SAIIA SOUTH AFRICAN DIPLOMATS ABROAD.pdf

"Tomorrow", wrote the newspaper, "the House ot
Assembly is to discuss the resolution of the Imperial Conference,
establishing as an accepted doctrine the autonomous
status of the, Dominions and South Africa among them.
Thus, we think', the South African Parliament will be the first
to discuss the Imperial Conference declaration and the eyes
of the whole British Commonwealth will be upon the House of
Assembly. It is an excellent thing, we believe, that there
should be a full discussion in the Union Parliament on this
subject. . . . Almost simultaneously with this debate the
Government has created a Foreign Affairs Department, under
the Prime Minister, with Dr. Bodenstein, a professor at
Stellenbosch University, as its permanent head. . . . One result
of the creation of the new Department, it is to be hoped,
will be considerably more publicity on the part of the Government,
as to its communications with Great Britain and foreign
countries.. . . The Union, as a partner of the British Commonwealth
has no need to be in a hurry to show off among the
other nations. There may, of course, be occasions when
it will be bound to let other nations know what its position
is—such an occasion came to General Smuts at the time of
the Washington Conference—but they should be waited for,
and the new department should not go looking for opportunities
for ostentation, either within the Union and the British
Commonwealth or outside its borders."
The new External Affairs office was tested very early. The
direct cause was the problem of the Angola Boers who had
emigrated from the Transvaal in the eighteen-seventics but still
regarded themselves as linked with South Africa. Arrangements
were being made to help them to find a home in the Union or
South-West Africa. The Union Government at Pretoria
appointed a consul in Angola as its representative on the spot.
In spite of the Mozambique Convention, which was due for
renewal in September, 1928, the Portuguese declined to recognise
his status.
When the budget estimates for the first time made provision
for the Department of External Affairs a debate arose
in the House of Assembly which gave the Prime Minister, General
Hertiog, and the Leader of the Opposition, General Smuts, an
opportunity to explain their views.
Mr. J. W. Jagger started the discussion with a query:
"What is this amount for the Department of External Affairs?
Is it a new vote. 7 Further, with regard to this consul for the
Union in Angola. W 7 hat value do we get out of this? Surely
we don't get £1,000 worth of value. There is very little trade
done up there from here." Supporting Mr. Jagger Mr. Leslie
Blackwell added: "I understand the Portuguese Government
have refused to recognise this official. He was appointed to
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