and honours for his work in serving British rule in South Africa, such as
He died at his home in Wynberg, Cape Town on 4 February 1913, and was buried at St. Peter's Cemetery, Mowbray.
Gordonia in the Northern Cape was named in his honour.
Family
Sprigg married, in 1862, Ellen Fleischer. They had three daughters and a son, Captain William Porter Sprigg, Cape Colonial Forces.
See also
- History of Cape Colony from 1870 to 1899
- Saul Solomon
- John Paterson
References
- ISBN 0-520-06611-1. p.698
- ^ Molteno, P. A. The Life and Times of John Charles Molteno. Comprising a History of Representative Institutions and Responsible Government at the Cape, Volume II. London: Smith, Elder & Co., Waterloo Place, 1900. p.214.
- ISBN 0-947008-90-X. p.182, "Confederation from the Barrel of a Gun"
- ^ JF. Ade Ajayi: Africa in the Nineteenth Century Until the 1880s. UNESCO. 1989.
- ISBN 0-9635572-5-4
- ^ Basil T. Hone: The First Son of South Africa to be Premier: Thomas Charles Scanlen. Oldwick, New Jersey: Longford Press, 1993. p.50.
- ^ F. Statham: Blacks, Boers, & British: A Three-cornered Problem. MacMillan & Co. 1881.
- ^ "Basuto Gun War". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011.
- ^ Gilfoyle, D. Veterinary Science and Public Policy at the Cape Colony, 1877–1910. Thesis at the University of Oxford, p.48.
- ^ "World Statesmen".
- ^ J.L. McCracken: The Cape Parliament, 1854–1910. London: Caledon Press. 1967.
- ^ "CAPE PREMIER'S DEFENSE.; Sir Gordon Sprigg Says that He Made No Bargain with the Afrikander Bond". The New York Times. 23 September 1902.
- ^ Giliomee, H. The Afrikaners: Biography of a people. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2003. p.267.
- ^ "South Africa—Lord Milner and the Cape Constitution". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 July 1902.
- ISBN 0-624-00369-8. p.700
- ^ "The Colonial Premiers in Edinburgh". The Times. No. 36831. London. 28 July 1902. p. 4.
Further reading
- Dictionary of National Biography
- R. Kent Rasmussen:Dictionary of African historical biography. University of California Press, 1989. ISBN 0-520-06611-1
- P. A. Molteno: The life and times of Sir John Charles Molteno, Comprising a History of Representative Institutions and Responsible Government at the Cape. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1900