6 FEBRUARY 1926, Page 2

, General Hertzog's policy of segregation for the natives in

South Africa is still being discussed doubtfully. It is the first scheme of the kind presented for political discussion, though General Hertzog is careful to say that he has spoken only for himself. It is i,n effect a policy which we described in the Spectator some time ago. The natives would have their own territories and would have their own Administration of Native Councils. Next they would be represented in the Union House of Assembly by a certain number of white spokesmen elected by a native electorate. The Parliamentary franchise for natives, which exists only in the Cape Province, would be abolished. Those who in South Africa are called " coloured people "—that is to say, people of mingled native and European blood, for the phrase has not the same meaning as in America—would not be segregated, but would have the chance of working their way up in the white community. Natives would not be forbidden to pass from their own territories into white territory, but if they did so they would leave their rights behind and could in practice only earn their living as unskilled labourers.