The Sun MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1915. BOTHA'S TRIUMPH.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 533, 25 October 1915, Page 6

The Sun MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1915. BOTHA'S TRIUMPH.

The high state of tension existing in South African politics, the clash of divergent ideals made sharper by the war, and the rebellion, caused even the . most optimistic -believer in the ideals of the British Empire to be dubious as to the effect of the South African j elections. Yet that result is at once a relief and a surprise, and proves jthat for all the bitter propaganda of 'the Nationalist section the policy of General Botha has the support of the nation, and that so far from that support being weakened by the war against German South-West Africa, as was hoped by the Hertzogites, it has been strengthened. It was obvious that at least four parties would be represented in the new Parliament, and it was anticipated that none of these parties would be [returned in sufficient strength to i carry on the government of the I country successfully, and that therefore new groupings would be necessitated. To a certain extent this lias proved to be the case, but no one was prepared to see General Botha's supporters and the Unionist Party returned in such overwhelming strength that a coalition between these closely allied sections means undisputed domination. The utter defeat of the Labour Party, on which the Hertzogites relied for support, is another great surprise. The practical annihilation of. the party is without doubt due to the resentment of the people in the larger urban centres at Labour's attempt to push its propaganda in the face of larger issues—the issues of nationality and racial antagonism—which might easily have wrecked the Union. Still more gratifying is it to see the Nationalists reduced to a hopeless minority, for the Nationalist ideal is entirely separatist, and its triumph would mean the defeat of all the Union stands" for, and all it hopes to attain. "Nationalism" in South Africa means, in fact, provincialism and racial subdivision, the anthitheses of that South African Nationalism of which the Act of Union was the beginning. Every use was made of the argument . that the possibility of a German victory in Europe was a warning to South Africa not to commit herself too far on the side of the j Empire. But nothing succeeds like success, arid the failure of the illadvised rebellion and Botha's swift | victory in German West Africa, combined with' the disclosures of Ger-j man machinations in South Africa, which it enabled him to make, tipped the balance in his favour, and against Hertzog. No doubt the prompt return of General Botha and his commandants to the Cape, crowned with the laurels of victory, was a means designed to an effect. What Hertzog and his parly stand for was plainly shown in a speech given by him in a Transvaal district in 1912, just after disruption in the t Union Cabinet. In that speech :he said: "South Africa should be governed by pure Africanders. . . . When the proper time came South Africa would look after its own interests first, ;uu! those of the Empire afterwards. . . . The main object was to keep the Dutch and English people separated." It was a statement of the "bitter-ender" view that by no means met with approval of ail the Dutch Africander leaders, and General Botha's reply to it was that its only effect was "to create misunderstanding and estrangement between the different sections of South Africa's people, and to undo the work which has been built up in the last four or five years with so much labour and devotion. I wish to emphasise that to me the interest of South Africa is supreme, and I be-

lieve that this view is almost generally shared by the population of our Union. This, however, does not exclude. that I myself and the South African Party fully appreciate the Imperial ideal." That is the standpoint of South Africa's great leader which has been so strikingly approved by the nation in these elections, and that approval is of good omen to those who believe that the great confederacy of British dominions is destined to become one of the greatest forces for the good of the world and the cause of peace.