29 OCTOBER 1927, Page 1

On Tuesday the caucus of the Nationalist Party accepted the

agreement which General Hertzog and General Smuts had reached. The groundwork of the Flag is to be the orange,, white and . blue :horizontal stripes proposed' by the Government, but the shield will disappear. Insteaa of the shield the Union Jack and the two Republican flags will be placed in the middle of the white stripe. These three flags together will occupy about one-third of the white stripe. But this is not all. An essential part of the agreement is the specific provision that the Union Jack shall be flown in certain places alongside the new national flag to symbolize the position of the Union as a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The Union Jack will be flown all the year round, for instance, in the four provincial capitals and in the chief coastal towns. The use of the Union Jack in other towns, not definitely nominated, will depend upon the decision of the Government in power. And, for the present at all events, South African ships will wear the Union Jack. Dr. Malan, who has been the chief diehard in the Nationalist Government, instead of resigning has handsomely given way.