The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-12
fHE sUN. SUNDAY, DECEMBER IL, 1917

H HE" ." w. T.HI L.L.H
has been subsequently hintsd that they meant
to carry Pretoria BY a COUP dc main, capturing
the President, and. forthwith, before the Boer
militia could assemble, TO issue a call for a gen.
ernl popular vote or plebiscite of all the inhab-
itants, Beers and Uitlunders. which should
determine the future form Of government.
Others have thought that the Reform lead
crs would not have taken tho offensive,
but would have intronchcd themselves in
johannesburg. and have held out there. APP
pealing meanwhile to the High Commissioner, as
the representative of the paramount power, to
come up, interpose his mediation and arrange
for a peaceable taking of q general popular vote.
To do this 1t might not have been necessary to
defend the town for moro than n week or ten
DAYS, before which time the sympathy which
was expected from the rest OF South Africa
would have made itself felt. There was, more
over, In the background the British South AT.
RIGA Company police force at Pitsani, which was
pledged to come. IL summoned.
As n matter Of fact, tho question OF strength
wns mover tested. Toward tho end Of December,
1895. the agitation became moro active. but the
meeting with which the rising was to have
opened was postponed from tho last week of the
month to the 9th of January. 1895. Before the
appointed day, and before the Heformers had
settled the question of the flag which they
should use ana were ready to act, the police Of
the British South Africa Company started for
johannesburg. Their sudden entrance into tho
Transvaal, taking the Reform leaders by sur.
prise and finding them unprepared, forced
the movement to go Off at half.cock, and
gavo to 1t an aspect quite different from
that which it had hitherto borne. The in
vasion reused oil the Beers. of whatever party.
to defend their country, and drew from tho
High Commissioner an emphatic disclaimer and
| onrlot,pa Ia, 81 Tho a~ynJtttNn xyhtrh thn hpp,n
Government repeated. The movement ended
more quickly than it had begun, as soon as the
surrender of the Company's police force had
become known, for tho representatives of the
High Commissioner besought the Uitlanders
to lay down their arms and thus save the lives
OF the leaders Of that force. This they did,
and. after what had happened, there was
really nothing else to DO done. From the col
lapse of the uprising, whereof the Jameson raid
was an incident, Mr.. Bryce draws the obvious
moral that revolutions are not so easy to carry
out Us they look when one plans them before
hand. OF all the instructions and conspiraciel
recorded in history, probably not s per cent
have succeeded. The reason is that, when
number of private persons. not accustomed t.
joint action, have to act secretly together, una
BILE to communicate freely with ono another
and still less able to appeal beforehand II
those on whose eventual support they rely
the chances Of disagreement. of misunder
standing. of failure to take some vital stel
at exactly the right moment. are innu
merable. while the Government in power has tn,
advantage of united counsel and can issue or
ders to officers trained to prompt obedience. Ii
this instance the plan was being conducted b.
three groups of persons in three places. distan
from one Notwithstanding. Pitsani, ant
Cape Town-so that tho chances of a miscar
riape were immepsely Increased. Had ther