BOTHA AND SMUTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16020, 11 September 1915, Page 1 (Supplement)

BOTHA AND SMUTS.

st R. W. RETT). The mistake is common of placing the entire Dutch population of South Africa practically into one class, and of attributing to all the imperfections and idiosyncrasies of the few. Clearer and more correct ideas would probably prevail were the truth kept in mind that the Dutch inhabitants of the sub-continent are as varied in education, social standing, and political opinions as are the people of New Zealand, the Maori section not excluded It is a singular but well-known circumstance that the class recognised as the trek Boers" have been the chief cause of nearly all the troubles that have afflicted South Africa, The old trek Boer's ideal life was a bare homestead on the veldt, all the land he could view from his stoep his own property, no white or black neighbour within sight, numerous slaves, and plenty of cattle. Such a life as this followed for generations produced a race of white men accustomed to hardship, but cruel and grasping towards the natives, slim in their dealings with one another, and all animated by an amazing degree of selfesteem. Their political, like their religious, views, became so wonderfully distorted as to be frequently grotesque. The typical trek Boers, though slowly disappearing, are yet numerous in the Free State. Every man who looks with favour upon Mr. Hertzog, and every individual ! who was beguiled into rebellion by Maritz and Beyers, one may be sure, are of the stock of the trek Boers. Abnormally vain, i they aT« yet an easy prey to unscrupulous! political adventurers. Hertzog, the man ; of German descent posing as a Dutch patriot, merely plays .upon their self-esteem and their hatred of England- The trek variety of the Dutch remain the principal danger in South Africa at the present time, just as they hare been since the earliest days of the two Republics. That fact is one that cannot be too strongly insisted upon. Fortunately, there is another class of the Dutch community in South Africa; which is wholly distinct from the trek Boer ! variety of the north. This is the educated class, the descendants of Dutch governors, state officials, and others, such as wealthy merchants, who settled in the early days in Capetown, and in other southern towns, and there remained. These men and women advanced with the times ; sympathised, it is true, with their untutored compatriots, but were entirely without that unreasoning rancour of everything that was British. This class, happily, has been extending rapidly during recent years, not only by its own natural increase, but also by continual additions hailing from the backward denizens of the veld. The most bitter believers in the tenets of Krugerism have had sons, who, tasting education first from travelling teacher,:, and afterwards at the little schools in the dorps, determinedly pursued their way through city schools and colleges—and the ranks of the Doppers and the Kragerites grew less while the forces of reason waxed stronger.

Mr. J. H. Hofmeyer will probably come to be considered as the greatest Dutch statesman produced by South Africa in the nineteenth century. Kruger" and he were contemporaries. " But in education, training, political opinions, personal aims, and general outlook on the world's affairs the two men stood as at the poles apart. The trek Boers of the north', the illiterate, narrow-minded men of the veld, reached their zenith in President Kruger. At the same time the party of reason and of peace at the Cape had at its head Mr. Jan Hofmeyer, affectionately known by his friends and neighbours as \ Onze Jan. Kruger left as his political descendants in South Africa, men like Maritz, Bevers, Do la Bey, and De Wet; Hofmeyer may be said to be represented to-day within the Union by . two statesmen, both eminent and honoured, namely, Generals Botha and Smuts. Neither . Louis Botha nor Jan Christian Smuts was ever tainted with Krugerism. Theirs have always been the ideals of Jan Hofmeyer. There have been many illusions, cherished principally in nonBritish countries, concerning the loyaltv and the patriotism of General Botha. All who know the stern : integrity of the man and who recall the lofty traditions which he inherited from Hofmeyer, have never departed from their long-established belief that Botha would become the v greatest Briton of them all. • * * . ."

Mr. Hofmeyer was not only a believer in Great Britain, be was. also an' Imperialist. At the very first Imperial Conference, held in 1887, he formulated a scheme for financial colonial co-operation in support of the British Navy.. The basis of his proposal was that there should be a surtax on foreign imports in Great Britain and in all British colonies, and that the amount thus derived should be handed over to the Admiralty. In the speech delivered on that occasion he emphasised the need of all the colonies assisting in the upkeep of the navy. "It is admitted hv some high naval authorities," . he said, *' that the British fleet is not quite'so strong and powerful as it ought to be. in view of the tremendous, interests that it has to protect, when compared with the French and German fleets., and having regard to the limited interests they have to protect '". He went on to say that "there are very great' advantages in belonging to the British Empire," and that, "belonging to the British Empire, South Africans share, whether they will or not, in the common danger." The Cape .Times, writing on Mr. Hofmeyer's statesmanship, two years ago, remarked that, " Onze Jan doubtless found his way to the wider outlook «.f Imperialism because he realised that Imperialism was sound common sense from the South African point of view. But, having reached that position, he verv soon came to understand that the principle of common sacrifice for the attainment of common objects was a sound doctrine from the point of view of the Empire as a whole.*' The leaders of the two chief divisions of the South African Dutch, it will be observed.- stand out in bold and striking contrast. Hofmeyer. profoundly alive to the value of Great Britain to South Africa: Kruger bitterly hostile to the Uitlanders. and plotting for the overthrow of British power in South Africa. Generals Botha and Smuts may be relied upon to continue the Imperialism so warmly advocated and so firmlv believed in by Mr. Hofmeyer. General Botha, strange to say. belongs to the eraancinatcd trek Boers. His familv reached Natal, where the future general and Prime Minister vrw born— is, in British tei-ri-tory. But while Louis was young, his father removed into the Free State, and afterwards into the Transvaal. He bocame a member of the Tolksraad, bat was never a follower of President Kruger, General Smuts, on the other hand, belongs to what has been termed the educated claw of Dutch. Hi* father was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Cape Colony. He had a brilliant scholastic and nniversitv career. He graduated double B.A. at Victoria College, Stellenbosch; trained the highest honours at the Cape University, and at Christ's College, Cambridge, took the highest honours in the lower tripos. President Kruger appointed him StateAttorney of the Transvaal, an office which he held until the outbreak of hostilities. Both Botha and Smuts strenuously opposed the war, but Kruger, sure of German assistance, was contemptuous and defiant. The combination of the British culture and refinement of Smuts and of the Dutch high principles and sterling common sense of Botha, has already effected wonders in South Africa, and will effect greater. The future of the countrv is safe in the hands of Generals Botha and Smuts.