It should be remembered that though the Nationalists have such
a balance of power as most Colonial Premiers would be glad to possess, the Unionists are really a much more harmonious party. The old political organisations, the Bond and Orangia Unie, still exist inside the Nationalist Party as though to prove that they are not sure that the common creed of Nationalism will satisfy them. If General Botha abandoned the Premiership there would be more likelihood of a revival of racialism than there is now ; but in any case we should deprecate heated condemnation in England of the formation of parties in South Africa along the lines of least resistance. Self-government, once granted, must work out its own salvation, and to suppose that party recrimina- tions, and even truculence, which are accepted as natural at home, are unnatural in South Africa, and are a kind of disloyalty to the Empire, is absurd. For some reasons the existence of a strong Opposition is to be welcomed. Dr. Jameson, while carrying out the proverbial first duty of an Opposition, may be trusted not to let his criticism become merely factitious.
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