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By WILLIAM C. UTLEY :
f -I'Q GBOHGB Vs silver Ju
IX 1 bllee, now at Its height in
AN. Bnslana formed an In
nocent If world-wide, lnstl
v tutlon for propagandizing the unity
and extent of the British Empire.
No one, certainly, Queetione its ex-
i tent Bat there ere those among
the politic! economists of the day
.who at least suggest that the far
L flung realm shows sign of break
. Ing apart, and when the real test
comes, If It ever does they may be
right
"Recent developments In' South
' Africa hare again made people ask
whether the British Empire : Is
breaking up," writes Fred Clarke,
, English educator and former rep-
resentatlve of the Union of South
; Africa at Genera, In Current His
tory Magazine. ; "Without attempt
ing to answer that question, one
can hare no doubt as to the Impor
tance of the status of the Union act
which received royal assent on June
22, 1034.; This new law has a bear
ing on the whole future of British
Imperial nnlty."
The status act contains the first
definite official reference of ; the
- crown to the onion aa "a sovereign
- Independent state." Its accompany
ing seal act gives the exclusive
right of nse of the Great Seal and
: Little Seal, heretofore held by the
king, to the South African min
isters. si.i-:' iiiJ'U'fi
For more than a quarter of a cen
tury South Africa, politically, has
. .. been torn bitterly between two po
litical factions as directly opposed
as our New Dealers and rugged In
dividualists. They - were led ' by
. General Smuts, right-hand man of
, General Botha In the Union govern
, ment which arose a few years, after
the South African war, and Gen
eral Hertzog, a minister In the
Botha cabinet who was removed In
1912; two years after the cabinet
was formed. , - v-;
; General Smuts and his faction
openly considered the Union a defi
nite part of the empire, with Brtt-
ilsh civilization and culture ' dom
inant Hertzog sympathizers held
ont against the complete social,
.cultural and political domination of
the Boer population by the British,
and have- always striven to make
the Union a separate and Independ
ent nation.
The present status of the Union
has been effected as a sort of po
litical compromise between the two
generals and their respective par
ties. The Union Is undeniably in
dependent now, with merely "al
legiance to the crown" , the string
politically tying it to-Great Britain.
And the two parties have fused into
one. '.''
They Oat Together.
General Hertzog's nationalist par
ty, which was in power in 1831, pre
ferred to keep South Africa on the
gold standard, believing that Eng
land bad stepped off only tempo
rarily, and that maintaining the
standard would help to stabilize a
leading Industry of South Africa,
gold mining. . Other Interests suf
fered badly, and General Smuts'
South African party accused the
incumbents of pampering the polit
ical Interests always prone to take
the opposite line from the empire,
Jeopardizing the Interests of the
Union in general thereby.
It was conceded that if General
Smuts could force an election at'
that time, he would have more than
an even chance of winning, but that
be could not do so without stirring
General 8muts.
up the smoldering embers of racial
conflict between Boers (or, rather,
the present-day Afrikaandefs) and
! Britons, an animosity that had
teen admirably subdued In the pre
ceding decades by wise government
To youth of South Africa really
goes the credit for coalition. Young
men of both parties know the sentl.
mental and romantic racial dissen
sions merely ss historical traditions,
not as real loyalties and convictions.
It was they whose Insistence that
,- these differences be wiped oat once
? and for all Impressed the nation
.with the necessity for taking op
the real business at hand that of
, administering good government As
a result of the coalition, the status
act satisfactory In the main Jo both
.parties, was effected.-' .' ,y ''
Boers In Opposition. '
The Boer In South Africa has
long opposed the ' out-and-out po
litical dominance of the Union by
London, as proposed by the Briton,
for fear of losing his - Identity.
South Africa Is a region of two sep
arate and powerful cultures . and
its people speak two languages.
There Is, of coarse, the English with
which we are more or less fa
H j ' ftp ,xf yj
I L. ,a'?W' J , - ,N, I
I lM "V -' A 'api KV J stmiMti . tv- 1 I
miliar. And there Is the Dutch off
spring, Afrikaans. . . ,
The New Deal for South Africa
pacifies both factions by fosterinj
both cultures. Education Is admin
istered In both. Newspapers , and
magazines are published In both
languages. Poetry, novels and tech
nical works have appeared In Af
rikaans, and now there is even
carefully made translation of the
Bible in that language. "
That the status act with Its ad
mission of Sooth Africa' virtually
absolute independence, applies as
well to an of the British Domin
ions, Is Implied in the fact that It
Includes In its preamble the Bal
four declaration obtained by Gen
eral Hertzog when ; he . headed
the Nationalist government In 1924.
This calls the Dominions "autono
mous communities within the Brit
ish Empire, equal In status, in no
way subordinate to one another in
any respect of their domestic or ex
ternal affairs, though united by
common allegiance to the crown,
and freely associated as members
of the British Commonwealth of
Nations.",: v--:";;.v ,;
. Further removing British polit
ical dominance .from the Domin
ions was the Statute of Westmin
ster, which was passed by the Brit
ish parliament in 1931. It closely
allied the constitutional develop
ment of the other Dominions of the
Empire with that of the Union of
South Africa, The Balfour declara
tion and the Statute of Westminster
are masterpieces, of . phraseology
which carried soothing balm to both
South African factions. The Status
act Is the application of them to
the South African constitution.
Two Important concessions-! are
made to the Dominions in ' the
.Statute of Westminster, t It gives
the Dominion : government power
to amend, repeal or modify . any
British act which has been incor
porated in the law of the Domin
ion. It further states that no Brit
ish law may be applied to any Do
minion unless that Dominion has
requested the application and con
sented to it
Really Independent " .
The status act Itself declares that
no British legislation shall be con
sldered In effect In the Union of
South Africa until It is re-enacted
by the. South African parliament
The "chief executive" is defined as
the king, who shall act upon the
advice of his South African min
isters. That there be no mistake,
the king is defined as the one de-,
termlned by the laws of succession
of the United Kingdom. .'
In South Africa the king's repre
sentative . Is the governor-general.
Neither be nor the king have any
powers of veto or reservation of a
bill. The governor-general may.
however, simply return a bill with
hlf opinion for 'further considera
tion If he thinks It wise; The king
does hot retain the power to name
the prime minister end to dissolve
parliament , , i 4 -
The case of war would be the
real test . For, with the clearly
worded status act the Union of
South Africa can now decide for it
self whether or not to remain neu
tral if the empire enters a ;war.
Says Clarke: '.i.V-!;;:';-vU;v,f.i:';.
It might even secede altogether.
though not apparently, by legal
process. Some commentators In Eng-
iana as weu as u south Africa feel
disturbed by these possibilities. But
'equal , status' necessarily implies
them, and legal barriers would be
flimsy defenses against the strong
political pressure when the time of
crisis comes," .i; sl;i-;:.r-!v,T.
It will be remembered that when
England -entered the World ! war
there . was . widespread dissension
in South Africa, and even serious
uprisings In some cases. Clarke goes
f "Neutrality and secession are po
Iltlcal Issues, tor be determined In
the light of all the facts when the
question arises. They are not to be
determined In- advance, as some' of
the die-hard lawyers seemed to de
mand, by any constitutional legisla
tion, especially legislation under
such documents ks the Balfour dec
laration and the Statute of West
minster." ;; 'n-v'; : h
.).' The Ties" That' Bind. .
The. abolition of the .prerogative
power of the king aroused the an
guish of the pro-British faction tn
South Africa. This faction claimed
thatIn the time of crisis the king
was the executive head of the Brit
ish Empire, and that be could act
as he saw fit In case of a crisis, In
order to keep the realm from fall
ing apart General Smuts was able
to convince bis followers that for
centuries no such prerogative. If
there was one, had been exercised,
and that the question, .was not one
of law.s bat of politics.. ; 1 '
-Of course, what the economists
who cite the status act as evidence
that the British Empire Is disinteg
rating fall to show Is that political
power or legal power are not the
real bands which hold the Empire
together. Experience has taught us
that In time of war nations do not
act on the literal interpretation of
the law. The ties that bind are
more substantial. In the case of
the British Imperial Dominions they
are the advantages of free trade
'within the Empire and the protec
tion of the British fleet The Union
of South Africa would be an easy
mark Indeed for an Invading force
were It not for the protection of
the greatest fleet In the world. It
Is - extremely doubtful that the
Union would ever want to forsake
such a protection.
Wlth Its constitutional status now
more clearly defined than ever be
fore, the Union of South Africa Is
ready Itself to begin expanding. It
would like to annex the adjacent
protectorates of ; Bechuanaland,
Swaziland and Basutoland, which
UL
General Hertzog.:
are now governed under the Do
mlnionsbfllce In London. When the
Union was formed in 1909, the con
stitution provided for the eventual
Inclusion of these territories.
Their population, however, is 99
per cent black, and they were left
out of the original Union and kept
under direct London protection be
. cause of the treatment they had re
ceived in previous years at , the
hands of the Boenk--y:.: :A::
When,, last year, Prime Minister
Hfrtzog announced, to Great Brit
ain that the Union of South Africa
Was ready to act Immediately to In
clude the protectorates, his act drew
an Instant appeal from Chief Tshe
kedl Khama of Bechuanaland. Brit
ish administration of the protec
torates has not bi all that , it
might be, but natives and native
sympathizers believe that It Is bet
ter than the 'discrimination which
might harm them at the hands of
the Boers. X
Native Chiefs Balk.:1
Unionists claim that there are no
selfish reasons for annexation, -for
the Union has plenty qf land and-
plenty of economic difficulty, without '
taking on that 91 the native areas.
Basutoianq is' tremendously over
crowded and conditions among the
blacks are deplorable. The Union
would mote the surplus population
over , to the vast expanses of
Bechuanaland, where the popula
tion Is scarce, and would give the
blacks lnd and Irrigate it ,
" The natives and their chiefs are
afraid of this. The reason is that
the ' Tatlt Company,- Ltd., owns
about 1325,000 acres In Bechuana
land. They fear that the blacks
might' be exploited . industrially
here,- 'that the grazing land which
bas been held out to them as a
borne hind for the surplus Union
blacks might be seized, by the sur
plus whites of the Union.
;'v With the ' constitutional differ
ences, straightened out . between
black and-white in the Union, and
with the rising of a new generation
which does not feel so bitterly the
inequality of the whites and the
blacks, it Is held that the govern
ment, under Smuts and Hertzog
means well by tlie natives.
Erc::ls
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- The hot weather brings us to the
problem erery woman of generous
proportions must cope with how to
keep cool and fresh looking on those
wilting daysT ; Well Looking cool
goes a long way, and pattern 2319,
with Its loose, easy cape sleeve, soft
treated waistline gives you a mighty
cool outlook on life. And very flat
tering, too, are the graceful folds of
the cape that does wonders to equal
ise proportions.; The darts over the
bust and at the waistline cleverly
contrive to avoid a too-fltted look at
the strategical points. Pick a sum-,
tnery printed voile or other sheer.
Pattern 2819 Is available In sizes
16. 18, 20, 84, 86, 88. 40. 42, 44 and
46. Size 86 takes 3 yards 89 Inch
fabric. Illustrated step-by-step sew
ing Instructions Included.
n J in. iiu.i.ii III. MnftftnM .
coins or stamps .(coins 'pre
lor this pattern, write pin"
address and Style number. U .
TO STATE SIZE, " --
Address orders to, Sewing C
Pattern Department, 243 West
enteenth street, New, York.
J
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MEATY, PROBLEM , - :
Customer What kind of meat bare
you today. - .
K Butcher -Mutton and venison. -Customer
Is your mutton dear? - '.
Butcher No, the mutton Is sheep.
The venison Is deer. ,"r ' .-
Th. R..I Kick
The Son You're putting gp an aw- ;
ful roar just because I contracted a
few debts. , 'i -i-
The .Sire I don't care what yon
contracted. It'a the debts you've ex
panded that I'm klckln' about : 1 -
s A Ring 1b It , - ,
Jean Mabel says she likes 1
tone of Percy's voice. ,'v' "- ;
Jane Tes, she thinks there's
ring In It -t.
Safaty First
Fireman Jump into the blanket '
Man No. yoo might drop' It Put
It on- the ground first Pearson's
Weekly. - - ';v;';vo
- Gat Going ' t'vi .
Bertram What would ton do If
I kissed youT , , : '
Betty Oh, grin and bear It