General Hertzog's Fate On the eve of the meeting of
the South African Parlia; ment the political situation is still unexpectedly fluid, the one critical question—the possibility of a coalition between Mr. Tiehnan Roos' Nationalists and the South African Party—being still in abeyance. The statement that General Smuts was willing to waive his claim to the Premiership appears to have been at any rate pre- mature, and Mr. Roos, while commanding enough votes in the Assembly to overturn the Hertzog Government, does not propose to use his power till all arrangements regarding its successor have been concluded to his liking. In those circumstances General Hertzog will apparently hope to carry on, and he may be reprieved at least for a time. Mr. Roos is toying with the idea of building up a new party altogether on the basis of his sterling currency and non-racialism doctrines. There is no ground for that except his personal unwillingness to acquiesce in the predominance of the South African Party in the proposed coalition and it would only introduce a new confusion into Union politics. The South African Party itself can quite well afford to wait till next year's General Election, and it will no doubt settle down quietly to prepare for that campaign if a junction now with Mr. Roos proves impracticable.
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