The record-union., 1896-01-11
SOUTH AFRICAN SITUATION.
Dr.. jameson Has Not Been Released,
as Was Reported.
Before Doing So the Beers Will Demand
Important Conditions.

1t Is Believed That England Cannot
Afford to Grant These Conditions,
And That She VIII Have to Stand
by Her Colors, Even to the Ex-
tremity of Clash of Arms With
the Germans-She is Making Every
Possible Preparation for Hostilfties.
LONDON, Jan. 10.-The features to-
day of the troubles growing out of DR..
Jameson's raid into the Transvaal are
the practical refusal of the Uitlanders
to surrender their arms, and the arrest
at johannesburg of number of mem
bers of the National Reform Commit
tee on a charge of high treason.
Among the prisoners are several of
the leading residents of johannesburg,
including Colonel Rhodes, brother of
Cecil Rhodes, ex-Prime Minister of
Cape Colony, who is said to be i'll at
Cape Town. 1t is believed here that
Cecil Rhodes will bring all his influence,
which is very powerful to bear to Sc
is no single man who has done so much
to develop South Africa as Mr.. Rhodes,
and though in carrying out his plans
he has made many enemies, it can
truthfully be said that he is the most
powerful man in that part of the world
to-day. Behind him is a large major
ity of Africanders, and though he may
have nominally retired from politics,
final settlement of the Transvaal ques-
ton, he will have to be taken into
consideration.
At present nothing is heard of his
plans. even if has formulated any, but
those who know the man and the power
he wields will not believe that the
present trouble will cause him to di-
verge from the ambitious path he has
for years been hewing for himself. He
may be for the moment compelled to
abide the issue of the present troubles,
but that he will later again take hand
in shaping the destinies of South Africa
there can scarcely be a doubt. He has
always been a man of action not words,
and his future policy will, once decided
on, probably not be known until it is
put into effect.
tsonal Reform Committee does not
cause any great anxiety regarding their
fate as it is generally believed that in
no event viii any severe punishment
be inflicted upon them.
The report that DR.. Jameson had been
released turns out to have been pre-
mature President Kreuger. in reply
to the message from Queen Victoria,
he int dc N fIIr q
and the other English prisoners who
took part in the raid over to the Brit
ish Government for punishment, but
a dispatch from Johannesburg states
the surrender of the prisoners will be
made conditional on the abrogation of
the Anglo -Boer convention of 1884,
which gave Great Britain suzerainty
over the Transvaal
If such a condition as this is imposed
by the Beers, it is cutie certain that
Great Britain will never agree to it.
The Government is determined to up
hold the convention in all its terms, and
although the Transvaal Government
may urge that Dr. Jameson's raid made
the convention null and void, it is pretty
safe to say that Great Britain will never
accept this view of the matter unless
To abrogate the convention now
would be to acknowledge that the re-
ported attitude of Emperor William
anent the Transvaal is correct, and the
temper of the English people to-day is
not such as to allow the Government to
concede this, even were it disposed to do
so. AS a matter of fact the Govern
ment will not make the slightest con-
hut &c 1-cd or,
preparing, to maintain what it believes
are its rights by force of arms if neces-
sary.
Never before has the isolation Of
Great Britain been so completely
driven home in the minds of the British
people Hitherto they have been ac-
customed to believe that should Eng
land become embroiled in a war with a
foreign Power she would find sympa-
thy. if not actual aid from some of the
European nations. Now it is known
that in all Europe she has not a friend.
and many believe her enemies are only
awaiting an opportunity to attack her
and deprive her of some Of her vast pos
sessions.
A dispatch from Berlin to-day, if it is
true. shows that there is some sort of
understanding between the Powers as
to the action to be taken by them rela-
tive to England. This dispatch states
that unless Great Britain accedes to the
demands of the Transvaal which in
clndes the abrogation of the treaty Of
1884 Germany will urge President
Kreuger TO appeal to the European
Powers to support him in his demands
This. if it means anything, means that
Germany is in a position to know the
Powers would support the TransVaal,
and the only way in which such sup
port could be given-unless England re-
ceded from her position-would be to de-
clare war upon Great Britain. That
this viii be done, few persons believe.
The situation is a complicated one,
and the more it is studied the wider the
vista of its possibilities becomes But
with the hands Of all the Powers
against her, Great Britain is waiting
to see from what direction the first
blow viii be delivered. Should an at
tack be made upon her, she will be
found not unprepared. In every direc-
ton measures are being taken to ward
off possible dangers. and the nation IS
rapidly putting itself in a position
where. if events warrant such a course.
it will itself be able to deal the first
blow.
The greatest activity is being dis
plaed at the. dockyards, where the tor
pedo- boat destroyers which are to be
attached to the channel fleet and flying
SQUADRON are being prepared to go into
commission. It is believed orders have