Washington sentinel., 1899-08-05

] nOufS WhlCh ne appears to approve, and
thereby make good one Of his forgotten
pledges. We fear, however, that
nothing much is to be hoped Tor from
social retormers who draw their argu-
ments from the flint ages. We con-
Pratulate Sir John Lubbock and the
Duke of Westminster and the shop
asSistsnts, and one day or other we hope
that another instameut of protection
will be forthcoming for a class which
has been permitted to sink too low in
the social scheme Of things.
WHEN ENGLAND RULED THE TRANS.
YAAL.
The story of how the Transvaal was
annexed to the British Empire twenty
years ago is particularly interesting Just
now, and it IS curious, ia the light of
later events, to read how what is now
the South African Republic was for four
short ears under the Union Jack. It is
one OF the romances of the empire. We
owe the story to Cetewayo. But for the
Zulu King the Union Jack would never
have waved over the Boer country. The
Beers, who sre human enough at any
rate to hate rates and taxes, had brought
| their country to the verge OF bankruptcy,
| Its eXchequer was empty; its army was
/ all but useless; the natives were rising
in revolt and the country was threatened
with a Zulu invasion. Cetewayo was in
4 81, .C
| arms had not yet scattered his forces,
The King complained that the Beers
were constantly encroaching on his
frontier, and he gathered hrs men
together to make the last great
fight-to wipe the Beers out of existence
Had the fight been fought, there can be
40 doubt of what would have happened.
The Beers would have ceased to be,
The Zulus were immensely superior in
strength and numbers, and had Cete-
wayo been lett free to carry out his plans,
there would probably have been no
Transvaal question today. But he was
not left free. Sir Theophllus Shepstone,
who had made himself feared by the
Zulus, came to the rescue of the Beers.
He planted the Union Jack in the
Transvaal, and declared it part and
parcel Of the Queens Empire, Nothing
| could have been more simple. The
Beers feared the Zulus, the Zulus feared
| the white men, and at the moment when
Cetewayo was gathering his forces to
smash the Beers the Engiishman stepped
in and claimed the country. There was
no opposition, everybody was dsvoutly
thankful and the Queens dOminions
were extended by 1000 square miles
and nearly 800, 600 subjects.
No country was ever won so easily. Ce-
tswayo wrote a letter Of thanks to the
peace maker. al thank my father Somp.
sen for his message" he said. Il am
glad that he has sent it, because the
Dutch have tired me out, and intended
to fight them once and once only, and
to drive them over the Vaal. You see
my impIs are gathered. 1t was to fight
the Dutch / called them together; now
will send them back to their homes.
The Beers were constantly moving their
frontier further into my country. l had
therefore, determined to end it once for
ALL AS It was the Beers were saved,
and the Zulus learned to respect sir
Theophilus Shepstone. Years before
Shepstone had found himself alone
amidst 900 Zulu warriors, brandIshing
| their assegais, ,and bowling tor his blood.
For two hours he stood thus, expecting
to receive his death blow. Then as calm
as if he bad been in England, he rose
and spoke to the Zulu army; ~ know
that you mean to kill me. 1t is an easy
thing to do; but tell you Zulus that
for every drop Of blood that falls to the
| ground hundred men will come out
OF the sea from the country OF which
Natal is one Of the cattle kraals, and will
avenge me bitterly" LAS he spoke, 4"
says Mr.. Rider Haggsrd, whordescribes
the scene, "he turned and pointed to.
wards the ocean. Every man OF the
great multitude turned and stared to-
wards the horizon as though they ex-
pected to see the long lines OF the
avengers creeping across the plain"
That speech, spoken with the calmness
of brave man who fears nothing, saved
the Englishman's, life, and established
his ascendancy. From that day his
power was unquestoned, and this influ-
ence with Cetewayo was supreme. Il
was the knowledge Of this that induce d
Shepstone to step in when CetewaYo
was threatening the Beers. Had he
been merely anxious to extend British
territory he would have stood by while
the war was waged aud occupied the
country after Cetewayo had cleared it.
But Shepstone was not an Imperialist at
that price, and his desire was not so much
to make the Transvaal British territory
as to save the blood which must hav e
been shed if he had stood aside.
AsIt was, the Transvaal was annexed
peacefully, and at cost OF less than
/ LIo,ooo. The cost OF the land worked
out az something like Is Iod, per square
mile, and the Queen gained nearly
500, 600 new subj jects at a cost of three
pence head. Paul Kruger at that time
was, perhaps, the most striking figure
among the subject people, and he was
one OF three Boer delegates who ca me
to England to petition the Queen to set
the country free again. The mission
failed, however and Kruger returned
, | to the Transyaal to take office as a
, British official-a post which he held
: for few months, when he was dismissed
, under curious and somewhat discredIta
=