Stern warning that all fomenters of racial strife will be dealt with severely by the authorities was issued by General Jan C. Smuts in a message to the eleventh congress of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.
“Law and order,” he declared, “will be maintained at all costs, and if those who foment racial and religious strife between various sections of our population find themselves in trouble, they will have only themselves to blame.
“The police and other authorities concerned with the carrying out of the law are keeping a careful watch on those who carry on this dangerous propaganda.”
General Smuts urged the board to continue to give “a wise and far-sighted lead to their people in these anxious times.”
Mayor Freeman of Johannesburg, who is Jewish, welcomed the congress in behalf of the city. The board resolved to launch a vigorous campaign against anti-Jewish propaganda.
Another resolution called on Parliament to “take such action as may be necessary to prevent the dissemination of propaganda calculated to create racial strife between the white races of Africa.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
