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RACIAL POLICY IN SOUTH AFRICA

LIBERALS' DILEMMA COMPAxtlSON OF SMUT'S OYBRSEAS AND INTBRNAL POLICIES. Critics of Field Marshal Smuts overseas have drawn up sharp distinctions between the liberal principles which guide him in ii ternational affairs ^nd 1jh© reatctionairy tfactoirs based on race and colour whieli enter into his internal policies, writes a correspondent in the Manchester Guardian. It is not my ohject to make analytical character stu.dy of Field Marshal Smuts, who, indeed, as is not nncommon with great men, has certain conflicting elepie^its in his persofnality. The implied reproach which libe-ral-minded men in England and other countries fix npon him is one which is shared by other memhers of the United Party. Those who in South Africa hold liberal opinions land themselves faced with a dilemma. The South African liberal must either come cu.t wholeheartedly for the full policy of racial equality, and thereby put in office for an indefinite period of years, to ihe detriment of those whose cause he is espousing, the powerful recationary elements in the country, or he must compromise with his principles, to the detriment at any rate of the appearance of moral rectitude, and perhaps not without danger to his soul, for the benefit of those for whom he is working. In one's more sombre moments one is tempted to think of the prayer which Alhponse Daudet quotes in "L'Elixir du Pere Gaucher": "Let us pray for the soul of our beloved bro,her Gaucher, who is devoting him self to damnation for the good of the community." A Unique Position. Liberal critics of Field Marshal Smuts, of Mr. Hofmeyr, and )f others who are trying their best lo do something for the advancement of the nonEuropeans of South Afric^. must bear in mind the immense practical difficulties of the South African situation. Nowhere else in the world is there so large a portion of the total population, comprising every sphqre of life and economic activity, and so deeply rooted, which at the same time has to live and work with a very large majority of non-Europeans. Even in the Deep South of the United States, in states such as Mississippi and Alabama, which form the closest comparison with the Union, the Negro population forms only approximately half the total. In the Union of South Atfrica, the African, coloured and Indian populations form four-fifths of the total. On the other hand, in the West Indies, in most of the British African possessions, in the Duteh East Indies, a|nd, indeed, in mfost othefc so-called "colonies" where the white population forms an insignificant portion of the total, it is possible to act on the hasis that the Administration exists virtually for the sole benefit of the native population and to regard the European population there mainly as an ancillary body.

Liberal critics of South Afrita must also bear in mind the constitutional position. If the proposed Indian legislation actually comes into force the representatives of non-Europeans in Parliament will be six out of >156 in the House of Assembly and six out of 46 in the Senate, to which must be added the influence of the coloured vote as exercised on the common roll with Europeans in the Cape and which could at most add six f urther seats in the House of Assembly and two in the Senate. If, therefore, we are to tread the path of constiutionalism, if we are not to look for rebellion, general strikes, or a great non-co-operation movement to solve our difficulties, we are faced wtih the dilemma which British Liberalism faced in 1832, when a majority had to be obtained in the unreformed House of Commons in favour of Parliamentary reform, namely, step by step ohtain majorities in the privileged groups for the extension of rights to the unprivileged groups. Now if we could live in the 19th century, or if South Africa could be isolated from world opinion and world movements, this task would not be so difficult. But unfortunately for the modem South African statesman, South Africa does not live in a vacuum. The tremendous swing to the Left in Europe, the successes of a policy of revolt in Eire and of a policy of non-co-operation in India, the catchwords of Communism and extreme nationalism form a kind of wlne of freedom which has gone to the heads of many non-European. leaders and which renders the sober handling of practical issues in practical lines very difficult. The Indians in particular have maintained a close political tie with India and are seeking to s-et the troubled South» African liberal in the full glare of world publicity and to "show up" what they consider to be the inconsistencies of Field Marshal Smuts. Possible Dangers Consider again the dilemma of the South African liberal with a sense of responsihility in public life. If he goes^too slowly he runs the risk of losing the confidence of the very nonEuropeans whose cause he is pleading. If he moves too quickly he takes the one line which is likely, within the next 10 years, to put the reactionary 'Niationalist Party into power. What perhaps matters more than this is that he runs the risk of losing the confidence of the moderate and reasonable section of white South African opinion which includes the great majority of the Afrikaans-speaking membership of the United Party. To throw it overboard would not only mean placing the United Party in a permanent minority (it must be remembsred that only 40 per cent. of the white populalation of South Africa is E'nglishspeaking), but it would do something far more important. * It would tend to divide .South Africa on racial lines and to confess at last that the great experiment which General Botha hegan 40 years ago has heen a failure. The issues gc even deeper than this.

The liberal-minded South African who takes the line of going all out for a policy which will conform immediately to world liberal opinion has virtually made his deeision for rebellion and dii'ect action. His deeision would put liberalism in the position of a political minority in South Africa for a whole generation. A whole generation of reactionary rule is more than the non-Euaropean could stand. This resistance, whether by armed rebellion or by general strike or by a non-co-operation movement on a national scale, would arouse fierce passions and produce results which none could foresee. The whole structure of Parliamentary government through ordered democratic channels would he destroyed and that before the nonEuropean himself is ready to accept the responsibilities which would be thrust upon him. In the light of all these considerations many South Africans of liberal views hope that the leaders of thought in England and elsewhere will take full account of the very grave difficulties which are sincerely felt by- men like Field Marshal Smuts and Mr. Hoymeyr and will not make their position impossible without a full^realisation of what the South African situation is and wihat the alernatives are to the continuation of a United Party Government.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/RMPOST19470121.2.45

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5307, 21 January 1947, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,170

RACIAL POLICY IN SOUTH AFRICA Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5307, 21 January 1947, Page 7

RACIAL POLICY IN SOUTH AFRICA Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5307, 21 January 1947, Page 7

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