The record-union., 1896-02-10

G1Ven as len Thousand.
NEW YORK, Feb. "a special to
the Times" from London says:
Something absolutely unexpected by
anyone has happened. Cecil Rhodes
instead of remaining and making sport
in the gladitorial arena with Chamber
lain, as all England took for granted he
would do has merely had a long talk
at the Colonial Office and is forthwith
! hurrying back to South Africa. A more
unlooked-for and puzzling surprise
hardly could be imagined. At one stroke
1t throws all the imagined forecasts out
of gear. The chartered company must
/ hold it's annual meeting within a fort
night, and the public has been waiting
l for the great speech that Rhodes was
/ to make as the grand opening move in
the campaign between him and Cham
! berlain, which was to eclipse every
thing since the time of Warren Hast
ings. 1t entered into nobodys head that
the battle could be avoided. Now we are
calmly told that the fight is off, and in
mems minds there is room for only one
| question, What does it mean?"
The coincidence of Mr.. Chamberlain's
long and elaborate official statement
appearing at the same hour as the news
! of Rhodes swift return has to answer
/ the question. Means have been found
to strike a balance between the exigen-
cies of Chamberlain's political career
and the colossal political, financial and
social influences that the chartered
company is able to command in it's de-
fense. A compromise has been arranged
and apparently the scheme adopted is
big enough to afford ample elbow-room
for both Rhodes' and Chamberlain
ambitions. When two such predatory
genii combine to work together it may
he assumed that some third party is to
pay the bill. In this instance it scarcely
needs a prophetic eye to discern the
probability that Kruger and his Beers |
are marked for the sacrifice. In other
words, it is plainly open to be feared
that England, having behaved with
scrupulous correctness up to the pres
ent point of the Transvaal business, is
now about to do an unlovely thing.
Perhaps it is manifest destiny but it |
viii wear an ugly aspect none the less.
Chamberlains lengthy recital of |
events from the starting point of Mafe-
king tells little that is new. 1t throws |
the perfidy of Jameson's behavior into |
rather q stronger light than before and |
coldly hints that Sir Hercules Robin |
sons innocent ignorance of what was /
going on needs some further investi- |
cation. But the really strong parts /
of the document are not reached till /
he begins to disclose the policy of the |
British Cabinet. England's rights of T
entire control of the TransvaaPs ex-
ternal relations and its intention to /
maintain them in their integrity are +
affirmed in the plainest possible Ian
guage that has been done before; but +
now, in addition, comes the statement +
that England, by geographical and /
other considerations, is justified in tend |
dering its friendly counsels on internal I
matters also. Then, after a long mar
ration of the grievances of the Uitland
ers, comes what Chamberlain describes
as merely suggestion of one way of
meeting the difficulty, but which will
be read alike in Pretoria and Berlin as
a British ultimatum.
The entire Rand, embracing the whole
mining district, is to be erected into a
semi-autonomous province, with Leg
islature, Supreme Court, police, educa-
tional system, mining management and
SO on of its own. Plenty of safeguards
of the TransvaaTs supremacy in large
power to veto and the like but in sub
stance, Chamberlain proposes to give
to the invading Uitlanders on the +
Rand a rather freezer scheme of home
rule than what he broke up the Liberal
party for attempting to secure for the
Irish in their own island.
The announcement that Rhodes on his
return will live in Rhodesia, instead of
Cape Town, may be taken ais signify
ing that he is to stand on the frontier
OF the Transvaal as the representative
lot merely as the head of a huge pri-
vate financial syndicate, but as the
more or less official representative of
England's will that the Uitlanders be
allowed to manage the Rand in their
own way
That Kreuger will accept this solution
without violent protest, or that his
Beers will not encourage him to resist
by force of arms and appeals for Euro
pean aid, is entirely unlikely. One may
look with confidence, too, to see Ger
many foam over again with exuberance
at the vague notion of blocking Eng
lands felinous progress, but when it
comes to reality what can either Kreu-
ger or the Kaiser do? England is on
the ground and holds little Transvaal
as in thumbscrew One twist of its
giant hand and the Beers pass into his
tory while with its other hand the
German navy and mercantile marine
could be mauled beyond recognition,
and so the British Empire goes on be-
ing made.
As rule the week preceding the ses-
sion Of Parliament is made vocal with {
speculations and rumors about the
Queens speech. This year nobody dis
plays the faintest curiosity on the sub
ject. 1t is supposed that there will be a
request for a large naval grant, which
will not be seriously resisted, and
clause devoted to education. 1t is said
that this latter is the subject that the !
Tory leaders have most at heart and ,
that it will be put through at all haz- I
ards. 1t is their measure for strength r
ening the church's grip on the schools. +
Some Irish land legislation must be in !
troduced and there viii be the usual
gags about agriculture. But, save in {
the matter of schools, no one cares 4
much, and even there the majority is ,
too huge to be hopefully opposed. Much I
more fighting interest attaches to for Z
eign questions, and to Armenia in par
ticular There will lie direct and i'm I
mediate assault on this point by Rose
berry in the House of Lords, and a bat /
tie between him and Salisbury is ex- !