The Dominion MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1915. BOTHA'S RETURN

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2601, 25 October 1915, Page 4

The Dominion MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1915. BOTHA'S RETURN

The success of General Botha at the recent South African elections will be welcomed throughout the British Empire, not only because of the conspicuous service _ which he rendered in connection with the con-' quest of German South Africa, but also on account of the future relations between South Africa and the rest of the Empire. There has undoubtedly been a very serious division of opinion amongst the population of South Africa, bordering on one side on rebellion against established rule, the extent of which, however, it was not possible to gauge with any certainty. Following on the split between General Botha and General Hertzog, the latter, who represented the old Boer element, set out to discredit his late leader amongst the Dutch popular tion, and in the back-veld ho met with a good deal of succcss. Intense bitterness of feeling was displayed by the Hertzogites, which was accentuated by the success of General Botha in stamping out the rebellious attempt of De Wet and others to overthrow British rule and establish a republic under German patronage. To strengthen General Botha's position his erstwhile opponents, tho Unionist Party, mainly composed of the British element in the South African Parliament, and led by Sir Thomas Sjiaßtt, sank their political differences and rendered the Prime Minister loyal support. In fact, General Botha held office by their votes. _ In tho recent election tho Unionists worked hand in hand with the -Bothaites against the Nationalists and tho Labour Party. At the first South African elections in 1910, when the Nationalists or Dutch party wore a united body, the polling resulted as follows:

Nationalists 07 Unionists 37 Independents-. 13 labour 4 The elections just ended go to show that General Botha has retained about two-thirds of tho Nationalist vote, while the balance of the seats has gone to tho Hertzog faction. Tho latest figures available are as follow: Botlia Party 41 Unionists 38 Nationalists 24 Independents 5 Labour 4 Thus General Botha, with tho aid of the Unionists, has a handsome majority, apart from the small group, of Independents who also in the past have given him general support. The satisfactory feature of the position is the overwhelming failure of the National extremists to carry the Dutch population with them. Some of their leaders stopped at practically nothing in their endeavour to overthrow General Botha, and the bitterness they introduced into the elections at times threatened to lead to gravo disorders. It cannot be expected that harmony will exist in South Africa while men of the Hertzoo type are able to influence the old Dutch residents a.nd keep alive racial hatred. Timo alono is likely to remove such obstacles to that national understanding and complete co-operation which is desirable in tho interests of the whole population. But with tho sweeping success of General Botha and the Unionists at the recent elections there is a sound guarantee that the rebellious spirit •which has been fomented by some of the leaders of the Nationalists, latterly under German promptings, will be given little scope for promoting serious trouble. !