AFRICA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, Issue LXXII, 24 May 1917, Page 7

AFRICA.

INTERESTING REMARKS BY GENERAL SMUTS.

j (Australian-N.Z. C.A. and Reuter.) (Received May 24, 12.15 p.m.) LONDON, May 23. At a banquet in honor of General Smuts, *ther c was a distinguished gathering of notables connected with South Africa. General Smuts,_ in a speech, contended that the policy of national unity consistent with the preservation of traditions was in the best interest of South ' Africa, and would build up a race more ! powerful and stronger than if the race» } had remained apart. A policy keeping ' the two races distinct would be arrant I nonsense. Dealing with the difficulties of the I native problem, General Smuts said j they were trying to solve it by a system of self-government for native races similar to the white man's system. The ex- j periment might take a century to achieve good results, but was "the best they could initiate ' with the' present ' mixture of white and black. The Avar ! had opened his eyes to the enormous ' military material in East Africa, and | to ?the great German plan of building a j Central African Empire, which would j have embraced one of the most valuable • parts of the world in which it would J have been possible, to train one of the j most powerful armies the world had ) ever seen. The possibility of training , black armies would present a problem of great importance, not only to the Empire, but to civilisation. . He sug- ; gested that a remedy to prevent this i menace to South and Central Africa j would be to forbid military training of natives in any peace settlement proposals. General Smuts pointed out tbat our possessions in East Africa not only gave us through land communication from ono end of Africa to the other, but assured the safety of the Cape and Red Sea routes.