annual saving of £650,000, and the main reason why nothing has been
done to obtain this reduction is that President Kruger holds that the
gold fields are already big enough and that their further extension
would be a calamity.

Early in 1895 considerable suspicion and uneasiness were
aroused by indications of the growth of the German policy. The
commercial section of the community was disturbed by reports of
secret arrangements favouring German importers. Facilities were
given, and 'through rates' quoted from Hamburg to Johannesburg at a
reduction which appeared to be greater than any economies in sea
transport, coupled with the complete elimination of agency charges,
would warrant. The formal opening of the Delagoa Bay Railway by the
President furnished him with an opportunity to express with
significant emphasis his friendliness for all things German. At a
banquet given in honour of the German Emperor's birthday, January 27,
1895, the President, after eulogizing the old Emperor William, the
present Emperor, and the loyalty of the Germans in the Transvaal,
continued:

The latter I experienced once again at the time of the Kaffir War.
One day three or four Germans came to me and said: 'We are indeed not
naturalized, and are still subjects of our Emperor in Germany, but we
enjoy the advantages of this country, and are ready to defend it in
accordance with its laws. If your Excellency requires our services,
we are willing to march out.' And they marched. That is the spirit
which I admire. They were under the laws, they worked under the laws,
they obeyed the laws, and they fell in war under the laws. All my
subjects are not so minded. The English, for instance, although they
behave themselves properly and are loyal to the State, always fall
back upon England when it suits their purpose. Therefore I shall ever
promote the interests of Germany, though it be but with the resources
of a child, such as my land is considered. This child is now being
trodden upon by one great Power, and the natural consequence is that
it seeks protection from another. The time has come to knit ties of
the closest friendship between Germany and the South African
Republic--ties such as are natural between father and child.

The very considerable increase in the number of Germans, and the
positive statement that a great many men of military training were
coming out for service in the Transvaal, that officers were being
employed to work up the artillery and to design forts, all tended to
increase the feeling of intense dissatisfaction and uneasiness which
culminated in the outbreak at the close of the year. Dr. Leyds, it
was well known, went on a political mission to Lisbon and to Berlin,
and it was stated that large sums had been withdrawn from the
Treasury and charged to the secret service fund, the handling
of which was entrusted to this gentleman. Dr. Leyds' personal
popularity, never very great, was at the lowest possible ebb. He was
regarded as the incarnation of Hollanderism--the 'head and front' of
that detested influence. It was not credited to him in the Transvaal,
as it has been elsewhere, that he designed or prompted the policy
against the Uitlanders. There it is fully appreciated that there is
but one man in it, and that man President Kruger. Dr. Leyds and
others may be and are clever and willing tools. They may lend acidity
or offensiveness to a hostile despatch, they may add a twist or two
to a tortuous policy, but the policy is President Kruger's own, the
methods are his own, all but the minor details. Much as the
Hollander-German clique may profit by their alliance with Mr. Kruger,
it is not to be believed that he is deceived. He regards them as
handy instruments and ready agents. If they profit by the
association, they do so at the expense of the accursed Uitlander; but
there is no intention on Mr. Kruger's part to allow Germany or
Holland to secure a permanent hold over the Republic, any more than
he would allow England to increase hers. He has played off one
against another with consummate skill.

Early in his official career Dr. Leyds was guilty of an indiscretion
such as few would have suspected him of. Shortly after his
appointment as Attorney-General he wrote to a friend in Holland,
giving his opinion of the Members of the Executive. His judgment was
sound; except of one man. Unfortunately for Dr. Leyds, he quarrelled
with his correspondent; and the letter was of such a nature that,
when published, it made extremely unpleasant reading. Generals
Joubert and Smit, who had been described with admirable truth and
candour, were so enraged that they demanded the instant dismissal of
the 'conceited young popinjay' who had dared to criticise his
masters. The President, however, who had been described as an
ignorant, narrow-minded, pig-headed, and irascible old Boer
whom--with the others thrown in--the writer could play with and twist
round his finger as he chose, was not disturbed by the criticism. In
reply to appeals for forgiveness on the score of youth, and in spite
of the opposition of his colleagues, President Kruger agreed to
retain Dr. Leyds in office, remarking that he was a capable young
fellow and would know better in course of time, and explaining to
him personally that he would keep him there just as long as it suited
his (the President's) convenience. The association has lasted for ten
years, so it is to be presumed that Dr. Leyds has changed his opinion
of President Kruger, and frankly realized his position.

During the early part of 1896, when the question of the release on
bail of the reform prisoners seemed to be of some moment, a
well-known Pretoria man, friendly to the Government, called upon
President Kruger and urged the advisability of allowing the prisoners
out on bail, and with considerable lack of tact explained that it was
well known that the President's humane nature inclined him to be
lenient, but that the malign influence of others was believed to be
swaying him in this matter. The old President jumped up in a huff and
said, 'Ja, ja, ja! You always say it is somebody else! First, it was
Jorissen who did everything; then it was Nellmapius; and then it was
Leyds. Well, Jorissen is done for; Nellmapius is dead; Leyds is in
Europe--who is it now?'

The President's opinion of himself may be commended as food for
reflection to those who think they know everything about the inner
workings of the Transvaal.

Dr. Leyds' reputation, unfavourable as it had been, was not improved
by the Selati Railway exposure. Rightly or wrongly, in this matter,
as in the jobs of the Netherlands Railway and several others of
considerable magnitude, he has been held responsible in the public
mind for the financial loss which the Republic sustained. When he
left, ostensibly on a recruiting trip, few--very few--believed that
the illness was a physical one. It is alleged that a gentleman
on President Faure's staff, on hearing that Dr. Leyds had gone
to Berlin to consult a physician, inquired what the ailment was?
'Mal de gorge,' was the reply. 'Ah,' said the officer, 'mal de
gorge--diplomatique.' And that was the opinion in the Transvaal,
albeit differently expressed.

It is impossible within the limits of this volume nor is it at all
necessary to review all the measures which have been passed by the
Volksraad and pressed by the Government unnecessarily burdening the
Uitlanders and unjustifiably assailing their rights; such for
instance as the Election Law, which made it a crime to form
Committees or do any of those things which are regarded everywhere as
part of the legitimate business of elections--thus leaving Mr. Kruger
the sole master of electioneering machinery, namely, the Government
officials. The Public Meetings Act was another monstrous infringement
of rights. By it a policeman has the right to disperse any gathering
of more than seven persons, if in his opinion it be desirable.
Imagine it! Liberty of Speech against the Discretion of a Transvaal
policeman! But the list would be long, and the tale monotonous. And
as long and equally monotonous would be the list of the measures
proposed or threatened, but fortunately not carried. However, the
review of the period prior to 1896, and the statement of the causes
leading to the outbreak, may fitly be brought to a close by the
recital of some of the measures under both the above headings which
grace the records of the Session of 1895.

As is well known, the Grondwet (the written constitution of the
country) prescribes certain formalities for the introduction of new
laws. In order to evade the law, and so avoid hostile criticism of
proposed measures, in order, in fact, to prevent the public and even
the Volksraad members from knowing and studying or explaining and
digesting the intended legislation, it has become the practice of the
Government to propose and rush through the most radical and important
enactments in the form of amendments or explanations of existing
laws. Prior to 1895 the Transfer Law imposed a tax of 4 per cent.
upon the purchase-price of fixed property; and in the case of sales
for shares a valuation of the property was made by the Government
district officials, and transfer duty was paid on the amount of the
valuation. This was universally done in the case of claims, which
must of necessity in most instances be transferred several times
before they become registered in the name of the company eventually
working them. It was admitted that to pay 4 per cent. of full value
on every transfer, or to pay 4 per cent. on the nominal value of
ground on which years of work would have to be done and large sums of
money expended before shareholders could reap one pennyworth of
profit would be iniquitous. In 1895, however, the Raad thought
otherwise, and amended the law by the insertion of the words 'in cash
or shares' after the words 'purchase-price.' The result is, that
owners who have acquired claims at great cost, who have paid licenses
continuously on their claims, and who have paid full transfer duty on
each nominal change of ownership, necessary to consolidation into
workable blocks or groups, are now required to pay again in cash 4
per cent. on the total capital allotted in respect of these claims in
the company formed to work them. Members of the Raad, in supporting
this measure, did not hesitate to argue that it was a good law,
because the burghers did not sell their farms for shares, but for
cash, and it was right to tax those people who deal in shares.

The sense of insecurity which obtains during the Sessions of the Raad
is due scarcely less to the threats which are not fulfilled and
attempts which do not succeed, than to what is actually compassed. A
direct tax on gold has more than once been threatened; concessions
for cyanide, jam, bread, biscuits, and woollen fabrics were all
attempted. The revival of an obsolete provision by which the
Government can claim a royalty on the gold from 'mynpachts,' or
mining leases, has been promised, and it is almost as much expected
as it is dreaded.

With a monotony which is wearying, but which does not diminish the
unfortunate Uitlanders' interest in the subject, the burden of every
measure falls on the alien. One more instance will suffice. It
illustrates the Hollander-Boer genius for fulfilling the letter and
breaking the spirit of a covenant. It was notified that Government
were about to introduce a war tax, and that this tax was to be one of
£20 per farm, to be levied in event of war if in the opinion of the
Government it should be necessary. Much surprise was felt that
anything so unfavourable to the Boers as a tax on farms should be
proposed. When the measure came on for discussion it was found to
contain provisions exempting the owner who personally resided on his
farm, and especially and definitely taxing those farms which are
owned by companies, associations, corporations, or partnerships. The
Boer, it is well known, takes no shares in companies, joins no
associations, and has partnership with no one. This law was shelved
in 1895, but has since been passed.{18} It is of a piece with the
rest. Having sold his farm to the Uitlander, the Boer now proceeds
to plunder him: and 'plunder' is not too strong a word when it is
realized that the tax falls, not on the really valuable farms of the
high veld, which are nearly all owned by individuals, and are all
occupied, but on the undeveloped outlying farms, the rentable value
of which would not on the average suffice to pay the tax! Indeed, one
very large land-owner stated to the Government at the time, that if
this law were passed and put in force, they might take all his
rentals good and bad in lieu of the tax, as it would pay him better!

These were matters which more immediately concerned persons of
certain means. There is another matter, however, which very directly
concerned every individual who had any intention of remaining in the
country; that is, the matter of education. A dead set had always been
made by the Transvaal Government against any encouragement of liberal
education which would involve the use or even recognition of the
English language. Indeed, some of the legislators have been known to
express the opinion that education was not by any means desirable, as
it taught the rising generation to look with contempt on the hardy
Voortrekkers; and an interesting debate is on record, in which
members pointedly opposed the granting of facilities for the
education of their own women-kind, on the ground that presently the
women would be found reading books and newspapers instead of doing
their work, and would soon get to know more than their fathers,
husbands, and brothers, and would, as a consequence, quickly get out
of hand. It did not seem to occur to these worthy gentlemen that the
proper course would be to educate the men. But it would not be fair
to take this view as the representative one. On the point of the
English language, however, and the refusal to give any facilities for
the education of Uitlander children, the Boer legislature is
practically unanimous. The appalling consequences of allowing the
young population to grow up in absolute ignorance were realized by
the people of Johannesburg, and efforts were constantly made to
induce the Government to recognize the evil that was growing in the
State. The efforts were so entirely unsuccessful that the Uitlanders
found in this as in other cases that nothing would be done unless
they did it for themselves. A fund was opened, to which very liberal
donations were made. The services of a Director-General were secured,
and an Educational Council was elected. A comprehensive scheme of
education--in the first place for the Rand district, but intended to
be extended ultimately for the benefit of the whole of the Uitlander
population in the Transvaal--was devised, and it was calculated that
in the course of a few years a fund of close upon half a million of
money would be required, and would be raised, in order to place
educational facilities within the reach of the people. Needless to
say, this did not at all square with the policy of the Transvaal
Government, and the scheme was looked upon with the utmost disfavour.
In order to defeat it, the Superintendent-General of Education, Dr.
Mansvelt, a Hollander, who for six years had degraded his high office
to the level of a political engine, felt himself called upon to do
something--something to trail the red herring across the too hot
scent; and he intimated that more liberal measures would be
introduced during the Session of 1895, and in his report proposed
certain amendments to the existing law, which would (in appearance,
but, alas! not in fact) improve the condition of the Uitlander. The
following letter appearing in the London _Times_, on October 3, 1896,
although dealing with a period some months later than that under
review, explains the position with authority and clearness--a
position which has not been materially altered, except for the worse,
during Dr. Mansvelt's _régime_. It will be noted that the last-named
gentleman coupled with his 'liberal' provisions the suggestion that
all schools, except those of the State, should be suppressed. Such a
suggestion reveals very clearly the aim of this 'Reform' measure.

SIR,

I trust you will allow me a little space with a view to enable me to
correct, by the application of a little wholesome fact, the erroneous
impression which has been created in England with reference to the
education of Uitlanders in the Transvaal by recent crude and
ill-considered expressions of opinion, notably by Mr. Reginald
Statham and Mr. Chamberlain.

Mr. ----, in a letter addressed to one of your contemporaries,
informed the British public that in view of a liberal Government
grant of £4 per head per annum, the Transvaal Uitlander had nothing
to complain of in respect to education. As Mr. ---- claims to be
completely informed on Transvaal politics, he can only have been
guilty of a deliberate, if not malicious _suppressio veri_ when he
omitted to say that, like most of the legislation of this country,
which has for its ostensible object the amelioration of the condition
of the Uitlander, this measure, which looks like munificence at first
sight, has been rendered practically inoperative by the conditions
which hedge it round. Take, for example, a school of 100 children.
Strike out ten as being under age, ten as having been too short a
time at school, twenty as suspected of being of Dutch parentage. Out
of the sixty that remain suppose fifty satisfy the inspector in the
Dutch language and history, and you have as your allowance for the
year £200--a sum which is insufficient to pay the Dutch teacher
employed to bring the children up to the required standard in that
language. It is small wonder, then, that most teachers prefer to
dispense with this Will-o'-the-wisp grant altogether, seeing that the
efforts of some to earn it have resulted in pecuniary loss. The
actual sum expended on Uitlander schools last year amounted to £650,
or 1s. 10d. a head out of a total expenditure for education of
£63,000, the expenditure per Dutch child amounting to £8 6s. 1d.

Mr. Chamberlain considers the new educational law for Johannesburg as
a subject for gratulation. I should have thought that his recent
dealings with Pretoria would have suggested to him as a statesman
that felicitations upon the passing of a vague and absolutely
undefined measure might possibly be a little too premature. A
Volksraad, which only rejected the forcible closing of private
schools by a majority of two votes, is hardly likely to give the
Executive _carte blanche_ to deal with Uitlander education without
some understanding, tacit or declared, as to how this power is to be
wielded. Be that as it may, nearly two months have elapsed since the
passing of a measure which was to come into operation at once, and
nothing has been done. In the meantime, we can learn from the
inspired press and other sources that English schools which desire
aid under the new law must be prepared to give instruction in
Standard V. and upwards, and entirely in the Dutch language. So far,
the Superintendent of Education, whether acting under instructions or
on his own initiative, has been absolutely immovable on this point,
and the much-vaunted law promises to be as much a dead letter as the
1s. 10d. grant. The Johannesburg Council of Education has exerted its
influence to secure such an interpretation of the new law as would
lead to the establishment of schools where Dutch and English children
might sit side by side, and so work towards establishing a bond of
sympathy and the eventual blending of the races. The Pretoria
authorities however refuse to entertain the idea of meeting the
Uitlander in a conciliatory spirit on anything like equal terms, but
will only treat with us on the footing of master and servant. A
curious and almost inexplicable feature of the situation is the fact
that hundreds of Boers are clamouring for the better instruction of
their children in English, but which is steadfastly refused them.

I might enlarge on what I have written, and point out the injustice
and the gross system of extortion practised by the Government in
making Johannesburg pay something like £7 per head for the education
of Dutch children, whilst it has to pay from £5 to £15 per annum
for the education of each child of its own, meanwhile leaving
hundreds growing up in the blackest ignorance and crime. Any comment
would, however, lay me open to the charge of bias and partisanship,
and I therefore confine myself to the simple statement of a few
facts, which I challenge anyone to controvert, leaving the reader to
draw his own conclusions.

I am, sir, yours, etc.,
JOHN ROBINSON,
_Director-General Johannesburg
Educational Council._

Imagine it! £650 used for the children of those who contributed
nine-tenths of the £63,000 spent on education!

The succession of flagrant jobs, the revelation of abuses
unsuspected, the point-blank refusal to effect any reasonable reforms
had filled the Uitlanders' cup perilously full, and during the latter
half of 1895 the prospect of any change for the better, except at the
cost of fighting, was generally realized to be very poor indeed.

Trouble came to South Africa with the end of 1895. It very nearly
came earlier. Mention has been made that the Netherlands Railway
Company practically dictates the relations of the Transvaal with the
other States in South Africa by means of its tariffs. The competition
between the Cape, Natal and Delagoa lines having become very keen,
and the Cape service by superior management and easier gradients
having secured the largest share of the carrying trade, attempts were
made to effect a different division of profits. Negotiations failed
to bring the various parties to terms, and owing to the policy of the
Netherlands Railway Company, the Cape Colony and Free State, whose
interests were common, were in spirit very hostile to the Transvaal,
and bitterly resentful of the policy whereby a foreign corporation
was aided to profit enormously to the detriment of the sister South
African States. After all that the Colonial and Free State Dutch had
done for their Transvaal brethren in days of stress and adversity, it
was felt to be base ingratitude to hinder their trade and tax their
products.

The Cape Colony-Free State line ends at the Vaal River. Thence all
goods are carried over the Netherlands Railway Company's section to
Johannesburg, a distance of about fifty miles. In order to handicap
the southern line, an excessive rate was imposed for carriage on this
section. Even at the present time the tariff is 8-1/2d. per ton per
mile, as against a rate of about 3d. with which the other two lines
are favoured. Notwithstanding this, however, and the obstructions
placed in the way by obnoxious regulations and deliberate blocking
of the line with loaded trucks at Vereeniging, and also the blocking
of Johannesburg stations by non-delivery of goods--measures which
resulted sometimes in a delay of months in delivery, and sometimes in
the destruction or loss of the goods--the Southern line more than
held its own. The block was overcome by off-loading goods at the Vaal
River and transporting them to Johannesburg by mule and ox waggons.

Mr. Kruger and his Hollander friends were almost beaten when the
President played his last card. He intimated his intention to close
the Vaal River drifts against over-sea goods, and, by thus preventing
the use of waggons, to force all traffic on to _his_ railways upon
_his_ terms; and as the threat did not bring the Colony and Free
State to the proper frame of mind, he closed them. This was a
flagrant breach of the London Convention, and as such it was reported
by the High Commissioner to Mr. Chamberlain, and imperial
intervention was asked. Mr. Chamberlain replied that it was a matter
most closely affecting the Colony, and he required, before dealing
with it, to have the assurance of the Colonial Government that, in
the event of war resulting, the cost of the campaign would be borne,
share and share alike, by the Imperial and Colonial Governments, and
that the latter would transport troops over their lines free of
charge. Such was the indignation in the Colony at the treatment
accorded it that the terms were at once agreed to--a truly
significant fact when it is realized that the Ministry undertaking
this responsibility had been put and was maintained in office by the
Dutch party, and included in its members the best and most pronounced
Africander representatives. But Mr. Kruger is not easily 'cornered.'
His unfailing instinct told him that business was meant when he
received Mr. Chamberlain's ultimatum to open the drifts. The
President 'climbed down' and opened them! He has several advantages
which other leaders of men have not, and among them is that of having
little or no pride. He will bluster and bluff and bully when
occasion seems to warrant it; but when his judgment warns him that
he has gone as far as he prudently can, he will alter his tactics as
promptly and dispassionately as one changes one's coat to suit the
varying conditions of the weather. Mr. Kruger climbed down! It did
not worry him, nor did he take shame that he had failed. He climbed
down, as he had done before in the Stellaland affair, the Banjailand
trek, the commandeering incident, and as he no doubt will do in
others; for he may bluff hard, but it will take a great deal to make
him fight. There is one matter upon which Mr. Kruger's judgment is
perfect: he can judge the 'breaking strain' to a nicety. He climbs
down, but he is not beaten; for as surely as the dammed stream will
seek its outlet, so surely will the old Dutchman pursue his settled
aim.

War is war, and always bad; but sometimes worse; for the cause is
still a mighty factor, as those may see who contrast the probable
effects upon the people of South Africa of war on the drifts question
with the actual results of the Jameson raid.


Footnotes for Chapter II

{04} Among the first notes which poor Colley--brave, wise, generous,
and unlucky--wrote after taking office, was one containing these
words: 'Whether I ... shall find that South Africa is to me, as it is
said to be in general, "the grave of all good reputations," remains
to be seen.'

{05} See Appendix A for the full text of the Pretoria Convention.

{06} In February, 1898, he was elected for the fourth time.

{07} For full text of London Convention, see Appendix B. (July,
1899). A very extensive correspondence has passed on the subject of
the suzerainty. The Transvaal Government now construe the omission of
the Preamble to the 1881 Convention as the result of an agreement to
abolish the suzerainty. Mr. Chamberlain points out that the London
Convention contains specific and not implied amendments of the
Pretoria Convention; that the direct request for abolition of the
suzerainty was refused by Lord Derby; that the preamble as the
fundamental declaration must be deemed to be in force; and that if
not, the same reason which is adduced against the continued existence
of the suzerainty would hold good against the independence of the
Transvaal, for in the preamble of the 1881 Convention alone is any
mention made of either the grant or the reservation.

{08} Written August, 1896.

{09} To those who are not familiar with the conditions of the
country, it will seem incredible that the legislative body could be
'fooled' on such a subject. The extracts from the newspaper reports
of the Raad's proceedings, printed in Appendix D of this volume, will
help them to understand and believe.

{10} The above has been brought up to date for publication,
July, 1899.

{11} Except on the goldfields, where the appointments are made
by Government.

{12} For Volksraad records on this subject see Appendix C.

{13} The decision of the High Court was given in November, 1896, in
favour of the combined companies on all points, and the patents were
thus declared to be invalid!

{14} During the session of '96 the Volksraad decided to put the
bewaarplaatsen up for public auction, the proceeds of the sale to be
divided equally between the Government and the original owners of the
farms on which the bewaarplaatsen had been granted. The _alleged_
reason for this decision is that the areas in question are immensely
valuable, and the State and the owners should profit by them, whilst
the companies should be afforded an opportunity of acquiring them at
a fair price. The _real_ reason is that the companies had refused
to be blackmailed further; and the 'defence' funds not being
forthcoming, the gentlemen of the back-stairs had introduced the
ingenious arrangement safeguarding the original owners' rights,
having previously 'arranged' with the same owners. The excuse that
the areas are too valuable to be given away to the companies is as
illogical and ridiculous as the excuse that the Uitlanders are too
numerous to justify the granting of the franchise now. When the
questions were first raised there were neither great values nor large
numbers in existence. They were questions of principle and justice;
and the fact that 'values' and 'numbers' have grown during the years
of struggle in no way justifies the course taken, but rather shows
very clearly the magnitude of the injustice done during the years of
unjustifiable denial.

This decision shows with admirable clearness how the Uitlander fares
at the hands of the Government. There were, in the last stage of the
affair, four parties concerned: the Government, who are by law
expressly debarred from selling claims (except in case of overdue
licenses), and are obliged to allot them for the consideration of
specified license fees only; the owners of the farms, who are
similarly debarred and are compensated in other ways for the throwing
open of their farms; the 'applicants,' who have been described
elsewhere; and the surface-owners, the mining companies, who were in
possession. Only one of these parties had the slenderest claim to
compensation--namely, the companies, who must inevitably be disturbed
in the possession of the surface by allowing others to work on or
under it. But they get nothing; whilst the Government and the 'owner'
(both of whom had years before derived the fullest profit allowed by
law from these areas in the form of licenses), and the 'applicants'
(who have allied themselves with the 'owners'), divide as
compensation the proceeds of the auction!

{15} (July, 1899.) This individual has been again removed--this
time by the present State Attorney, Mr. Smuts.

{16} (July, 1899.) Provision was made for the costs of this
department by doubling the pass fee. In the early days of
Johannesburg as soon as it became evident that hospital accommodation
was necessary, application was made to the Government for a site
(which was granted on the hill then outside the town), and for some
monetary assistance. A fund was also publicly subscribed and the
hospital built. For the maintenance of the hospital two plans were
adopted: one, the collection of funds once a year, _i.e._, Hospital
Saturday, a source which has yielded steadily between £2,000 and
£3,000; two, having in view the immense number of native cases which
required treatment and the extent to which a native is responsible
for unsanitary conditions, it was proposed to impose upon them a fee
of 1s. per month for their passes, the proceeds of this to be devoted
entirely to the hospital. For several years this continued to yield
sufficient for the purpose. The Transvaal Government, although
accepting the plan proposed by the Uitlanders and for a considerable
time carrying it out faithfully, did not establish the right
permanently but adopted the formality of voting the proceeds of the
pass-fee year by year. There came a year when the Raad in its wisdom
decided that this source of revenue was too precarious for so worthy
an object as the hospital, and they decided to vote instead an annual
subsidy of £30,000. It was then known that the fees of the past year
had amounted to over £40,000 and there was every prospect of steady
annual increase. This explains why a seemingly generous subsidy by
the Government does not meet with that hearty recognition to which it
is apparently entitled. When a Pass Department was proposed, the
Government inquired how it was suggested to maintain it. The Chamber
of Mines proposed to raise the pass fee from 1s. to 2s. per month,
the extra shilling to be devoted entirely to the administration of
the Pass Law. With the experience of the hospital shilling in mind
particular care was taken to have the agreement minuted and confirmed
in writing. Nevertheless, it transpired in the evidence given at the
Industrial Commission that the department was being run at a cost of
slightly over £12,000 a year, whilst the proceeds of the shilling
reached the respectable total of £150,000 a year. The Government,
therefore, by a breach of agreement, make £138,000 a year out of the
pass fund, and £120,000 a year out of the hospital fund; and the
mining industry suffers in the meantime through maladministration in
the department, and are doubly taxed in the sense that the companies
have been obliged to establish and maintain at their own cost other
hospitals all along the reef. It is not suggested that the companies
should not provide hospitals, the point is that having established a
fund, which although nominally paid by the natives really has to be
made up to them in wages, they were entitled to the benefit of that
fund.

{17} The story is told of two up-country Boers who applied to the

President for appointments, and received the reply, 'What _can_ I
do for you? All the important offices are filled, and you are not
educated enough to be clerks!'

{18} (July, 1899.) The law has been declared by the law officers
of the Crown to be a breach of the London Convention.




CHAPTER III.

THE ORIGIN OF THE MOVEMENT.


Having failed in their constitutional attempts to secure a reasonable
voice in the government, or any redress of their grievances, there
came the time when men's thoughts naturally turned to the last
expedient--force. Up to and so late as the Volksraad Session of 1895
a constitutional agitation for rights had been carried on by the
Transvaal National Union, a body representing the unenfranchised
portion of the population. Of its members but few belonged to the
class of wealthy mine and land owners: they had so far abstained from
taking any part in a political organization which was viewed with
dislike and suspicion by the Government and the great majority of the
Boers. It has been asserted by a few Progressive members of the Raad
that many of the Boers were themselves opposed to the policy adopted
towards the newcomers; but, whilst this may be to some extent true,
it is more than questionable whether any of the burghers were willing
to concede a share in the power of government, although it is certain
that great numbers would not have taken active steps against the
Uitlanders but for the invasion by a foreign force. Any extending of
the franchise means to the great majority of the Boers a
proportionate loss of independence.

When the matter of the Independence of the Republic is discussed it
must not be forgotten that independence conveys something to the
Boers which is radically different from what it means to anyone else.
That the State should continue for ever to be independent and
prosperous--a true republic--would be mockery heaped on injury if the
absolute domination by the Boer party should cease; and when the
parrot-like cry of 'The Independence of the State is threatened' is
raised again and again _à propos_ of the most trivial measures and
incidents, this idea is the one that prompts it. Instances
innumerable could be quoted seemingly illustrating the Boer
legislators' inability to distinguish between simple measures of
reform and justice, and measures aimed at undermining the State's
stability and independence. It is not stupidity! It is that the Boer
realizes at least one of the inevitable consequences of reform--that
the ignorant and incapable must go under. Reform is the death-knell
of his oligarchy, and therefore a danger to the independence of the
State--as he sees it. Until the European people who have lately
become so deeply concerned in Transvaal affairs realize how widely
divergent are the two interpretations of 'Independence,' they will
not have begun to understand the Transvaal Question.

The National Union did not represent any particular class in the
Uitlander community. It was formed of men drawn from all classes who
felt that the conditions of life were becoming intolerable, and that
something would have to be done by the community to bring about
reforms which the legislature showed no signs of voluntarily
introducing.

When it is said that it consisted of men drawn from all classes, the
qualification should be made that the richer classes, that is to say,
the capitalists of the country, were very meagrely if at all
represented. Many efforts had been made to enlist the sympathies of
the capitalists, and to draw them into the movement, but the 'big
firms,' as they were styled, for a very long time refused to take any
part whatever, preferring to abstain entirely rather than associate
themselves with a definite agitation. They pleaded, and no doubt
fairly, that in case of failure they with their vested interests
would be the ones to suffer, while in the event of success they would
not benefit in a greater degree than the individuals who had little
or no material stake. One by one however they were drawn into the
political movement to the extent of supplying funds for carrying on
the reform agitation, or of giving monetary support to those who were
stimulating and organizing the Progressive party among the Boers.
There can be no doubt that prior to 1895 the wealthier men without
exception refused to consider the possibility of violent measures.
It was only when they realized that the Boer party were determinedly
hostile--organizing very large encroachments upon the privileges of
the Uitlanders and designing fresh burdens to be borne by them--and
when it became clear that the dangers threatening as a result of
their own supine attitude were worse than any disfavour with which
they might be viewed on account of political action, that they began
to take an active part with others in the agitation for reform. It
was not until the Volksraad in the Session of 1895 revealed their
real policy and their fixed determination to effect no reform that
men began to talk of the possibility of revolutionary measures
becoming necessary. The subject once mooted was frequently discussed,
and once discussed became familiar; and the thing which a few months
before had been regarded as out of the bounds of possibility came to
be looked upon as a very probable contingency. The extraordinary boom
in shares, land, and all kinds of property, which lasted throughout
the year, no doubt operated against the maturing of this feeling, but
it nevertheless continued to grow. The most dissatisfied section of
the Rand was, naturally enough, that one which included the South
African Uitlander. These men, born in South Africa, or having spent
the best years of their lives there, felt extremely bitter against
the Boer Government, and were moved by feelings which were not in any
way connected with considerations of material gain. With them were
closely associated men of all nationalities who had determined to
make their homes in the Transvaal, and these formed the class which
has been disparagingly referred to as 'the political element,' but
which the experience of every country shows to be the backbone of a
nation. They were in fact the men who meant to have a hand in the
future of South Africa. After them came the much larger class whose
interest in the reforms was based mainly upon the fact that they
suffered from the abuses and over-taxation of the Government.

For several years a very strong feeling against the capitalists had
ruled in Johannesburg. Men who thoroughly knew the Boer had
prophesied and continued throughout to prophesy that absolutely
nothing would be done to improve the conditions, and that the
capitalists might as well throw in their lot with the general public
early in the day as be forced to do so later, after spending their
thousands in fruitless efforts for reform, and after committing
themselves to a policy which would be regarded as selfish,
pusillanimous, and foolish. The moneyed men no doubt occupied a very
prominent and powerful position. They were constantly besought by
the Reform leaders to side with them; they were looked to by the
Progressive Party in the Boer camp to aid reform by peaceful measures
only, to exercise all their influence towards preventing rash or
violent measures being taken by the more excited party, and to trust
to time and patience to achieve those results which they were all
honestly desirous of bringing about; and they were approached, as has
been stated, by the President and his party when moments of danger
arrived, and when it was felt that their influence could be used
towards the preservation of peace,--as witness the Loch incident.

'It is no crime to be a capitalist,' said one commentator on the late
events, and neither is it necessary to attribute to this section of
the community motives of patriotism to justify their association with
the Reform movement. It is not intended to suggest that the men who
did associate themselves eventually with it were not moved by any
higher consideration than that of protecting their interests--in many
cases a far larger view than this was taken; but it may be
asked,--assuming that the capitalists were not moved by higher
considerations,--What is there in their position which should debar
them from endeavouring to introduce the reforms which would benefit
them only equally with every other honest man in the community?

Most of the wealthy houses in the Transvaal are either offshoots of
or have supporting connections with firms in England or on the
Continent. Between them and their principals much correspondence had
taken place on the political situation. As far as these houses were
concerned, it was impossible for them to enter upon any movement
without the consent of their European associates. For this reason the
Reform movement, as it eventually took place, has in some ways
the appearance of and has very frequently been stigmatized as an
organization planned and promoted outside the Transvaal. The fact is
that Mr. Alfred Beit, of the firm of Wernher, Beit and Co., London,
and Mr. Cecil Rhodes, managing director of the Consolidated
Goldfields, may be regarded as the chiefs to whom the ultimate
decision as to whether it was necessary from the capitalistic point
of view to resort to extreme measures was necessarily left. Each of
these gentlemen controls in person and through his business
associates many millions of money invested in the Transvaal; each of
them was, of course, a heavy sufferer under the existing conditions
affecting the mining industry, and each, as a business man, must
have been desirous of reform in the administration. Mr. Beit acted
in concert with Mr. Lionel Phillips, of H. Eckstein and Co., the
Johannesburg representatives of Wernher, Beit and Co. Mr. Rhodes was
represented by his brother, Colonel Francis Rhodes, and Mr. J.H.
Hammond, of the Consolidated Goldfields Company in Johannesburg. Mr.
George Farrar, another very large mine-owner, who joined a little
later than the others, with the gentlemen above named, may be
considered to have represented the capitalist element in the earlier
stages of the Reform movement. The other elements were represented by
Mr. Charles Leonard, the chairman of the National Union, and one or
two other prominent members of that body.

It is impossible to say with whom the idea of the movement, including
the arrangement with Dr. Jameson, originated. Perhaps it germinated
when Dr. Jameson read the life of Clive! Probably it was the result
of discussion, and no one man's idea. At any rate arms and ammunition
were purchased, and arrangements were made by which they should be