Government.—The Union of South Af rica was constituted under the South Africa Act of 1909, under the terms of which the self-governing colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Trans vaal, and the Orange River Colony were united on May 31, 1910, in a legislative union under one government. These col onies became original provinces of the Union. The Governor-General, appointed by the sovereign, administers the execu tive government of the Union, together with an executive council, the members of which are chosen by the Governor General. Various departments of state have been established, the heads of which, not exceeding ten in number, are appointed by the Governor-General. The legislative power is vested in a Parliament consisting of the king, a Senate, and a House of Assembly. Ses sion of Parliament must take place every year. The senate consists of 40 mem bers, each of whom must be a British subject of European descent. The House of Assembly consists of 134 members and is elected for five years. The Cape of Good Hope elects 51, Natal 17, the Transvaal 49, and the Orange Free State 17 members. In most respects membership qualifications are similar to those existing for members of the Brit ish Parliament. The House of Assembly originates money bills. It cannot pass a bill for taxation or appropriation un less it has been recommended during the session by a message from the Governor General. The right of the Senate to amend money bills is restricted. Pre toria is the seat of the Government of the Union. Cape Town is the seat of the Legislature. Each province is ad ministered by an administrator, appoint ed by the Governor-General for five years, and a provincial council elected for three years. Both the English and Dutch lan guages are official. The Governor-Gen eral in 1920 was Viscount Buxton, and the Prime Minister, General J. C. Smuts. The Union is represented in London by a High Commissioner. The administra tion of justice is in the hands of the various courts, consisting of the Appel late Division and several provincial di visions of the Supreme Court of South Africa.
history of the Union of South Africa, properly speaking, of course, begins only with the formation of the Union in 1910. Previous to that ;late the history is identical with that of its several provinces, where it is treated more extensively.
The first Governor-General was Vis count Gladstone, the son of the famous British statesman. The first cabinet of the Union was headed by General Botha and included among others, Generals Smuts, Hertzog, and Fischer. In 1912 a cabinet crisis developed as a result of General Hertzog's claims that Premier Botha over-emphasized the interests of the British Empire as compared to those of the Union, and showed too strong leanings toward imperialism. The points' at issue were closely connected with the opposition to the presence of large num bers of Hindoo laborers, and with the restrictive legislation against these Hin., doo laborers which had been passed. Ther crisis finally resulted in the splitting of the Nationalist Party into two factions. The matter eventually was settled,' at least partially. In 1913 an extensive strike of the miners on the Rand oc curred. In spite of considerable violence and the calling out of troops, the strike was eventually settled by the interven tion of the government. A general strike of all miners attempted in 1914 failed as a result of the quick action of the government in arresting the leaders and in forcibly deporting them to England. The Union Parliament passed stringent laws against all forms of picketing, strikes on public works were made a penal offense, and the Government was given permission to deport anyone con victed of public violence or sedition. The
working classes of the Union met this legislation by organizing a Labor Party, in opposition to the Nationalist and Unionist parties.
At the outbreak of the World War in 1914, both the Government and the Par liament of the Union immediately pledged their unfaltering loyalty to the Empire. The government, as early as September, 1914, determined upon the invasion of German Southwest Africa. The details of the campaigns of the Union forces in this former German colony, as well as those of the later campaigns in German East Africa, are given in the article on the WORLD WAR (q. v.).
The first campaign against German pouth Africa, however, was interrupted in October, 1914, by a revolt led by three former Boer leaders, Lieutenant-Colonel Maritz, General Christian de Wet, and General Christian F. Byers. General Botha immediately assumed command against his three former comrades at arms, and by December, 1914, the revolt had practically collapsed after General de Wet had been made a prisoner and General Byers had been killed. Lieuten ant-Colonel Maritz had been forced to flee into German territory. An internal revolt under the leadership of General Hertzog broke out in February, 1915, but was quickly suppressed by the arrest of most of the leaders. All these were tried and sentenced to fines and terms of imprisonment of varying degrees.
In 1915 the Union sent an expedition ary force to the western front. Anti German feeling throughout the Union was intense, and serious demonstrations occurred, especially in 1915, in many of the larger cities. In August, 1915, Parliament was dissolved. The new Par liament elected in October contained a majority for the Government indicating strong popular support of General Bo tha's policies. Soon after the meeting of Parliament, General de Wet and many of his followers, all of whom had been convicted of high treason, were pardoned. Parliament passed various important bills providing for the reorganization of higher education and for the unifying of the laws of the separate provinces. A "Trading with the Enemy Act" was also passed. In January, 1917, General Smuts, then in command of the Union forces operating in German East Africa, was sent to Europe as the representa tive of the Union Government at the Imperial War Conference in London. Although the Nationalists continued their opposition to the government and to its principle of active participation in the war, this opposition did not reflect truly the popular attitude, and the Botha gov ernment was not only able to maintain itself, but even to increase its majority in Parliament. Late in 1917, a slight rapprochement between the Unionists and Nationalists took place.
At the Peace Conference the Union was represented by General Botha and General Smuts, both of whom took an active and influential part in the delib erations of the Conference. In May, 1919, the Supreme Council awarded the mandate over German Southwest Africa to the Union of South Africa. At the time the Peace Treaty came up for sig nature, General Smuts made a strong protest against some of its terms and announced that he signed the Peace Treaty only under protest. General Bo tha returned home in July, 1919, and died suddenly at Pretoria on Aug. 28, 1919. He was succeeded as Premier by General Smuts. As compared with most of the other countries which had been involved in the World War, the Union suffered, during 1919 and 1920, compar atively few of the difficulties which the return to peace conditions brought about elsewhere. Business was in a prosper ous condition and the far-sighted policies of the government in respect to the re establishment of ex-soldiers and to the prevention of unemployment, met the issues at stake successfully.