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VI. ‘Het Volk’: The Botha-Smuts Party in the Transvaal, 1904–111

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2010

N. G. Garson
N. G. Garson
Affiliation:
University of the Witwatersrand
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Extract

By bringing the Botha-Smuts ministry to power in 1907, the ‘Vereeniging Het Volk’ (the ‘People's Union’) restored supremacy in the Transvaal to the Boers, less than five years after a war fought with the avowed object of wresting that supremacy from them. One might argue that, given the grant of self-government, this achievement owed less to the organizing techniques of Het Volk as a party, than to the numerical strength and the cohesion of the Boers as a community; but even so, the importance of Het Volk would be established as the expression, at the level of a political party, of these social facts. Coming into existence alongside other parties, before the introduction of self-government, Het Volk helped ensure that under the new constitution a fully fledged party system would function from the beginning.

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , 1966 , pp. 101 - 132
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1966

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References

2 Davenport, T. R. H., The Afrikaner Bond (Ph.D. thesis, University of Cape Town, 1960)Google Scholar , now being prepared for publication.

3 Ibid., ch. xiv. The Transvaal legislative council was a nominated house in which Het Volk did not enjoy a majority.

4 Hancock, W. K., Smuts: The Sanguine Years (Cambridge, 1962), chs. 10, 11 and 12.Google Scholar

5 Aardt, J. M. H. van, Die Botha-bewind in Transvaal 1907-1910 (Potchefstroom, 1959)Google Scholar ; Spoelstra, B., ‘Die Bewindsaanvaarding van die Botha-regering oor Transvaal’, etc., Archives Year Book for South African History, 1953, part IIGoogle Scholar ; Vermooten, F., ‘Transvaal en die Tot-standkoming van die Unie…’, Archives Year Book for South African History, 1957, part 11. In South Africa 1906–1961 (London, 1962)Google Scholar , Professor Nicholas Mansergh makes use of Colonial Office material; and so does Professor May, G. H. Le, British Supremacy in South Africa (Oxford, 1965).Google Scholar I am indebted to Professor Le May for his courtesy in having allowed me to read the proofs of this work. In contrast to those of Het Volk, the records of the Afrikaner Bond have survived. See Davenport, op. cit.

6 , Davenport, op. cit., ch. XII.Google Scholar The three main Boer parties had a Natal counterpart, the Natal Boerekongres, later called the Natal Volksvereeniging (Jansen, E. G., Die Natalse Boerekongres: 1906-1911, Pietermaritzburg, n.d.)Google Scholar.

7 Statuten of Volk, Het, Volkstem, 28 01 1905Google Scholar (also published separately), article II(f).

8 Thompson, L. M., The Unification of South Africa: 1902–1910 (Oxford, 1960), pp. 29–30, 70-1.Google Scholar

9 Headlam, J. W., The Milner Papers (2 vols., London, 1933), 11, 533–4Google Scholar ; The Times History of the War in South Africa: 1899-1902, v (1909), 190–2Google Scholar.

10 , Mansergh, op. cit., pp. 64–71Google Scholar ; , Hancock, op. cit., p. 159Google Scholar.

11 , Hancock, op. cit., p. 188.Google Scholar

12 , Thompson, op. cit., pp. 30–2Google Scholar ; , Spoelstra, op. cit., p. 324.Google Scholar The conciliation approach had become evident in the Afrikaner Bond even earlier–for example, in the interview between the Bond leaders and Chamberlain in Feb. 1903 (, Davenport, op. cit., ch. XII)Google Scholar.

13 Marais, J. S., The Fall of Kruger's Republic (Oxford, 1961), pp. 10–11.Google Scholar

14 African 747 (confidential print series), p. 70, Milner's despatch, 5 Dec. 1904. This refers t o the Lyttelton constitution named after Alfred Lyttelton, who had succeeded Chamberlain as Colonial Secretary in October 1903.

15 African 804, p. 4, Churchill's memorandum, 2 Jan. 1906.

16 , Thompson, op. cit., p. 41.Google Scholar

17 Cd. 2400, p. 2, Lyttelton's despatch, 5 Dec. 1904.

18 , Hancock, op. cit., p. 194.Google Scholar

19 African 714, pp. 135-6, 6 Feb. 1903.

20 , Hancock, op.cit., p. 194Google Scholar , Smuts's draft; African 728, p. 69, the ‘Courtney letter’, actually Botha's letter (drafted by Smuts) to Hobhouse, L. B., which appeared in The Times on 15 07 1903Google Scholar.

21 Agtjaar S'n Politiek (Pretoria, 1910), p. 14.Google Scholar

22 CO. 291/66, E. H. M. Leggett to Robinson (a member of Milner's staff), 5 July 1903. The reference to ‘the European money question’ related to the disposal of the former republic's funds in Europe. Leggett attempted to foster the allegation that instead of spending this money on the relief of widows and orphans, Botha was using it for undisclosed objects. See his other letters in CO. 291/66. That Botha had access to such funds is clear, though there are no indications as to their extent. Engelenburg, F. V., General Louis Botha, London, 1929, p. 116Google Scholar ; Aardt, van, op. cit., pp. 34–5.Google Scholar (Citations from van Aardt are from the unpublished version.) See below (pp. 125-6) for their use in the reorganization of the Volkstem. Milner evidently had a civilian secret service of which Leggett was a member (see May, Le, op. cit., P. 159)Google Scholar.

23 Cd. 1895, pp. 52-4, 60, Milner's despatch, 17 July 1903; CO. 291/58, minutes on this.

24 CO. 291/68, Milner's telegram, u Feb. 1904, and H. W. Just's minute; Cd. 1899, pp. 22-3, Lyttelton's telegram, 13 Feb. 1904.

25 On the farmers' associations (boerevereenigingen) see Cd. 1899, p. 4, Milner's telegram, 29 Jan. 1904; Cd. 1941, pp. 29-33, Milner's dispatch, 1 Feb. 1904 ; Munnik, G. G., Memoirs (Cape Town, n.d.), p. 234Google Scholar ; Aardt, van, op. cit., p. 36.Google Scholar On the preparations for the volkskongres see African 747, pp. 56-8, Capt. G. Davis's report, 13 May 1904, on a meeting of the Zout-pansberg farmers' association ; , Engelenburg, op. cit., p. 127Google Scholar ; Aardt, van, op. cit., pp. 44–7.Google Scholar Although one of his correspondents in the Transvaal, E. Sheppard, consulted Merriman on the point, there is no evidence to support the assertion (, Headlam, op. cit., 11, 517–18)Google Scholar that the Boer leaders were contemplating a link-up between farmers' associations and the Afrikaner Bond (, Davenport, op. cit., XII(i))Google Scholar.

26 Rand Daily Mail, 31 03 1904.Google Scholar

27 On the congress: , Spoelstra, op. cit., pp. 324–5Google Scholar ; Aardt, van, op. cit., pp. 44–7.Google Scholar Cd. 2104, pp. 144-6, Milner's despatch, 30 May 1904, list of delegates and proceedings at the conference with Lawley.

28 Aardt, Van, op. cit., p. 58 and n.Google Scholar

29 African 747, pp. 37-42, Milner's despatch, 30 May 1904 ; , Hancock, op. cit., p. 188Google Scholar.

30 Ibid.; African 743, pp. 212, 221, Lyttelton's telegrams, 8 and 22 July 1904.

31 CO. 291/74, Graham's minute on Milner's despatch of 5 Dec. 1904.

32 Cd. 2479, p. 1, Milner's despatch, 28 Nov. 1904 ; , Spoelstra, op. cit., pp. 325–6Google Scholar ; Aardt, van, op. cit., pp. 50–1Google Scholar.

33 Cd. 2479, pp. 58-63, Milner's despatch, 30 Jan. 1905, enclosing press reports; pp. 65-9, 107-8, 118-28, 132-6, 140-2, further despatches and press reports. C.O. 291/80, Lambert's minute on Milner's despatch of 6 Feb. 1905.

34 Cd. 2479, PP- 16-17, Milner's despatch, 16 Jan. 1905; pp. 52-3, Smuts to Milner, 13 Jan. 1905; Cd. 2563, pp. 7–8, terms of the agreement.

35 African 765, pp. 97, 98, 100-1, 104-5, IIO, Selborne's and Lyttelton's telegrams, 2-27 June 1905; African 779, pp. 73-7, Selborne's despatch, 10 July 1905. Selborne had succeeded Milner as high commissioner in April.

36 African 837, p. 1, Smuts's memorandum, March 1906. On the congress: African 779, p. 77, Selborne's despatch, 10 July 1905 and Volkstem, 8 and 12 07 1905Google Scholar.

37 CO. 291/83, Selborne's despatches, 10 and 17 July 1905. Milner's view had been that the Boers were unlikely to co-operate (African 765, pp. 16-17, despatch, 30 Jan. 1905).

38 African 779, p. 119.

39 CO. 291/84, Graham's minute, dated 28 Nov., on Selborne's despatch, 7 Aug. 1905; African 765, pp. 214, 220, 229, Lyttelton's telegrams, 1 and 8 Dec, and Selborne's, 6 Dec. 1905; CO. 291/88, Selborne's despatch, 18 Dec. 1905; CO. 291/95, Graham's minute on Selborne's telegram of 18 Jan. 1906.

40 African 837, Smuts's memorandum (CO., March 1906) ; , Mansergh, op. cit., pp. 26–7Google Scholar.

41 Pyrah, G. B., Imperial Policy and South Africa 1902-1910 (Oxford, 1955), passim;Google Scholar, Man-sergh, op. cit., ch. 1Google Scholar , for the policy change ; , Hancock, op. cit., ch. 11Google Scholar , for Smuts's role.

42 African 853, p. 1, report of the West Ridgeway Committee. The committee began its work in the Transvaal in April.

43 African 779, pp. 328-30, Selborne's despatch, 27 Nov. 1905; African 800, pp. 135-6, 140, Selborne's despatches, 5 and 17 March 1906.

44 Census: Transvaal and Swaziland (London, 1906).

45 African 800, p. 215, Selborne's despatch, 28 May 1906. This calculation had been the work of one of Milner's census officials in 1904. A ‘nationality’ test based on surnames produced a similar result (see May, Le, op. cit., p. 168)Google Scholar.

46 , Hancock, op. cit., p. 226.Google Scholar

47 African 853, pp. 17-18, 34.

48 African 853, pp. 15, 34; African 851, p. 3, Fitzpatrick's memorandum, 21 July 1906.

49 , Thompson, op. cit., pp. 25, 129–30.Google Scholar

50 African 853, pp. 15-16; African 820, pp. 95-6, West Ridgeway's memorandum, 27 May 1906.

51 CO. 291/99, Selborne's telegram, 19 May 1906.

52 Ibid., minutes on the above and Elgin's despatch, 16 June 1906.

53 African 853, pp. 18-20; CO. 291/112, Elgin's minute on the West Ridgeway Committee's report, 23 July 1906. The Witwatersrand was to have 34 seats, Pretoria 6 and the rest of the country 29.

54 African 853, pp. 21-2, 34; CO. 291/102, West Ridgeway's minute (24 Oct. 1906) on Selborne's despatch of 13 Aug. 1906.

55 African 853, pp. 22-3, 34 ; , Thompson, op. cit., pp. 27, 129–30.Google Scholar Professor Le May argues (op. cit., p. 208) that the ‘loading’ provision was designed to give representation to the medium-sized country towns, which were thought to contain many voters who were dominated neither by Het Volk nor the mining industry.

56 Cd. 3250, letters patent; African 866, pp. 1-2, Selborne's despatch, 17 Dec. 1906 ; Volk-stem, 19 12 1906Google Scholar.

57 , Pyrah, op. cit., pp. 194–5Google Scholar ; Long, B. K., Drummond Chaplin, pp. 74–6, 81Google Scholar.

58 , Pyrah, op. cit., pp. 76, 81, 138Google Scholar and ch. v passim.

59 , Headlam, op. cit., 11, p. 528.Google Scholar

60 Aardt, Van, op. cit., pp. 123, 138–41Google Scholar ; Transvaal Government Gazette, 12 1906Google Scholar.

61 See pp. 123-4 below for the procedure in Het Volk for the registration of voters and the nomination of candidates.

62 African 820, p. 97, West Ridgeway's memorandum, 27 May 1906; CO. 291/112, his memorandum of 31 Aug. 1906, attached to the committee's report.

63 African 800, pp. 396–7, Selborne's despatch, 1 Oct 1906, enclosing press reports on the National Association ; Aardt, van, op. cit., pp. 147–8Google Scholar.

64 Aardt, Van, op. cit., pp. 148–9Google Scholar , quoting Smuts to Steyn, 18 July 1906 and Smuts to Merriman, 28 Nov. 1906 ; , Spoelstra, op. cit., p. 340Google Scholar and Appendix J. Merriman's influence had been present at an earlier stage. At the end of May 1904 Smuts had written to him asking for information on the South African Liberal Association. This was an organization formed by Merriman in the Cape with the aim of attracting the broad support of English-speaking urban workers throughout South Africa. Smuts's aim was to create an organization (Het Volk?) on lines sufficiently broad to appeal to ‘British’ voters in the Transvaal. , Davenport, op. cit., chap, XII(ii)Google Scholar.

65 Aardt, Van, op. cit., p. 152Google Scholar ; Volkstem, 5 and 8 12 1906Google Scholar.

66 CO. 291/115, Selborne's despatch, 7 Jan. 1907.

67 , Spoelstra, op. cit., pp. 344–5.Google Scholar

68 For the results in full see Clough, E., The South African Parliamentary Manual (London, 1909), pp. 81–6Google Scholar , and Cd. 3528, pp. 162–6. Het Volk won all the country seats except Barber-ton, 3 Pretoria (urban) seats and 4 on the Witwatersrand. Of the 37 returned, 34 were official candidates and 3 Independents who supported the party. Including these Het Volk had 46 candidates in the field. The Progressives had 34 (winning 21 seats–20 on the Rand and 1 in Pretoria); the National Association 16 (winning 6–4 in Johannesburg and 2 in Pretoria); Labour groups 14 (winning 3 seats, all in Johannesburg); and there were 33 Independents, of whom only 2 were elected. In 10 constituencies Het Volk candidates were returned unopposed; in the 36 constituencies in which they were engaged in contests they polled 24,769 votes, compared to the Progressives' 17,449 in 34 constituencies. In the contested constituencies 68 per cent of the 90,057 registered electors cast their votes. In seats won by Het Volk the average percentage poll was 72 per cent; in seats won by the Progressives 66 per cent.

69 African 837 (March 1906), p. 9.

70 African 853, pp. 7-8, 11.

71 , Hancock, op. cit., p. 228Google Scholar ; Aardt, van, op. cit., pp. 140Google Scholar (Botha to Leyds, 21 Sept. 1906), 171.

72 CO. 291/112, West Ridgeway's memorandum attached to the report, 31 July 1906; CO. 291/102, West Ridgeway's minute on Selborne's despatch of 13 Aug. 1906; CO. 291/103, Selborne's despatch, 24 Sept. 1906 (see also May, Le, op. cit., p. 206)Google Scholar.

73 Unless H. C. Hull (cf. , Hancock, op. cit., p. 230)Google Scholar counts as a Nationalist. He fought the election as an Independent with Het Volk leanings. Aardt, Van, op. cit., pp. 182 ff.Google Scholar ; CO. 291/116, Selborne's despatch, 25 Feb., and telegram, 28 Feb. 1907. On the Colonial Office side there is no support for Smuts's contention to Merriman (, Hancock, op. cit., p. 228)Google Scholar ‘that he himself might have become prime minister but that he had refused to take precedence over Botha’. Selborne wrote: ‘The clear majority which Het Volk has won over all other parties combined, together with the defeat of Sir Richard Solomon by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, has of course made it necessary for me to send for General Botha, and I have very little doubt that he will form a Ministry consisting mainly, if not entirely, of members of his own party’ (CO. 291/116, despatch, 25 Feb. 1907). The possibility remains that the suggestion that Smuts be prime minister came from Botha himself.

74 Quoted in Levi, J., Jan Smuts (London, 1917), p. 101Google Scholar.

75 African 897, pp. 66-7,72,110, Selborne's despatches, 17 Feb., 2 March and 13 Apr. 1908 ; , Thompson, op. cit., pp. 80-1, 139, 295Google Scholar.

75 , Thompson, op. cit., p. 142Google Scholar ; African 900, pp. 96-7, Selborne's telegrams, 10 Aug. 1908.

77 , Thompson, op. cit., p. 142Google Scholar ; African 897, pp. 244–5, Selborne's despatch, 13 July 1908.

78 , Thompson, op. cit., pp. 314, 327Google Scholar ; Transvaal Leader, 26 05 1909Google Scholar.

79 , Thompson, op. cit., pp. 433–48Google Scholar , for a full account ; , Hancock, op. cit., pp. 269–71Google Scholar , Aardt, van, op. cit., pp. 562, 569–70Google Scholar ; , Davenport, op. cit., ch. XIII(iv)Google Scholar.

80 Transvaal Leader, 23 03 1910.Google Scholar

81 , Thompson, op. cit., pp. 440, 447, 461–2Google Scholar ; , Hancock, op. cit., p. 271Google Scholar.

82 Volkstem, 17, 21 and 24 06 1910.Google Scholar The Volkstem used the terms Het Volk and ‘Nationalist’ (derived from the S.A.N.P.) more or less interchangeably.

83 , Thompson, op. cit., pp. 461–2Google Scholar and on the election generally, pp. 460-79.

84 Cloete, B., Die Lewe van Senator F. S. Malan (Johannesburg, 1946), p. 268Google Scholar ; Aardt, van, op. cit., pp. 569–72Google Scholar.

85 , Davenport, op. cit., ch. XIII(iv).Google Scholar The Cape Town conference was held on 31 March and 1 Apr. 1911.

86 African 743, pp. 40-1 telegram, 11 Feb. 1904.

87 CO. 291/86, despatch, 27 Oct. 1905; African 812, p. 3, Selborne's memorandum, 14 Dec. 1905.

88 African 795, Graham's secret minute, 28 Oct. 1905.

89 African 800, p. 8, Selborne's memorandum, 23 Dec. 1905. See also African 796 C, pp. 2–3, Graham's memorandum, 12 Dec. 1905.

90 African 812, p. 4, Selborne's memorandum, 14 Dec. 1905. Selborne thought that the man who would ‘sway the whole’ would be Hofmeyr.

91 African 760, p. 3, Milner's despatch, 19 Dec. 1904.

92 African 853, pp. 7–8, 11.

93 African 796 C, p. 2, Graham's memorandum, 12 Dec. 1905.

94 Van Aardt, pp. 48-9, for Smuts's part in preparing the statutes.

95 , Davenport, op. cit., ch. XII.Google Scholar For the Bond constitution see Officieele Stukken van den Afrikaner Bond en Boerenvereeniging in de Kaap Kolonie (1910), pp. 127–44Google Scholar.

96 Volkstem, 28 Jan. and 8 July 1905, 12 Dec. 1906, 8 June 1907.

97 Article 17 (Article 22 after July 1905). In contrast to the Afrikaner Bond therefore (, Davenport, op. cit., ch. XII(i))Google Scholar , membership in Het Volk was defined in racial terms, a characteristic which it shared with the Orangia Unie and the Natal Boerekongres.

98 In the Afrikaner Bond only congress itself (the ‘Centraal Bestuur’) could dissolve branches that had fallen under detrimental or hostile influences (Art. XIV, 1910).

98 Congress proceedings were fully reported in the Volkstem.

100 CO. 291/117, /126, /137, minutes on Selborne's despatches of 10 June 1907, 13 Apr. 1908, 23 June 1909.

101 , Johannesburg Star, 10 06 1907.Google Scholar

102 Volkstem, 8 07 1905 and 5 12 1906.Google Scholar

103 , Minimi op. cit., p. 240:Google Scholar ‘Facsimile of signatures of all [sic] members elected to the first parliament at Pretoria’, headed ‘Caucus Monday, June 14, 1909…Business: Acceleration of Business, etc.’ Het Volk members possibly also met separately and there were meetings at which legislative councillors also attended (, Thompson, op. cit., pp. 142, 314)Google Scholar.

104 Steinmeyer, J., Spykers met Koppe (Cape Town, 1946), pp. 37–8Google Scholar ; Crafford, F. S., Jan Smuts (London, 1945), p. 74Google Scholar.

105 Transvaal Legislative Assembly, Debates, 1907, 1908, 1909; Transvaal, Debates of both Houses of Parliament, 1909, 1910.

106 Goldmann, R., A South African Remembers (Cape Town, n.d.), p. 140.Google Scholar

107 , Thompson, op. cit., p. 456Google Scholar (Merriman to Steyn, 27 May 1910).

108 Articles 17–20 of the statutes , Volkstem, 8 07 1905.Google Scholar As amended by the 1906 congress: Volkstem, 8 12 1906Google Scholar.

109 CO. 291/116, Selborne's dispatch, 18 Feb. 1907 ; Aardt, van, op. cit., p. 165Google Scholar.

110 Volkstem, 12 12 1906Google Scholar , 8 June 1907, for these amendments to Article 17.

111 Article xix(d), (e) and(f) of the Bond constitution in Officieele Stukken (1910), p. 136.Google Scholar Dr Davenport argues, however, that the leaders of the Bond exercised considerable control over the nomination of candidates through the ‘Commissie van Toezicht op Electies’ (op. cit., ch. XII).

112 Volkstem, 24 03 (1910 congress)Google Scholar , 24 and 28 June, 1 and 5 July 1910.

113 Volkstem, 12 08 and 6 09 1910.Google Scholar

114 Times, 13 09 1910Google Scholar ; , Thompson, op. cit., p. 474Google Scholar.

115 Beyers (1907), E. Esselen (1908) and Wolmarans (1909) were the three, replaced by N. J. de Wet, J. de Villiers and P. Grobler respectively.

116 , Davenport, op. cit. passim, but esp. ch. XII.Google Scholar

117 Scholtz, G. D., Genl. C. F. Beyers (Johannesburg, 1941), pp. 159, 163–4Google Scholar

118 , Thompson, op. cit., p. 134Google Scholar.

119 Aardt, Van, op. cit., pp. 34-5, 80–1Google Scholar ; Volkstem, 12 07 1905Google Scholar.

120 Aardt, Van, op. cit., pp. 77 n.Google Scholar , 81 n. ; , Munnik, op. cit., pp. 2, 37–8Google Scholar ; Volkstem, 8 06 1907Google Scholar , congress proceedings.

121 At least some delegates to the 1904 congress appear to have been simply summoned in a printed circular signed by Botha, of which there is a copy in the Union Archives, Pretoria (Cd. 2104, pp. 144-6, list of delegates ; Aardt, van, op. cit., pp. 34–5Google Scholar , Smuts to Leyds, 6 June 1904).

122 CO. 291/80, Graham's minute on Milner's despatch of 27 Feb. 1905 ; May, Le, op. cit., P. 173Google Scholar.

123 CO. 291/116, Selborne's despatch, 25 Feb. 1907.

124 , Hancock, op. cit., pp. 237–8Google Scholar ; Ould, C. R., General Smuts's Attitude to White Labour Disputes: 1907-1922 (M.A. thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, 1963), ch. IGoogle Scholar.

125 Report of the Transvaal Indigency Commission (T.G. 13-1908) ; , Marais, op. cit., pp. 5.Google Scholar 193, on Boer poverty before 1899.

126 Cf. , Davenport, op. cit., ch. XIII(i).Google Scholar

127 Ibid., ch. 11(2).

128 Transvaal Government Gazette, 24 12 1906Google Scholar , Report of the Delimitation Commission.

129 African 853, p. 6. Contrast the Afrikaner Bond, in which statistics of membership were efully recorded (, Davenport, op. cit., ch. XIV)Google Scholar.

130 , Spoelstra, op. cit., p. 344Google Scholar ; Times History…, v, 190.

131 Volkstem, 10 09 1910.Google Scholar

132 , Headlam, op. cit., II, 551–2Google Scholar (Milner to Selborne, April 14 1905).

133 At the original congress of 1904, 75 of the 160 Transvaal delegates belonged to the above-mentioned categories. There were 15 generals, 22 commandants, 13 fieldcomets, 9 republican officials, 8 members of the volksraad and 8 lawyers. (This analysis is based on the list of delegates in Cd. 2104, pp. 144-6, which may be incomplete in respect of the designations provided. Individuals have been classified in one category only and where the overlap has been between a military post and any other the former has been used.) Among the 37 Het Volk members of the legislative assembly of 1907 there were 7 generals, 4 commandants, 4 republican officials, 1 volksraad member and 8 lawyers–that is, 24 in all. (Based principally on information in , Clough, op. cit., pp. 90–101.)Google Scholar

134 Times History…, V, 164.

135 CO. 291/80, minute on Milner's despatch, 27 Feb. 1905.

136 , Hancock, op. cit., p. 233.Google Scholar

137 African 874, pp. 152-3, Selborne's despatch, 26 Aug. 1907.

138 African 853, p. 6.

138 CO. 291/66, Leggett's reports to the high commissioner's office, 16 and 22 July 1903.

140 African 853, p. 28. On the National Scouts, see also May, Le, op. cit., pp. 126, 137, 173-4, 215Google Scholar.

141 , Hancock, op. cit., pp. 176–9.Google Scholar

142 African 814, Selborne's memorandum on education, 14 Dec. 1905; CO. 281/88, Sel-borne's despatch, 18 Dec. 1905. See also African 800, pp. 42-3, Selborne's despatch, 22 Jan. 1906. For the negotiations under Milner, see , Headlam, op. cit., 11, pp. 513–16Google Scholar ; African 757, PP. 3-5, Milner's despatch, 13 June 1904.

143 At Het Volk's congress in May 1909 a resolution in favour of the Education Act was passed with only 6 dissentients (Transvaal Leader, 27 05 1909).Google Scholar For a fuller discussion of Smuts's Act, see , Hancock, op. cit., pp. 238–40Google Scholar.

144 Neither Het Volk nor the equivalent Afrikaner parties elsewhere included a defence of Afrikaner cultural aspirations in their programme (, Davenport, op. cit., ch. xv)Google Scholar.

145 Transvaal Leader, 15 02 1909Google Scholar , ‘manifesto’ on Union.

146 , Thompson, op. cit., pp. 474-5, 479.Google Scholar