New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-05-11
THE RAND CIPHERS.
.srrR PLAYER IN PRETORIA WITH A
COMBINATION OF BAFFLED MILL
1oNAIRES AGAINST HIM.

1--we. comedy or SPECTATORS puriesque' A"0
p..r,.n sentences passed upon the REFORM
s.rs ~ Johannesburg were received in Eng
s nth apathy and cynicism, because II was
' that an aEtiquated code or brutal
a'..- p ,,nan law could not be enforced Under
s,otutss high treason might be punished only
-, death: but even the imperturcable' nom
We ~..ss,ve vlctors of Majuba Hill and LANG s
~, ,ore under the restraint Of nineteenth CEN
~" w.. oon,mon-sense. 1t was simply an insolent
w. hv which President Krtger would be en-
-, N nose once more as the magnanimous
,,s,ciful friend and ally Of England. His In
lion +, reprieve the death sentences was an
.,csd without delay. although the limitations
:. mercy were left undetermined. Then the
" .. Gas revealed from the bottom OF Dr. Jane
..,.s sadde-bags. The consprators or JONAH
S.snurs Pitsani and Cape Town were convicted
., their own cipher dispatches In Stock Ex-
,.rge iargon Everybody had been found out
IA uas at the mercy of the astute Beer Presl-
s'u The hurnor of the situation has excited
s.arr,rent even among serious Englishmen al
inch the laugh is entirely on the side Of the
willy Boer.
When the leaders OF the Reform movement
.,,.aed guilty and threw themselves upon the
p" '., ~ the Court. it seemed natural to assume
~.,, counsel and the officials at Pretoria or else
,,,t there was discriminating evidence against
c.,u Rhodes and the Chartered Company which
s.a n be suppressed at all hazards. Now that
~. astonishing budget of cipher dispatches has
A.an disclosed it is perceived that there was no
as,.nce and that 1t was beyond the power OF
,he,r counsel to prevent the exposure with the
",Ss., tsy picked up at Doom Kop, the con-
;potv NO III la
~. .s,s ~ without plea of guilty. Exposure was
,.seryed for the Opportune moment when the
r.rsraaI was charged with brutality and bar
Marty in sentencing political agitators to death
r,aer antouated laws. From beginning to end
PRESIDENT Krlger has held the destinies OF all
tbe oonspirators in the hollow of his hand. He
has handed over DR.. Jameson and the fourteen
osscers 70 the British Crown instead of shooting
them outright; he has committed the sentences
a, the johannesburg leaders and he has re-
yealed the once powerful Premier OF cape Col
o,v 90 conspirator against the sanctty Of
British treaty law
Ear,v An January President Kriiger sent out a
defiant message % the Colonial Office that the
Mot against the Transvaal was incited and or
eanized by a group Of financiers, and that he
was fully prepared to prove 1t by documentary
evidence He has been as good as his word. he
has produced indubitable evidence that jane
sons expedition was prearranged with the
knowledge Of Cecil Rhodes and the directors OF
the Chartered Company in South Africa. Preel-
dent KRUGER In Pretoria and Mr.. Labouchere IN
London told the truth about the matter. Inc IN
sincerity OF the political reformers OF JONAH
rssburg Is now unmasked. Nobody now believes
the precious tale of knight -errantry In behalf or
,r,perilled women and children. The Chartered
con,pany had failed to find the working OF reefs
n Newfoundland profitable. and 1t had met with
Wiling but disappointment in Matabeleland
Yu managing director in South Africa cast
urtous eyes upon the rich gold helds'o1 the
lanevaal The financiers associated WITH MN
hstiga.ed revolution in johannesburg WIN
his knowledge and approval. For month as
patches In cipher were passing between JONAH
,esburg. Pitsani and Cape Town. 1t was imam
ciers' revolution under the guise Of political re-
form. That is a comprehensive summary OF the
cipher revelations.
RHODES'S RESPONSIBILITY.
Now that the secret is out everybody is say
ing that 1t has never been secret. While no.
bodv sunnoeed that Cecil Rhodes would be
ruiltv Of the folly Of leaving discriminating evil
sidered credible that so important a step as the
Invasion of the Transvaal would be undertaken
without his knowledge and approval. jameson
was his intimate personal friend. who had been
associated with him in the development Of his
South African policy. The men In Johannes
burg who summoned Jameson by letter were Mr..
Rhodes's fellow financiers and associates. MT.
Rhodes was not the dictator Of South Africa.
ding
irrational to suppose that his trusted lieuten-
ants and fellow millonares would assume the
grave responsibility of invading the Transvaal
without consulting him and enlisting his cordlai
cooperation. The inherent probabilities Of the
case pointed unerringly to his connection with
the conspiracy. notwithstanding his qualified de-
malls and Mr.. Chamberlain's expression OF con-
fdence that he told the truth. Every well-in-
formed man has believed in his heart that MI.
Rhodes was behind the Jameson raid. Now
that the cipher dispatches disclose the truth'
there is no feeling Of establishment among re-
Aecting men. They were fully prepared Tor the
revelation but did not expect that documentary
evidence discriminating him would be produceu'
or that Jameson would ride across country with
copies Of cipher dispatches in his possession. or
with the key with which they might be read in
""S sduuie-Ddp5.
\. But It Is never well for anybody to be found
Out There are public men in England whose
private immortality is notorious. but II does not
exclude them from drawing-rooms and the coun-
Gil chamber Let there be public trial involv-
ing exposure and scandal and there will be a
social quarantine against them. The immortality
'nat Is suspected but not proved, is considered
ihnocuous. Perhaps 1t ought not to be so. but
is So In like manner Cecil Rhodes, 80 long
as MS completely with the jameson raid was In
ierred, but not established by unanswerable
prooi' was one Of the leaders Of Greater Eng
iand' who had rendered splendid service to the
empire. That was before he was found out.
, admirers. defenders and euog;sts will not be so
numerous hereafter. The prestige Of a great
name has gone and will never be restored. He
VIII be known as the real head Of miscaculat-
"a and mismanaged financiers rebellion fraught