New-York tribune., 1922-03-26
South African Republic
Demanded By Radicals

Among these radical elements some
OF the ideas preached by the National
lists are very apt TO take strong root
The ideal of a South African Republic
which the more moderate OF the Labor
leaders have recognized to be an instru-
ment Of demagoguery and which thev
failed to support in spite of their bit
ter opposition to the government, finds
ready enough acceptance among the
more radical elements. Nearly four
fifths of the Rand strikers are Of Dutch
origin. and the propaganda OF the Na
tionalists has been reported as having
proceeded among them with very con
siderable success. The Nationalist
leadership has made definite bid for
the support of the Industrial labor of the
Transvaal, and General Hertzog, in
recent speech IN Johannesburg. assured
the strikers that 90 per cent of the
population are entirely in symnathy
with them
1t is true that the responsible lead
ers of the Nationalist party are careful
TO assure the Labor leaders that the
latter should expect no support from
them for any revolutionary program
that they may wish to carry out Thev
announce themselves as committed to q
purely constitutional struggle for seces-
sion. Nevertheless. it seems no doubt
also true that the propaganda among
the rank and file in the districts a.
fected by labor unrest is Of a diferen.
nature
Moreover, the whole racial question.
not only as between the British and
the Dutch, but much more so as be
tween the whites and the native blacks.
has been injected prominently into the
situation. A good deal of the strike
propaganda has been carried on on the
basis of an accusation against the mine
owners to the effect that they are at
tempting to let down the color bars"
and to swamp white labor with cheap
native labor. And this is a most
serious situation in country in which
in population of about 100000 the
blacks outnunlber the whites more than
four to one. The Nationalist leaders
have been eager to seize upon this
aspect Of the situation and TO point
out to organized labor the we'll known
historic fact that the British are much
more popular among the natives than
are the Dutch, because of the treat
ment that they accord to the blacks.
placing them on footing of equality
with the whites.
And yet, as long as the strike situa-
ton continued to revolve on the plane
of an economic struggle concerned with
the question of wages and the status
quo" agreement, even the more gen
eral and portentous aspects of it did
not make it of any special danger. But
with the declaration of general strike
the whole situation changed completely.
The general strike is political weapon,
not an economic one. Its purpose is
to disorganize the government for the
achievement of revolutionary ends. The
declaration of q general strike in the
mining areas. already thrown into
chaos and disorder BY the c0nq1risSss
attending the economic strT7e, is Js-~
the sort of an opportunity that the
NationaIists might be tempted to grasp.
And the swift and drasic measures
taken by General Smuts in connection
with this situation furnish the best
clew the desperate seriousness which
it has apparently assumed, in spite of
the assurances from official sources to
the effect that the response to the gen
eral strike order hs4 been very slight.