Trouble for Smuts

South Africa's fighting Prime Minister Jan Christiaan Smuts smelled Axis trouble in Madagascar last week which only increased the stench of his Axis trouble at home. From the lazy island of Madagascar the Axis might not only control the western Indian Ocean, but also attack the minerally rich Union of South Africa, only 800 miles away. Last week Prime Minister Smuts heard that Pierre Laval's rise to power in Vichy had been followed by a reign of terror in Madagascar, in which hundreds of Free French sympathizers were arrested. Prime Minister Smuts thereupon broke relations with Vichy, saying ''we do not cease to cherish a firm faith in the resurrection of France." It was rumored that South African troops would soon be sent to take Madagascar for the United Nations.

This might be easy enough against Madagascar's present force of 5,000 French, Senegalese and native troops, who have little artillery, a few pillboxes, only a handful of planes. But a Vichy naval squadron headed by six cruisers was reported en route to Madagascar. And even if successful against Vichy, Prime Minister Smuts might find himself up against powerful Japanese interference.

Furthermore, any diversion of South African troops to Madagascar might be followed by increased pro-Nazi sabotage inside the Union itself. In recent months "dynamitards" of the fascist Ossewa Brandwag--"Ox Wagon Fireguard" (TIME, Feb. 10, 1941)--have blasted high-power transmission lines feeding the great Rand gold mines and the South African railways, have cut telephone & telegraph lines wholesale and even found support among the Union police. Now the Union of South Africa has a death penalty for such acts, but if Madagascar is taken by the Axis, the Union's violent pro-Nazi minority may cause new troubles.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.