THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 1926. SOUTH AFRICA'S PROBLEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19234, 25 January 1926, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 1926. SOUTH AFRICA'S PROBLEMS.

At the opening of the South African Parliament the Vice-Regal speech contained reference to several of the major problems which that country faces. In tone it was generally optimistic. There is evident hope that the improvement in conditions and prospects which last year witnessed will be maintained. The Minister of Finance, presenting the last budget, was able to announce "the first real surplus of revenue over expenditure which has been realised since 1919-20.", The amount was .£BOO,OOO, but this sum. did not include the year's results under the Railways and Harbours administration. This department has an independent budget of its own. It also showed good results, returning a surplus of £765,000, enabling the accumulated deficits inherited from the years of depression to be reduced to £SOOO, a sum which would cause no anxiety to the Treasury. It cannot be questioned that the tide in the Union has definitely turned, and that prosperity is flowing back to a land which, in common with the rest of the world, has had its share of adversity. The change will allow opportunity of facing certain difficult questions, to which serious attention must be devoted before long. There is a reference to the new customs tariff, and its effect on industry. The fiscal changes introduced last year received a great amount of attention, for they were said to include a move for the abolition of British preference. As finally shaped they merely introduced some modifications, while still allowing Britain most-favoured-nation treatment. There were various other amendments, mostly designed to give protection to South African industry. The definitely protective character of the changes is seen in the establishment of suspended duties, to be applied to nascent industries as they show signs of gaining an effective footing. South Africa has not been a freetrade country, so there was no great change of principle involved. The effect of the new duties, it has been noted, has been to increase the price of several commodities to the natives, thus providing an added incentive to work and compete with white labour. This opens up the greatest problem of the country. The general apprehension felt in South Africa over th t e native question received a -great stimulus in 1924, when there was published a report based on the census taken in 1921. It was calculated that, on the basis of increase during the preceding 10 years, and assuming that there was no great white immigration, the population in 30 years' time would be 3,650,000 Europeans, as against 24,000,000 coloured, Asiatic and Bantu. This came just after the legality of the "colour bar" in the mines had been tested in the Courts and found wanting. Proposals by the mining companies to admit natives into skilled or semiskilled occupations previously closely preserved for the white workers undoubtedly had much to do with the great strike on the Rand in 1922. The proportion of white to coloured labour had been governed by regulations issued under the Mines and Works Act of 1911. The admissibility of the system was contested in the Courts iri 1923-. The judgment was that discrimination on the ground of colour was so drastic a measure that it could be made only on statutory authority. In othesr words, the regulations were ultra vires. In February last year the Government introduced a small oneclause measure designed to give statutory authority to the regulations instituting the colour bar. It was hotly debated in the House, passed by a narrow majority, and rejected by the Senate, where the Government is in a minority. One of the grounds of objection was that the question of native labour in the mines could not properly be con- | sidered except in relation to a coniI prehensire native policy, which must | include political rights and access | to the land. Consequently, in the | recess which has now just ended, the | native question has been very freely I discussed. The Prime Minister, General Hertzog. announced a policy which he said would be given legislative form in the new session now opened. The proposals of the Prime Minister, who is also Native Minister, have already been attacked, on the grounds of their vagueness. Some parts are quite clear, others are not. General Hertzog proposes that the natives shall be represented in Parliament by seven members, who shall be Europeans, but elected by native vote. This, if given effect, will provide representation for the natives of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, who have had no political rights. At the same time those natives in the Cape Province who could comply with the property ancl educational qualifications demanded, have had the right to vote in elec- : tions as Europeans do. This they stand to lose. The innovation proposed has not been wholly welcomed by the natives, and' has not answered ail European criticism. Then there remains the land issue. If the native is to be * discouraged from entering industries, he must return to the soil. Under the Land Act of 1913 a policy of at least partial segregation was instituted. Its aim was to preclude the acquisition of land by natives in European area.s, or by Europeans in native. The difficulty then, which remains the difficulty now, is that insufficient areas have been reserved for native occupation. Since 1913 there have been several commissions, all of which have failed to demarcate adequate native reserves. General Hertzog has proposed -to set aside

Crown lands to be bought by the natives, but buying is hardly possible in the absence of adequate financial arrangements. The Prime Minister has given promises on general lines that all these deficiencies in the policy will be remedied. General Smuts has hinted that any proposals judged practicable will be treated as above party. Not long ago he suggested a national convention, representing all shades of opinion, to which the whole native question should be referred for discussion. Its conclusions should be submitted to Parliament for consideration and action. These are the main outlines of the greatest problem the Lnion faces. With it must be associated that of the Asiatic population, especially in Natal, where Indians and other race aliens outnumber the Europeans. The existence of these questions shows that there are many tasks in South Africa calling for the highest qualities of statesmanship, even if the economic recovery has freed the country and the national leaders from an anxiety which weighed heavily for the past few years.