"6. No person belonging to a class which is placed by special legislation under the jurisdiction of Special Courts, or is subject to special laws and tribunals, shall be entitled to be placed on the Voters' List...."[7] When it is understood that special laws for natives, and for natives only, are actually a part of the Natal Code, the effect of this amendment may be seen. TRANSVAAL AND THE ORANGE FREE STATE The two republics founded by the Boers have at least the virtue of frankness in their make-up; for, without the circumlocution of their neighbors in Natal, they flatly and expressly withhold from the native all rights of citizenship. The following extracts from Transvaal law are sufficient evidence of this fact: From the Grondwet (or Constitution) of Transvaal (February, 1858): "9. The people desire to permit no equality between coloured and white inhabitants, _either in church or state_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "31. ... No coloured person or half-castes shall be admitted to our meetings." From a law of June 12, 1876: "No person not regarded as belonging to the white population of the South African Republic shall be enrolled as a burgher possessing the franchise according to Article 9 of the Grondwet."[8] A resolution of the Volksraad, June 18, 1885, runs thus: "159. When a male person has been recognized as a burgher of this Republic, his wife shall thereby also be recognized and remain a burgheress of this Republic. "_All coloured people are excluded from this provision_, and (in accordance with the Grondwet) they may never be given or granted rights of burghership...." So much for Transvaal. The Constitution of the Orange Free State, adopted April 10, 1854, contains a provision restricting the right of suffrage by incorporating throughout the law the term all white persons. In short, the Boer plainly and bluntly disdains to use the diplomatic phraseology of the British statesman. He shuts the door of hope in the native's face, without apology or equivocation. THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA Such was the state of affairs in 1910, Cape Colony granting absolute citizenship to all inhabitants, Natal cleverly refusing it to natives, Transvaal and the Orange Free State flatly withholding it. In 1910, however, long-continued propaganda in favor of bringing the Boer and British states together, to be thenceforth under a common government, bore fruit, and the four republics united to form the Union of South Africa. The day of the passage of the act of union (called the South Africa Act) was an ill one for the South African native. Cape Colony, the one benevolent and fair-minded state, could not help but be over-ruled by the three states whose policy toward the native was one of oppression and political non-representation. Hence the South Africa Act (1909) contains the following provisions: