page 067 - Long Walk Original Manuscript [LWOM_067.jpg]

Gaur's views were strongly supported by Nat Bregman, also articled by Sidelsky. He was fairly familiar with progressive literature and articulate in urging the principle of full equality. He later cooled considerabely in his views, but sounded quite impressive at the time. Hans Muller, an estate agent and Sidelsky's partner in another business disagreed with both schools of thought. He was a business man to the marrow and his views were simple and straightforward. "Look through the window, Nelson. Do you see those men and women hurrying up and down the street? All of them without exception are looking for money, for wealth and happiness. That is what you must sruggle for. Once you have enough cash, there is nothing else you will want in life." Muller did just that and had every right to speak authoritatively on the subject.

One had to weigh all these views against those of William Smith, a coloured veteran of the ICU of Clements Kadalie which he joined in the twenties. With the collapse of the ICU, Smith abandoned all political activity and concentrated on business. He was now associated with the firm and often took part in these discussions. He was as blunt as Muller and claimed to speak from experience. "I have been through all this", he would say, "and regret it very much that I wasted all the best years of my life in futile efforts, only to discover so late that I was being used by selfish men who placed their interests above those of the people they pretended to serve. Politics is nothing else but a fraudulent scheme to steal money from the poor. That is what I discovered."

Some of those informal discussions took place in the early forties. Since the world has undergone