The principal means available to a kraal-head for obtaining money had, for years, been the sending of his sons to work in European towns and elsewhere. With the discovery of the Barberton and Johannesburg gold-fields, considerable inducements were offered in the higher wages there obtainable. It, therefore, followed that many accustomed up till then to find employment in Natal, went off to the new centres of industry. The more these centres developed, the greater became their attractions. The result was that, before long, many thousands repaired thither year after year. So large did the number of Natal and Zululand labourers become, that it became necessary to establish a Government Agent at Johannesburg, whose principal duty was to receive and remit to their respective homes the earnings of the workers. Had there been no such considerate provision, much of the money, urgently required as it was by the parents, must have been squandered, stolen or lost.[78] At these gold-mining centres, however, especially Johannesburg, youths of Natal came into contact with thousands of Natives from all parts of South Africa. They there became acquainted with that insidious American Negro propaganda called Ethiopianism, as well as with unscrupulous, low-class Europeans of various nationalities. In such environment, it is not surprising that the already growing spirit of independence was developed, as well as vice of the worst possible types. These retrograde tendencies were not long in reacting on Natives in the locations and farms of Natal. Indeed, in conjunction with the local influences referred to above, they speedily became the most potent agents for setting at naught that wonderful tribalism of some of whose features an account has already been given. A deeply-rooted antagonism towards the white man on the part of some began to manifest itself, accompanied by a spirit of defiance that found expression in many ways. Hardly less subversive and disintegrating were the effects of coming into contact with thousands of British soldiers, and the ludicrously familiar attitude of the latter towards Natives during the Boer War. Alive to the necessity of assisting parents in a matter of this kind, the Government--the Prime Minister then being the Hon. C.J. Smythe--had its own predicament to consider. The wave of great financial depression, brought on by the protracted War, had told severely on the Colony. The Treasury was empty. The credit of the Colony was falling. As much as 6% was being paid on temporary loans, instead of the average rate of 3-1/2% for years paid on public loans. A necessity for instituting new taxing measures was urgent. Already, whilst the preceding Sutton Ministry was in power, had the need for taxation made itself felt. Among the bills of that ministry was one that proposed the imposition of a poll tax, but beyond publication in the _Gazette_, no further steps had been taken in regard thereto.