Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1897-03-04
IN THE TRANSAVAAL RE-
PUBLIC
Washington Post.

President Kruger, Of the Trans :
vaal republic, has made a mistake
that must be regretted by his mil
lions of admirers IN the United
States. In his brief and decisive
conflict with the Jameson raiders,
as we'll as in his subsequent treat
ment of some of their leaders who
fell into his hands, COON Paul.
not only triumphed over his
enemies, but won the admiration
of liberty-loving people all over
the world. A few weeks later he
won an easy and applauded vic
tory in a diplomatic tilt with Mr..
Chamberlain. Since that time he
has continually, until now, held
the undiminished respect of all
who admired his conduct in the
matter of the Jameson raid, His
tact in the management of his
claim, or demand, for damages
against the British government
has been a fine illustration of dip
lomatic sagacity,
But it is not easy for Ameri-
cans, with their characteristic re-
spect for their Constitution and
its Interpretation by the Su-
preme Court, to see anything
commendable in the reported con
duct of President Kruger toward
the highest judicial tribunal in his
dominions. The story, as re
lated. is that an American mining
engineer staked off a mining claim
and that, in so doing, he complied
in every particular with the law
of the Transvaal. The Volks-
Rad, or Congress, then proceeded
to enact a law treating the claim
as a nullity and providing for the
disposal of the property by a lot
terry. The owner of the claim APP
pealed to the courts, and the court
of last resort promptly decided
that the new law was unconstitu-
tional and, Of course, null and
void.
Right there the case should have
ended, for no civilized. govern
ment can, without r~esorting to
revolutionary measures, nullify
by legislation a decision of its
own highest court. 1t might be
permissible to reorganize the court
or to pass new laws affecting
claims, but such laws could not
be retroactive, and neither court
nor Volksraad can lawfully de-
or impair a vested right,
1t is perhaps not to be expect
ed that the head of the Beers
republic will uniformly adhere to
the constitution. We have a num-
Der of republics on this side of
the Atlantic whose Presidents
have repeatedly violated and
subverted the fundamental laws.
But the world had come to ex-
pect much of President Kruger,
and it is to be regretted that he
has failed in this instance to
meet the expectations raised by
his wise, patriotic, and prudent
course in the trying events Of
last year. But a single blunde1
does not involve a certainty, or
even a probability of total fall
ure. The T~ransvaal republic is
beset with many troubles from
the strangers within her gates,
and is menaced with serious dam
ger from her greedy and envious
1t is possible that cir-
.umstances not clearly unders
stood by the outsido world may
have seemed to President Kruger
TO demand a departure from reg
ular methods. He may justly be
oro-umod tn he the hest indUo
of the requirements of the pc
culiar situation. But his admir-
ers in this country will regret
that ne has seen fit to override
the constitution of the republic,
and they will hope for a better
explanation of the affair than has
yet come to hand.
The people of the United
States have no great amount of
sympathy to waste on such of
their countrymen as get into
trouble abroad by intentional VII
olation of the laws of a country
in which they are temporarily
soiourning. All they ask in such
cases is a fair trial and a just
verdict. But when an American
in a foreign land is stripped of
lawfully acquired prop
erty held by a titIe confirmed by
the highest court of that coun>.
the sympathies of his coua-
trymen are with him, and the in
terposition of his government is
-,nIxoju to he invoked in hiSi