New-York tribune., 1896-05-03
"OOM PAUL" DIPLOMAT.
ENGLAND ADMITS THE TRIUMPH OF THB
Willy BOER.

RHoDEs's REMARKABLE LACK OF cAU-
rrON-wn.L THE CHARTERED COM
PANY LOSE ITS CHARTERr-THE
SHAFTS DEATH AND THE Sue
cEssIoN-THE ROYAL AcAD-
ENVY EXHIBITION
[BY CABLE rRIBUNE.1
London May 2.-The willy Boer, with all the
trumps in his own hand, has read the backs Of
the marked cards which his feeble and bewil-
dered opponents were holding without knowing
how to play them With diversion like this to
while away the leisure Of his old age II Is not
strange that ne has resisted the temptation Of
foreign travel and remained at home. Few pub
lie men ever had greater personal triumph
than President KRUGER. who with his untutored
Arcadan simplicity. has been more than
match for Cecil Rhodes. the most ambitious OF
Imperial statesmen. and for Mr.. Chamberlain.
the embodiment Of English commonsense.
When he sent a defiant dispatch early last
January, asserting that the invasion Of the
Transvaal the plot Of group OF fnanciers.
and that he had documentary evidence to prove
it, his message was not taken seriously In Eng.
land. The charge was considered we'll founded.
but nobody believed that he had evidence in
eliminating Rhodes. He has produced his
proof. and it is unanswerable.
No sharper transition OF public opinion was
ever witnessed in England than that which has
taken place this week. At first there was hor-
ror over the death sentences. and cynical COM
tempt for the antiquated barbarity Of the Dutch
law which could not be enforced, or, II 1t
could, would lead to war between England and
the Transvaa. President KRUGER, who had
spared Jameson and the raiders, again inter-
tho mill ION hires Of
hannesburg. Then came the cipher dispatches.
the documentary proof to which he referred
four months ago, and there immediate
revulsion of feeling.
Doubt as to the meaning Of those dispatches
there could be none. The invasion OF the
Transvaal was a discreditable and sordid plot
Of Rand capitalists. with the former Premier OK
the Cape Colony behind them. and egging them
on with the African directors Of the Chartered
Company conspring with them, and with Jane
son, an idealist and a unique figure. because
he was poor and not mercenary, as their pr1n-
cipa puppet The insincerity of the political
reformers at Johannesburg was at once un-
masked: the specious plea Of knight-erranty
in behalf Of imperilled and helpless women ana
children was discarded as an idle tale. 1t was
simply a fnanciers raid. reckless in conception
and feeble in execution: dishonorable to the
and disastrous in consequences to two Jealous
races whose fortunes are bound together in
South Africa.
Probably the two happest men in Europe are
the German Emperor and Mr. Labouchere. Tho
Emperor has his revenge for the outburst OF re-
sentful British Jingoism which followed his dis
patch to Kruger: Mr. Labouchere who hates
Rhodes almost as much as he does LORD Rose
berry now has the satisfaction of knowing that
the mass of his countrymen agree with him. and
that the cipher dispatches have justified his
vigorous invective. The prevailing tone Of Eng
lish opinion is that sympathy with the Johannes
burg Reformers has been misplaced. since their
motives were sordd and their incapacity as
revolutionists glaring. Cipher dispatches with
Stock Exchange jargon and catchwords like
heroes" expose them to ridicule. Moreover, the
English practical instinct is offended by the facil-
ity with which they ncrminated themselves and
left the Beers in possession Of evidence. Cecil
Rhodes was considered too adrot statesman to
have the proofs of his completely with conspra-
cy lying around loose. but he has convicted him.
SELF ruined his reputation a practical poll
tican and even dlscredited his own emphatic de-
mails of responsibility for Jameson's raid
The fact that the key to the cipher and the text
OF many dispatches were found on the battlefield
with Jameson's baggage also tends to stamp
have been locked up at Pitsani. Probably both
Rhodes and Jameson were aware before they
left Africa that the cipher dispatches had been
captured. Rhodes when he in England for
a living visit TO the Colonial Office was reported
to have made this singular reply 10 a question
from distinguished military officer a. TO Jane
sons probable course in answering the charges
in court: He is likely to plead guilty That
seemed incredible when the story was first told.
but Jamesons millionaire friends in Johannes
burg have already taken that course.
The situation in South Africa is confusion
worse COMPOUNDED. The news from Buluwayo Is
reassuring the natives having been repulsed;
but they will have to be followed to their fast
nesses when the garrsons are relieved. The
Chartered Company is hooelessly discredited by
the disclosures /, is difficult to perceive how its
charter can be allowed to remain. but II Is
great corporation whose shares held all
over Europe, and II will not be easy to wind up
its business nor will it be practicable TO prevent
an exhaustive investigation by Parliamentary
committee. President KRUGER, by playing one
trump card after another has won all points Of
the game.
Now that the fnanciers owe their lives 10 him
and the political agitation has been discredited
as a capitalists intrigue. 1t will not be easy for
Mr. Chamberlain to obtain the concession OF civil
rights for the people or the Rand. England VIII
have to content itself with waiting policy.
The Hotspur capitalists have been in too much
of hurry but they are not without power. All
the industries Of the Rand are now paralyzed.
and the great source Of revenue to the Boer
Government is impaired in value The Beers are
thrifty as we'll patriotic. The prosperity OF
the Rand enriches them. and they have SUBJ
stantial reasons for desiring a settlement OF the
questions at issue with the Colonial Office.
The Moderate Ministry formed in France under
NJ Meline has met the first attack Of the Radi-
Gals in good form and obtained a months grace