CAREER OF GENERAL SMUTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 24 October 1942, Page 2

CAREER OF GENERAL SMUTS

LAWYER, SOLDIER, STATESMAN Field-Marshal (by rank) Jan Christian Smuts is 72. He was born in Cape Town of Dutch parentage, his father being a member of the Cape Colony Legislative Assembly. After a secondary and university education in South Africa young Smuts went to Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he took a "double first” in the Law Tripos in 1894. Next year he returned home and quickly gained prominence as an advocate. During the Boer War Smuts served throughout, rising in the later stages to the rank of general. When negotiations for peace began he stood out as one of the recognised Boer leaders. With General Botha he threw his influence in on the side of peace. When, in 1907, responsible Government was granted

to the Transvaal, he became the righthand man of General Botha, its first Prime Minister. The bulk of the administrative work fell on him, a task to which he brought first-rate talents ' and untiring industry. Already a man of the world, he commanded the absolute loyalty of his subordinates. He worked at the side of Botha after the

Union was formed, much of the formative legislation being the product of his brain. When war broke out in 1914 and Botha declared wholehearted support for the British Government the bulk of the work of organising the Union’s military forces fell on Smuts. He took command and later was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Forces operating in Africa. When Mr Lloyd George became Prime Minister of Britain in 1916 one of his first acts was to summon an Imperial War Cabinet. General Smuts went to represent South Africa and

remained a permanent member of the Cabinet until the peace, when he, along with Botha, represented South Africa at the Peace Conference in Paris. On the death of Botha in 1919 Smuts became Prime Minister. In later years the Nationalist movement has troubled South Africa. After a political struggle following the outbreak of this war Smuts again became Prime Minister. He has been honoured by many educational institutions and has published works to his credit.