The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-01-29
Tho Demand of ultInnaers.

The recent news from the South Afri- can republic seems to show that the Ions debated and much ve&ed question of the rights of the ultlanders Is about to take an active shape, The fact that in the Transvaal more than two-thirds Of the total resident population are, whether through their own fault or through that of others, in the eye of the law aliens and without any effective | political rights has for some time made | lt obvious that sooner or later so strange an anomaly would be strongly challenged In the medlaeyal republics, and in Venice until her overthrow by Napoleon, a minority consisting of the descendants of the original inhabitants | no doubt governed a majority of sub- | sequent settlers, but such a state of | things is not consistent with modern | ideals Of government or With the demo- cratic spirit Hence, though there are | doubtless two sides to the question, 1t | IS not to be wondered at that the ma jority of the people of the South Afrl- | can epublic-Uitlanders or foreigners, they are termed and as they are in the eye of the law-should show signs of
 
 right to a reasonable share in the gov ernment of the country, or at any rate to the abolition of certain acts of mis- government and the institution of forms | of good government in which they stand in need. The Boers who now hold an | exclusive power in the Transvaal are a pastoral people and doubtless possessed of many virtues; but they maintain a state and an ideal of civilization con- siderably below that of England two hundred years ago. The Uitlanders, on the other hand, have the wants and habits of modern men in their most aggressive and feverish form. They be- long to the type of humanity which is | to be found in the cities of western America, type which is, perhaps, over anxious for the immediate introduction of steam tramcars, electric lights, rail- ways and hotels. Naturally enough, | these two ideals for the organization of civil society. the ultra conservative and the ultra-progresslve, cannot easily ex- | ist side by side, and one need not won der if that of the majority clamors for supremacy in spite of all questions of abstract and legal right.
 l
 lem of the Uitlanders acute at the pres ent moment is the formulating and promulgation of series of definite con- stitutional proposals by a. body calling itself the Transvaal National Uniont- an association of Uitlanders formed for mutual help and protection, and for the furtherance of the demand that the Uit- flanders shall be admitted to a share in the government What the National l Union asks for are an equitable fran- chise and fair representation, the equal ity of the Dutch and English languages, responsible ministers, the removal of religious disabilities, the establishment of independent courts and an efficient civil service, liberal education and free trade in African products The mani festo which contains these items was drawn up in view of meeting of the union, which was to have been held at Johannesburg on Friday, but which has now been postponed until January 6, and In this way it may be hoped that a l full and free discussion of the whole subject will have been secured. At first sight it may appear to English readers as if the wholea,of these demands were so reasonable that they ought necessar- ily to be granted by the Boers and
 without diminution. A little reflection, however, will show that, though they may not have so strong a case as that of the Uitlanders, the Boers have a case, and that as usual there is some l thing to be said on the other side. Let us take first the demand for admission to the franchise. It may not unreason- ably be argued by the Boers that men who come into "a country like the Trans vaal have no right to share in its gov ernment unless they have first become it's naturalized subjects. Unless they | will do this, and, as it were, give hos tages to the state, how can they be
 trusted to rule 1t? A country's dearest interests cannot be handed over to men
 who are here to-day and gone to-mor- row. How, in other words, can men be permitted to make laws which they
 will very likely never be called upon tc obey, owing to a change of residence? These visitors for a couple of years might light heartedly vote away the
 the very birthright of the real citizens. Such is the Boer case against yield ing the vote, and it cannot be denied | that there is something in it. The Uit-
 flanders may, however. contend in reply that the terms of naturalization en.
 forced by the Boers are much too high and that they have no right to make it more difficult to obtain their citizen