-
2. The Lupa Gold Rush of the 1930s
- Mkuki na Nyota Publishers
- Chapter
- Additional Information
2 The Lupa Gold Rush of the 1930s Introduction On March 9, 1938, J. R. Cresswell-George wrote to the editor of East Africa & Rhodesia about what he perceived at the time to be an increasing tendency to have little regard for self-respect, and still less thought to the maintenance of the dignity and prestige of the British especially in the outlying districts of colonial Tanganyika. He noted that there appeared to be “a blatant disregard of morals, excessive indulgence in alcohol, and unfortunately, quite a few women are the worse for the mal-influence of alcohol, all of which is having a damaging effect on the minds of the natives and lowering British prestige.”25 Even more alarming to George were cases “of white men (so called) who think fit to molest native women, (or keeping native wives as they call it) – can there be anything more degrading! . . . With all this sort of thing going on, can we, as a white race justify our claims to superiority with our higher standards of civilization?”26 The editor declined to publish George’s letter on the excuse that it might be used for propaganda by the Germans. Undeterred, on March 14, Cresswell-George wrote to E. A. Boyd at the Colonial Office to reiterate his concerns about “the very serious offence of white 25. Public Record Office (PRO), CO 691/165/4 Allegations by J. R. Cresswell George of the immorality amongst Government officials in Tanganyika, letter dated March 9, 1938. 26. Ibid. 14 ASPECTS OF COLONIAL TANZANIA HISTORY men molesting native women.”27 Although he had no concrete evidence of any Government officials (such as PC, DO, and ADOs) being implicated, he had very good reason to believe that there were officials who were not above reproach in such offences. He suggested that medical records at the Dar es Salaam Hospital could be checked for cases of Government officials being admitted for venereal disease treatment or skin diseases. Cresswell-George also requested an audience with Boyd to further discuss this issue. However, Boyd was not inclined to meet with Cresswell-George; instead he arranged a meeting between George and D. M. Kennedy, Tanganyika’s Chief Secretary, who was then in London on leave. Following their meeting, Kennedy briefed Boyd about his conversation with Cresswell-George. According to Kennedy, George was “an honest, teetotal, crusader”, who left his job in England to join his brother, E.V.H. Cresswell-George, who was already established in the Lupa goldfields. He returned to England in August 1937 because he “did not fit in.”28 According to Kennedy life in the Lupa goldfields had shocked CresswellGeorge given that “gold miners do not, as a rule, live according to the conventions of a London suburb in the eighties!”29 Although Kennedy respected Cresswell-George’s “prejudices”, he told Boyd he felt that Cresswell-George had allowed himself to be led into making wholesale and general charges by picking up rumors and gossip on the field.30 Apparently, a Government medical officer had told George that he would be surprised at the number of cases of V.D. amongst officials and that a retired official had mentioned a certain administrative officer whose wife had left him because of his extra conjugal habits. Kennedy told Boyd that he was able to convince Cresswell-George that complaining to members of parliament and writing letters to newspapers were not the correct media for the transmission of his views in “a matter in which his information was palpably sketchy and that local government was quite competent to maintain discipline.” Boyd was thankful to Kennedy for persuading CresswellGeorge not to make public vague charges of immorality in Tanganyika that could have given everyone around a lot of trouble.31 However, Cresswell-George’s concerns about interracial sexual liaisons and alcoholism in the margins of the British Empire were not a figment of his imagination. Besides reflecting the moral rhetoric of late Victorian and Edwardian England, their validity is ascertained by government efforts to address these problems by means of legislation. British government officials in the colonies and mandated territories were officially prohibited by Circular B of 190932 from cohabiting with native women. Lord Crewe, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, noted why this was unacceptable: The moral objections to such conduct are so generally recognised that it is unnecessary to dwell on them. There is, however, another aspect of 27. PRO CO 691/165/4 Cresswell George to E...