The record-union., 1896-02-03
ATTEMPT 10 STEAL THE TRANS
VAAL.

The remarkable letter Of John Hays
Hammond, sent to Senator Jones, but
claimed by a sensational paper to have
been sent to it exclusively, and which
turns out to have been furnished. new
ertheless, to all the press and news
associations. is significant document.
It is not an appeal for mercy and
the interposition of friends in his be-
half, but an insolent demand. 1t reads,
indeed, as if it emanated from a dicta-
tor who had but to instruct his subjects
what to do and to expect immediate
compliance. The Record Union" has
from the outset distrusted the appeals
of the Americans in the Transvaal who
have been mixed up in the revolutionary
troubles there because they had no bus
mess to be involved, and because il in
volved they are subject to the law Of the
place and are not much entitled to SYM
pathy.
We have shown that these men, along
with larger number of Englishmen
and others, have demanded an unrea-
sonabIe thing Of the Beers, namely,
that without assuming the obligations
of citizenship, and while retaining their
allegiance to the stars and stripes or the
union jack, or some somber colored
ensign, they demanded the right to vote
in the South African republic, to have
special representation in legislation,
and to share in the public offices.
Let any fair-minded man read the
Hammond letter and discover in it if he
can any other than a dictatorial spirit,
a demand and expectancy that England
and the United States will stand behind
the revolutionary schemes of the car
pet-baggers, simply because these aliens
choose to meddle with the affairs Of d
country where they are unwelcome.
The simple fact that Hammond and
his colleagues have been fomenting a
revolution in the TransvaaIin the inter-
est of gold-crushing and English capi-'
tai, is every moment becoming more and
more distinctly evident These men were
willing to revolutionize the Government
and still are willing to do so, simply be-
cause they discovered gold in the land.
Now, If there had been no gold fields
found in the Transvaal, and the coun-
try had been too poor to support besides
the Beers even jack-rabbit, we would
never have heard of John Hays Ham
mond and his fellow-conspiring aliens
being in that quarter of the globe. Their
interest in civilization would never have
developed. and they would never have
hesn posing as sreat-minded champions
of liberty.
But England wants to steal the home |
ef the Beers simply because it is worth |
stealing. She never grabs that which |
Is not worth taking. The parable of the
hot stove would not apply to her. She
would take that without gloves if only |
sts hre-box were filed with gold |
though IL glowed with a white heat |
England wants to grab the land of the
TEansvaal because It is rich in gold and |
gems, and John Hays Hammond clearly |
wants to be accessory to the act
We repeat that whoever reads that |
remarkable Hammond letter must ar
rive at the conclusion that Hammond |
has practically confessed completely in |
the Jameson grab raid. 1t will be no
tioed that Hammond has not a word to |
say in condemnation of Jameson's |
thieving expedition; he merely refers to |
it as an event. If he and his fellow
conspirators are the law-abiding men |
they claim to be-, they would express
some sense OF feeling over the assault |
upon peaceful people in their own
homes by g flibustering fellow engaged |
in land piracy. Yet the letter is sig
nificantly silent concerning Jameson,
though evidently it was prepared with
great care and industriously put into
the hands Of the news agencies to infu-
ence the public mind in America.
The long and the short Of it is this, |
that Jameson, Hammond & Co, the
company being English greed. have
been conspirators IN an attempt to
overthrow a Government which the in
dividual members Of the concern were
in decency bound to respect, while the
national end of the conspiracy was by
treaty and every obligation resting
upon national honor bound to protect
and upheld it.