Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-19
'1HE TRANSyAAL REPUBLIC
One of the Youngest at Present I8
 e9h in Existence.
IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1854
Admired and Upheld by the Grand Old Man.
 Aviation of Hunters s-Are Dead Shots '' and. Opposed to All Civilization.

|
 present occupies the attention and has
 the sympathy of the American nation in
 it's efforts to repel British aggression, is
 one of the youngest'in existence. Indeed,
 it can hardly be said to have entirely | achieved it's independence even yet being | still in some slight degree subject to the
 domination of the British crown. Those, | on the other hand, who have invaded the l Transvaal and paid with their lives or
 their liberty the penalty of their filibus-
 tering enterprises are not, strictly speak
 ing, British soldiers but armed bands
 in the employ of the British South Africa | company. trading association some thing like what the famous East India | company was in the early days before it's
 increasing political importance com | peed the British government to take
 partial control of its management, which
 finally terminated Tn its complete-extinc- | tion.
 The Transvaal republic had it's begin | ming in 1840. At that time large num- | Der of the settlers of what is now Cape l Colony, being Dutch in origin and lan-
 guage, and Calvinists in religion, felt
 themselves i'll at ease under the British
 rule, which had then obtained in their | home for more than thirty years. The
 consequence of this discontent was what
 is spoken of today in Cape history as | "the Trekking of the Boers"-the mal- | | remoter parts, where they would have
 only the Kaffirs and the wild beasts to | dispute their possession. Some went east
 and formed what are now the Brtlsh
 colonies of Natal and Griqua Lana, put | this migration had begun years before. | It was only in the year 1S4O that the | "treks led far to the north of the Dra-
 kenberg (Snake mountain) range, across | the territory now belonging to the Or- | ange River Free State, to the country | @l rix NY QlVen Tits name to the Transvaal republic as F the Alps In the days of Caesar divided IGaul into Transalpine and Clsalpine. Those who seeded in this way were not -fby any means majority or the Datcn -uttupants; they were almost all Of one Brlass moreover, that of the husband-- linen, as the name Boer indicates TO tnis 'Eday Cape Colony is full of British sub Il -jects, with Hollandish names who regard i| themselves as hardly less foreign to the ifiBoers than the newest arrivals from Lon Tdoh The British agent at the. Transvaal | lpapital bears an 'unmistakably Dutch
 name with an English title. Throughout Ethe length and breadth of Cape Colony lthe language of Holland mas set les | stamp upoh the land itself in such local lyterms as ''kloof" Tavine). "velet' topen I country), "berg" (mountan), "fontein l,(spring), and the common patois spoken E hyI the children of the most recent Brit
 jgh settlers bristles with Dutch words.
  I wnisperedGf mineral wealth, in. those re-
 gions,a Great Britain recognized the
 Transvaal as. an independent state. It
 was then a purely agricultural and pas
 toral country the Boer settlers leading
 primitive lives, and from all accounts
 caring little or nothing for the modern
 developments. of the industrial arts. La
 bor was cheap, Kaffirs being plentiful
 and not too difficult for stern masters
 to manage In many parts. of the coun-,
 try. game was still. plentiful enough to
 furnish a considerable part or the Boer s
 food supply. but ammunition was so
 scarce that, according to'the traditions or
 those who know the Beers, the Boer boy who came back from the hunt with his
 allowance of three charges exhausted
 and not a deer or antelope over his
 horses crupper, was sure or sound dose
 of cowhide before going to bed. rms | diseipline generally begun at the age of
 12 or thereabouts, and continued until it's | subject reached mans estate. produced | A nation of such marksmen as turned tho l assault of Englands best infantry at EAmajuba.
 The new white free state north of the
 Transvaal acted for some time as
 provocation of trouble with the Kahirs. | But 1t is not necessary to accept these | aggressions as the true origin of the con- | troversy between the Boers and their | British neighbors. It waS however, os- | tensiby for the better adjustment of l difficulties with the Kaffir tribes that in | 1X77. Great Sf1taln dnne&ed tHs lidHfo- | vaal The annexation was a peaceful l one, the Roers accepting British rule, to | all appearances, with perfect good will l In less than three years the trouble began between the recent English-speaking set | tiers and the Dutch Boers, and that cul- | minated in declaration of hostilities on | December 16 1S80 The result of the war | was a slaughter of British troops, both | colonial and imperial The British off, eers found out that at any range under l AaA ,arIp fhair ylnan I the farmer hunters, and before the war | was over Tommy Atkins learned that his l only chance of getting within bayonet distance of this foe was to take cover | and draw his fire by hoisting a helmet | on the point of 8 bayonet, when it was almost certain that at least one bullet would perforate the helmet and It's own | er could make a dash before the Boers | reloaded After the crushing defeat of 1 Amajuba, MT. Gladstone braving the in- | dignation of those who had no idea of | putting down the cards in the middle of | a losing game. surrendered to the Boers | all that they asked. only reserving what was called ''suzerainty,' or sort of
 paramount dominion, over Transvaa1, af- bfaf1s British "resident' was estab-
 lished at Pretoria, but Paul Kruger, the b&ame who Is now at the head of his peo- ld,le was already their only ruler In all Pbtt name. Tn 1884. the resident. at Pre- L1tffa gave place to an agent, and the tllooJIfy relic of British rule was the British E918tm to control the foreign relations Of Eihe republic. saving and excepting it's | relations with the neighboring and kin tlired Orange River Free State.
 fhi But meanwhile a, change had come over the affairs of all. South Africa in the fsppsning of the famous Kimberley dia- Eirnsfnd fields. The first discovery of a bguHgh diamond, imbedded. as the tradi- f9ti6n has 1t, in the roots of a tree had rppsned the way for. South African trou- f'bles some fourteen years before Ana l,3uLa The Kimberley mines, situated in bWest Griqua Land. just outside the east l ern frontier of the Orange River Free State drew swarms of adventurers and made colossal fortunes within a. few
 years Among the adyenturers was Cecil
 Rhodes, and his fortune was one of the l largest. His name figures today with the title "premier' in the list of officials of
 the colonial government of Cape Colony,
 but while the others have salaries vary Ing from $250O to ;$40.900.s his salary is
 stated as "nil.p Max O'reH has pub | l,f. ohr vi f8xxrr fnf