Last Saturday General Botha surprised South Africa by resigning the
Premiership. The resignation does him great credit, and we trust it may be the means of his being able to return to power with a Cabinet able to speak with an undivided voice. The crisis has been brought about entirely by internal dissensions. As the Times correspondent explained in Monday's paper, the immediate cause of the resignation was what happened at the by-election in the Albany division to fill the place of Sir Starr Jameson. General Botha, in a, speech at Albany, acknowledged the obligation of South Africa to undertake the naval as well as the military defence of the country. General Hertzog, who has long led the opposition within the Cabinet to General Botha's policy of racial conciliation and rational Imperialism, made speeches of a very different character. He had, he said, no use for Imperialism, and was prepared to stake his career on the issue. Moreover, he regarded racial divisions as a. blessing which ought to be perpetuated. On Friday week Colonel Leuchars, who represented Natal in the Cabinet, resigned, as he bad accepted office on the basis of General Botha's professions of Imperialism. It then became necessary for General Botha to choose publicly between the two wings of his Cabinet. He has behaved in what is for him an extremely difficult situation in a perfectly straightforward manner, and we sincerely hope that his courage will soon bring him to happier days.
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