South Africa Decides
The South African political manoeuvres have ended at last, and the Union is definitely to have its National Government, with General Hertzog as its MacDonald, and General Smuts as its Baldwin. Mr. Tielman Roos, content with having driven the country off the gold standard and driven it into a coalition, is now to disband his temporary committees and relapse into retirement. Parliament will meet only to wind up outstanding busi- ness, and the, election is expected in April or May.. Its result is, of course, a foregone conclusion, even if Dr. Malan, the present Minister of the Interior, who is vio- lently opposed to the new compact, takes the field against the Hertzog-Smuts combination. There is everything to be said for this temporary sinking of political differences in a time of unprecedented stress, but the personal factor operates in such cases, and the capacity of the two Generals at the head of the Government to work together, has yet to be demonstrated.
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