THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1924. SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19198, 14 June 1924, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1924. SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICS.

The denunciation of the NationalistLabour pact embodied in an utterance by Mr Wolmanms, a prominent Nationalist, at a meeting under the auspices of that party, has introduced a new note of discord in the South African election campaign. Hitherto the platform denunciation of the pact has been left to the members of the South African party. Mr Wolmarans has not been alone, however, among the Nationalists in his repudiation of the pact. His speech throws a strong light upon the aims of the Nationalist Party and upon the anti-British sentiments of its leaders during the war period. The Nationalists who repudiate the pact do so because they are afraid that it may impede the realisation of their ideal, separation from the Empire and the creation of a South African republicSuch a controversy within the Nationalist ranks adds weight to everything that General Smuts has said about secession,. and to his warning to the people of South Africa in that connection. Dissension among his opponents should be more or less helpful to the Prime Minister’s cause. Upon- the conclusion of a political tour of all the provinces, and with the day of the elections close at hand, he has expressed the opinion that the prospects of the South African Party are excellent, that the people have now realised the significance of the Nationalist-Labour pact, and that there has been a great revulsion of feeling which will mean the decisive rejection of an unnatural and dangerous coalition. In the interests of South Africa as a part of the Empire it is to bo hoped that his confidence will be justified hi the sequel. Vot the obstacles that confront General Smuts and his party are of a very formidable kind, and their

victory at the polls can by no means bo taken for granted. It remains to be seen whether General Smuts’s challenge i .to the Nationalist-Labour combination is going .to justify its appraisement in ultra-loyal circles as a bold statesmanlike course, calculated to throw the enemy’s camp into confusion. What' is sufficiently evident is that the election campaign has - een productive of a great deal of turmoil throughout the country. The extent to which the introduction of the secession issue will affect the verdict of the electors seems to be a matter of considerable uncertainty. The question of loyalty to the Empire has, however, been by no means the only issue productive of feeling. The Indian question has assumed prominence. Left to themselves, the Indians in South Africa would probably agitate but little. But propagandists from. India want to make an “Empire test case” of their fellows in South Africa. The fact must be faced, it is suggested, that the great majority of South Africans, Dutch, and British will simply give no consideration to the plea for the extension of full ciyio and political rights for the Indians. The attitude of General Smuts and his Government is marked by a strong concession to that view. But an active recrudescence of feeling upon the question lias not been calculated to help the South African Party at the polls. The Dutch South African papers have been concentrating upon what they call the “Asiatic Menace,” and the Dutch Protestant churches have been urged to warn their members that “every penny paid to the coolie is a contribution in the service and favour of Mohammedanism.” The effect of this; is indicated by a special correspondent of the Observer:— When the Predikant (minister) gets on the warpath he has to be reckoned with, especially in the country districts where his ■ power is supreme. The Predikant is by nature and inclination a Nationalist. The South African Party is too “English” to suit his tastes, and Smuts, generally speaking, is anathema to these Calvinistic' theocrats. The Predikant is busy, too, in the advocacy of reunion. But when the Nationalists talk of the “country,” and of a “united party,” they mean a Dutch South Africa and a Dutch party every time. In any case the activity of the Predikants bodes ill for the South African Party’s prospects in the country districts. Nationalism in South Africa spells racialism, and it is largely through the fanning of racial passions that the position of the one party which can maintain the credit of South Africa is seriously threatened.