John William Akerman to Frederick Chesson, 4 March 1877

9 Fellings …

…

Sunday night

Dear Mr Chesson,

I have worked day and night to aid the good cause for which I have so long laboured and now in presenting you with the enclosed must trust to your kindness and I venture to ask that you will bestow special attention on the printing which I would with pleasure have done had my time not been gone.

I beg to suggest as follows. Print the whole of the first issue of 1874 just as it now stands and continue it with the M.S.S. enclosed. Whether it should be issued in a pamphlet form or not must be left to you.

The whole together may appear somewhat lengthy but not too much so for the subject. While especially in this letter … cases for quotation all genuine are produced. An M.P. could read through the whole when printed in an hour. My object is to show by having the whole printed together how the chain of bad legislation has been added to link by link even until now.

I enclose two official returns which will interest you. One of them, Appendix A, must if you please be printed without fail. This will do much good. The other you can do as you please with, either print it or not. At any rate it discloses how many kaffir women even through all the family and tribal risks they must brave to do so have applied for … because of want of consent.

If this they can be in type by Wednesday mid-day I could revise it. I leave here Thursday morning. Will send you [Carnarvon’s?] Bill … to this hour McArthur has not written.

Dear Sir

Yours very truly

J.W. Akerman

P.S. I see that by mistake I have written folio 7 and 8 on the same sheet of paper but the compositor can just turn it over.