The argus. (Holbrook, Ariz.) 1895-1900, 1896-02-20
Cleveland's Sham Americanism

We have been hearing a good deal
lately about the "stalwart American
ism" of the present Democratic ad-
ministration. We are continually
called upon to admire the patriotic
attitude" of President Cleveland and
Secretary Olney. Let us examine
this patriotic attitude" Let us look
into this "sfalwart Americanism."
In the Transvaal Republic, in
South Africa, a number of Americans
have been arrested for an alleged
plot against the Boer government.
They are threatened with fines, con-
fiscation of property, and possibly
long imprisonment. Some have been
released on bail; others are still in
Jail. Nothing has yet been proved
against any of these men; if they
were plotting, their plots were futile.
They committed no acts of violence
against the Boer government. No
shots were fred in Johannesburg.
Yet some Of them are in solitary con-
finement, others under heavy bail
bonds, many threatened with loss of
property and long imprisonment, and
all to be tried before q Boer court,
with whose language, laws, and
usages they are utterly unfamiliar.
In the Transvaal Republic, in
South Africa, some eight hundred
Englishmen, with arms in their
hands, invaded peaceful people.
With magazine rifles and machine
guns, they fred upon the Beers.
They killed some of them, and woun-
ded others. These Englishmen were
overpowered and arrested. But on
the demand of the English govern
ment they were at once paroled,
marched to the frontier, and there
turned over to the English authori-
ties. DR.. Jameson and his officers
are now upon the sea-they sailed on
the twentieth of January for Eng
land, where he and his men are to be
tried before the English courts and
by the English laws. 1t is already
common talk, according to our Lon
don correspondent, that the trial will
be farce.
Now what have those two "stalwart
Americans" President Cleveland and
Secretary Olney, done at this juno
turei Have they demanded, as Eng
land did, that the American citizens
now in Jail at johannesburg be turn
ed over to the United States for triali
No-all that has been done is for
secretary Olney plaintively to 're-
quest Great Britain to protect Amer
lean interests in the Transvaal."
Since then President Cleveland and
Secretary Olney have done nothing
in the matter at all.
Now we would like to ask Mr..
Cleveland and his man Olney if the
life and property of an American are
not as sacred as those of an English
mani Waving all question of what
the Americans may have done, the
fact remains that Jameson and his
English followers did much more.
Yet they have been turned over to
the English authorities. Why have
not the Americans been turned over
to our Consular agent, to be tried by
the courts of their own country7
Why should England be favored in
this matteri Is an Englishman bet
ter than an American in the eyes of
President Cleveland and his man Oh
neyi If they do not think so, why
have they not demanded what the
government did-the custo-
dy of its imprisoned subjects7
We think that President Cleveland
and his man Olney are too busy with
their sheet-iron thunder threats of
war and manufacturing presidential
booms out of the griefs of greaser re-
publics to pay any attention to
restrained Of their liberty
in foreign lands. If Salisbury and
succeeded in getting |
Jameson and his companions out of
the Boer grasp and under English |
law, why did not Cleveland and Oh
ney succeed in obtaining as much for
the restrained Americans? But they |