 Hofmeyr changed the fundamental basis of the organisation, from one preaching Afrikaner separatism to one which combined a pragmatic policy of economic protectionism for Cape farmers and their produce with a call for unity between the English and Dutch-speaking populations and cooperation with the Colonial authorities.As a member of the Cape legislature Jacobus Smuts pledged his support to Hofmeyr and the reformed Bond.Unlike many parts of South Africa, conflict was an element largely absent from Jan Smuts's early life.