The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-10-19
THE TRANSvAAL WAR.

=
THE TRANsvAAL WAR.
Public attention is now concentrated
upon the war raging in South Africa.
The sympathy Of mankind is generally
with the little repGblic against the
mighty empire
England pretends that she is simply
asking for fair play for her citizens who
have settled in that country. But this
is not true. She demands that English
emigrants shall have the right to dwell
i'll the Transvaal republic and vote at all
elections, while retaining their British
citizenship, and refusing to become citi-
zeps CT the country in which they re-
side
Imagine England telling that the
thousands of her countrymen who live
in our country and refuse to forswear
their allegiance to Queen Victoria,
should have the right to vote and help
govern the people of the United States.
The mere proposition is absurd; but
it is ten times more so in the Transvaal,
because there the multitude of foreign
ers, who have rushed into the country
| to work in the gold mines, outnumber
many times the citizens of the coun-
! try, so that it is apparent that II they
| are permitted to vote they would turn
| the whole country over to England.
| The Beers penetrated into the track
less wilderness and turned it into the
homes Of a civilized and Industrious
| people, and England has no more right
| 10 interfere in their domestic concerns
| than we would have.
| The Minneapolis Times says:
The story of the Boer is pathetic One
| of the first Europeans to reach Africa, he
came not to hunt for gold or indulge in
rapne but to find an asylum. He was the
pilgrim of South Africa. Where he first
| settled diamonds were discovered. The
men of greed surrounded him and the Boer
| gave his country to the English and took
the trail to the interior. Five hundred
| miles from "civilization" he formed a new
home and spread the dung upon his clay
floor in peace. But in an evil hour for
y him gold was discovered on his doorstep
and again the howl Of the civilized ma
MAC woke his day dreams. The Boer will
soon be suppressed by the superior civiliz-
| alton of Great Britain. He must die be-
| cause gold has been discovered in his ter
| ritory, and there is no other place to go
| except Sahara. 1t is a sad story in a
minor key, that OF the Boer. He desires
only peace. He has no interest in gold
he makes no pretensions to higher educa-
ton. He is honest. sluggish, rude man
nered, religious, fanatical; but he is not
envious, nor English. But gold has been
discovered in his dooryard and he must
give to the English the title deed to his
poor garden or die. The Boer is not a
coward, he will de. But many a su-
perior Englishman will die with him. No,
Chamberlain will not die, not by bullets He
will polish his monocle and address the
Birmingham board of trade on the suprem-
applauded heartily and will eat his dinner
| with genuine British satisfaction. Graves
in South Africa are not for Mr.. Chamber
lain to walk into.
The struggle is going to be tremen-
dous one We find the following item.
which throws fight upon the subject,
BERLIN, Oct 14.7,The first Boer sue
cess is commented upon alphabetically by
organ, the Militaire ,Wochensblatt, says:
| Great Britain underestimate the
strength of the Beers, which can be placed
at 10000 men, well equipped. She will need
10000 thoroughly trained troops to defeat
| them
We do not believe that England, with
$4,000 soldiers-for that is the size of
her African army-can whip the Beers
with $4,000 men. England has been tri-
umphant over yellow and black races:
but these Beers are white men, Holland
ers by descent, frontiersmen, wonderful
marksmen, and derived from one of the
bravest and most obstinate races in the
world. They will be fighting on their
own land for their own homes, while
England is fighting for empire, and to
add to her already vast possessions She
would grasp the whole surface of the
earth if she were able.
The feeling against her in Europe is
almost unanimous. Our gigantic size
and our invincible soldiery compels her
to leave us alone, but there is no doubt
chat if she could do it successfully she
would seize upon us just as she Is now
Selling upon Africa and China. England
is great country, and Eer people are
|
this globe ought not to be the plaything
CIR toy of any race.
! At the same time the financial ques-
ton is mixed up with all this business.
70 maintain an army of $4,000 men,
thou ands of miles from home, will put
the gold standard to tremendous
strain. Already the whole world feels
it. 1t looks as if the crash had already
begun in Italy, one of the poorest and
weakest Kingdoms:
BY Cable From London, Oct. 10.
The position Of the Italian bourse, which
has been serious for some time, says a spe-
cial dispatch from Rome, resulted in a YER
table crash yesterday. Several banks and
large firms are in serious condition.
The losses are estimated at some hundreds
of millions of lire.
We should not be surprised to see the
war in the Transvaal inaugurate world
wide commissions, which will liberate
mankind forever from the domination