BOTHA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11805, 16 September 1916, Page 8

BOTHA.

Sixteen years ago JBotha was in arms against <Britain; to-day he is Prime Minister of United South Africa; a few weeks ago lie ad led an immense territory to the British Empire by the conquest of what was long known as German South-West Africa, hut which on future maps will be coloured red. As an enemy Botha was a chivalrous and fair fighter; when he saw that the cause for which ho fought was lest beyond all hope of recovery, he counselled a discontinuance of hostilities, and advised his countrymen to unite in rehabilitating the State wider British rule. His actions since then have been entirely .consistent with the attitude he took up during the critical time from the declaration of war in Oct 1 " her, 1899, till the Peace of Vereoni<><ng, and to-day he is rightly regarded as one of Britain's noblest and most steadfast sons. Any literature, thoretore, throwing light on the life work of such a man will be welcomed, and Mr Harold Spender's recently published volume, " General Botha, the Career and the Man," will be warmly it wived by those who are interested in .Vlncan affairs, l/at more particularly in the romantic rise, of the man who today dominates our possessions in that part of the world. Tlie auUi-u ba>. ever shown keen interest m bouu; airican affairs, and has had t.ie ad/Milage of being personally aequai;;ted ivi.h many of the leading actors iu lb" dramas of the last two decades, he shown, however, a defect aa a lust,nria.n

iiiii-.murli os lit- displays strong political bins against- the I'niouists. In thin ho is scarcely loir, as, for instance, when he lays «n tluit party the responsibility lor tlie alienation between Genf ral Botha mm General Hertzng, which, in liH.'l, led to a final split-, whereas a more profound and impartial study ot South African affairs must have revealed to him that what ho des. " hit tor Unionist attacks " merely precipitated what was tin- inevitable conclusion of a union between two men of such diametrically opposite ptdiiics idetU, Both desired a united South Africa, both ha'd striven loyally to bring it. about, bat tile imperialism of General Botha was bound sooner or later to come in a parting of the ways with the r.arro.ivrr, self-con-tained pol'cv advocated by his colleague.

Again, in his assessment of Lord Alilners work as Ihgi Commissioner in South Africa, tho author is fair neither to the courage, industry nor patience displayed in one of the most ■ '.el.cute and difficult tasks ever entrusted to a public servant -(lie reorganisation and equipment of a conquered country after a devastating war extending over nearly .uree years, in dealing wit!) the work of tho late Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain the author is similarly ungenerous, and that .statesman's recognition of South African needs after the war, and Jus riii;its to supply them, both in fiii..*ncial aid and in legislation, have received more generous acknowledgment from one at least among distinguished Afrikander writers than is to bo found in the pages of the volume under notice. However, passing over t'aese instances of incurable bias, the hook call-, for niueh praise, . and the career ot General Betba develops steadily uniicr Mr Spender's facile pen. -Without doubt ho app'oaehed his task with enthusiasm, and has performed valuable service in enabling his readers to realise the mngnihide arc! the singleness of the 'soldier-statesman's aim - the good of the people and the country as a whole. It was this that m.-de him take up arms against Britain in 1899, though he had foug'it strenuously to avoid war. It was this that made him bring lus great influence to bear upon hi.s fellow-countrymen in persuading them to submit to the terms which Groat Britain demanded as the price of peace, and it is this that lias made him one of the most faithful of public servants since that date. On May 31, 1902, in the presence of the joint representatives of the British and Boer Governments, the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed. When the last name had been written, Lord Kitchener, to tfhose patience and courtesy throughout these d : fficult days the author pays a high tribute, rose'and held out his hand to General Botha. We are good friends now," ho said, ft wns Great Britain speaking to South Africa. Though General Botha's answer is unrecorded, his actions since have proved how fully he endorsed that statement. One instance alone is sufficient, to show his conception o. the duties of tne dominions towards tho Mother Country. While attending the Imperial Conference in 1911. General Botha learnt that tho

'' Volkstem," a Transvaal newspaper, had laid clown the doctrine that in the event of an imperial war, South Africa need not take part, and further declared that this was also General Botha's view. To this he cabled an instant negation. " There is no such thing.", he cabled, "as optional neutrality." On reaching South Africa, he referred again to this subject: " Should the unhappy day ever dawn," he said, " when the common fatherland is attacked, Dutch and English Afrikanders will be found defending the fatherland to the very last." And he has kept his word.

As a commander in the field General Botha proved during the South African war, handicapped and thwarted though ho constantly was by older, less far-seeing generals, his strategic genius. He proved also that he possessed the qualities essential to a great soldier of indomitable courage, patience and endurance ; he has given no '.ess signal proof of these qualities and of his brilliant generalship since. But those who study his career during the last fourteen years will in all likelihood •nine to the conclusion that it is in the •ouneil chamber and on public plat■rms that his greatest victories have n won. In the early days after the signing of peace, he showed that he could act swiftly and even imperiously where vital matters were at stake, though his methods and object have ever been conciliatory rather than offensive among his own people. From the first he has sought tcr bring British and Boer together and to see that the demands of neither were mglected. His hind has been held out in genuine friendship to Englishmen, between wli-.n l and the 13ol;r Geecial thcie once seemed an impassable gulf- With Su S.arr Jameson he has been on tonus oi affectionate intimacy ; of Cecil Rhodes he wrote in 1912, with "reverent and sincere appreciation of what was best and most unselfish in our friend; and the heart in reverence bows to the >ilei)t pray l ' l ' that what was highest and noblest in Cecil Rhodes may remain a living influence in the country hj" loved so well." It is pleasant to think that General Botha' now enjoys the stately beauties of that magnificent hoint- wliijh Cecil Rhodes built for himself outside Cape Town, and which he left as a permanent residence ioi the Prime Minister of South Africa.