Jacob Hendrik Smit, CMG (3 September 1881 – 22 July 1959) was a

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

n merchant and politician. Born in the Netherlands, Smit migrated to Rhodesia and traded as a merchant, before becoming Southern Rhodesia's Minister of Finance in 1933. Orthodox in his economic policies, Smit resigned from

Godfrey Huggins Godfrey Martin Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern (6 July 1883 – 8 May 1971), was a Rhodesian politician and physician. He served as the fourth Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1933 to 1953 and remained in office as the first Prime Minis ...

' government in 1942 and later formed the right-wing

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. He was Southern Rhodesia's Leader of the Opposition from 1946 to 1948, when he lost his seat.

Biography

Smit was born in Hilversum, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, the son of Samuel Marinus Smit and Aleyda Woutera van Wyland. Destined for a teaching career, he instead became a bank clerk, before migrating to the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

around 1899. Failing to establish himself there, he went to Beira in 1900, working as a tobacconist, and thence to

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

in 1905, where at first he sold wares from a barrow, then a mule cart. Opening a grocery and hardware store in 1914, Smit's fortunes rose, and he became first a town councillor, then the Mayor of Salisbury from 1927 to 1928. He was naturalised as a British subject in 1926. In 1931, Smit was elected to the

Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia was the legislature of Southern Rhodesia and then Rhodesia from 1924 to 1970. Background In 1898, the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council, Southern Rhodesia's first elected representative body, was foun ...

in a surprise anti-government by-election victory in Salisbury South, and in 1932 he joined the Reform Party. When

formed a government in 1933, Smit was appointed

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, becoming Minister of Finance and Commerce in 1934. As Minister of Finance, Smit introduced a state lottery and a new customs policy: being a strong supporter of the imperial connection with the United Kingdom, he favoured stronger trading links with the UK rather than South Africa. A strong believer in orthodox economics, Smit was opposed to the running of unbalanced budgets during his time in office. Smit was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the

1939 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1939 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the o ...

. Smit continued in office in Huggins' wartime coalition government, but increasingly came to disagree with Huggins on various issues, in particular what he perceived as Huggins' willingness to entertain left-wing wartime economic policies. Another factor behind the drift was Huggins' failure to include him in his exclusive wartime Defence Committee. In January 1942, Smit tendered his resignation from the Huggins government. He became the leader of the newly formed

Southern Rhodesia Liberal Party The Southern Rhodesian Liberal Party was a political party in Southern Rhodesia, founded in 1943 by Jacob Smit (1881–1959), the former United Party (UP) Minister of Finance. It is thought that Smit split from the UP largely because Prime Minis ...

in 1943. The Liberal Party attempted to unite conservative, non-trade union opposition to the United Party while opposing government economic regulation and the advancement of Black political interests. It supported dominion status for Southern Rhodesia and opposed amalgamation with Northern Rhodesia. Smit became the Leader of the Opposition following the

1946 Southern Rhodesian general election General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 25 April 1946, seven years after the previous elections in 1939, the term of the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly having been extended so that there would be no general elections during ...

, in which his party won 12 seats. He lost his seat in the 1948 Southern Rhodesian general election, in which the Liberal Party was reduced to a rump of five. Some blamed his defeat on the public's mistaken impression that Smit was an Afrikaner, which associated him and his party with the Nationalist Party in South Africa in the public mind.

Family

Jacob Smit married Dieta Smilda in 1913. They had one son, Captain John Walter Smit, 3rd Bn Gold Coast Regiment, RWAFF, who was killed in Burma in 1944.

References

* T. W. Baxter and E. E. Burke, ''Guide to the historical manuscripts in the National Archives of Rhodesia'' *Robert Blake, ''A History of Rhodesia'' *L. H. Gann and M. Gelfand, ''Huggins of Rhodesia: The Man and His Country'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, Jacob 1881 births 1959 deaths Dutch emigrants People from Hilversum Emigrants from the Netherlands to Southern Rhodesia Zimbabwean people of Dutch descent Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Finance ministers of Rhodesia Members of the Legislative Assembly of Southern Rhodesia White Rhodesian people