That was indeed the position. In this as in the Cape Boys case (the

Lombaard inquiry) the aim of the prosecution appeared to be to prove
that the British Vice-Consul had investigated and reported cases of
injustice suffered by British subjects; and the establishment of such
proof seemed to be considered a sufficient and triumphant answer to
the original complaint. Such action drew the following spirited
protest from Mr. Emrys Evans to the British Agent: 'He (Krause) seems
generally to suppose that I have no right to do anything in the way
of assisting British subjects, and that my action as Vice-Consul is
nothing more nor less than officious meddling.' That well describes
the position of Great Britain's representative in the Transvaal, and
it has been the same for so many years that among the Uitlanders it
creates no feeling of surprise; but imagine the representative
of--let us say--the United States being so treated!

While these matters were proceeding an opportunity occurred to raise
fresh funds for the Uitlander Education Council. The scheme had been
perilously near collapse on several occasions, but by a little
generous and timely help actual abandonment had been averted. The
possibility of a return of better times had been foreseen by some of
those interested in education, and the appeals which were made in the
months of February and March resulted in raising a fund of over
£100,000. The companies were also applied to for assistance in the
form of annual grants for maintenance; and guarantees were given
amounting in all to about £16,000 a year. A final effort was made by
the Government party and the allies of Dr. Mansvelt, the
Superintendent of Education, to show that the Government had made
ample provision for the education of English-speaking children, and
that the Uitlanders' scheme was unnecessary. Even Mr. Reitz, the
State Secretary, it is to be regretted, undertook a public defence of
the system which he has frequently expressed his disapproval of; but
the more favourable construction which he endeavoured to place upon
the law was immediately removed by a plain statement from the
President to the exact contrary effect.

The Uitlanders consider that, if the intentions of the Government
were as good as they desire them to be thought, firstly, they should
not object to have the conditions permanently established and not
leave them liable to alteration at the sweet will of the
Superintendent, as they are to-day; and secondly, as there has been
nothing to hinder the carrying out of benevolent intentions--had they
existed--there is no reason why there should be five or six thousand
Uitlander children without any facilities for education in their own
language except such as are provided by private enterprise or
charity. And this is so; notwithstanding the expenditure by the State
of nearly a quarter of a million per annum, ostensibly upon
education, nine-tenths of which sum is contributed by the Uitlander
population.

The spirit in which the State aid is given and the aim which the
Government have in view are entirely revealed in the conditions, a
brief reference to which will be sufficient.

The Government capitation grant of £4 per annum may be earned on the
conditions:--

(a) That the child be over six years of age.

(b) That it shall have a sufficient knowledge of the Dutch language
and South African history.

(c) That it be not the child of Dutch or Hollander parents.

(d) That a qualified Dutch teacher must be retained by the school.

The first condition excludes all the children of the kindergarten
schools, and also a class who form a considerable percentage in the
elementary schools. The third condition excludes all those who have
in early years any chance of satisfying the inspectors under the
second condition. Obviously the amount earned by the few who would
satisfy all the conditions could not possibly pay for the salary of
a Dutch teacher. It was an actual experience in several schools that
the acceptance of State aid involved a direct loss; a good example of
the 'something for nothing' policy.

English is permitted to be the medium of instruction in Government
schools on the conditions, among others--

That Dutch be taught for one hour a day during the first year, two
hours a day during the second year, three hours a day during the
third year; and that in the fourth year Dutch shall become the sole
medium of instruction.

The characteristic trickery and cunning which mark so many of the
Boer-Hollander enactments are again apparent here. The proposal is
made to appear reasonable, but it is clearly impossible for a child
to attain within the time named such proficiency in a foreign
language as to be able to receive all instruction in it. The effect
and the design are to place English-speaking children at a grave
disadvantage compared with Dutch-speaking children; either they would
have to devote a great deal more time to the study of Dutch in the
first three years so as to be able to receive all instruction in that
tongue, or they would suffer in the higher standards through their
imperfect knowledge of the medium of instruction. It was not to be
supposed that the Uitlanders, after an experience extending over a
decade and a half of all sorts of promises, not one of which had been
kept in the spirit in which it was intended to be construed, would
consent to abandon their scheme at the behest of Dr. Mansvelt and the
misguided few who judged his proposals by appearances. President
Kruger speaking at Rustenburg as lately as March last laid particular
emphasis upon the stipulation in the Law that in the fourth year
Dutch should be the sole medium of instruction, and explained that
his determination was to make Dutch the dominant language.

In the month of February the Transvaal Government received a dispatch
from her Majesty's Government with reference to the dynamite
concession. It referred to the announcement already recorded, that in
the course of the coming session of the Raad a proposal would be
submitted for the extension of the monopoly for fifteen years.
Mr. Chamberlain pointed out that her Majesty's Government were
advised that the dynamite monopoly in its present form constitutes a
breach of the Convention; he expressed the hope that the Transvaal
Government might see its way voluntarily either to cancel the
monopoly or to so amend it as to make it in the true sense a State
monopoly operating for the benefit of the State; and he suggested
that in any case no attempt should be made to extend the present
concession, as such a proposal would compel her Majesty's Government
to take steps which they had hitherto abstained from taking in the
hope and belief that the Transvaal Government would itself deal
satisfactorily with the matter. It was with this despatch, so to say
in his pocket, that the President introduced and endeavoured to force
through the Raad the proposal to grant a fifteen years' extension of
the monopoly.

That representations had been made by the British Government on the
subject of the dynamite monopoly, had been known for some time before
the Peace Negotiations (as they have been called) between the
Government and the Capitalists were proposed. On February 27{49} Mr.
Edouard Lippert, the original dynamite concessionaire, who it was
known would receive the further sum of £150,000 if the monopoly
remained uncancelled for five years, opened negotiations on behalf of
the Government with certain representatives of the capitalist groups
on the Rand; and it was immediately seen that the main--one might
almost say sole--object of the negotiations was to safeguard the
dynamite monopoly. The Government had, in fact, been placed in a very
awkward position. One of the excuses for not expropriating the
monopoly had been that the State had not been successful in raising a
loan. In order to deal with this objection the Chamber of Mines had,
in the month of February, 1899, made an offer, guaranteed by all the
principal firms on the Rand, to provide the sum of £600,000 to
compensate the monopolists for their actual expenditure up to date
upon buildings, plant, machinery, &c., so that there should be no
semblance of injustice in the treatment meted out to them. The
conditions of the offer were that the dynamite monopoly should be
cancelled and importation of explosives permitted under an import
duty which would give the State a very large revenue at once and
which in the course of a few years would provide a sinking fund
sufficient to extinguish the loan of £600,000. The offer was so
favourable to the State that it placed the Government in a
quandary.{50} The attitude of the Volksraad, too, was distinctly
hostile to the dynamite monopoly; and on top of all came the
representations of the Imperial Government upon the subject. It
became necessary to do something to save the threatened
'cornerstone'; hence the Peace negotiations between the Government
and the capitalists.

This was another and one of the clearest examples of the 'something
for nothing' policy, for it will be observed that of all the things
mentioned dynamite alone was the matter to be definitely settled--and
that to the satisfaction of Mr. Kruger. Long years of experience
had taught the Uitlanders to examine any proposals coming from the
Government with the utmost care; and the representatives of the
mining industry were soon of one mind in regarding these negotiations
as nothing but a trap.

Of the five men who represented the Government, viz., the President,
the State Secretary (Mr. Reitz), the State Attorney (Mr. Smuts), the
Foreign Plenipotentiary (Dr. Leyds), and the 'disinterested
intermediary,' Mr. Lippert, it was easy enough to account for three.
The President had frequently pledged himself to maintain the
monopoly, and always referred to it as the corner-stone of the
independence. Dr. Leyds had chosen to associate himself with the
defence of the concessionaires upon all occasions, and had even gone
so far, as evidence given at the Industrial Commission showed, as to
misrepresent the facts in their defence. The difficulty was how to
explain the association of the State Attorney and State Secretary, in
whose good intentions and integrity there was a general belief. The
solution was to be found in the illusory promises of reform under the
heading of franchise and reorganization of the finances and other
matters. These proposals, it was believed by Mr. Kruger and his
party, would secure the support of the two above-named officials, as
well as entice the capitalists into the trap set for them. But there
were other points of advantage for Mr. Kruger. The whole scheme was
in accordance with the _divide et impera_ policy. The first
impression, if the scheme were accepted, would be that the
capitalists had secured something for themselves by bartering away
the rights of the public; so there would have been a division in
Johannesburg. Another effect to be brought about by the proposed
action regarding the Indians would have been to divide the Uitlanders
from the Imperial Government, and the net result of it all would have
been that neither the public nor the capitalists would have got
anything but illusory promises and Mr. Kruger would have secured his
dynamite; for had he been able to extract from the Industry an
expression of approval or acquiescence, it would have given him his
majority in the Volksraad in favour of the monopoly.

The following is the correspondence which passed:--

JOHANNESBURG, S.A.R.,
_27th March, 1899._

_To the Honourable the State Secretary, Pretoria._

HONOURABLE SIR,

Before communicating to you and the representatives of the Government
whom we met the expression of our opinion and that of our London
friends on the proposals submitted to us by Mr. Lippert on behalf of
the Government of the S.A.R., we deem it advisable to recite shortly
how we have arrived at the present position.

On the 27th of February Mr. E. Lippert called together Messrs. A.
Brakhan, E. Birkenruth, and G. Rouliot, to whom he submitted a
certain programme concerning the settlement of some pending questions
forming the subject of grave differences between the Government of
the S.A.R., on the one part, and the whole Uitlander population and
the mining industry on the other part, with a view to ascertain
whether these gentlemen were willing to open negotiations on the
basis suggested, in order to try to come to a settlement. Upon the
affirmative answer of these gentlemen, Mr. Lippert obtained an equal
expression of approval from Dr. Leyds, the State Secretary, the State
Attorney, and also of President Kruger. The preliminary programme at
Mr. Lippert's request was then communicated by cable to our London
friends. Upon receipt of a reply to the effect that our London
friends were in favour of any arrangement which would produce harmony
and secure administrative and financial reform, which was
communicated to Mr. E. Lippert, a meeting was arranged with Dr.
Leyds, Messrs. Reitz, Smuts, and Lippert, as representing the
Government, on the 9th of March; but as Messrs. Brakhan, Birkenruth,
and Rouliot had repeatedly mentioned that they did not consider
themselves qualified to discuss matters on behalf of the general body
of Uitlanders, and seeing that the programme submitted was to be
considered as a whole, and either adopted or rejected as such,
therefore it would be necessary to obtain the views, on the franchise
question, of prominent citizens more able to express the wishes of
Uitlanders on this subject; Mr. Lippert, on behalf of the Government,
invited in addition Messrs. Pierce and Pistorious to be present at
the meeting.

At this meeting several points were discussed, but as no definite
proposal regarding franchise could be submitted, no decision was
arrived at, it being made clear, however, that this was only a
preliminary conversation with the object of exchanging views, and
that in any case the opinion of the Uitlander population, and also
that of our friends in Europe, would have to be fully ascertained.

On the 12th instant, at the request of Mr. Lippert, Messrs. Brakhan,
Birkenruth, Rouliot, Pierce, Pistorious and Fitzpatrick met, and Mr.
Lippert communicated to us the definite proposals of the S.A.R.
Government, which were duly cabled the same day to our friends,
requesting a reply before the end of the week, as the Government
would have to submit the whole matter to the Raad, and we were
requested to sign an agreement with the Government, and a declaration
binding on ourselves and our London friends.

Their answer, suggesting a further conference with Dr. Leyds in
London, was duly communicated to his Honour the State President. His
Honour's reply, stating that the exchange of views had better take
place here, was communicated to our European friends.

Now they have cabled us a full _précis_ of the proceedings and
resolutions passed at the meeting held in London on the 16th
instant, and the following is therefore the expression of our opinion
as well as that of our European friends, upon the subjects which have
already been discussed between the representatives of the S.A.R.
Government, and ourselves.

It having been stipulated by the Government that the various matters
herein dealt with shall be taken as parts of one whole plan, we have
bowed to that decision, and we beg now to reply under the various
heads on the understanding that no one portion may be judged as apart
from the whole.

BEWAARPLAATSEN.

In furtherance of the general settlement, those of us directly
concerned in the mining industry would be prepared to recommend a
modification of the claims of the surface holder and a final
settlement of the question on the lines suggested as preferable to
the continued uncertainty, on the understanding that the basis for
valuation should be arrived at by fixing, after consultation, a
maximum price upon the best situated bewaarplaatsen or water-right,
and that the price of all other mining rights under bewaarplaatsen,
machine stands or water-rights be valued by competent engineers on
the basis and in relation to the above maximum value, taking into
consideration the comparative value of the outcrop claims and the
diminishing value in depth; the surface holder having the preferent
right to acquire the undermining rights at the price thus arrived at.

FINANCIER AND AUDITOR.

The appointment of a suitable man with efficient control and assured
status would undoubtedly meet one of the most serious of the
grievances, and would be universally accepted as satisfactory. The
financier, in order to enjoy the confidence of all concerned, and
with a view to avoid as far as possible ulterior discussion of his
recommendations, should be approved of by some person belonging to a
firm of well-known independent standing, such as Lord Rothschild, for
instance. The financier to be a member of the Executive Council, and
to formulate and approve every scheme of taxation should further or
other taxation become necessary.

LOAN.

Any loan offered at reasonable rates and approved by the Finance
Minister for the common good would undoubtedly receive our support;
we understanding, on the other hand, that no new taxation will be
imposed on the general population or the mining industry pending the
appointment of the financier.

PRESS AGITATION.

There having been, as far as we know, no organized press agitation,
it is impossible for us to deal with this matter, but it is clear
that the criticism which has been provoked by a certain condition of
affairs here would necessarily cease upon the causes of complaint
being removed, and we would be prepared, in case of our coming to a
settlement with the Government, to declare that the solution of the
questions arrived at meets with our approval as a whole, so as to
discourage further agitation in newspapers on these subjects.

POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS.

We shall at all times be willing to publicly discourage and repudiate
any political organization having for its object the stirring up of
strife or promoting dissension between the different nationalities
inhabiting this State, and we would and will in any case do this
freely and upon principle, and entirely apart from other
considerations connected with this Conference, but it should be
clearly understood that this declaration must not be construed as
repudiating or deprecating any legitimate representations which the
community or any section of them may see fit to make in matters which
concern them as inhabitants of this State.

COOLIE QUESTION.

We well appreciate the dangers of uncontrolled, indiscriminate
immigration of the lower class Indians, Chinese, and other coloured
races, and the necessity for provision for sanitary control, and
shall be most willing to aid the Government in the above objects; but
we consider it impossible for us to intervene in this matter, which
is governed by the London Convention with the British Government. We
suggest that for the purpose of guarding against the dangers above
referred to, this matter be explained to the Imperial Government as
part of the whole scheme for the settlement of differences, and claim
therefore an especially favourable consideration, for, in the success
of this scheme, all who desire peace and prosperity in this country
must be deeply concerned and willing to co-operate on generous lines.
We suggest that this representation be made in such manner as may be
deemed less calculated to provoke unfavourable comment, or offend
susceptibilities in any quarter, and that the suggestion be viewed by
all parties in its true proportions as one part of the whole scheme
of settlement. Unless so viewed we should be unable to put ourselves
forward in a matter at issue between the two Governments, nor of
course could the proposals of the Government be taken to suggest
this.

DYNAMITE.

With the principle of granting a monopoly to individuals, agencies,
or corporations it is impossible for us to agree, and whatever
arrangement be effected, we should have to make it clear that in this
instance we are viewing the question solely as a burden--a tax which
the mines are asked to definitely accept in order that an
amelioration of the general conditions affecting the whole Uitlander
population may be secured.

The difference between the cost at which dynamite could be imported
(exclusive of Transvaal duty) and the price we are now compelled to
pay amounts to over £600,000 per annum on the present rate of
consumption, a sum which will increase steadily and largely in the
immediate future.

Whether the mining industry should voluntarily accept such an immense
burden as a set-off against terms which, whilst they would doubtless
eventually favourably affect the industry, are in their immediate
effects designed to satisfy the Uitlander population in their
personal rights as distinct from the mining industry as a business,
is a matter which would in the first place have to be submitted to
the recognized elected representatives of the mining industry, and
would in the second place depend upon whether the people in whose
interest such sacrifice is required would accept the terms which the
Government would be willing to concede as satisfying their reasonable
aspirations.

It is also a matter of grave and general concern that a sum so
enormous, when compared with the revenue requirements of the State,
should be taken annually from the mines with little, if any, benefit
to the country, when it might be utilized in part or entirely in
supplementing the State revenue, and thus afford relief in other
directions to every taxpayer in the country.

Notwithstanding the above considerations, however, we feel that a
great monetary sacrifice might be made to secure a peaceful and
permanent solution of vexed questions, and that the subject of
dynamite should be submitted to the Chamber of Mines and discussed in
that spirit.

Whilst we are willing, in order to bring about a general settlement
of all pending questions, to recommend such a heavy sacrifice to be
made, and adopt the proposal made by the Government, it would be a
condition that there shall not be any extension of the concession,
and that the terms of the contract shall be rigidly enforced; that
the Dynamite Company shall reduce the price of dynamite to 70s. per
case, giving to the Government the 5s. per case and the share of the
profits to which it is entitled; and that at the end of the present
agency the factory shall be taken over at a valuation which shall not
include compensation for goodwill or for loss of future business.

FRANCHISE.

This is the vital point upon which a permanent and peaceful
settlement must hinge, and if a satisfactory solution can be arrived
at on this point, as well as on the others raised, we shall be
prepared to recommend to the Industry to make the sacrifices involved
in accepting the Government proposals.

We note that--

_(a)_ the proposals do not include a substantial recognition of past
residence;

_(b)_ that the period is seven years;

_(c)_ that it is proposed that those who acquire citizenship under
the law, if changed as proposed, shall not have the vote for the
office of President, and that the oath of allegiance would be
required seven years before the acquisition of limited burgher
rights;

_(d)_ that the proposed new law would have to be published for a year
and receive the assent of two-thirds of the enfranchised burghers of
the Republic.

Whilst declaring ourselves willing to accept and recommend the
acceptance of any fair scheme on constitutional reforms, we consider
that such a scheme must first be laid before, and approved by, the
unenfranchised community, as the rights, liberties, and privileges of
the community would depend absolutely on the nature of the reform.

We have repeated on many occasions that business houses are not
qualified to discuss this question on behalf of the general body of
Uitlanders, and that we would not presume that we were appointed by
the whole community to discuss it on their behalf. It will therefore
be necessary to find means to bring the whole question before those
directly affected, who are the only ones entitled to finally dispose
of the matter, their acquiescence to the scheme having to be first
obtained before we recommend the sacrifices which we contemplate in
order to ensure a general permanent and peaceful settlement.

For your guidance we enclose an expression of opinion which has been
furnished to us by some of the most prominent Uitlanders, and
places before you the views of a very large and influential section
of the community.

The above subjects are only those which have been discussed between
the Government representatives and ourselves, but, in order to arrive
at a final permanent settlement, we think that we ought to endeavour
to remove all other causes of disagreement, and treat as well several
other important questions left untouched; and we would beg that the
Government will take the necessary steps, as far as lies in their
power, to assist the industry by bringing native labourers to the
goldfields, and to this end will be willing to confer with the
Chamber of Mines as to the best means to be adopted; that the law
relating to the sale of intoxicating liquor at present in force shall
be maintained and strictly enforced. We may further state that we
have every confidence in the probity and honour of the Judges of the
S.A.R., and wish to place on record our desire that the independence
of the Bench should be assured and maintained inviolate in the
highest interests of all the inhabitants of the Republic.

We enclose copy of the cable which we sent, embodying the proposals
of the Government of the S.A.R. as communicated to us by Mr. Lippert,
and copy of the _précis_ and resolution passed at the meeting held in
London, when the above cable was considered.

This letter conveys to you our opinion as well as that of our friends
in Europe, and we should be most happy to arrange a meeting with you
and any other representatives of the Government to consider and
discuss the points contained therein.

We beg to assure you once more that we, as well as our European
friends, are most sincerely desirous to arrive at a satisfactory
settlement, securing a peaceful future and promoting the welfare of
the country and the people, and trust that you will regard the
expression of our opinion in that light.


We remain, honourable Sir,
Yours obediently,
G. ROULIOT.
H.F.E. PISTORIUS.
E. BIRKENRUTH.
JOHN M. PIERCE.
A. BRAKHAN

The foregoing embodies our views as well as that of our London
houses.

(Signed) J.G. HAMILTON.
W. DALRYMPLE.

The following memorandum--the one referred to in the above
letter--was prepared by well-known Uitlanders whom the Government,
owing to the refusal of the capitalists to deal with the franchise,
had been obliged to select in order to get some pronouncement upon
that question. The little ironies of life have two properties: the
humour for the winner, and the hurt for the worsted. The Uitlanders
had for three years enjoyed a singularly monotonous experience in
ironies, but a turning came in the long lane when it became necessary
for the President to suspend the operation of his three years' ban
on two of the Reformers in order to get their advice upon the
franchise question.

JOHANNESBURG, S.A.R.,
_24th March, 1899._

GENTLEMEN,

In response to the invitation from the Government of the South
African Republic conveyed to us by Mr. E. Lippert, we beg to submit
the enclosed memorandum upon the franchise question.

Yours faithfully,
J. PERCY FITZPATRICK.
H.C. HULL.
W. DALRYMPLE.
W.A. MARTIN.
THOS. MACKENZIE.
R. STORE.
J.G. HAMILTON.
T.J. BRITTEN.
H.R. SKINNER.

_To Messrs. G. Rouliot,
E. Birkenruth,
A. Brakhan,
J.M. Pierce,
H.F.E. Pistorius
Johannesburg_.


MEMORANDUM _RE_ FRANCHISE.

After such investigation as the restrictions imposed have permitted,
we are of opinion that it would be quite useless to approach the
Uitlander population with the Government proposal in its present
form, chiefly for the following reasons:--

1. No consideration is given to the term of residence already
completed.

2. The alteration of the franchise law according to lately prescribed
procedure, whereby two-thirds of the burghers must signify approval,
is a practical impossibility,--witness the fact that at the last
Presidential election, surpassing in excitement and interest all
other occasions of general voting, with the three recognized leaders
in the field, and every agency at work to stimulate activity, less
than two-thirds of the burghers on the register recorded their votes.

3. The present form of oath would be regarded as humiliating and
unnecessary, in support of which view we instance that quite recently
the Volksraad of the Orange Free State rejected upon the same grounds
the proposed introduction of the same oath of allegiance.

4. The period of disqualification, during which the Uitlander would
have given up his own citizenship by naturalizing and have acquired
nothing in return, would be found most objectionable--especially
with the experience that rights have in the past been legislated away
as they were on the point of maturing.

5. In view of the unique conditions of this country, extension of the
franchise without some approach to equitable redistribution of
representatives would be regarded as no solution of the question and
might even provoke doubts as to the _bonâ fides_ of the proposal,
which would be a deplorable beginning, yet one easily to be avoided.

Regard being had to the points raised in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4,
we consider that as restrictive franchise legislation, apparently
designed to exclude for ever the great bulk of the Uitlander
population, dates its beginning from the Session of 1890, and as the
various enactments bearing upon this question have been passed by
successive Volksraads exercising their power to alter, add to, or
revoke, previous enactments, and as the same powers are to the full
enjoyed by the present Volksraad, it would be both possible and
proper for the present Volksraad to annul all the legislation upon
this subject from that date, and to restore and confirm the status
prior to 1890, and thus satisfy the indisputable claims of those who
settled in this country under certain conditions from the benefits of
which they could not properly be excluded.

With regard to paragraph 5, a moderate proposal designed to give a
more equitable distribution of representatives in the Volksraad would
be necessary.

The above suggestions are not put forward as the irreducible minimum,
nor are they designed for public use, nor intended as a proposal
acceptable to the eye but impossible in fact, and thus sure of
rejection. They are put forward in good faith as indicating in our
opinion the lines upon which it would be possible to work towards a
settlement with a reasonable prospect of success.

If the difficulties appear great the more reason there is not to put
forward an unalterable proposal foredoomed to failure, but rather to
try and find points of agreement which, however few and small to
begin with, would surely make for eventual and complete settlement.
In any case it is clear that the mere fact of a proposal to extend
the franchise having been made by the Government, thus frankly
recognizing the need to deal with the subject, will be hailed as a
good omen and a good beginning by all fair-minded men.

The determination of the negotiators to have the position clearly
stated in writing, and their fear that the use of intermediaries
would end in the usual unhappy and unpleasant result--namely,
repudiation of the intermediary in part or entirely--were not long
wanting justification. The following is a translation of Mr. F.W.
Reitz's reply:--

PRETORIA, _8th April, 1899._

_Messrs. G. Rouliot, H.F.E. Pistorius, A. Brakhan, E. Birkenruth,
and John M. Pierce, Johannesburg_.

DEAR SIRS,

I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 27th
March last, referring to certain proposals to the Government from
representatives of the mining industry.

In order to understand the natural position it is necessary to state
the facts more extensively than given in your letter.

It is wrong to say, as you do in the first paragraph of your
communication, that Mr. Lippert came to you with certain proposals
from the Government.

It appears also from the second paragraph of the same that Mr.
Lippert came to you _suo motu_ with the object, as he informed me
afterwards, to see 'if it was not possible to obtain a better
understanding between the Government on the one side and the mining
industry on the other.' He acted in no wise as the agent of the
Government, or in the name of the Government, to make any proposals
to you, but only as a friendly mediator to see how far unnecessary
differences and misunderstandings could be removed.

When Mr. Lippert came to Dr. Leyds and myself, and informed us that
you and other gentlemen were agreeable to his mediation, we at once
agreed with his plan, being aware that there was a warm desire and
continued struggle on the part of this Government to remove out of
the way all friction and trouble, and that in this case especially it
was our object to leave no stone unturned to get all differences
settled. We were the more anxious to meet you, because his Honour the
State President had decided to lay before the Volksraad certain
proposals of law, which are of great importance not only for the
people of the Republic, but especially for the mining population and
industry. We gave Mr. Lippert to understand that should the leaders
of the mining industry have no objection to his mediation, we would
not be unwilling to make use of his good services in this matter.

Mr. Lippert then went to Johannesburg, and returned to us with the
assurance that there was no objection to his acting as mediator, and
gave us some of the subjects on which it appeared to him that it was
possible to arrive at a friendly understanding.

In consequence of this, and acting on our own initiative, and not as
representatives of the Government, Dr. Leyds, Mr. Smuts, and myself,
met some of your leading men, as set forth in your letter.

At this meeting we informed you of the intention of the President to
alter certain laws for the general good. Only with reference to the
franchise we gave you no definite proposal, the matter being then
still under consideration. From your side we requested only a more
friendly attitude from the Press, as we were convinced that the
excessive Press campaign carried on by the newspapers, which are
generally considered to be owned by you, or influenced by you,
however much they may forward certain interests, still, in the end,
did infinite harm to the existing interests of all sections of the
population. Through the continual and incessant agitation and
creation of suspicion on the part of the papers, the public mind was
constantly in a state of insecurity, and the fanning of the race
hatred made it impossible for the Government as well as the
legislature to improve the relations between the so-called Uitlanders
and the old population.

We requested your friendly assistance also in the settlement of the
coolie question, not because we wanted to cause friction between you
and other foreign governments, but only because the policy which
refers to the native and coloured questions is of the utmost
importance to South Africa.

Mr. Lippert had in his programme the granting of a promise on your
side that you would support the Government in the obtaining of a loan
which the Government may deem necessary, and that you should bind
yourselves in writing to abstain from all political organizations
inimical to the Government.

These matters we did not discuss, as we considered them unnecessary
and inadvisable. From your side you deemed it necessary, before
answering us, first to receive the instructions of your foreign
principals. Before you could give us the result the President
explained his intentions at Heidelberg, and afterwards at Rustenburg
and Johannesburg.