The Dominion. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1908. POLITICS IN CAPE GOLONY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 114, 6 February 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1908. POLITICS IN CAPE GOLONY.

It lias been said that the General Election in: Gape Colony: wafe .brought. about by the fear of the Afrikander Bond, thai, Dri Jameson was: about to introduce a Re-distribution •. of Seats Bill,-, based on one vote one Value, a', reforni'.even more heeded in...Oapje' Col-, oiiy> than "in .Is ew- Zealand. ■ This ,ru-, - nlour has "been denied in some quarters,'but, .probably, had some, foundai-; bfeen a tKornyj'subject in; Cape Cplo'ny foi' the.lasttonyears, and now/that Dr. Jameson lias been defeated, his is the second \:Mihisti'y that, has ;beeii destroyed by this qtteStidn. In each case, strange „to. say, thik f&sult: htis beenbrought about by something .■ Very difficult to distinguish;from / political ; In 1898 it .caused the'fall of Mri :oeeil -Rhodes's: Ministry, the determining fafctorbemg' tM 1 desertion of some„Cape Tbttn "Independent" members ofEnglish•: birth ■ Oi 1 extraction, Wlio,";i though .pledged to give' a general support to tile al-. lowed .tlieir of Mr. Rhodes to lead'then! into the wrong lobby. The mischief Caufee'd by their action, was, in reality, far more seriouS jthan the loSs of the Bill, for the natural consequence was the advent to power ,of a Bond llinisti'y-, which included the notorious Messrs. Squer and Te Water. TJMer-the fostering Care of the former of these .worthies as Minister of Railways, the- smuggling of munitions of war thrbugh the coast ports intb the TfkiWva'alj ''was ciirl'ied bn , jilmbSt openly," and, of course, materially assisted .to prolong the war and add to ' the number of widows and Orphans. The present trouble has been caused by an even more glaring .breach of pledges. At "the last election Mr. ■„J;.D. Logan, a prominent member of : tile liquor trade,: ; .desiffed to obtain official' adoption as . a - Progressive (i.e., Jameson) candidate for ;the tipper House. But; it /wafc khOwfi tliat he. intended .tb pay a dengtliy visit to .England lVniediatfely after the'election, "tfliibh wtfuld deprive the pflrty' of a. mubh-neoded vote. This was pointed out to lniti, and, i'atlioi than forego the desired' nomination', he pledged himself t6 abandon his visit /Home. , When,, however, • !Dif.. Jamesbn ioMed lik Cabinet) he;, did nbt .offer a portfolio to Air. Lbgaiij and the j latter, thereupon, and in spite bf his promise, sailed for England,' where he remained fir a considerable tittieY Since his return to the Colony, he has ,b66n.. .consistent • only :in • being a thbi'bllgKly ,unreliablo quantity, . and rbfiehtly/by delifefttcly and repe&tedly, voting against his party, and thus producing a tie-vote completely blocking Supply, lie has fittingly browned ft political Career happily unique in the Colony. Dr.' Jameson's reasons for not introducing a Re-distribution Bill, while h& had the chance. iUA flftt' kntwn ta. 1 08.

Whatever they may have been, it is at E least open to regr6t that such a Bill a: has not become law. Apart from its hi beneficial effect in restoring to the cl majority in the Colony', their co'nstitu- so tional ridit to rule, indirectly such an p; Act would have had a great and most d< desirable effect on the coming Federa- J| tion or Unification of South Africa.. 'si Whether it is to be Federation, or wlie- ol tlier it is to be Unification, one thing 0: ai least is certain, and that is that the t, general form and the main details of p the approved scheme will bo governed i v6ry largely by the political colour of a the various Ministries in power at the time. In the Transvaal, thanks to the f ( anti-English Constitution of Mr. Win- 0 sttm Churchill, the Dutch minority: j; rule the English majority, and must 0 continue to do so, for so long as they t, can make it "no place for Britishers." 0 In tlie Orange River Colony they afe A] equally supreme, and for the same red; g son; and in Cape Colony the Dutch e also hold office. It is bfecausG, amongst j other reasons; we shall always, be op- f' posed to minorities Ruling majorities in d self-governiug : colonies,, and because „ wo* believe that' no satisfactory Federa' t tion ,or Unification' scheme can be t ovolved, unless the Governments of { the Various Colonies 'really represent the majority of their voters, that we re- r grot-that Dr. Jameson lias gone out ( , of power: The passing of a Re-distri- \ bution Bill, "based on one vote one j value, wolild reduce to some extent the r unfair handicap which'a Radical Homo j Government, for party, purposes, have j placed on their'own countrjmen in j South Africa? :;We are not greatly in , love, with .the principle of the Refer- j endum, but if ever there is to be a ' case in which,it" can justify itself, it , will'come in South Africa within the j next few. years. Dr. Jameson has every - reason to'be .proud of his first Pre- , miershif). 1 Hts found the Colony on the , yerge^of'bankruptcy, owing' to the ex- , trayagances : of' .that prince of opportu- , liists, 1 Sir Gordon Spfigg.,, Be has not j achieved a surplus, .it is true, but the , finances are now in a far sounder ,con- ■ dition than '.they.iwere three years ago, and, if-ihe; lines laid down by him are 1 adhered to, a surplus should be near at hand. Drastic economy lifts bcefl needei to .bring this about, and, as usiiaJ, a temporary unpopularity ' has followed closely at the heels of feconomy. ' ' . ' 1