9, 1922. He declared himself satisfied with the outcome of the Washington Conference, not only because it had lessened jealousy and suspicion in the Far East through the conclusion of the "Four Power Treaty" but also, as he said, because "Holland was included in the state of confidence which the Four Powers had desired to create." The following declaration had been made on February 5 by the Ambassador of Japan to the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs ::

The Japanese Empire has concluded on December 13, 1921, with the United States of America, the British Empire, and France a Treaty with a view to the preservation of the general peace and the maintenance of their rights in relation to their insular possessions and insular dominions in the region of the Pacific Ocean. They have agreed thereby as between themselves to respect their rights in relation to these possessions and dominions.

The Netherlands not being a signatory to the said Treaty and the Netherlands possessions in the regions of the Pacific Ocean therefore not being included in the agreement referred to, the Japanese Government, anxious to forestall any conclusion contrary to the spirit of the Treaty, desires to declare that it is firmly resolved to respect the rights of the Netherlands in relation to their insular possessions in the region of the Pacific Ocean.

At the same time the Ambassadors of the United States, the British Empire, and France, on behalf of their Governments, made identical declarations to Jonkheer van Karnebeek.

With regard to the Yap cables, the result of the Washington Conference was likewise favourable, since the Yap-Menado cable was granted to the Netherlands. The Minister stated that he looked forward to the conclusion of a tripartite arrangement between the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands regarding the working of the Yap cables.

CHAPTER VIII.

AFRICA: THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA-SWAZILAND-RHODESIA

MOZAMBIQUE-MOROCCO-EGYPT-SUDAN.

SOUTH AFRICA.

PREDICTIONS of industrial strife, so freely ventured towards the close of 1921, came to an evil realisation early in the new year. This conflict between capital and labour was fortunately confined to the Transvaal, but its calamitous effects were felt in every part of the Union.

On January 8, the South African Industrial Federation, acting upon a ballot of the miners, declared a general strike, a decision which not only created uneasiness among the general public and caused the postponement of the opening of Parliament until February 17, but necessitated the assembly of the Cabinet at Pretoria, in close proximity to the seat of the trouble. Under the presidency of Mr. Justice Curlewis there then followed, upon the suggestion of the Government, a series of conferences between the representatives of the Chamber of Mines and the Industrial Federation. But the demands of the

latter body made peace, or even compromise, a futile hope. Any possibility of an amicable settlement that may have existed up to this stage of the negotiations was further jeopardised by the intervention of certain Nationalists (members of the Republican and anti-Smuts party), who urged the strikers to persist in their agitation. They made speeches declaring that 90 per cent. of the people of the country were with the strikers, and that although they, as Nationalists, were opposed to revolutionary methods, their object was to establish a Republic by constitutional means.

As day followed day, the position became more and more alarming. As a safety move, the repatriation of native labourers on the mines was pushed forward with all haste, and thousands were sent out of the Transvaal to their kraals in Basutoland and other recruiting areas. The first open rupture occurred early in February, when a prominent strike leader was arrested for inciting to violence. This preceded an orgy of outrage. All along the Reef the police were in constant conflict with striker commandos. Dynamite outrages were frequent; there was much wanton destruction of property. Peaceable citizens, both white and coloured, were brutally attacked and killed in a spirit of primordial blood lust.

The full fury of the revolutionary outburst broke on March 8, and there ensued a period which has been described as the reign of the red terror. Martial Law was proclaimed on March 10. The Government forces were called out; and what had started as a strike for an improvement in industrial conditions developed into an organised attempt by the revolutionaries to usurp the functions of Government. Over 10,000 of them were arrested, and subsequently nearly 900 charges of high treason were made out. Two notorious leaders of the rebel army came to a tragic fate. They committed suicide in the Trades Hall, when that last stronghold of armed defiance was on the eve of capture.

On March 19, several of the workers' unions, acting independently of the Federation, declared the strike at an end, and forthwith there was a general move to return to work without terms. The Executive of the Federation denied all complicity in the rebellion, which was described by General Smuts in the House of Assembly, on April 22, as the work of international Socialists actuated by a desire to establish a Soviet regime after the Russian model.

The Government Indemnity Bill was adopted on April 29 by 57 votes to 44. In October, Sir Thomas Graham and Mr. Justice Lange (since deceased), as constituting the Martial Law Inquiry Commission set up by the Government, presented their report upon the cause and origin of the rebellion. They assigned the outbreak to the following causes :

(1) To the formation of strikers' commandos and their gradual conversion into military units, to the encouragement

they received to commit breaches of the law from the augmented Executive Committee and the various bodies controlling the strike and certain political leaders of the Labour Party. (2) To the strikers' belief that they would receive armed assistance from the Free State and the Transvaal. (3) To the action of certain members of the Nationalist Party, who endeavoured to make political capital out of the industrial strike to embarrass their own party . . . and to the desire of the Nationalist elements among the strikers to take advantage of the industrial disturbance in order to obtain a Republican form of Government, to the preponderance of these men in the strike commandos, and to the encouragement given to this movement by the Republican resolution proposed by Mr. Waterston, Labour member of the House of Assembly, on February 5. (4) To the intrigues of the South African Communist Party. (5) To the belief held by a large number of strikers that the Chamber of Mines intended to remove the colour bar and displace European workers by natives, a belief fostered and encouraged by the Trade Union leaders of the Labour and Nationalist Parties and the South African Communists. (6) To the ignorance of large masses of mine workers on the Rand of the true functions of Trade Unionism, owing to the large number of agrarian workers during the war automatically becoming members of the South African Mine Workers Union. (7) To the deplorable weakness of the augmented Executive Committee in permitting an industrial dispute to be converted into a political movement, and allowing control to be taken out of their hands by armed commandos at a period when these were dominated by leaders who advocated revolutionary methods.

In the following month the Mining Industry Board, formed by the Government to inquire into the conditions in the Rand mines, presented their report, which was afterwards issued as a Government publication. The Commissioners consisted of Sir William Solomon (Judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court), Rt. Hon. William Brace (ex-Labour M.P., and now Chief Labour Adviser to the British Mines Department), Sir Robert Kotze (Government Mining Engineer), and Sir Carruthers Beattie (Principal of the University of Cape Town). The main conclusions they arrived at were as follows:

There was no necessity for the continuance of the status quo agreement (see ANNUAL REGISTER, 1921, p. 293), and its abolition after the strike was fully justified. The policy of gradually reducing the proportion of natives until eventually the mines would be worked mainly by white labour is an impracticable policy. The Commission expresses its entire agreement with the conclusions of other commissioners since 1907 on this matter, and has no hesitation in endorsing the view that under present-day conditions the employment of white unskilled labour in the mines in substitution of native labour is economically impracticable. No recommendations are made for increases in

wages on the gold mines, but the Commission is against any further reduction of earnings. In view of the economic situation in which the collieries were placed, and of the fact that there had been a substantial fall in the cost of living, the Commissioners can come to no other conclusion than that the proposal of the Chamber of Mines for reducing the wages of the white employees was justified and should have been accepted by the men. They feel, however, that misunderstanding might have been avoided if the workmen had been supplied with a complete statement on the matter in dispute either by the coal owners themselves or by an independent authority.

A suggestion made by General Smuts that Swaziland should seek incorporation in the Union, came before the Advisory Council of that territory in January. This proposal, in view of probable harbour developments at Kosi Bay or Sordwana, is one closely affecting Swaziland's prosperity and expansion; but at the moment opinion as a whole appears to favour the retention of territorial and administrative independence.

Nevertheless, in the course of the interview which the Swaziland deputation had with the Premier, the way was paved for future negotiations. It is probable that at no distant date the coal mines of the Eastern Transvaal will prove an asset of considerably enhanced value to the South African Government, and having regard to its expressed desire to find harbour accommodation on the East coast and within Union territory, in order to lessen dependence upon Portuguese facilities, a new port in direct railroad communication with the coalfields becomes an absolute economic necessity. Railway engineers are now carrying out surveys with either Kosi or Sordwana bays. as their objective. General Smuts has stated, however, that the proposed line will not be constructed until Swaziland has consented to the amalgamation suggestion.

Swaziland's objections to incorporation appeared to be mainly political in character. It strongly disfavoured division of its area for attachment to any of the existing electoral districts of the Transvaal, and expressed strong disapproval of the Union's system of local government as exemplified by the Provincial Councils. But these matters are not seriously regarded as insuperable obstacles to union, which is looked upon by influential residents on both sides of the border as Swaziland's inevitable destiny.

Sir Abe Bailey, in the House of Assembly, in April, raised the question of the disputed boundary between Swaziland and Portuguese East Africa. He desired to know, in view of the fact that the joint Commission had long since closed its inquiry, when a settlement of the dispute would be arrived at. General Smuts replied that the matter was still the subject of diplomatic discussions between the Imperial and Portuguese Governments. The mandated area of South West Africa, formerly a German colony, has during the year been steadily reaching out

for a nearer realisation of its great promise. Industrial expansion in many directions is at the moment retarded by the absence of money and a lack of markets, largely owing to transport difficulties. It is estimated that the Protectorate has 470,000 head of large stock and 2,000,000 head of small stock, which are expected to provide about 40,000 head of the former and 70,000 head of the latter for export per annum. Apart from its admittedly valuable mineral possessions, the Protectorate is looked upon as having a big future as a ranching and cattle export country. The port of Walvis Bay is being developed as a cold storage centre. Its development under the control of the Union department of railways and harbours should be rapid.

The Union Government has now completed an important economic extension of the railway from Otjiwarongo to Outjo, at a cost of 30,000l.

66

Attempts have from time to time been made to exploit the alleged grievances of the German inhabitants of the territory, a heritage of the late regime; but Mr. Hofmeyr, the Administrator, in a statement upon this subject, says: 'Having regard to the Germans in this Territory and the powers granted to the Union under the Peace Treaty, so far from being subjected to an economic war I can reasonably claim that the older population has been treated not only with great consideration but with generosity. No less than 80 per cent. of the Land Bank loans have been granted to the German inhabitants of the country, and 90 per cent. of the amounts claimed for damage during the war have been paid to Germans."

Unfortunately, there was trouble in the early part of the year between the Union Government and certain members of the Bondelzwarts tribe, over the payment of taxes. The punitive expedition sent out by the authorities killed many of the natives and captured others. Allegations of cruel repression were afterwards brought against the Government, to which General Smuts replied in the House. The Administrator's report on the occurrence, together with that of a special Commission of Inquiry, were ordered by the Premier to be submitted to the League of Nations.

As one of the indirect consequences of the Bondelzwarts affair, a movement was initiated by a section of the white population of the Protectorate, advocating the abolition of the mandatory system in favour of annexation by the Union.

Rhodesia figured prominently in the affairs of the Union during the year under review. Following protracted negotiations, its inhabitants were called upon to vote for a system of self-government or absorption in the Union as its fifth province. Prior to the referendum the advocates of the alternative policies conducted a vigorous campaign of propaganda.

On January 26 the elected members of the Rhodesian Legislative Council adopted the Draft Responsible Government

S