Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-05-10
rn..la-a ana tha Boar "Trek |"

rftbe latest Roer movement has assumed
its reported proportions there = more tnan
ordinary trouble ahead Of England IN
south and Southeast Africa fighting
the Beers Ia "handful" lots Is by no
means a pastime. Therefore what with
a nopular /" trek involving 2o,0OOmen any
effort TO oppose 1t Is very serious ousi
meas. Tho Beers are o most determined
element. They are dead shots, are IN
ured 70 South African hardship, expert In
the methods of warfare in that country.
and Weld the palm to none In respect Oh
courage.
All this the English know to their cost.
Thew had evidence Of IL no later than 1881.
when they were expelled from the south
African republic. Further the Beers are
not bad diplomats. as South African Oh
plomacy goes. Proof Of this is found In
their early management of the Basutos'
MatabeIes, and other tribes, and IN tne
manner in which they have outwitted tne
English in the dealings between the Trans
yaal and the Orange Free State.
Yet in tho long run there can be but one
deuosaneut of a war between the British
and the Beers. The latter VIII DO tne
"trekine." and the former will finally ao-
sorb the territory invaded. This has oeen
the history in large part Of British terri
torial expansion in South Africa Inc
Beers were driven out OF Natal ana
"treked" into the interior only to open
the way for gradual British encroach-
ment. Boer rifles broke the power
of the Basutos and Matebeles, and the
British annexed these tribes. When the
diamond fields were discovered In lo,I
the English, it is charged, broke iaitn
with the Beers. There are gold fields IN
every part of the Transvaal and Swazi-
land. which latter is Portuguese posses
SION, and as fast as they are developed the
English are upon the ground.
The objective points Of the trek" now
organizing and which is expected to cross
the Limpopo in few DAYS are Manicaland
and Mashonaland, and the purpose Is to
establish O northern republic. Manlca-
land and Mashonaland are involved
in the dispute between England
and Portugal and are between some
of Enelands more northern lake
possessions and Bechuanaland. where
British troops have been sent to oppose
the "trek." That the Portuguese are
oountenancing the proposed Boer invasion
does not seem to admit of question. Nor
does it admit of question that England
cannot afford to allow Portuguese and
Boer combination as regards Mashonaland
and Manicaland to obtain. This would
contravene the we'll defined British
policy in South, Southeast, and Gen.
trail Africa as exempli6ed in the
extension of the Cape Colony sys-
tenn of railroads and the present and
projected development Of river and
lake navigation in these zones. The
"trekers" may prove for the nonce
too formidable for the British force
IN Bechuanaland. or for any force
that could be made available for some lit
tie time. but that British prestige would
be established in the end is a certainty OF
the situation. While it is probably true
that the English people at home
are tired of "httle African wars"
there is too much British gold
locked up in South African development
TO permit of their failing to give hearty
support to the Government in this crisis.
The conflict, if it starts, will not be a
slaughter and scuttle" affair for the pur-
nose of Furnishing O few Arabs and negroes,
but a struggle tor permanent supremacy
over large area and the contamination
of designs in which the British pocket IS
deeply interested. Upon the issue will
depend not only the possession OF the
country the Beers are now coveting, but
the commanding Of gateways to aud open
ing up to advantage of rich territory west
and southwest thereof.
The establishment Of northern Boer
republic backed by Portuguese intrigue
with the Arabs would in addition to con-
tracing the zone of British influence on
and near the southeast coast of Africa,
stimulate Germany to extend her opera
tions on the centre east coast and hold
more obstinately to her southwest coast
possessions in the hope of inducing
England to cede TO her their most i'm
portant outlet to the sea. 1t will thus be
seen that if President KRUGER and the
other authorities of tho Transvaal republic
cannot damp" the trek" England has
only one recourse, and that is to deal with
the conditions with all the frmness che
% N ermmon