The South African Party is in for anxious times, and
General Smuts' small majority of six seems likely -to dwindle yet further. There are two by-elections in the near future—that at Umvoti in Natal, where his supporter, Sir Drummond Chaplin, -will- probably be returned, and that at Wakkerstroom which Mr. A. G. Robertson, the Administrator of the Transvaal, is contesting_ Wakker- stroom is a strong Nationalist centre, and there is every likelihood that a Nationalist will be returned. I recollect passing through the railway station near Wakkerstroom in 1913 on a crisp spring morning when General Botha arrived. Outside the station were gathered a large group of burghers on their ponies, and a picturesque party they made. A horse -was waiting for General Botha, and he and the ealvacade of his supporters rode off to Wakkerstroom to conduct a political meeting. A decade brings many changes, even on the high veld, and electioneering at Wakkerstroom to-day is probably carried on in Ford cars—more expeditious but not half as picturesque.
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