South Africa.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 32, 7 February 1914, Page 5

South Africa.

GOVERNMENT DEFENCE.

THE REAL "PATRIOTS." [By Electric Telegraph—Copyright j I United Press Association.] (Received 8.5 a.m.) Capetown, February 6. Mr Smuts, in his .speed), said the incident at Jagersroutein was a pro- . vidential flashlight, .showing what a/| general conflagration would mean. The strike leaders contemplated civil war. When they were no longer able to hold a mass meeting to influence the workers, they employed small bodies of - men with dynamite in their pockets, and the Trades Hall simultaneously instructed them to form commandoes. Dynamite was found freely along the railways and other places. In the background there was always the terrible menace of the black population on the Rand. The Government was the best judge of the situation. They saw the time was ripe for drastic action, and they took courage with both hands and determined to face criticisms over the deportations, to which 1 mature consideration bad been given. As to the responsibility, it rested with Vis-* count Gladstone, and he (Mr Smuts) regretted the attempts at censure. The Transvaal Peace Preservation Ordinamice of 1903 gave power to summarily expel persons dangerous to the country's peace. The criminal law could not cope with such cases. He instanced the acquittal of Crawford, and Mrs Fitzgerald in July. The Government was not prepared to risk a repetition of those acquittals. Mr Smuts also cited Galbraith and Cole's deportation in Setember, 1911, which Mr Ramsay MacDonald endorsed. If this were justified, the deportation of the Labour leaders was assuredly so. He scathingly condemned General Hertzog's patriotism in harrassing the Government at a critical time. Mr Smuts said he preferred to reserve the term "patriot" for Mr Merriman v and Sir Thomas Smartt, who proffered their services as special constables. When the Trades Hall surrendered, the authorities found that everything incriminating had been burnt. The Government's only alternative was to safeguard the public and proclaim martial law. The public did not know after the July strike that tons of lethal weapons and assegais had v been collected in the Native compounds. Mr Smuts paid a tribute to the magnificent response for mobilisation, which was, he said, a sign how rich and poor locked round the colors.