THESEGREGATIONERA
tions denouncing the shooting of strikers, calling the government's mainte-
nance of discriminatory laws and practices "the antithesis and negation of
the 'letter and spirit of the Atlantic Charter and the United Nations
Charter," and demanding the abolition of all discriminatory legislarion.P-
In November 1946, Hofmeyr, acting prime minister in the absence
of Smuts, who was attending a session of the United Nations, addressed
a final meeting of the council. He defended the government's racial poli-
cies and said that the removal of discriminatory laws "would not be in
the interests of the Native peoples, since experience has shown that the
average Native has not reached a stage in his development when he can
retain the ownership of land under conditions of free competition.t''"
The chairman of the council's caucus was Professor Z. K. Matthews, head
of the African Studies Department at the South African Native College.
In dignified language, Matthews replied to Hofmeyr's speech. It had,
he said, "raised no hope for the future as far as the African people are
concerned.t'P" The council then adjourned, never to meet again. The ANC,
at its annual conference in December, 1946, endorsed the council's
decision.