Your letter, now under consideration, contains practically a definite
answer to our communication to you. I shall now consider the points
of your answer separately.

BEWAARPLAATSEN.

With reference to this matter, we think that the undermining rights
under bewaarplaatsen, machine stands, and water-rights should be
valued on a reasonable basis, independently by the Government, and by
the owner of the surface rights (should there be a difference which
cannot be settled amicably, then the value can be fixed by
arbitration), and that the surface owner shall have the preferent
right to purchase the affected under-mining right at such a
valuation. From your communication I understand that you suggest a
special method of valuation. That is a detail which can be settled
when the valuation is actually commenced, and which experts are
better able to judge over than I am. Therefore I shall say no more on
this subject.

FINANCIER AND AUDITOR.

On this subject our opinion was that the auditor should be
independent of the Government, and alone responsible to the Volksraad
to appoint as financier a man of standing, with a seat in the
Executive Council, to advise on all matters affecting finances.

I am glad to see that you are with us, and that it gives you great
satisfaction. I must express my surprise, however, over your proposal
that previous to the appointment this Government must first get the
approval of Lord Rothschild or any other capitalist. I can only
answer that it is in no wise the intention of the Government to frame
the future financial policy of this State on a capitalistic basis,
and thus your request cannot be agreed to. It is quite possible to
make such an appointment which will carry general approval without
being subjected to such a mutual condition.

LOAN, PRESS AGITATION, POLITICAL ORGANIZATION.

With reference to these matters, I have already made it plain to you
that in following the proposals of Mr. Lippert by cabling to your
principals, you acted under a misunderstanding. We requested no
binding declaration from you, only a moral understanding, which would
be easy for you to maintain, if it was in the interests of the
Uitlanders as well as the burghers of the Republic. I regret that the
mistake has arisen, otherwise I cannot see that any objection can
come from your side to approve of the plans of the President.

DYNAMITE.

On this question there is a small difference between the proposed
policy of the President and your answer.

I only wish to add that his Honour goes further than you do, as he
has declared his readiness to expropriate the Dynamite Company, under
agreement with its representatives, as soon as possible. If the
expropriation takes place after the expiration of the present
concession then it will naturally not be on the basis of a going
concern.

FRANCHISE.

On this subject I can well understand that you do not wish to take
upon your shoulders the responsibility of speaking and acting for the
whole of the new population. It was more your personal opinions as
men of position that we wished to know. Then again, according to your
assurance at the aforementioned meeting, you do not take any personal
interest in the franchise question, and that you would rather leave
the question to the public; your answer is therefore perfectly fair.
His Honour has therefore already acted in accordance with your idea,
for he has brought the question of the franchise very prominently
before the public, not only at Heidelberg and Rustenburg, but also at
Johannesburg.

In conclusion, I wish to refer to one matter which has caused me much
pain. It was clearly and distinctly agreed and understood by you all
as well as by us that both sides would treat this matter as
confidential and secret, as discussions of such important matters
cannot be carried on with any results on the tops of houses. What has
happened? On the 28th of March I received your letter, and on the 3rd
of April, whilst I was yet giving it earnest consideration and had
taken all the measures to keep it secret, the contents of the same
appeared in the London _Times_, while some days later your answer
appeared in full in the _Cape Times_, the _Diamond Fields
Advertiser_, and other papers under the influence of the capitalists.
The manner in which these papers favourable to you, or controlled by
you, have dealt with me in this matter has caused me (I admit it with
regret) to doubt for one moment your good faith. Thinking, however,
of the great interest as it were in the balance, and believing,
moreover, that you never for private or party purposes intended to
play with the true and lasting interests of all sections of the
community, I cannot help thinking that the reply has been published
through one of your subordinates, and regret that the publication has
not been immediately repudiated by you publicly as a grave breach of
faith. I would regret it, while there exists so few points of
difference between us, that these things should bar the way through
careless and wrong tactics to a permanent understanding, and trust
that the hand extended to the Industry in absolute good faith will
not be slighted purposely and wilfully. Owing to the publication of
your reply, there exists no further reason for secrecy, and I shall
hand my reply to the press.

Your obedient servant,
F.W. REITZ,
_State Secretary_.

The repudiation of Mr. Lippert's "official" character; the contention
that the State Secretary, State Attorney, and Dr. Leyds could divest
themselves of all responsibility in negotiations such as these, and
claim to have been acting in their private capacity only; and the
extraordinary anxiety to keep secret matters which deeply affected
the public, and to the settlement of which the Government designed
that the public should be committed, compelled the negotiators to
produce evidence that the statements and conclusions of the
Government were not warranted by the facts. The following letter,
which was formally acknowledged but never answered, practically
concluded the negotiations:--

JOHANNESBURG, S.A.R., _April 14, 1899._

_To the Honourable the State Secretary, Pretoria._

HONOURABLE SIR,--

We have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your communication
of the 8th April, 1899.

Certain of our statements being doubted and described as erroneous in
your letter, we deem it advisable to go more fully into the facts
which have preceded and led to this correspondence.

It may be that communications exchanged through an intermediary have
been transmitted in a manner liable to convey a different impression
from what was actually meant, and in order to clear any possible
misunderstanding, we beg to enclose copies of all documents supplied
to us by Mr. Lippert, whom we, at all times, considered as your
authorized agent.

From these it will be apparent that during the negotiations we acted
in perfect good faith, communicating and discussing what we justly
considered were the wishes and proposals of the Government, and it
will also be clear to you that every one of our statements is based
on documents which we had every reason to believe were approved of by
the Government.

On February 27th Mr. Lippert called together Messrs. E. Birkenruth,
A. Brakhan, and G. Rouliot, to whom he stated that a settlement of
certain pending questions could probably be arrived at. He said that
he had ascertained the views of Dr. Leyds, Messrs. Reitz and Smuts,
who had agreed to a certain programme, and he wanted to know whether
we would be willing to open negotiations on that basis, in which case
the three officials mentioned would see the State President and
ascertain whether he would be prepared to adopt their views.

If the State President's approval could be obtained, Mr. Lippert
suggested that a conference should be held to discuss the subjects
mentioned in his memorandum.

This memorandum (Annexure 'A'), as explained to us by Mr. Lippert,
enumerates under Clauses 1 to 5 inclusive the points which the
Government expected us to concede, and the other clauses are what the
Government proposed doing in return.

We were then informed that the programme must be considered as a
whole, and either adopted or rejected as such, no question being
considered separately, and that the matter must be kept absolutely
secret.

Upon our statement that we personally would be willing to open
negotiations on the basis suggested, Mr. Lippert went to Pretoria and
informed the high officials above-named.

On March 1st Mr. Lippert informed us that the State President was
viewing the matter favourably, and requested us to acquaint our
friends by cable.

Our replies having been communicated to Mr. Lippert, a meeting was
arranged on March 9th, as recited in our previous letter, at which,
Mr. Lippert informed us, no new subject outside of those mentioned in
his memorandum could be discussed.

Messrs. Pistorius and Pierce, being invited by Mr. Lippert to attend
the meeting, were each supplied by him with a list of the questions
to be discussed, forming part of the proposed settlement (Annexure
'B').

On March 12th Mr. Lippert communicated to us what he termed the
definite proposals of the Government of the S.A.R., which were duly
cabled to our friends in Europe (a copy of this cable has already
been sent to you).

He also read to us the declaration, which he suggested we should sign
on behalf of ourselves and our European friends (Annexure 'C').

A speedy reply to our cable was asked for, as Mr. Lippert had
informed us that, if any settlement could be arrived at, the
agreement had to be submitted to the Honourable the First Volksraad
before the closing of the extraordinary session which was drawing
near.

We beg to point out to you that by cabling these proposals to Europe,
we could not possibly conceive that we were acting under a
misconception, as the day on which they were made to us, the 12th of
March, being a Sunday, the Telegraph Office was specially kept
open for the purpose of dispatching the cables, which were duly
received and forwarded upon production of an order from Mr. Lippert.

In our letter of March 17th to his Honour the State President,
conveying the nature of our friends' reply, we mentioned the fact
that the communication made to us by Mr. Lippert on behalf of the
Government had been fully cabled; we stated that our friends no doubt
based their suggestion to further discuss the whole of the proposals
with Dr. Leyds upon the fact that the Government had stipulated that
they should become parties to the proposed settlement.

In your reply of March 18th, no exception is taken to these
statements; you tell us, on behalf of his Honour the State President,
'that the exchange of views can best take place direct with the
Government, and here, within the Republic,' pointing out the fact
'that the session of the Volksraad was close at hand, and that
therefore further delay is undesirable.'

You will thus see that we were perfectly justified in thinking that
the communications made to our European friends, embodied the
proposals of the Government of the South African Republic, were
cabled with the knowledge and approval of the Government, and that
we were requested to sign a declaration on behalf of ourselves and
our friends, which declaration had to be made public.

Our letter of the 27th March conveyed to you our opinion and that of
our friends, upon the subjects comprised in the programme which was
submitted to us, and it is unnecessary to go over them in detail
again. We beg only to offer a few remarks upon certain points raised
in your letter of 8th April:--Bewaarplaatsen: We suggest a basis for
the valuation of bewaarplaatsen, machine stands, and water-rights,
which in our opinion ought to be adopted, in order to have a uniform
and easy method of valuing these places.

Financier: Being fully aware of the complexity of financial problems
and questions of taxation in this State, we are anxious that the
financier appointed should be of such a standing as to command the
confidence of all, so that his recommendations cannot raise any
ulterior discussion. For that reason we expressed the opinion that,
before making the appointment, the Government should be guided in its
choice by someone belonging to a firm of well-known independent
standing. We have no desire to see this Government base its future
financial policy on any particular line, in the interest of, or
directed against, any special section of the people. We only wish to
see the financial policy established on sound recognized economic
principles, with fair and equitable taxation calculated according to
the proper requirements of the State.

Press Agitation--Political Organizations: We have already informed
you, that so far as we know, there has been no organized press
agitation, and that we should be willing at all times to deprecate
the stirring up of strife between nationalities caused by any agency
whatsoever. We consider it desirable to see that feeling more
general, as we are convinced that exaggerated press campaigns
conducted by newspapers generally reported to be influenced by the
Government, and tending to create dissension amongst the various
classes of the community, are calculated to cause an infinite amount
of harm to the vested interests of all sections of the population.

Dynamite: In your letter of the 8th April, you appear to have lost
sight of the fact that the proposed settlement was submitted to us as
a whole. Mr. Lippert made it clear that, in consideration of the
Government granting the measures enumerated in his memorandum, it was
expected that we should abandon our present contentions, and declare
ourselves satisfied with the settlement proposed by the Government.
Under ordinary circumstances this would be far from meeting our
desires, but we intimated to you that we should be willing to
recommend to the mining industry the adoption of the proposals made
to us on this subject, if by so doing we could promote a permanent
satisfactory solution of all pending questions.

In conclusion, we beg to refer to the publication of our previous
letter to you. It took place here on the 6th inst., in the afternoon;
we immediately instituted an inquiry, and on the 8th inst., in the
morning, we wrote that we were in a position to assure you that we
could in no way be held responsible for the publication. We never for
a moment doubted your good faith, nor that of the other gentlemen for
whom the letter was meant, but thought that possibly the
communication could have been made through one of your subordinates.
However, not being certain of the fact, we merely repudiated any
responsibility on our part, and regret that you should have publicly
laid the blame on our side, without having communicated with us,
asking for an explanation, if you had any suspicion.

We beg to assure you that we are as willing as ever to co-operate
with you in arriving at a settlement of all pending differences in
order to secure peace and prosperity in this country, and we shall be
ready at all times to meet and discuss with you, or any other
delegates of the Government, any matter likely to bring about a
speedy and permanent solution of all questions, still bearing in mind
what we mentioned in our previous correspondence, that we are not
qualified to speak on behalf of the whole community.

As you have informed us that you have no objection to it, we shall
give a copy of this letter to the press.

We have the honour to be, honourable Sir,


Your obedient servants,
G. ROULIOT,
JOHN M. PIERCE,
A. BRAKHAN,
E. BIRKENRUTH.

(Mr. Pistorius, being absent from town, could not sign this letter.)


ANNEXURE 'A'

MR. E. LIPPERT'S MEMORANDUM.

1. Cessation of press agitation here and in Europe.

2. Support on the coolie question.

3. Settlement of the dynamite question.

4. Loan (if required).

5. Severance from the S. A. League.

6. Appointment of State Financier and State Auditor, of European
reputation, with a seat and vote on the Executive in all questions of
finance.

7. No new taxation of mines until submitted by Minister of
Finance.

8. Moderate valuation of bewaarplaatsen.

9. Burgher rights--five years--property test.


ANNEXURE 'B.'

Cessation of press agitation here and in Europe.

Support to the Government in its treatment of the coolie
question.

Settlement of the dynamite question.

Deprecate the objects of the S.A. League.

Support the placing of a loan if Government wishes it.

Appointment of a financial adviser to the Government, of European
reputation, and of an Auditor, both with seats and votes in the
Executive Council on all financial matters. (This has been amended by
the Government, so far as the Auditor is concerned, to retain the
present Auditor, and to give him, _re_ dismissal, the same status as
a Judge, and to make him directly responsible to the Volksraad.)

No fresh taxation to be levied on the mines until the Financial
Adviser has laid his proposals before the Government.

Sale of the undermining rights to the holders of surface rights
(bewaarplaatsen, &c.), at a moderate valuation.

Extension of the franchise by granting burgher rights after ... years
of registration, coupled with a property test.


ANNEXURE 'C.'

DRAFT OF DECLARATION TO FOLLOW PROTOCOL EMBODYING THE RESOLUTIONS
AGREED UPON.

... Thereupon the subscribed parties from Johannesburg, for
themselves, and for the parties they represent here and in Europe,
declared:--

'The passing by the Volksraad of the laws to be submitted by the
Government during this session,--

'For the appointment during the present year of a Financial Adviser
to the Government, of European reputation, who shall have a seat and
a vote in the Executive Council on all financial matters.

'For placing the Auditor-General on the same status _re_ dismissal as
the Judges, and for making him responsible directly to the Volksraad,
it being agreed that until such Financial Adviser has laid his budget
proposals before the Government, no fresh taxation shall be laid upon
the mining industry, nor any other direct taxation.

'For granting the undermining rights under bewaarplaatsen, machine
stands, and water-rights, to the present holders of the licences,
covering such reserved areas at a moderate valuation; such valuation
to be arrived at in the following manner: The Government to appoint a
valuator, with instructions to value these rights at a fair and
moderate valuation, the holder of the surface licence to appoint a
valuator; if they agree, then the surface licence holder shall have
the first right to the undermining rights at such valuation; if the
two valuators cannot agree about a valuation, they shall appoint
together an umpire; if they cannot agree about an umpire, the Chief
justice of the High Court shall be asked to appoint an umpire; the
decision of such umpire shall be final as to the value of the area
under arbitration. If the holder of the surface licence refuses to
purchase at the said valuation, the Government shall be at liberty to
dispose of it elsewhere.

'For a permanent settlement of the dynamite question on one or the
other bases following, namely, that the _status quo_ remain in force
till the end of the contract period, the Government making use of its
right to revise the prices under the terms of the agreement or that
the Dynamite Company reduce the price by 5s. to 70s. for No. 1 and to
90s. for blasting gelatine, the Government undertaking to take over
the works of the Dynamite Company at the end of the agreement at a
valuation as provided by the offer now before the Volksraad.

'For an extension of the franchise to all white aliens in this State,
in the following manner: That naturalization be granted to all
seeking it, who have resided in the State for two years and who are
of good behaviour and who have not suffered any dishonourable
sentence by any Court, upon taking the oath of allegiance as
prescribed by the existing law; upon such naturalization he shall be
entitled to elect a member to the Second Volksraad, and two years
after shall be entitled to be elected as a member of the Second
Volksraad. A period of seven years having elapsed after
naturalization, he shall by virtue of that lapse of time and without
further hindrance obtain full burgher rights, the Government,
however, reserve to themselves the right (in order to secure the
passing of such law through the Volksraad of this and that of the
session of 1900) to extend the period of naturalization for the right
of voting for the election of a President. Children of naturalized
aliens, who attain their majority when their father has obtained full
burgher rights, have _ipso facto_ the same rights as the father. The
Government shall also have the right to attach a moderate property
qualification to the obtaining of these extended franchise rights. It
is understood that by the laws of the State, this extended franchise
can only finally be granted by the Volksraad in session 1900, after
the law has been submitted to the people for twelve months, but that
the period of 9 resp. 7 years shall date from the passing of the
resolution to be passed by the Volksraad now in session.

will be hailed by us with great satisfaction as removing all
obstacles to a friendly and peaceful development of mutual
understanding and co-operation; it is our wish, and in the interest
of those we represent, that the public in Europe and in South Africa
be made fully aware hereof by means of the press, and that hostile
agitation by means of the press here and elsewhere shall be avoided
in future.

'We deprecate all attempts that may be made by political agencies to
stir up strife between the different nationalities inhabiting this
State, and shall not be parties to any such organizations.

'Seeing the many evils springing from indiscriminate immigration of
coloured races, and having been assured that the Government will do
all in its power to facilitate in other ways the supply of labour, we
support the Government in its contention that the regulations
concerning the treatment of "coolies and other coloured races" had
best be left to them as a matter of internal concern.

'We will support the placing of a State loan recommended by the
Financier in the European markets at reasonable rates, if the
Government should desire us to do so in the common interest.

'Seeing the great value the Government evidently sets upon a friendly
and permanent settlement of the dynamite question, which has
contributed so much to disturbing the good relations, we declare
ourselves satisfied with the final settlement arrived at.

'And should, after the passing of the above proposals of law as a
whole by the Volksraad, the Government desire us to give publicity to
this our declaration for the promotion of peace and goodwill, such
publicity as the Government may desire shall be given thereto.'

While the negotiations were actually in progress, and while the
Imperial Government were awaiting a reply to their dispatch, the
President made two determined attempts to rush the confirmation of
the dynamite monopoly through the Raad. The first proposal was for
the fifteen years' extension, and the second provided for condonation
of all breaches of the concession in the past and for compensation
upon the expiry of the concession.

The Uitlanders had not failed to perceive that the pit dug for them
might conceivably serve another purpose. They ignored these two
breaches of faith on the part of the President, and pursued the
negotiations; and Mr. Kruger overreached himself. Having failed with
Johannesburg, and having failed in the Raad, he appealed to his
burghers with the scheme of mock reform. His hope was to get such
support in the country that the Volksraad in its May session would
have to spare the monopoly. He did not realize that he would have to
make good the things which he had offered as shams. His greed had
given the opening: his hand had provided the weapon. It is not good
to be too clever; and the luck had turned.

The publication of the correspondence between the Government and the
capitalists created a profound impression. The series of speeches
delivered by the President in support of his sham reforms only
deepened that impression by providing more and more convincing
evidence as to who the real intriguers and mischief-makers were. To
the Uitlander public one thing became quite clear, and that was that
it was the Government who wished to barter their rights away and the
capitalists--the abused capitalists--who refused to do so. An attempt
was immediately made to hold a large public meeting for the purpose
of endorsing the attitude taken by the negotiators, but the
Government refused permission to hold an open-air meeting. In their
attempt to hold a meeting indoors, the Uitlanders were defeated by
the building being condemned as unsafe. The Government yielded,
however, before the storm of disapproval which followed their
prohibition, and the State Secretary, Mr. Reitz, suggested that the
Uitlanders should hold a series of small indoor meetings in different
localities. The meetings were accordingly held, and they provided
unmistakable evidence of the gravity of the position. By their
numbers, their unanimity, their enthusiasm, and their moderation,
the Uitlanders carried conviction to some and roused the grave
apprehension of others. Among the latter, it is fair to infer, were
President Kruger and his sympathizers in the Free State and Cape
Colony.

There is one disability the existence of which the advocates of the
Uitlander cause are always painfully conscious of. They know as well
as any of their critics that it is no picture which is all
black--that you get no perspective, no effects, without contrasts!
Yet it has not been believed that they were willing to acknowledge
the good that there was, and that a politic instinct no less than a
sense of justice prompted a diligent effort to discover and make much
of the genuinely hopeful signs. The monotony was none of their
making; it was in the nature of the facts, and not of the recital;
but monotony there was, and it was productive of one very bad result.
The conditions, admittedly bad, came to be regarded by a good many as
being only as bad as they had for a long time been known to be,
leaving little hope except through the long slow influence of time,
but causing no immediate anxiety or alarm. Someday a grubbing
historian may read the back files of South African newspapers and
marvel that such warnings should have passed unheeded, but the fact
is that the Transvaal Government and its sympathizers had become
indifferent to warnings followed by no results and accustomed to
prophecies unfulfilled. To say that they were 'fiddling while Rome
burned' is to a great extent true of those of the South African Dutch
who were sincerely desirous that the Transvaal Government should
reform its ways and who were not consciously aiding in the
republicanizing movement; but even of them it is not an adequate
description,--as the answers given to two questioners by the most
prominent and one of the most prominent Bondsmen indicate. Both of
them had in private conversation on different occasions acknowledged
the soundness of the Uitlander cause. To the suggestion, 'Then why
not say so publicly?' the less important of the two replied, 'People
would only say that I am climbing down and ratting on my party.' And
the more important of the two, answering a similar question, said,
'Yes, the Rev. S.J. Du Toit did that. He was the founder of the
Bond; and to-day he is--nothing! If I did it, I should fall as he
did.' 'Then,' said his British friend, 'what is influence worth if it
cannot be used for good? Can there be said to be influence when it
cannot be used at all?' 'No,' was the reply, 'I have no influence as
against the cry of race: blood is thicker than water; and I have no
influence at all with Kruger.' The answer to this contained the crux
of the question. 'Indeed you have; but you have not the courage to
exercise it. The influence of advice has failed, dare you try the
influence of repudiation?' The answer was a shake of the head and
'Blood is thicker than water.' That is it! The Piper pipes and the
children follow.

It is too much to believe that the conference between the High
Commissioner and President Kruger was a suggestion to which the
latter had to be won over either by President Steyn or Mr. Hofmeyr.
It is, indeed, well-known that the idea of a meeting for the purpose
of discussing matters at issue between the two Governments had been
considered in Pretoria for some months before it actually took
place.{51}

The news that, upon the invitation of President Steyn, the High
Commissioner and President Kruger had agreed to meet at Bloemfontein,
was received by the Uitlanders with relief; not hope, because it was
believed that the President's object was to get something, not to
give something; but sheer relief, because, come what might, the
position could never again be the same as it was before the
conference. Something must change; someone must yield; the unbearable
strain must cease. Sir Alfred Milner--wise and just and
strong--commanded the entire confidence of the Uitlanders. It was not
hoped that he would succeed in effecting a settlement at such a
meeting, because in the circumstances such an achievement was
believed not to be humanly possible; but it was not feared that he
would fail in his duty to his country and to his trust.

It is no part of the object of this volume to deal with the
negotiations which took place at Bloemfontein or with the terms of
settlement at the present moment under discussion; the object is to
recite the circumstances and conditions which made these negotiations
necessary, and which, if they fail, must lead to bloodshed.

With a barrier of insurmountable race feeling before them, the
Uitlanders are hopeless of effecting a peaceful redress of their
grievances except by the aid of the Suzerain power. The President and
his party will not yield one iota except upon the advice of those who
have the will and the power to see that that advice is followed. Such
power rests in two quarters. It rests with the progressive Dutch of
South Africa. They have the power, but unfortunately they have not as
yet the will or they have not the courage to use it. Time after time
have they been stultified by rallying to the cry of race and
defending Mr. Kruger's attitude on certain points, only to find the
President abandoning as untenable the position which they have
proclaimed to be proper. To them have been addressed most earnest and
most solemn appeals to be up and doing whilst there was yet time.
From them have been extracted--in times of peace--the amplest
admissions of the justice of the Uitlander case. But there is a point
beyond which they will not go. They will not say to the President and
his party: 'We cannot extol in you what we would condemn in
ourselves. The claim of kindred cannot for ever be the stalking-horse
for injustice.' That they cannot do; and thus are they bonded to the
one who will raise the race cry without scruple. There is no more
hopeless feature for the peaceful settlement of the Transvaal
question from within than the unanimity which marks the public
utterances of those who are claimed as representing Afrikander
sentiment in the present crisis. Those expressions, ranging from the
most violent denunciations by politicians and ministers of the gospel
down to the most illogical and hysterical appeals of public writers,
all, all are directed against the injured. Not a warning, not a
hint--not a prayer even--addressed to the offender. They have not the
sense of justice to see or they have not the courage to denounce the
perpetrators of evil, but direct all their efforts to hushing the
complaints of the victims. Truly it would almost appear that there
is some guiding principle running through it all; something which
recognizes the real sinner in the victim who complains and not in
the villain who perpetrates; the something which found a concrete
expression when bail was fixed at £200 for the murder of a British
subject and at £1,000 for the crime of objecting to it.

No civilized body of men ever had more just cause for complaint than
the Uitlanders of the Transvaal have, but they carry on their reform
movement under very difficult and discouraging conditions. Those who
have petitioned their Sovereign to secure for them some amelioration
of their lot are branded by the head of the State as rebels for so
doing, and his example is followed by all his party. Those men who
organized or addressed the public meetings which were suggested by
Mr. Reitz, the State Secretary, and held for the purpose of
discussing a proposal publicly made by the Government, are the men
whom Messrs. Dieperink and Viljoen, the members representing
Johannesburg in the First and Second Volksraads, denounced as
traitors who should be summarily dealt with by the Government.
British subjects associated with the Uitlander cause who venture to
call upon the British Agent in Pretoria or the High Commissioner in
Cape Town are regarded as conspirators and are watched by spies and
all their movements are reported to the Transvaal Government.{52} The
recognized leaders among the Uitlanders are black-listed in the Dutch
press, their names, addresses, and occupations given so that they may
be identified,--marked down in the newspapers supported by the
Government--as men to be dragged out and shot without trial.
Uitlander newspapers have been suppressed for mere political reasons,
without even the allegation that there was incitement to violence or
disorder, and it is therefore not unreasonable that the impunity
with which the Dutch newspapers continue this campaign month after
month should be taken as the measure of the Government's complicity.

It is in these circumstances that appeal has been made to England,
the only other quarter in which there rests the power to see that
justice shall be done. It is an appeal which might well be based upon
the broad and acknowledged right of a subject to claim in case of
injustice the good offices of his own Government. But here it is
based upon a special right. It is the _spirit_{53} of the Pretoria
Convention which the Uitlander has invoked for many years, only to be
told that the spirit is as it may be interpreted from the letter. But
it is not so! Will it be suggested that the British Government
contemplated such license when they granted the charter of
self-government to the Transvaal or that they would have granted
it had they foreseen the interpretation? Can it be said that Mr.
Kruger and his colleagues contemplated it or would have dared to avow
the intention if it were ever entertained? No! And he will be a
bolder man than Mr. Kruger who will dispute that answer; for the
President's own defence is, not that he had the intention or has the
right to differentiate between races and between classes; but--that
he does not differentiate. So that the issue is narrowed to this,
that it is merely a question of fact!

But the appeal of British subjects in the Transvaal will claim a
hearing for other reasons too! Only the blindest can fail to realize
how much is at stake, materially and morally, or can fail to see what
is the real issue, and how the Mother Country stands on trial before
all her children, who are the Empire. Only those who do not count
will refuse to face the responsibility in all seriousness, or will
fail to receive in the best spirit the timely reminder of past
neglect. If the reproaching truth be a hard thing to hear, it is, for
those whose every impulse jumps towards championing the great Home
Land, a far, far harder thing to say. Unpleasant it may be, but not
without good, that England's record in South Africa--of subjects
abandoned and of rights ignored, of duty neglected and of pledge
unkept, of lost prestige and slipping Empire--should speak to quicken
a memory and rouse the native sense of right, so that a nation's
conscience will say 'Be just before you are generous! Be just to
all--even to your own!'


Footnotes for Chapter XI

{49} It is stated that President Kruger, ever since the signing of
the London Convention on Majuba Day--February 27--1884, has believed
in certain lucky days, and has a kind of superstitious regard for
anniversaries. If that be so, the incidence of events has given him
something to ponder over during the last three years. Three notable
schemes conceived by himself and carefully designed to strengthen his
position, have by a curious coincidence matured upon dates of certain
interest in Transvaal history. All three have failed disastrously.
The first anniversary of the Reformers' sentence day was the occasion