Never Again.! The Psychology and the Lesson of the Band
Revolt, 1922. By Brutus (Johannesburg : Central News Agency. la).—This thoughtful and well written pamphlet sets out clearly the underlying causes of the Rand troubles and the events which led up to the rising. The author lays stress on " the tendency of the white man to degenerate in South Africa," the racial bitterness prevailing among the Dutch, and the selfishness of the labour unions among the permanent conditions. He attributes the mining dispute partly to the change in the character of the white miners, now mostly half-skilled Dutch- men, and to " the spread of Socialistic and Bolshevist propaganda by extremists, mostly of Scottish or Jewish extraction." It is surprising to find Scotland blamed in this connexion ; probably the so-called Scots, like most of the agitators on Clydeside, come from Ireland or are aliens who have taken Scottish names The author reprehends the Johannesburg people for their indifference to municipal affairs and the Government for their reluctance to deal firmly with the Bolshevik agitation until the Rand was actually in revolt. He admits, however, that when General Smuts at last took action he showed the greatest courage and firmness. The object-lesson ought to suffice for a long time to come.
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