The Dominion. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1911. SOUTH AFRICA'S PROBLEMS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1043, 4 February 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1911. SOUTH AFRICA'S PROBLEMS.

The' Botha Ministry— the first Ministry of the South African Union—has already sorely tried the patience of tho old Parliamentary hands of the Capo and of Natal. In the two colonies named responsible Government has been in force for many years. In them the rules of the British Parliament were closely iollowed, and every effort made to continue in southern- lands the best traditions of the Mother of ParliaVery different was tho-poli-tical situation in the Orange Frco in tho Transvaal. Neither of the two Piepublics ever knew the real meaning of party politics or of party government. No Opposition worth tho name could find a footing the rule of tho Presidents. The franchise in both .Republics was adroitly—some say, clumsily—manipulated with the one object of excluding the Uitlandcrs from any share in the management of the country's affairs. In those clays the Uitlandcrs, the strangers within the gates, contributed 82 per cent, of the total revenue of tiio Transvaal, while tho entire Dutch population, with the help of the. natives, succeeded in raising 18 per ccnt. of the revenue. All the same, country settlers, workers in the mines, mineowners, and 'even tlie so-called mining magnates, if not Dutch and speakers of the "taal," were, in effect, excluded for all time from the right to vote and the right to sit in the Eaads. There is an attempt now to repeat the "slim" methods of the Krugek re,f/imc. What has come to be known as the Education Act is worthy of tho times when Krugerism _was. at the height of its power. This Act would cojnnel English children-to learn Dutch,"in spite of the protests of English parents, i And this compulsion, says the author of the Act, is necessary to prevent tho spread of racialism. Too frequently in the past the thoughts and words of Dutch politicians had little connection with each othor, and it would seem that to-day tho old methods and, old habits, have not altogether ceased to operate. It seems to be the fashion at tho present time to speak of the South African Dutch in-terms only of admiration, but.General Botha's Ministry certainly appears to bo suffering from cither craft or simplicity —which, we do not pretend to decide._ The Cape Times possesses no' illusions with respect 4®"the present Administration. In the latest issue to hand we find that journal saying: "A Minister of Finance who can do this sort of thing may be endowed with transcendent abilities, but he has no business to be in charge of the Treasury in a country under responsible Government." Briefly, General Botha and his colleagues seem' to have commenced their Ministerial- careers in tho belief that they can continue the autocratic system of government which flourished so well under the reign of President Khuoer. Tho principal members of the Cabinet are from the {Transvaal, and, as in olden days, they arc suspected of having decided that, come what may, the Transvaal is to have the lion's share of cash expended. In the first place, Ministers presented themselves with salaries, the largest Ministerial salaries in tho world outside of Great Britain. Each Minister receives a salary of £3000 per annum, save the Prime Minister, who takes £'1000. Then there are the Estimates. Government proposes to allow the Cape £250 a year for a Provincial Council Hansard; but for tho same purpose in tho Transvaal tho vote is £2500 For roads and local works a sum of £80,417 has been assigned to the Cape, and a sum of £603,780 to the Transvaal. Right through the Estimates the principal is followed of granting the Transvaal amounts varying from five to ten times the sums allowed to the other provinces. Tho most complete demonstration of tho survival of tho Krugerian spirit came to light last month. In Pretoria magnificent administrative buildings are being 'erected. How many hundreds of thousands they will cost no one seems to know. Land for the great and stately pile was purchased by tho Transvaal Government shortly before the inauguration of tho Union, and tho work of erection begun. It was understood that the Transvaal Government had voted sufficient funds to start the work, but four weeks ago the fact bccame known that no such vote had been before Parliament. Mil. Hull, the Union Treasurer, was interrogated and he explained with a fine air of indifference. No vole had been passed, but, said he, "I did not consider I required any authority. I signed the contracts myself, on my own authority, off my own bat." It 'seems that tliis Minister, regardless

of all constitutional law, without authorisation, signed contracts- for about a million and a quarter sterling. Ab the moment he did so, the Transvaal Parliament had ceased to exist, and Union had not been accomplished. Naturally, tho Opposition was indignant, and expressed condemnation in tho strongest possiblo terms. To his critics the Treasurer was flippant and discourteous. Sir Edgar Walton, a former Cape Treasurer, declared that lie despaired of reaching honest constitutional government in South Africa while opinions like those of the Treasurer were held by the Ministry, The Cape Times, in denouncing the Union Treasurer's "Transvaal methods," informs him that his unconstitutional transactions "might have Iwen appropriate in a Persian Grand Vizier, or in tho , Divan of tho Great Mogul, but are wholly inexplicable and inexcusable in the Treasurer of a responsible Government." As far as the Prime Minister is concerned his time seems to be chiefly occupied in pouring oil upon the troubled waters. _His panacea for all the ills that politics are heir to appears to be commissions. He has appointed, or has promised, commissions of _ inquiry upon practically every subject that may have caused him mental anxiety, on subjects ranging from the manufacture of Natal i rum to the mysteries surrounding General Hertzog's Education Act.