Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-16
SOUTH AFRICAN TROU BLE
Situation Is More Serious Than
 Generally Supposed.
SOMETHING IN THE WIND
Preparations Have Been Made to Send an Army Corps of 0,000 Men to South
 Africa.

London, Feb 15.-dondon Cable Let ter.)-The Anglo-Boer troubles. arising from Dr. Jameson's raid into the Trans vaal, do not appear likely to be settled by mere exchange of diplomatic corre- spondence or visit of President Kruger to London. On the surface all appears to be clear sailing, but 1t can be stated with certainty that there is something in the wind of which the general public has as yet no knowledge. Pretoria advices on Thursday show that the Boer govern ment was incensed and with reason, be- cause of MT. Chamberlains dispatch to Sir Hercules Robinson, her majesty's high commissioner in South Africa, in which the secretary of state for the colonies set forth the alleged grievances Of the for eign residents of the Transvaal and sug- gested a scheme of reforms, which ln- cluded the granting of autonomy to the residents of the Rand. President Kruger thought that this. was an unwarranted interference with the internal affairs or the South African republic and he did not hesitate to plainly say so. on the face of things, it appeared that the mod eration of President Kruger toward pr. Jameson and his fellow filibusters and the ostenSible intention of the British government to protect the Boers Tn their rights would, after some diplomatic cor respondence, result in the restoration of the condition of affairs that prevailed before the raid.
 Beneath the surface, however, 1t ap- pears that the British government Is not acting entirely in good faith. The rep resentative of the United Press learns from an official source that the war of- flee, acting under orders from the gov ernment, has made every preparation to send an army corps of 10000 men to South Africa. Despite the silence Of lhe English papers and in face of possible dcnials the absolute accuracy of this statement cannot be relied upon. Plans were pre- pared between the war office and the ad- miralty with the result that an expedi- tion could be ready within three months to go to Natal. The details of the scheme are known only to the heads of the war office and the members of the inner cab inet, but the information received by the representative of the United Press points to large contingent being drawn from India, cavalry, artillery and infantry. in cluding Sikhs and other native troops.
 The promise of peaceful settlement of the Transvaal difficulty does not ap- pear to have sufficed to induce the Brit ish government to abandon it's project. Final orders for the dispatch of the troops have not yet been given, but if the present designs are carried out a full army corps will be in Natal some time in May. What real use is to be made of this force can only be surmised The con- servative organ, the Globe alone of all the newspapers seems to have received some hint of the governments inten- tions. It argues that soft words with the Boers is a sheer waste of time. England, 1t declares, will get what she wants only by display of force-nOt an actual col lision, but a demonstra tion. Therefore, the government must increase its forces f..s< AN II. Avta oc n convince the government at Pretoria that neither the Boers nor Germans will be longer allowed to prevent submission to England's just demands. The Globe does not attempt to estimate what force will be required to overawe the Boers. but says that the government has not enough troops in South Africa at present to do what at any moment 1t may be impera- lively necessary to do. The English, af- ter their thorough defeat at Majuba Hill fin 1881, had 10000 troops opposed to the Boers, who were not at all overaWed then If to the projected expedition there should be added the existing forces in South Africa there would be of all arms combined 25,OOO to 30000 men who could be used in a demonstration against the Transvaal. The republic might and prop- ably would find an ally in the Orange Free State. It would also receive assls.o ance from Dutch sympathiZers in Cape Colony, and would probably secure the active intervention of Europe. It would be a big job for England to make even a limited demonstration.
 Although the first lord of the treasury, MT. J. Arthur Balfour referred hopetui- ly in the house of ommons last night to President Kruger's coming to Engiano to discuss the question at issue, nobody within or without the official circle be- lieves that he is coming. On Thursday night Mir Chamberlain announced his readiness to abandon his proposal that home rule should be granted to the resi- dents of the Rand and to ask President Kruger to- suggest an alternative. The sturdy Boer president stated the alterna- tive explicitly in his last dispatch, in which he declared that the Transvaai ould allow of no interference in it's ein- ternal affairs.
 With this dispatch before him, Mr. Bal four affirmed the decision of the British Government to interfere somehow to se- cure the foreigners in the Transvaal equal rights with the Boers. The ques- ton now is. what move will this inter- ference take?
 The debate in the house of commons on the address in reply to the queens s speech will close on Thursday. Accord ing to the Pail Mall Gazette, the debate on Mir Atherly-Jones' Venezuela arbi- traitor amendment will elicit from the ministers a declaration that there Is a cordial entente with Washington regard ing the procedure to be followed In de- cidiug the claims of Great Britain.
 The Tablet says that Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore and Cardinal Vaughn of Westminster. London, have exchanged communications concurring in the opin- ion that international arbitration should he adopted. The paper adds that the world will welcome their common utter ances as marking the solidarity of feel