The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-09-14

officers for money ought to be exposed.
The South African trouble Is aou to
again, consequent upon the British note
to the Trsnsvaal Republic, which is re-
garded, aud rightly we should say, as an
ultimatum. "Submit to our demands
quickly" says England In effect or our
patience will give out" Now what are
the demandsS Practically they
amount TO just this, that
the 1ransvaaI government shall
modify its franchise laws TO suit the Eng-
lish and arrange the Presidential and
other elections to suit them. too. The
demand made on the 4 ransvaal Is practi-
cally the eame as would be one
made upon us to allow the English gov
eminent to fix the time that English i'm.
migrants shall reside in this country be-
fore they can vote. England could make
such demand on us with just as much
right as she makes 1t upon the Trans
wal Years ago the Dutch set up re-
public in the Transvaal, and established
such form of Government as suited
them. knrlishman who have gone down
there in search Of gold do not like 1t be-
cause they are not permitted to have as
much voice in ths governments as the
Dutchmen who instituted It,.
If they do not like the gov
eminent one way would be to move out,
hut that isn't the Englishman's way.
His plan is to move somebody else ont
and stay In himself, and that is practical
~ what he intends to do In the Transyaal.
With equal franchise rights granted him
with the Boer he knows he can soon
change over the republic to suit his own
notions, abolisbing 1t altogether, IL he
chooses, and making the Transvaal de-
penuency of the English crown. In the
sturdy Dutch burghers he has found a
pretty serious obstacle. and to overcome
1t has had to seek outside help. Cecil
Rhodes retalners In Cape Colony tried to
help him out a few years ago, but the
tnsk was too big for them. Jamtsan's
raiders were thoroughly smashed and the
English government had to put Jameson
In jail for while to appease the indigna-
ton Of some of the home people who had
not entirely parted with their oonscienoes
But though the scheme of gobbling the
Transvaal was baked for n time by the
Jameson tasco 1t was by no means killed
The aRitators saw. however, that 1t was
too big an undertaking for private enter
prise, and their efforts since have teen
devoted to getting the government enlist
ed. Mr.. Joseph Chamber hin has sympa-
thized with them all along. and has ably
seconded in London their efforts in South
Africa. The performance has been dressed
up in the garb of humanity. The poor
Englishmen down in the Transaal have
been prosecuted it is sail. They have had
to stsy there many years heforsithey could
vote. The government monopolized the dy-
namite which the Engllshmen wanted to
last cut the gold with. and made them pay
literally for 1t. Mr.. Chamberlain heart
was wrung by these terribly oppressive
measures. There has been good deal Of
backing and filling, apparently because
some other members Of the cabinet were
not quite SO sympathetic as he or because
they could not look upon the prospect of
a destructive war as jauntily. Apparent
ly, however. he has at last got them up
to his moral elevation, and the Beers are
to De compelled to choose between the de-
strnction of their republic by ballots and
its destruction by bullets.