368 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

many of the opponents of the Conservative Government of the

time maintained that it was an unjustifiable war of aggression,

and that the Boers had been unfairly treated. The Liberal

Government which took power in 1906 wished to pursue a

conciliatory policy, and in 1909 the South Africa Act was passed,

which turned the colonies into Provinces of the Union of South

Africa, and gave the Union self-Government. Britain and Boer

were placed on an equal footing, and their languages, English and

Afrikaans, were given the same status for official use. The form

of Government is not Federal but Unitary, though each Province

has wide powers, e.g., power'of direct taxation, control of

education, and separate franchise laws.

The Governor-General and his Executive Council are responsible

to a Legislature, which contains two Houses. The Lower House,

known as the House of Assembly, has one hundred and fifty

members elected from the Provinces in accordance with their

white populations. The maximum length of life of this House is

four years. The Senate has forty members. Eight of these are

nominated by the Governor-General, and must vacate their seats

whenever there is a change of Government. The members of the

House of Assembly for each Province then sit together with their

Provincial Council, and elect eight Senators to sit for ten years.

Disputes between the Houses may be settled by a joint sitting.

It is important to notice that only white people may be members

of the Legislature, nor have the black population any right to vote

except in the Cape Province. There they elect four Senators,

and three members of the House of Assembly, and these

representatives sit for five years, even if there is a change of

Government and a Dissolution during that period. Since there

are two million white people in the Union, and seven million

black, it appears that the form of Government secures domination

^by a white minority. This impression is confirmed by a study of

the laws which exclude the native Africans from the better-paid

occupations, and deprive them of effective labour organisation.

This policy represents a victory of Boer ideas over British.