Iron County register., 1899-11-09
England In the Transvaal.


ironical commentary on the Peace Con
ference at The Hague and the propose
of the Car for the disarmament of ma
tions. Before the wax on the seal o
the credentials of her delegates was
cold. England was deliberately and
wantonly forcing quarrel upon Presi
dent Kruger on trumped-up and base
less pretence for the purpose of de
stroying the independence of the Trans
vaal republic. Having succeeded il
forming an ultimatum, she is now as
sembling an army greater than the en-
tire native Boer population, larger
than the aggregate of the forces under
Wellington at Waterloo and Raglan il
the Grimes. for the purpose of obliter
ating a little commonwealth whose
area is less than that of Montana anC
whose citizenship is exceeded by score:
of cities in the state of New York.
Having been snubbed and kicked anC
cuffed by all the great powers of Eu
rope, subjected to indignities to which
she has submitted without protest
England now makes an enormous mill
tary demonstration against an insight
ficant community, as discredited slug
ger avenges himself for the insults o
So aIo hr- fa u,
upon cripples and women and children
and this war of conquest-the mos
brutal and indefensible Of all her crimes
against human rlghts-is waged In the
name of civilization 1t should not be
forgotten that the Boer republic has
been an established, independent, SOW
ereign republic. 1t had the same right
to exist as Germany, or France, or the
United States. BY the Convention al
Pretoria in 1881 England conceded its
autonomy, and again by the London
convention of 1884 it was formally and
definitely agreed that the Transyaal
republic should be supreme in its in
ternal administration; that it should
make no treaty with powers other than
the Orange Free State without the con-
sent and approval of Great Britain.
There is no pretence that these stipu'
latious have been violated in the pres
ent contention. The foreign relations
of the Beers are not in question. Moth
ing is involved except the conditions
upon which naturalization, the fran
chise. and representation are granted
to immigrants and foreigners. These
are matters of internal policy and ad'
ministration, to be determined by the
Transvaal government as it sees fit.
The regulations may be satisfactory to
England or otherwise, but by inter
national law she has no more right to
meddle than she has to interfere with
suffrage in the United States or with
the methods of taxation in Russia. The
claim that the Beers are an obstacle to
the onward march of civilization is a
pretext equally impudent and blasphe-
nous. They are what they have been
for a century They are neither better
nor worse than they were when Lord
Derby treated with them fifteen years
ago at London. They are a race of
fairly educated. Industrious, sober
farmers. They are peaceable. much
given to hospitality, and deeply re-
hgious; they love liberty, and are de-
voted to the principles of self-govern-
ment.
Originally settled in Cape Colony,
they fled from the tyranny of the Brit
ish to Natal sixty years ago. Pursued
by their hereditary enemies in their
new abode they again emigrated, and
set up their homes and altars, like
the Puritans of New England and the
pioneers of the West, in the wilderness,
surrounded by savage foes, and there
they remained with such degree of
civilization as contented them and dis
turbed no one else till the discovery of
the diamond fields in Kimberly and the
gold reefs of the Witwatersrand. Quite
likely they were not as polished in
their manners or as refined in their
ways of life as the English gentlemen
who figured in the Cleveland street
scandal; possibly they were not more
honest than the guinea pigs of British
nobility who sold their names to the
promoters of swIndling corporations;
or the comrades of the Prince of Wales
who cheated at cards; but they were
hardy, self-reliant and prone to the en-