SOUTH AFRICA 7II 



was announced in November 1912. The Union government had also under considera- 

 tion proposals for a naval defence policy, General Botha educating his followers on this 

 matter in several speeches made during 1912. 



A notable event in the history of the country was the inauguration of the Rhodes 

 memorial at Groot Schuur on July 5, 1912 by Earl Grey, a former director of the Char- 

 tered Company and ex-governor general of Canada. The ceremony was attended by 

 Lord de Villiers, Chief Justice of South Africa, Mr. Merriman, and Mr. Burton, minister 

 of Railways. General Botha was absent, but he subsequently wrote a foreword to the 

 pamphlet containing Earl Grey's speech, in which he (Botha) paid a warm tribute to 

 Rhodes' lofty conceptions and achievements. 



Lord Gladstone, who filled the dual offices of Governor General of the Union and 

 High Commissioner of South Africa, was subjected to much criticism over his action 

 with regard to natives charged with assaults on white women, but he met his critics 

 fairly and won their respect. In February 1911 he was made an LL.D. of Cape Town 

 University. 1 In May of that year he visited Basutoland, in September he went to 

 Rhodesia (where he received Lewanika, the paramount chief of the Barotse), extending 

 his journey into Katanga (Belgian Congo). In the summer of 1912 Lord Gladstone 

 paid a long visit to England, returning to South Africa in October. 



The promotion of trade and agriculture occupied much attention, especially as the 

 country suffered from prolonged drought, the severest experienced since 1862. Begin- 

 ning in October 1911, it affected chiefly Natal, the Transvaal and Transkei, where 

 thousands of natives were reduced to the verge of starvation. The severe losses sus- 

 tained turned attention to the need of more scientific farming and to large irrigation 

 works, upon which the government expended 500,000 in 1912. In October 1912 a 

 government Land and Agricultural Bank began operations in the Union, and a similar 

 institution was established by the Chartered Company in Rhodesia. Great relief was 

 experienced in Natal and in the Rand by the break up of the drought in November 

 1912. Meantime the export of cereals from South Africa had fallen off considerably, 

 while a new and formidable competitor for the European maize market was being found 

 in Argentina. 



Early in 1912 a commission, of which Sir T. M. Cullinan was chairman, appointed 

 to enquire into the conditions of trade and industries reported in favour of increased 

 duties on wheat, flour, sugar, tea, clothing and furniture, declaring that it was " not 

 only necessary that a policy of protection should be adopted, but that there should be 

 continuity of policy." Two influential members presented minority reports in favour 

 of " the open-door." Rhodesian feeling was in favour of a lower tariff, and with 

 reference to the increased duties proposed by the Union commission the Bulawayo 

 Chamber of Commerce declared (August 1912) that it was to the interest of Rhodesia 

 to withdraw from the Customs Union rather than bear greater fiscal burdens. The 

 other Rhodesian Chambers of Commerce passed similar resolutions. At Johannesburg 

 on November 19, 1912 Sir Thomas Smartt declared that a plank in the Unionist party's 

 platform was a tariff primarily for revenue purposes, combined with a policy for the 

 encouragement of industries for the general benefit and the extension of the existing 

 imperial preference. 



In December 1912 a political crisis involving the reconstruction of the ministry 

 occurred. It was precipitated by the by-election in the Albany division to fill the 

 vacancy caused by Sir Starr Jameson's resignation. (The election on Dec. 10 resulted 

 in the return of the Unionist candidate Mr. Van der Riet by a large majority over the 

 Ministerialist, Mr. Espin.) General Hertzog had already (Oct. 1912) created anew 

 a feeling of political antagonism by describing, in a speech at Nylstroom, Sir Thomas 

 Smartt and other Opposition leaders as " undesirable political foreign adventurers," 

 and during the Albany election he made a speech at Rustenburg on December 8, 

 pointedly against the Imperial policy advocated by General Botha, declaring that 



1 George V after his accession resigned his position as Chancellor of the Cape University, 

 being succeeded in 1912 by the Duke of Connaught. 



