Zambezia (1998), XXV (ii).BUILDING A WHITE MAN'S COUNTRY: ASPECTS OFWHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIA UP TO WORLDWAR IIALOIS S. MLAMBODepartment of Economic History, University of ZimbabweAbstractFollowing the occupation of Zimbabwe by the British in 1890, the BritishSouth Africa Company Government, and subsequently, the various self-government administrations, cherished the dream of developing Rhodesia asa White man's country. To this end, they canvassed for European settlers,offered assisted passages to, organized various settlement schemes forimmigrants and maintained a discriminatory political and economic systemwhich ensured that Whites enjoyed all the best that the country could offer.Despite these efforts, however, the dream of developing Rhodesia as a Whiteman's colony was not realized as fewer European emigrants came to Rhodesiathan had been envisaged. This article analyses major trends in Whiteimmigration into Rhodesia between 1890 and 1940 and seeks to investigatewhy it proved difficult for the Rhodesian Administrations to turn their dreaminto a reality.INTRODUCTIONTHE COLONIAL HISTORY of Zimbabwe (hereafter, Rhodesia) is characterisedby political, social, economic and cultural domination over the majorityAfrican population by the Rhodesian White settler minority. It is in manyways a story of how a small immigrant White minority arrogated tothemselves the right to determine the pace and the direction of thenation's development at the expense of the majority and how the Africanmajority struggled to assert their rights. The Rhodesians used their politicaland economic power to enforce a segregationist and discriminatory systemthat promoted and defended their interests and ensured that members oftheir group enjoyed all the best that the country could offer. As R. Palmerand I. Birch noted:The Colony of settlers in Rhodesia aimed to ensure and perpetuate whiteprivilege and control. They dominated access to all resources, such asland, education, health, training, the road and rail networks and loansfor farming. Inequality was enforced by the settler-controlled parliamentand reinforced by social segregation.11R. Palmer and I. Birch, Zimbabwe: A Land Divided (Oxford, Oxfam, 1992), 8.123124 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIAWhile much is now known about the economic, political, social andcultural activities of this small but dominant White Rhodesian societywhich had an all-pervasive impact on the lives of the African majority andthe history of the country that was to become Zimbabwe, there is littleinformation about the demographic profile and history of this societyover time.2 Yet, without understanding the nature of the colonial Whitesociety, there can be no full understanding of the role it played and thefactors which influenced that role in the recent history of the country.There is, thus, a need to document the nature, extent, composition andcharacter of White Rhodesian society in order to fully understand thehistorical forces that shaped the trajectory of Zimbabwe's twentieth centuryexperience.One intriguing issue relating to White demography in Rhodesia, forinstance, is the extent to which Rhodesians were really a society ofimmigrants and transients, most of whom did not stay long enough toestablish roots in the country. Indirect evidence does indicate that therewas a high turnover of population in Rhodesia throughout the colonialperiod. In a suggestive statement about the high turnover and transientnature of the Rhodesian White population, R. S. Roberts observed that 'byand large, the Whites who have come to this country have not, in fact,been settlers at all'. He argued,The most striking and persistent feature of 'settlement' in SouthernRhodesia is that, for every hundred migrants arriving, between sixty andeighty were always leaving ... As a 'settlement', white Rhodesia hasbeen a sort of select suburban-cum-gentleman-farming frontier outpostof Britain and English-speaking South Africa, to which many 'settlers'always intended to return.3Roberts's observations are borne out by the results of the 1969 censuswhich documented the fact that, at 1969, approximately 59.5% of theWhite population, half of whom were under 15 years of age, had been bornoutside the country and that the Rhodesian born contingent composedonly 25.5% of the adult White population. Over half (55.1%) of those bornoutside the country had come to Rhodesia as recently as after the SecondWorld War. Only 16.3% had been in Rhodesia for longer than 10-24 years.42 Some literature related to White demography and social history exists. Among these areDane Kennedy, Islands of White: Settler Society and Social Control in Southern Rhodesia 1890-1939 (Durham, NC, 1987); R. S. Roberts, 'The settlers', in Rhodesiana (1979), XXIX, 55-61;and Donal Lowry, 'White woman's country: Ethel Tawse Jollie and the making of WhiteRhodesia', in Journal of Southern African Studies, (June 1997), XXIII, (ii), 259-282. While theabove studies discuss aspects of Rhodesian White immigration and identity, they do notprovide comprehensive analyses of trends in White demography in general and Whiteimmigration, in particular.3 Roberts, 'The settlers', 55-61.4 George Kay, 'Population', in G. M. E. Leistner, Rhodesia: Economic Structure and Change(Pretoria, Africa Institute, 1976), 43.A. S. MLAMBO 125What the above evidence suggests is that, because of the high turnoverof population alluded to by Roberts, immigration played a very crucialrole in the growth of Rhodesia's White population during the colonialyears and that any understanding of the nature, character and size of theWhite population over time requires a full grasp of the extent and volumeof White immigration into Rhodesia. Yet, as already noted, little or noscholarly analyses exist on the demographic history of Rhodesian Whitesin general and the history of White immigration into the country inparticular.This study seeks to begin to fill this glaring gap in Zimbabwe's socialand economic history by analysing White immigration between 1890 and1940 in the hope that this will stimulate scholarly interest in thedemographic history of the country. It argues that, while Cecil John Rhodesand the early administrators of the colony cherished the dream of buildinga White man's country and made every effort to entice White, particularlyBritish, settlers, the dream was never entirely fulfilled as Europeanemigrants generally shied away from Rhodesia, preferring to emigrate toother parts of the world instead. Accounting for the sluggish response toRhodesian efforts to attract White settlers, it is contended, were thepolicies and attitudes of the early Rhodesian settlers and administrators,among other factors, which militated against large-scale immigration.Among the questions which will be addressed are the following: Howimportant was immigration to the growth of the Rhodesian Whitepopulation during this period? Which countries did Rhodesian settlersoriginally come from and what role did the state play in facilitating theirtranslocation from their original countries? Answers to these and otherquestions will, hopefully, shed light on this important topic which hashitherto been neglected by scholars of Zimbabwe's historical past.WHITE POPULATION GROWTH AND IMMIGRATION TRENDS,1890 TO 1940In order to fully appreciate the importance of immigration to Whitepopulation growth in colonial Rhodesia, it is first necessary to trace theWhite population's growth patterns in the period under investigation.Available data shows that the Rhodesian White population grew slowlybut steadily in the first 50 years of colonisation. In 1891, a year after thearrival of Cecil John Rhodes' Pioneer Column, there were approximately1 500 Whites permanently resident in the country. By 1904, the populationhad risen to 12 596, while in 1941, the Rhodesian White population stoodat 68 954. White population increases between 1891 and 1941 aredocumented in Table 1.126 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIATable 1WHITE POPULATION GROWTH, 1891-1941Year1891 (Estimate)1904 (Census)1911 "1921 "1931 "1941 "Total150012 59623 60633 62049 91068 954% IncreaseŠ14.087.042.048.038.0Source: Southern Rhodesia, Census of Population (1904-1969), 62.While the percentages of population increases between censusesdocumented in the Table above suggest that population increased rapidly,particularly between 1904 and 1911, when spread over the entire 50 yearsfrom 1891 to 1941, it becomes very clear that the Rhodesian Whitepopulation growth was very modest, averaging a mere 1 372 more peopleper year. Further analysis of the country's demographic data during theperiod also reveals that White population growth was fuelled mainly byimmigration as documented in Table 2.Table 2 shows that immigration was responsible for White populationgrowth at the rates of 88% between 1901 and 1911; 28%, 1911 to 1921; 62%,1921 to 1931; and 58% from 1931 to 1941. As is evident from the abovestatistics, throughout this period, immigration flows were not consistentbut fluctuated from period to period.Fluctuations in immigration patterns were largely the result of theoperation of various factors, including the international and local conditionsprevailing at the times.Table 2SOURCES OF WHITE POPULATION INCREASE, 1901-1941Period1901-19111911-19211921-19311931-1941NetImmigration110835 83510 14511025NaturalIncrease14914 1796 1458 019TotalIncrease12 57410 01416 29019 044Average AnnualGrowth Rate (%)7.93.64.03.3Source: Rhodesia, Census of Population, 1969 (Salisbury, CSO, 1969), 3.A. S. MLAMBO 127For instance, European immigrants arrived in large numbers in theearly years following the colonisation of the country but immigrationlevels declined during the First World War because of the unsettledinternational conditions and the disruption of international transportationby the war, among other factors.With the end of the war in November 1918, European immigrationincreased once more, resulting in the total number of immigrants enteringthe country rising from 1 828 in 1918 to 2 542 in 1919 and 4 093 in 1920; thelast representing the highest number recorded in any one year to thatdate. With the onset of the post-war economic depression in 1921,immigration levels declined once again so that in 1923 the number ofimmigrants admitted into the country was only 1 446; the smallest numbersince immigration statistics were first compiled.5Following the attainment of Responsible government status and thesubsequent British Government's offer of development assistance, whichincluded a three-year land settlement scheme, Rhodesia witnessed anotherlarge wave of immigration between 1924 and 1928. The most notableincrease occurred in 1927 when 5 082 immigrants entered the country.This high immigration flow was partly the result of the attractions ofRhodesia's agricultural prosperity in the 1927-1929 period when the countryexperienced a tobacco and cotton boom and farming prospects appearedvery bright for would-be settlers.6 Commenting on the character ofimmigrants entering the country in the 1920s, the 1930 Southern RhodesiaOfficial Yearbook noted that one of the occupations strongly representedamong the immigrants was agriculture and thatthe number of farmers, land settlers and skilled agricultural workers andfarm assistants admitted in 1924 numbered 194. [But] under the influenceof the cotton boom of 1925-26, the tobacco boom of 1926-27 and theEmpire Settlement Scheme... the number of such immigrants increasedto 320 in 1925, to 514 in 1926, to a maximum of 792 in 1927 and to 565 in1928.7Significantly, the worldwide economic depression, which began withthe Wall Street Crash of 1929 and which was marked by a sharp decline inRhodesia's commodity prices and a rise in White unemployment, resultedin a notable reduction in the number of immigrants entering the country,with the White population increasing by only 11% between 1931 and 1936.85 Southern Rhodesia, Official Yearbook No. 2, 1930 (Salisbury, Rhodesian Printing andPublishing Company, 1930), 670.6 Southern Rhodesia, Report of the Director of Census on the Census of Population 1936(Salisbury, Government Printer. 1943), 3.7 Southern Rhodesia, Official Yearbook, No. 2, 1930, 672.8 Southern Rhodesia, Census of Population (6 May, 1941), 3.128 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIAThe second half of the Depression decade, however, recorded very highlevels of European immigration which produced a remarkably high rate ofWhite population growth, described by one source as among the highestin the world 'proportional to the size of the existing European population'.9This spurt of immigration was fuelled in part by political upheavals andthe generally unsettled conditions in Europe which produced many refugeesfrom the affected countries, some of whom headed for Rhodesia. It wasalso partly the result of the fact that the country's economy, particularlygold mining, was experiencing a period of relative prosperity in this period.GENDER IMBALANCEAn interesting characteristic of White immigration throughout this periodwas the sexual imbalance between male and female which was verypronounced in the first quarter century after occupation as documentedin Table 3.Table 3NUMBER OF FEMALES TO EVERY 1 000 MALES IN RHODESIA, 1904-1926Year Females per 1 000 Males1904 4061907 4821911 5151921 7711926 796Source: Southern Rhodesia, Report of the Director of Census, May 1926, Part 1 (Salisbury,Government Printer, 1926), 13.The above figures show that the proportion of females to malesincreased slowly between 1904 and 1911, made substantial advance in theten years from 1911 to 1921 and continued to increase thereafter. The risein the number of females after 1911 was partly due to the increasingnumber of female immigrants willing to enter Rhodesia and who wereadmitted into the country as the economic and political situation stabilisedfollowing the upheavals of the 1890s associated with the First Chimurenga/Umvukela wars and also partly due to losses among the males during theFirst World War.Explaining the discrepancy between male and female numbers in theearly years, the Director of Census stated that this was due to9 Southern Rhodesia, Report of the Chief Immigration Officer (1936), 31.A. S. MLAMBO 129the unsettled state of the country and to a certain extent to the prevalentbelief that residence in the country exposed women and children tograve risks to health and life, in consequence of which many marriedmen kept their wives and families in what is now the Union of SouthAfrica or overseas ... As the fear of Native troubles decreased, as ahigher standard of home comfort grew and as experience began to provethat the hygiene risks had been greatly exaggerated, the number ofabsentee wives decreased, very slowly at first, but with notable rapiditysince 1911.10The male-female ratio of the early Rhodesian White population differedsignificantly from patterns obtaining in the 'older' and more settledcountries of Europe and elsewhere where there was generally an excess offemales over males. Accounting for this pattern in such countries, accordingto one source, was the normally higher rate of mortality among males, thelosses of males from war casualties and the preponderance of malesamong emigrants.11The excess of males over females remained the dominant pattern ofRhodesian White demography throughout this period, prompting variousmeasures designed to bring White women into the country. The shortageof White women of marriageable age in the country was of such concern toone Elizabeth Jane, based in South Africa, that she was moved to write tothe Rhodesian Prime MinisterWill you please use your influence at Home in England, Scotland, Walesand Northern Ireland to bring out young women as wives for theseyoung British men in Southern Rhodesia. You fill these places with menof British nationality, but they must come to the Union to get wives; themajority with Dutch blood in their veins. They can never be Britishstock. There are thousands of women today in England who would beonly too glad to come out to Southern Rhodesia with assisted passages... to get husbands and men are only human, they must have wives.12The shortage of women in the colony was serious enough to lead theRhodesian Immigration Committee, whose origins and role will be discussedlater, to issue a circular to members in October 1938 stating:It will be noted that the proportion of males to females selected to comeout to the Colony under the [Assisted Passage Settlement] scheme hasup till now been roughly two to one. The Executive Committee is now10 Southern Rhodesia, Report of the Director of Census, 1926. Pt. 1, Presented to the LegislativeAssembly, 1927 (Salisbury, Government Printer, 1927), 21. It could also be argued thatanother reason for the gender imbalance in the early years of colonisation was the fact thatthere were very few jobs for professional women which, at this time, were mainly in thenursing, teaching and secretarial occupations, among others.11 Southern Rhodesia, Official Yearbook, 1930, 646.12 National Archives of Zimbabwe (NAZ) S246/4401/76-87, Immigration, 1933-1940, Letter signedElizabeth Jane, 19 July, 1938.130 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIAanxious to bring as many trained women of marriageable age to thecountry in future as possible in order more evenly to balance the ratio ofsex (sic.)13At the centre of efforts to redress this gender imbalance in theRhodesian White population was an organisation calling itself the Societyfor the Overseas Settlement of British Women which had established aRhodesian Branch, known as the Rhodesian Committee, as early as 1901.The Society provided assisted passages to selected single women andwidows proceeding directly to approved employment or who were to beplaced on arrival in approved employment as domestic helps, children'snurses, school matrons, hospital nurses and governesses, among otheroccupations. It also provided assisted passages to fiancees, wives andchildren of men already in the country. The Society also operated aRhodesia Loan Fund from which women and children from Britain whowanted to raise fares in order to join their husbands and fathers in Rhodesiacould borrow. Interest-free repayments were to be on a monthly basisonce they had arrived in Rhodesia.14Among the duties of the Rhodesia Committee of the Society was toassist women and girls 'of good character, health and capacity' to settle inRhodesia, to make suitable arrangements for their voyage and for theirreception upon arrival, to assist women and families obtain work andhomes in the country and to help fiancees to be married in Rhodesia andwives to join their husbands. In addition, the committee was to obtain anassisted passage grant to cover the cost of ocean and rail fare for singlewomen taking up a position in Southern Rhodesia approved by the Society,to select women workers of all kinds for suitable posts in Rhodesia, and toestablish hostels, maternity homes and other institutions for the benefitof the settlers. Indeed, by 1938, the Rhodesia Committee was runninghostels at SACS House in Salisbury, the New Rhodes Hostel in Bulawayo,the Umtali Maternity and Nursing Home and the Donaldson Nursing Homein Selukwe.15In 1939, the Society reported that it had assisted 28 women to emigrateto Rhodesia in 1933 and 1934. This was the highest figure sent to Rhodesiaas compared to earlier years when in 1928,1929-1930, and 1931-1932, only14, 20, and 18 were sent to the country, respectively. It was also reportedthat a total of 2 000 women and children had received assisted passagessince the Rhodesia Committee started operating in 1901. Under this scheme,13 NAZ MS 698/5, Immigration Committee, Rhodesia National Farmers Union Papers, 1938-1939, Southern Rhodesia Government Immigration Committee, Second Circular to Members,October, 1938.14 NAZ S246/76-87, Overseas Women Settlers Club, 1933 Š Extensions of Agreement up to 31stDecember, 1938.15 Ibid.A. S. MLAMBO 131all women accepting the Society's assistance had to sign an undertaking toremain in Southern Rhodesia for a period of three years, on pain ofrepaying the passage money for leaving the country before the stipulatedtime had elapsed. They were also to remain with the original employer forat least six months.16WHITENING RHODESIA: THE ROLE OF THE STATEImmigration into Rhodesia in the period under study was largely facilitatedby both the Rhodesian state and the British Imperial Government as wellas by private volunteer organisations. Rhodesian Governments, both underthe BSAC Administration and after, were particularly keen to ensure thatthe Colony developed as a White man's country. To this end, theydeliberately and consistently promoted various economic, social andpolitical conditions meant to attract European immigrants as settlersrather than as temporary expatriate workers in order to encourage thedevelopment of a permanent White population.17The sentiments behind this policy were succinctly summarised by aRhodesian settler in an article in the New Rhodesia in which he stated:Don't regard the country (Rhodesia) as a Black Man's country, where thewhite man is an intruder, an exploiter of Black labour, a superior; look onit as an empty country (which it practically is for what are 1 3/4 millionsin a country three times the size of England?) to be settled with a whitepopulation where the few natives who care to come out of the Reservesare a useful adventitious contribution to the economy.18Motivated by similar sentiments, an organisation calling itself theWhite Rhodesia Association, whose leadership included at least fourRhodesian Legislative Assembly members, agitated for the creation of aWhite Rhodesia. Realising that a completely White Rhodesia could not beachieved given the presence in the country of large numbers of indigenouspeople, the Association explained that,white Rhodesia does not mean making all Rhodesian white ... It means. . . gradually making at least a large part of the colony a white man'scolony ... so that all types, classes and grades of white men can find aplace in the economy of society which they can fill usefully.19Advocating a system of segregation based on the principle of 'aEuropean Reserve and Native Reserves, enabling each race to develop on16 Ibid.17 Kay, 'Population', 43-54.18 'New place in Africa: Southern Rhodesia 1939-1949', in The New Rhodesia (September 2,1949), 22-23.19 NAZ S1232, White Rhodesia Association, P. S. Inskipp to Malcolm, 18 June, 1929.132 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIAits own lines', the Association wanted a situation in which 'the Europeanpopulation can grow rapidly, with Europeans doing work of every kind'because, under the current system, 'Europeans are practically excludedfrom many occupations ... so that, in effect, the European population islimited by the total number of Bantu labourers available'. The Associationconcluded emphatically that, 'the only satisfactory final solution... is thatthe Europeans should outnumber the Bantu'.20While the views of the White Rhodesia Association may have beenextreme for some of the Colony's administrators, as evidenced by Inskipp'sdismissal of the proposed scheme as being 'crazy' and 'specious' andunrealistic,21 the Colony's authorities did make every effort to encourageWhite immigration in order to develop Rhodesia as a White man's colony.Indeed, from the very beginning, colonial authorities encouraged Whiteimmigration by publicising the opportunities available in the country,offering assisted passages to immigrants, providing land for settlementand keeping in place discriminatory laws that ensured that Africans wereeffectively shut out from the economy except as providers of cheap manuallabour and consumers of manufactured goods.To publicise opportunities available in the country, the SouthernRhodesia authorities established a Rhodesian Emigration and InformationOffice in London in 1906 and another in Glasgow in 1908. Agents were alsostationed in the South African centres of Cape Town, East London, Durbanand Johannesburg, while in 1908, an Estates Department was set up todeal with applications for land and to promote colonisation.22Administrators of the British South Africa Company (BSAC) made nosecret of their determination and desire to attract White settlers to thecountry. For instance, the Company Administrator in 1905 clearly speltout the Company's objectives in this respect in a speech to the LegislativeCouncil when he stated:The Company is desirous of assisting, as far as may be expedient, thesettlement of suitable immigrants upon its unalienated lands ... (and) ispreparing a scheme under which considerable funds will be provided forthe purpose. The main objects will be to obtain settlers of the agriculturalclass with sufficient capital to ensure the beneficial occupation of the20 Ibid.21 NAZ S1232, White Rhodesian Association, P. S. Inskipp to Malcolm, 18 June, 1929. Inskippwrote:It (the Association) is just the kind of crazy specious idea to which FrankJohnson might be expected to devote time and attention. He believes, or says hebelieves, that White men can and will do every kind of work which is now doneby natives. 1 don't believe this. They might have done it had there never been ablack population in Africa ...22 Southern Rhodesia, Official Yearbook No. 2, 1930, 292.A. S. MLAMBO 133land and to assist them by some preparations of their holdings prior toarrival and by skilled advice while they are gaining experience of theconditions under which farming is carried on in the country.23To attract settlers, the company offered very generous terms to would-be immigrants. As D. Hartridge recalled in an interview in 1969,In the Chartered Company's time, they advertised for settlers in Rhodesiaand my father applied to them. The conditions were: if he bought landfor a farm, he had 20 years to pay and free medical and hospital fees forten years, and free arms and a Rhodes Pioneer pension or early settlerpension after the age of 60 years. So with that information, we came toRhodesia (in 1890).24Similarly, in 1916, the BSAC offered a total of 500 000 acres free land,to be divided into 3 000 acres farms each, to approved retired anddischarged servicemen from overseas who had a minimum of SI 000 forinvestment. Only physically fit British subjects of European descent whohad served in either the British Army or Navy during the First World Warand who were not based in South Africa at the outbreak of the war couldapply for land. The Company's desire to populate Rhodesia with Whitesettlers was thus clearly demonstrated by its determined efforts to promoteimmigration into the country.25Not everybody in the Colony was convinced that the Company wasdoing all it could to bring in European immigrants, however, for as Crippsof Bulawayo complained in the Rhodesian Legislative Council on May 12,1920, it was disappointing that 'only 4 settlers had been induced to comefrom England to settle on the land' in the preceding 12 months. Heproceeded to criticise the Company's organisation in England and Scotlandfor not doing enough to secure settlers for Rhodesia. His view seemed tobe that 'the Company is, for some ulterior object, hampering instead ofpromoting settlement in Rhodesia'.26In its defence, the Company pointed out that the reason there hadbeen such a disappointing response to its efforts to recruit settlers hadnothing to do with any reluctance on its part to promote emigration toRhodesia but had everything to do with the attitudes of and conditions setby the Rhodesian settlers themselves. The Company insisted that thereasons for the low immigration rates into the country were:23 Southern Rhodesia, Debates in the Legislative Council, 1st Session, 3rd Council, 26 April-11May, 1905.24 NAZ ORAL/FO 1 Š Immigration 1897-1914, Motives. Fredrick Albertus Fouche (b.1898),Interviewed by D. Hartridge, Bulawayo, 22 May, 1969.25 NAZ A3/15/19 Vol. 1, Settlement Schemes 1915-1917, E. Ross Townsend to Major R. C.Tronsdale, 2nd My, 1917.26 NAZ A3/14/5/2-3, Legislation 1920-1940, BSAC Memorandum, signed by E. Ross Townsend,17 June 1920.134 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIAThe large amount of capital represented by people in the country asbeing necessary to enable a man to take up farming with reasonableprospects of success; the difficulty in getting established farmers to givenew comers employment or facilities for gaining local experience beforeembarking their capital in a farming proposition; [and] the high pricesbeing asked by land owning companies and private individuals for landsuitable for mixed farming accessible to the railway or centres ofpopulation.27Emphasising the point even further, a Company official in England, E.Ross Townsend, highlighted the fact that,during the last six months, a large number of would be settlers, desirablein every respect, have had to be turned down because they could notprovide the amount of capital regarded in Rhodesia as being necessaryfor a man to take up farming ... In my opinion, the present capitalrequirements are too high.28The Company also came under attack from a Mr. Gilchrist who accusedthe Company in general and the Glasgow Immigrant Recruitment Office, inparticular, of not doing enough to attract immigrants to Rhodesia in theprevious three years. Forced to defend itself once again, the Companyresponded:Mr. Gilchrist overlooks the fact that the war has only comparativelyrecently terminated and that the three years period he mentions (May1917 to May 1920) includes 18 months while the war was still on ...(during this time) it was impossible to secure shipping accommodationfor more than a very few ... (in any case) the authorities in Rhodesiahave advised us that the number of settlers who can be accommodatedis strictly limited and it is now most difficult to place settlers withestablished farmers in order that they may gain the necessary localinformation.29In response to growing criticism on the way it was handling the issueof immigration to Rhodesia, the Company helped set up an organisationknown as the Southern Rhodesia Settlers Board in 1920. It was envisagedthat the Board would boost immigration by supplying prospectiveimmigrants with information necessary to enable them to decide whetherthey would settle on the land and what type of farming they would adoptand by collecting and disseminating information on the extent, situation,character and value of farming and ranching land available. It was alsoexpected to assist prospective settlers view and locate land likely to suittheir requirements, and, in collaboration with established farmers, to27 ibid.28 Ibid.29 Ibid.A. S. MLAMBO 135obtain suitable tuition for settlers prior to their occupation of land, amongother responsibilities. The efforts of the Board appear to have borne somefruit as it was reported in 1921 that it had already facilitated the immigrationof 179 men and their families who, together, had brought into the countryan estimated amount of SI 50 000.30Also in 1920, the company announced its willingness to sell land at theprice of 15s per morgen to approved applicants who possessed £2 000. Inaddition, the Company made arrangements for successful applicants fromoverseas and the Union of South Africa and their servants, up to a maximumof two for each family, to be guaranteed the following concessions by theRhodesia Railways and the Beira-Mashonaland Railways:free second-class tickets to Europeans and white servants; free third-class tickets to coloured or native servants, free second-class tickets forchildren over 3 and under 12 years of age; free luggage carriage up to 200lbs for second-class and 100 lbs for third-class passengers.31The above measures notwithstanding, the inflow of immigrants in thecountry remained low, prompting one official to comment:The practical possibilities of a large English immigration into Rhodesiawithin the next few years are very limited. Immigrants intending to settleon the land must have adequate capital. 82 000 is about the minimum.This in itself must prevent immigration being very rapid.32From 1922, Rhodesia benefited from intensified British efforts toencourage British emigration to the colonies in the immediate post-WorldWar I era. To this end, the British Government set up the OverseasSettlement Department in the Dominions Office in 1919 in order to promoteemigration to the Dominions. Explaining why it was necessary to activelypromote emigration at this time, the British Secretary of State stated:The object of a policy of Empire migration is first and foremost to buildup the strength and wealth of the Empire as a whole by the betterdistribution of its population ... It also creates more employment athome for those who remain, because those who go out help build up ourbest markets, which are those of the Empire ... Incidentally, the actualmovement of migration may help to relieve the labour market in times ofindustrial depression.Consequently, in line with these sentiments, the British Governmentstarted in 1919 to offer free passages for ex-servicemen and women who30 NAZ A3/28/1-3, Southern Rhodesia Settlers Board, Government Notice No. 471 of 17/10/1920.31 NAZ MS 698/5, Immigration Committee, Rhodesia National Farmers Union Papers, 1938-1939.32 NAZ CH82/2/11, Folios 65^659, Immigration: Letters from Malcolm to Sir Lewis Mitchell.1921, 1952-1955.136 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIAwished to settle in other parts of the Empire. Eight hundred thousandpeople were assisted to emigrate from Britain in that year alone.33In a bid to accelerate the emigration of its people to the Empire, theBritish Government called a meeting of representatives from Canada,Australia and New Zealand to consult on the 'possibility of initiating, on alarge scale, policy of state-aided settlement within the Empire, based onmutual cooperation'. The Consultative meeting formed the basis for theEmpire Settlement Act of 1922 which provided that the British Governmentwould assist the migration of suitable people who intended to settle in anypart of the Empire. Assistance schemes were to be of two types:development or land settlement or assisting settlement through providinghelp in the form of passages, initial allowances, training or otherwise. TheBritish Government undertook to contribute financially to the settlementscheme to the tune of S3 000 000 on the understanding that its contributionwould not exceed half the expenses of any scheme. As a direct result ofthis scheme, Rhodesia received some 300 settlers in the next three years.34In August 1925, the Southern Rhodesia Government introduced a newland settlement scheme which, by November of the same year, was reportedto have succeeded in bringing in 40 settlers. The terms of this new schemewere that only those with capital to the amount of S500 to £1 500 would beeligible, while the Rhodesian Government would provide a grant ofapproximately one half of the cost of transportation from Britain toRhodesia. In addition, the Rhodesia Railways would provide free secondclass railway fares, while immigrants would also enjoy free board andlodging during the preliminary period of tuition in the country. Furthermore,S600 would be provided for the purpose of permanent improvements onthe immigrant's farm. This amount was to be repaid in 40 half-yearlyinstalments; the first instalment falling due after three years.35In November 1925, the Rhodesian Land Settlement Officer stationed inLondon reported that there was a great deal of interest in Rhodesia amongthe British people and that he had, to that date, conducted approximately2 000 interviews of prospective immigrants. Of these, only 80 had qualifiedfor the scheme mainly because 'the capital required seems to be a33 NAZ S881/522/1483, Overseas Settlement Committee, Annual Reports, Report of the OverseasSettlement Committee for the Year Ended 31st December, 1928, Presented by the Secretary ofState for Dominion Affairs to Parliament, April 1929 (London, HMSO, 1929).34 NAZ S881/522/1483, Overseas Settlement Committee, Annual Reports, Report of the OverseasSettlement Committee for the Year Ended 31st December 1928, Presented by the Secretary ofState for Dominion Affairs to Parliament, April 1929 (London, HMSO, 1929); R. G. S. Douglas,'Development of the Department of Immigration' (Unbub., National Archives of Zimbabwe),17-31.35 NAZ S881/1482/1, Southern Rhodesia Settlement Schemes: Correspondence, Director,Department of Land to Secretary, Department of Agriculture, November 9, 1925.A. S. MLAMBO 137considerable bar to applicants of the most desirable type'. Part of thereason for the growing interest in emigration, it was contended, was that,among other things, there was considerable congestion in England thenand, because of that, the British Government was anxious to 'get men outof the country' as the 'the best hopes for the mitigation of unemploymentappears to be greater production of raw materials in the colonies for theBritish market'.36In 1928, a nomination scheme under which established Rhodesianfarmers could choose persons in Britain to enter as agricultural employeeswas launched by the Rhodesian Government. Sea passages and rail faresfor such persons were to be heavily subsidised. The new land settlementscheme and the nomination scheme, together, boosted immigration figuresbetween 1924 and 1928.37Still anxious to encourage more European immigration, the RhodesianGovernment entered into an agreement with the Dominions Office and the1820 Memorial Settlers Association of England in June 1938. Known as theTripartite Agreement of 1938, this agreement provided for the cooperationof the three signatories in promoting immigration to Rhodesia from theUnited Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Under the terms of this agreement,the Rhodesian Government was to establish a Central Committee, consistingof representatives of the government and of organisations in a position tofurnish information on opportunities for employment and settlement inthe colony to intending immigrants from the United Kingdom. ThisCommittee would also receive immigrants on their arrival in the colony.38In its turn, the 1820 Memorial Settlers Association would, inconsultation with the Dominions Office and the High Commissioner inLondon, select suitable migrants for Rhodesia, conduct the necessarymedical examinations and make arrangements for their transportation tothe colony. The 1820 Memorial Association was to receive an annual grantof £250 from the Rhodesian Government for the two years of the Agreementas payment for its services. As for the Dominions Office, it was expected toshare the costs of passage of migrants from the United Kingdom, part ofwhich was to be paid by the Rhodesian Government while each migrantwas expected to contribute £5 towards his passage. In addition, theRhodesian Government was also to provide a free grant of £4 to themigrant, £4 to his spouse and £1 to each child to cover the incidentalexpenses of every migrant who arrived in the country and secured36 NAZ S881/1482/1, Southern Rhodesia Settlement Schemes: Correspondence, Land SettlementOfficer, London, 16 December, 1925.37 Douglas, 'Department of Immigration', 17-31.38 NAZ S881/1482/5748/1, Settlement Work for Southern Rhodesia: Tripartite Agreement.138 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIAemployment. According to the February 1939 report of the CentralCommittee, a total of 188 persons had benefited from the arrangement.39What is striking about the various efforts by both the Rhodesian andBritish authorities to encourage immigration into Rhodesia is that theyyielded very unimpressive results in terms of the number of immigrantswho were actually recruited under the schemes. Indeed, it is evident fromthe statistics of British emigrants to the colonies provided by the OverseasSettlement Committee over the years of its operations that South Africa(which in emigration statistical terms also embraced Southern Rhodesia)received the smallest number of British emigrants in any given year.The total number of British emigrants and their destinations between1922 and 1935 are documented in Table 4.Table 4SAILINGS UNDER ASSISTED PASSAGE OF THE EMPIRE SETTLEMENTACT, 1922-1935S. AfricaNew (includingYear Canada Australia Zealand Rhodesia) Other Total192219231924192519261927192819291930193119321933193419351805 8359 6098 77920 8622711424 890210128 32712392982642635 61124 22123 64522 52732 68929 13620 603115281978211188117192896886 0867 7508 097117954 4462 17518491312421106119Š413912719822118187746039416058Š21ŠŠŠ7ŠŠ1Š1Š6 47936 1854104439 53065 54460 91747 85671 75029 0985 499631196303210Total 128 276 172 735 44 745 1 226 12 495 242Source: Report of the Overseas Settlement Committee for the Period 1st April, 1935 to 31stMarch, 1936, Presented to Parliament, June 1936 (London, HMSO, 1936).39 Ibid. In August 1939, the Southern Rhodesia Immigration Committee reported that it hadfacilitated passages for 131 people, including workers, their wives and children. Amongthese were farm pupils, motor mechanics, bricklayers, learner miners, salesmen, carpenters,engineers and electricians. See NAZ S881/1482/5748/2, Settlement Work for SouthernRhodesia: Tripartite Agreement.A, S. MLAMBO 139Statistics of the Overseas Settlement Committee for the years 1922 to1935 show that, out of the 495 242 British emigrants who left for the Britishcolonial territories in that period, 25% went to Canada, 34% to Australia,9% to New Zealand and only 0.2% to South Africa, including Rhodesia. Thisdemonstrates clearly that the efforts of the Rhodesian and Britishauthorities notwithstanding, Southern Africa in general and Rhodesia, inparticular, were not popular destinations for British emigrants.Given the above facts, the question arises: why were the efforts of theRhodesian and British authorities to encourage people to emigrate toRhodesia not more successful? Possible reasons for this situation areanalysed below.CAUSES OF LOW IMMIGRATION FLOWS INTO RHODESIAThe reasons why immigration flows to Rhodesia remained low throughoutthis period, despite numerous efforts by both the Colonial and Imperialgovernments to attract and assist settlers, lie in a combination of local andglobal factors which tended to discourage European emigration toRhodesia. Among the local factors was the determined effort by theRhodesian authorities to ensure that only a certain type of immigrant wasallowed in.The Rhodesian authorities did want to make Rhodesia a White man'scountry but they were very particular about the type of White settler theywanted in their country. From the various pronouncements by and policiesof the successive Rhodesian Administrations, it appears that the idealimmigrant, as far as they were concerned, was one who was a Britishcitizen, was prepared to work on the land and had some capital withwhich to establish himself but one who was neither a wealthy gentlemanof leisure nor an ordinary labourer. Evidence of this official positionabounds.For instance, the BSAC authorities reacted negatively to a suggestionby one Owen Thomas in 1904 that Rhodesia should be developed as aBritish stock farming colony in which monied settler ranchers would formthe basis of the colony's society. The BSAC spokesperson summarilyrejected this suggestion, stating: 'we are not instantly concerned with theevolution of a high class of stock, nor even with the introduction of a fewscore of cattle owners with SI 000 to £2 000 a-piece'. Instead,We are convinced that the shortest road to these objects is to establishon Rhodesian land the largest possible number of working cultivatorsi.e. the small laborious owners who do not leave Europe to make theirfortunes, but who, finding themselves crowded out of cultivable land intheir own country, wish to make a living and a home of their own... such140 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIAa class will not make their way into Rhodesia unless they are encouragedby a carefully developed policy.40Similarly, in 1916, when the BSAC announced its offer of land todemobilised British soldiers, it made a point of stressing that, 'in a countryin which the whole of the unskilled labour ... is performed by aboriginalnatives of low wages from 10s to 30s per mensem, there is no scope for theimmigration of European agricultural labourers' and that it was necessaryfor any immigrant to have some capital with which to 'support himselfuntil he is in a position to market his [agricultural] produce'.41Again, in 1925, Downie found it necessary to stress to the RhodesianHigh Commissioner in London that the country was not looking for justany settler but only those with a pioneering spirit. He wrote:The pioneering period is far from finished. They [settlers] have got tocome out here and live on frugal fare, do hard work and make theirmoney out of the land. They cannot afford to come here and live atMeikles, wear dress suits every other night, and go to bioscopes ordances every Wednesday and/or Saturday night. In other words, peoplewho have the pioneering temperament, who are prepared to do hardwork and live on frugal fare, are the people we feel we can welcome most... In his selection, he [the London Immigration Representative] shouldpay particular attention to the social status of the people he is interviewing... if he will cast his mind back to some of the Scotch farmers we havehere ... these fellows were taken from the hills so to speak. They cameout here as uncouth and clumsy as any Scotchman could be, but theyare amongst the most promising of all the settlers who have come hereduring the last few years ... But I am afraid that these people are not to befound in Aldwych [empasis added].42Not surprising, therefore, all settlement schemes in which theRhodesian authorities participated in throughout this period requiredwould-be immigrants to be in possession of some stipulated amount ofcapital, which meant that the many hordes of interested potentialimmigrants including agricultural and other labourers, the unemployed insearch of job opportunities and other groups which did not fit the bill asdefined by the Rhodesian authorities were excluded from the country.This obviously reduced Rhodesia's catchment pool for immigrants andhelps explain why immigration flows were so low throughout this period.Had the Rhodesian authorities been willing to take all Whites who mettheir strict eligibility requirements, regardless of their nationality, they40 NAZ All/2/9/9, Settlers from Orange River Colony and India; Lord Gifford and P. LytteltonGell, Report on Colonel Owen Thomas's Memo Re: Land Settlement and Farming in Rhodesia,27 April, 1904.41 NAZ A3/15/19 Vol.1, Settlement Schemes, 1915-1917.42 NAZ S881/1482/1, Southern Rhodesia Settlement Schemes: Correspondence, Downie toHigh Commissioner for Southern Rhodesia, London, 9/11/1925.A. S. MLAMBO 141might have been able to increase the level of immigration into the countryand come much nearer to creating the White man's country of theirdreams. On the contrary, however, the Rhodesian authorities wantedRhodesia to develop not just as a White man's country but, specifically, asa British White man's country.The thinking behind this policy was clearly articulated by E. TawseJollie who noted in the 1920s that:The average British-born Rhodesian feels that this is essentially a Britishcountry, pioneered, bought and developed by British people, and hewants to keep it so.43The official position was expressed by C. H. Harding of the Departmentof Internal Affairs in 1939 when he wrote:The policy of the government in regard to immigration is to maintain apreponderance of British subjects in about the same proportions as lastyear when the total number of immigrants was about 3 500, of whom3 000 were British subjects and 500 aliens i.e. 6 to 1. On this basis, thenumber of aliens of all races should be restricted to about 40 a month.44Similarly, announcing yet another scheme to attract immigrants, theRhodesia Herald of March 16, 1939 reported:A scheme to attract British immigrants to Southern Rhodesia is to belaunched by the Government of the colony .. . The main reason whichhas activated the government in making these arrangements is that theimmigration returns show that a substantial proportion of immigrants tothe Colony are aliens. 'It is the definite policy of the Government tomaintain a British population in the colony and it is with this object inview that the new scheme has been started', states an officialmemorandum issued to the Rhodesia Herald yesterday.What this policy meant, therefore, was that, while Rhodesians couldeasily have whitened the colony more by opening their doors to thehundreds of thousands of potential non-British immigrants, particularlyrefugees from Europe, their preference for people of British stock onlymeant that the increases in the local White population would be small asmost British emigrants preferred to settle in the old dominions of Canada,Australia and New Zealand rather than Rhodesia.That the Rhodesian authorities were very reluctant to admit Europeanrefugees to Rhodesia was made clear time and time again, especially in the1930s. For instance, in 1939, one George Bacher wrote the Rhodesian43 E. Tawse Jollie, 'Southern Rhodesia', in South African Quarterly (1921), III, 10-12, cited in D.Lowry, 'White woman's country: Ethel Tawse Jollie and the making of White Rhodesia', inJournal of Southern African Studies (June 1997), XXIII, (ii), 270.44 NAZ S1801/5450, Immigration 1935-1939, C. H. Harding, Acting Secretary, Department ofInternal Affairs to Chief Immigration Officer, Bulawayo, 6th April, 1939.142 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIAPrime Minister informing him that he had been approached by theCzechoslovak Minister of Foreign Affairs to help his government resettlethousands of refugees displaced by the German annexation of theSudetenland. Bacher wrote:By virtue of authority received from the Czechoslovak Minister for ForeignAffairs and the Ministry of Social Welfare, I beg to submit for your kindconsideration the following problem: The international events ofSeptember 1938 have resulted in the loss of about 30% of the territory ofour Republic and the influx of hundreds of thousands of people from thelost districts into the remaining part of Czechoslovakia. It is obvious thatour state is unable to supply the means of maintenance and living to theadded population ... As a consequence, our Government is makingorganised efforts to facilitate the systematic emigration of these peoplefrom our country... Among this large number of potential emigrants, wehave a large proportion of peasants who have been engaged in agriculturaloccupations for many generations and a further number of people whohave owned large estates on which they have been engaged in farmingand cattle raising on a large scale. In addition, we have a certain proportionof skilled miners and mechanics. We have also available a number ofpeople of intellectual occupations, such as physicians [and] engineers.45Given the fact that Rhodesians always claimed that they wanted peoplewho could be productive on the land, one would have expected that theywould jump at the chance of bringing in the type of agricultural andprofessional refugees who were being offered by Czechoslovakia, yet theresponse of the Rhodesian authorities was terse and almost rude. TheRhodesian Department of Internal Affairs wrote back to Bacher:In the present state of the development of this colony, the number ofalien immigrants who could be absorbed here is definitely limited . . .mass migration is out of the question.46A similar response was given to 0. D. Philips of the Rhodesia TravelBureau in London who, in January 1939, drew the Rhodesian authorities'attention to the growing interest in emigrating to Rhodesia by a largenumber ofGermans, Hungarians, Czechs and Austrians (not necessarily all Jews) ... all people of means [with] funds varying between SI 000 and £8 000 perperson... Between them, it would be possible for them to raise as muchas £200 000.4745 NAZ S246/4401, Immigration 1933-1940, Letter from George Bacher to PM, Southern Rhodesia,14/2/39.46 NAZ S246/4401, Immigration 1933-1940, Secretary, Department of Internal Affairs to GeorgeBacher, 24/2/1939.47 NAZ S246/4401, Immigration 1933-1940,0. D. Philips, Rhodesia Travel Bureau, London, to E.C. Anderson, Director of Publicity, Salisbury, 27/1/1939.A. S. MLAMBO 143Predictably, the response was that 'mass migration is out of thequestion'.48Anxious to forestall any efforts to send refugees to settle in Rhodesia,the Rhodesian Department of Internal Affairs instructed the RhodesianHigh Commissioner in London to request the British Foreign Office tocircularise Consul in Yugo Slavia (sic), Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria,Roumania, Latvia, Lithuania, Holland and Italy . . . that group refugeeimmigration cannot be entertained.49In response to yet another enquiry as to whether some 5 000 HungarianJewish refugees and their families could be allowed to emigrate to Rhodesia,the Department of Internal Affairs instructed its official in London to 'sendthe usual reply that it is not possible to consider such a proposal'.50The Rhodesian reluctance to allow large numbers of non-British Whitesto immigrate into the country was neatly captured by one of the biographersof Rhodesian Prime Minister Godfrey Huggins who wrote:In the thirties, immigrants had trickled in. Malvern had been satisfied totake those with capital and a British background. Jews from Europe ...were, on the whole, kept out. They would have altered the social structureand weakened the British character of the country ... The country hadno use for white peasants.51As the above examples show, however, it was not the peasant characterof the would-be-immigrants that mattered most as some of them werereputed to have £8 000. It was their non-British nationality whichdisqualified them from Rhodesian citizenship. As the already citedmemorandum to the Rhodesia Herald of March 16,1938 clearly spelt out, itwas the definite policy of the Rhodesian Government 'to maintain a Britishpopulation in the colony'.If the Rhodesian authorities found the idea of non-British Whiteimmigration abhorrent, they found the possibility of non-White, especiallyIndian, immigration even more so. Rhodesia's antipathy to Indianimmigration was given expression early in the colonial history of thecountry when the authorities enacted the 1903 Immigration RestrictionOrdinance which barred anyone who was unable 'by reason of deficienteducation to write out and sign, in the character of any European language,48 NAZ S246/4401, Immigration 1933-1940, Minister of Internal Affairs to R. D. Gilchrist on 28/3/39.49 NAZ A1801/5450, Immigration 1935-1939, J. Blackwell, Secretary, Department of InternalAffairs, Salisbury, to High Commissioner, London, 8/2/39.50 NAZ S246/440, Immigration 1933-1940, C. H. Harding, Acting Secretary of the Department ofInternal Affairs, on behalf of the Chief Immigration Officer, Bulawayo, 4 May, 1939.51 M. Gelfand (ed.), Godfrey Martin Huggins, Viscount Malvern, 1883-1971: His Life and Work(Salisbury, Central African Journal of Medicine, n.d.), 39.144 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIAan application'. The same clause was made part of the ImmigrantsRegulation Ordinance 1914.52This clause was designed specifically to exclude Indian immigrantswho were considered to be undesirable partly because of their race butalso partly because, according to the British South Africa CompanyAdministrator, the Indian trader was 'year by year, obtaining a furtherfoothold in the country and ... his presence tends to the possibility of theeventual exclusion of the European' from the market.53 Similarly, when in1907, an Engineer from India, W. N. Gordon, visited Rhodesia and suggestedthat land which was unsuitable for White settlement should be allocatedto 'Indian immigrants settling in village communities', Sir William Miltonresponded that such a scheme 'would meet with great hostility from theEuropean population'.54Given the staunchly pro-British preference of the Rhodesian authorities,it is not surprising that the majority of immigrants entering the country inthe period under review were of British stock. Apart from a few exceptionalyears, the entire period was characterised by the continued dominance ofimmigrants of British extraction. According to one source, for instance,95.3% of all immigrants into Rhodesia between 1930 and 1950 were ofBritish nationality; 45.6% and 42.0% of whom came from the British Islesand the Union of South Africa, respectively.55Non-British immigrants, including Greeks, Italians, Russians, Americans,Germans, Swiss, French and Poles remained very few throughout thisperiod. In 1921, for instance, they accounted for less than 5% of the Whitepopulation.56 However, the number of non-British immigrants increasedslightly between 1923, when 35 out of every 1 000 persons were non-British, and 1941, when the ratio had risen to 58 per 1 000.57 The 1941increase can be explained partly as a result of the establishment of anItalian internment camp in Salisbury during the Second World War.The strict criteria applied by Rhodesians in the selection of immigrantsand the clearly pro-British and anti-foreigner bias combined with otherfactors from time to time to reduce White immigration to a trickle. AsTable 4 above clearly shows, because of the effects of the Great Depressionin the early 1930s, British emigration almost stopped, with emigrationunder the auspices of the Overseas Settlement Committee plummeting52 Immigrant Regulation Ordinance 1914 (Ordinance No. 7), 1914, 9th October, 194.53 Douglas, 'Department of Immigration', 6.54 NAZ Al 1/2/9/9, Settlers From Orange River Colony and India, Milton's Secretary to Secretary,BSAC, London, 25 May, 1907.55 Kay, 'Population', 43.56 Southern Rhodesia, Official Yearbook 1924, 56.57 Southern Rhodesia, Official Yearbook, 1952, 156.A. S. MLAMBO 145from 29 098 in 1930 to a mere 196 in 1933. Of these, only 41 emigrated toSouth Africa and Southern Rhodesia.Within Rhodesia in the early 1930s, it was reported that, because ofthe economic hardships, there had been a drastic decline in railwaytraffic, while the poor economic conditions had led to a rise inunemployment. Because of these conditions, the Government had amendedthe regulation laws in 1930 to enable it to restrict immigration fromneighbouring territories and other countries and to enforce immigrationcontrols more strictly.58While economic hardships in the early thirties discouraged Britishemigration to the colonies, it appears that even prosperous times couldachieve the same result. Reporting on the decline in British emigration inthe late 1920s, the Overseas Settlement Committee blamed the sluggishBritish emigration trends in 1927 on, among other reasons, the 'upwardtendency of the standard of living and comfort in Great Britain'. Othercauses were given as: the high cost of travel, the industrial habits of theBritish population which were not suited to the agricultural industries ofthe colonies and 'the increasing insistence that Dominion governmentscarefully scrutinise all who wish to enter their territories'. The last reasonwas particularly applicable to Southern Rhodesia, as has already beennoted.59As is evident from the above, various factors inhibited large-scaleWhite immigration into Rhodesia, among which the most influential werethe highly selective immigration policies and anti-foreign biases of theRhodesian Government authorities.CONCLUSIONThe article has traced Rhodesian White population growth trends from1890 to 1941, showing that the White population grew slowly but steadilyin that period and that the major source of population growth wasimmigration. It has argued that immigration flows were not consistent butfluctuated from time to time according to the influences of both local andglobal circumstances which either impeded or facilitated immigration.It has also been the contention of the article that, while the originalcolonisers and their governments cherished the dream of building Rhodesiaas a British White man's country, the dream was never fully realisedbecause of Rhodesia's failure to attract large numbers of British immigrantsas many emigrants from Britain preferred to emigrate to the longer-58 NAZ S246/122, Rhodesia Party Congress, Immigration and Repatriation of Undesirables.59 NAZ S881/522/1483, Overseas Settlement Committee, Annual Reports. Report of the OverseasSettlement Committee for the Year Ended 31st December 1928.146 ASPECTS OF WHITE IMMIGRATION INTO RHODESIAestablished Dominions such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand andnot to Rhodesia. It has also been suggested that, contributing to the failureto populate Rhodesia with White settlers to the extent the Rhodesianauthorities may have wanted was the fact that the Rhodesian authoritiesthemselves were very particular about who they would admit and tendedto be hostile to immigration by non-British Whites.