On Friday, January 4th, the Prime Minister of South Africa,
General Hertzog, made a speech at Pretoria which may have grave consequences. He said that cir- cumstances would compel his Government to Make of the native question the main issue at the General Election six months hence. Although differences of opinion follow fairly closely the political lines of division there had been a tacit understanding among responsible leaders that .this question should be kept out of politics. General Hertzog himself is known to favour a policy of segregation by which alone, in view of the immense numerical superiority of the natives, it would seem possible to " preserve the existence of the white man and his civilization in South Africa." It should, surely, not be beyond the powers of statesmanship to devise a solution of this crucial problem on the lines of native self-government within certain areas, with a proviso that the same civil but not political rights should be enjoyed throughout the country. General Smuts, the leader of the Opposition, is concerned only to safeguard the position of the enfranchised natives in the Cape. Province. The fundamental problem is not political or _even racial. It is one of economic adjustment.
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