But the Liberal journalists will do
their best to suggest that the South African wrong consisted in what they
call Martial Law. That is, that there is something specially wicked about
men doing an act of cruelty in khaki or in vermilion, but not if it is
done in dark blue with pewter buttons. The tyrant who wears a busby or a
forage cap is abominable; the tyrant who wears a horsehair wig is
excusable. To be judged by soldiers is hell; but to be judged by lawyers
is paradise.
Now the point must not be missed in this way. What is wrong with the
tyranny in Africa is not that it is run by soldiers. It would be quite as
bad, or worse, if it were run by policemen. What is wrong is that, for
the first time since Pagan times, private men are being forced to work for
a private man. Men are being punished by imprisonment or exile for
refusing to accept a job. The fact that Botha can ride on a horse, or
fire off a gun, makes him better rather than worse than any man like
Sidney Webb or Philip Snowden, who attempt the same slavery by much less
manly methods. The Liberal Party will try to divert the whole discussion
to one about what they call militarism. But the very terms of modern
politics contradict it. For when we talk of real rebels against the
present system we call them Militants.
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