The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-01-10
The South African Trouble.


70 party numbering some 700, under tn
le lead of DIR. Jameson, was met by a
a army of 2i00 Beers, and after Il los
of 2i0 the rest including Jameson hir
self were captured The rising il
:, Johannesburg which was expected t
>. aid the invaders did not occur. Wha
. will be done with Jameson and tn
survivors remains to be seen. Th
British government which "disavows
It responsibility for the invasion ant
. which made a great show of "orders'
l.. forbidding it when ii had got started
and was out of reach after three
0 months of preparation, now appeals
= to tho Boer government to be merci'
! full, accompanying the appeal with the
, forwarding of troops and war ships.
President Kruger replies that 1.-The
freebooters have been well treated by
our burgers though we have more
than once been compelled to take up
arms in defence of our dearly bought
independence apd he says that in
etead of being summary shot as at
first reported, their cases will undergo
the regular course under the laws of
the land. Kruger charges that the in
vasion was melted and countenanced
by Cecil Rhodes, the premier of the
British South African colony, and the
f., |, IA
The defeat of the plans of the fill
bustcrers is due to tho remarkable
sagacity of the Boer, president, Paul
Kruger. who is one of the interesting
men of the age. He had volcanic
situation to deal with because of tho
intense dissatisfaction among the
people of Johannesburg, a city of 60, 600
people that has grown up within the
last five years since the rich gold dis
coveries, containing the usual proper
ton of lawless and desperate men
among miners, and all, under the strict
naturalization laws of the republic,
subject to the political rule of about
300 Beers, who alone have a right to
vote. though the aliens arc all taxed
and subject to military duty. Kruger
knew that the conspiracy had long
been forming for revolt, for which
the appearance of Jameson and the
filibustcrers should be the signal. So
as he secretly made his military dis
positions to meet Jameson, he quietly |
arranged with some of the leaders of
the disaffected element, or ''outand
crs'' as they are called, TO prefer a
request for the reforms which they
wanted, including the removal of the
tariff on food stuffs, granting equal
subsidies to all schools, no matter
what language was taught, and cx-
tending the franchise to foreign resi-
dents. These demands were submitted
to President Kruger on Monday. He
promised to support every one of them
if the petitioners would defend law
md order in Johannesburg. TheL he
seized the telegraph Office and prevent
I'd the news of his concession or any
,ther information from going out. The l
esult was that the plans of the "out- |
anders'w were completely paralyzed, and I
hey have since surrendered absolutely q
There was no chance for concert Of S
ction, and the filibustcrcrs marched ii
o certain destruction. Z
Whether Britain was officially" D
implicated in the filibustering plot g
r not, there is of course no doubt -
the Jameson expedition had sue y
eeded, and Johannesburg been cap L
lred, the result would have been ulti- u
rate annexation by England and very p
ossibly the entire wiping out of the 'e
outh African republic. 1t is the II
,cond time that the English have -
cen defeated by these sturdy descend ~
ats of the Dutch and Huguenots. The 1t
rst was in the war of 1881 culminat. u
lg in the complete rout of the flower ~
the British army at Majuba hill ol
I'd compelling the treaty by which WI
ngland recognized the independence Nc
the Transvaval which she had pro- VI
ssed 10 "annex' in 1877, though the "n
eaty admitted Il sort of English w
,rotao+ora+o., o,os ~ o,,..,. sill
prevent its seizure by any other VI
Iropean power. The Transvaval, as az
is geographically known. or the South az
'rican Republic, to give it its polit- y,
Il name, is located in the interior OF od
Q southern fart of Africa. The az
ginal Dutch settlers came from the on
and of Java in 1852, locating at
st at the southern extremity of the p'
1tinent, and holding the control of VII
pc Colony for several years; but be- iio'
: steadily pushed back by English oo'
sressiona they organized the Orange res
ee state. which is now in full and wa
possession of the English, 81"
til finally in 1886 tho Beers the .'i
to,, r.n,o Co.. foor, I'D no. soora, Loi
ndred miles into the interior where 10
y have thus far successfully deepned w.
il independence. They are natu- We.
:, .hr;f.,. u;,l,,.,,,, ,o tin
would probably be much better ~ ~
sfied as well as far better off if no "">
/ had ever been discovered in the
ion tnov now inbab;t They are the
representatives in Africa of the thei
lciplc of self government, and Inc
ugh narrow and exclusive in some dow
bo features Of tbo;r svs,on, .bo lutte