St. Paul daily globe., 1896-02-09
ADVICE TO THE BOERS.

|
ADVICE TO THE BOERS.
The dispatch which Mr.. Joseph Cham
berlain has sent to the governor of
Cape Colony, relating to the regula-
ton of affairs in the Transvaal re-
public, has some points of resemblance
to the fulminations Of the members of
our own senate in "elation to the for
eign affairs of the United States. 1t
contains a world Of good advice to the
Boer government: but the proffer of it
is trif1e impertinent, and invites a
possible rebuff. AS Mr. Chamberlain
glish government has over the Trans
vaal Is it's acknowledged suzerainty in
the foreign relations of that republic
Its internal affairs are wholly matters
for the exercise of it's own judgment
Now, the Transvaal has not got into
any complications with any other state,
unless it may be Great Britain herself
All the difficulties there existing are
domestic; and the whole subject mat
ter of Mr.. Chamberlain's dispatch rises
from the peculiar exclusiveness Of the
Boer government, and the regulations
which it has adopted to prevent for
eigners from obtaining control Of af-
fairs in the Transvaal itself.
That the Uitlanders are deprived Of
the common rights of citizens and
subjects in any modern state is mat
ter of public knowledge. Their situa-
ton is a cause Of chronic discomfort
which may at any time ripen into re-
bellion. It was a knowledge of this
and the expectation that they would
rise in revolt against their oppressors
that was behind the unfortunate expe-
dition Of Mr.. Jameson. This having
failed, the problem Of internal reform
presents itself anew. AS Mr.. Cham
berlain points out, the whole direc-
tion of affairs and the power of taxa
tion remain in the hands of a de-
creas1ng minority Of the people. The
large cities and towns which have
sprung up since the great gold dis
coveries are populated by men who con-
tribute nearly all of the revenue of
the state, without having any voice in
! it's affairs.
Mr.. Chamberlain suggests many re-
forms in this respect. He advises the
granting of naturalization and the
right Of suffrage after five years resi-
dence, the removal Of the objec
tionable features Of the oath of allie
glance, and outlines plan which in
general contemplates the granting Of
local autonomy to that portion of the
Transvaal which is populated altogeth-
er by newcomers. For the further
consideration of this plan, he sug-
gests that President Kruger, of that
republic, should visit England and ad-
wise with the members Of her majestys
cabinet. If President Kruger is the as
tute gentleman that he has hith-
erto shown himself to be, he will
probably decline this invitation.
The proposition is as much an
! impertinence as would be a rec
ommendation from Mr.. Olney that the
I to prevent the restoration of separate
schools in the province Of Manitoba.
England has no voice. no control and
no possible right to interfere with the
government Of the Transvaal Real as
are the injustices suffered by the set.
tiers there it is not for Great Britain to
right them. The matter is wholly
within the competence of the Beers
whose acts, although entirely at va
rance with our ideas of justice and
liberty, yet rest upon unquestioned law
Mr.. Chamberlain does not refer to
the fact which. more than all else,
will disineline the Boer government to
listen to him. Why did this people adopt
. system of restrictive laws so adverse
| to immigration and to the extension
Of political power among the masses?
For no reason in the world except
that repeated experience in South AZ
rfca had shown them that no matter
where they settled, if they left equal
political rights open to immigrants
and if their territory became, at any
time in the future, a thing coveted
by Great Britain, their government
would be overthrown and annexation
to the British colony would follow.
This system which the Beers of the
Transvaal have made their own, re-
pugnant as it is to our idea of free
government, doubtless also to theirs,
was devised solely as a protection
against the rapacity Of Great Britain.
Let the suggestions which Mr.. Cham
berlain has offered be accepted by Pres
ident Kruger and his people, and in
five years time the independence of the
| TransvaaI would be thing of the past,
| and the country would become only