The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-11-13
Joseph Geoghegan, a Salt Laker,
Declares Against British Policy.
HE LIVED WITH THE BOERs
POPULAR MISCONCEPTIONS AND
WARPED JUDGMENTS.
Refutation of Claims That South
Africans Are Brutal, Exclusive
and Designing-Mr. Geoghegan
Arraigns the English-Predicts
Revulsion of Feeling.


There is another broad-minded patri-
otto citizen, a resident of Salt Lake,
who takes strong exception to the ut
terances of newspapers and people in
this state who affect TO believe that
Great Britain is not waging a war of
conquest against the Beers. This per-
son is Joseph Geoghegan, the widely
known merchandise broker, and there
| is probably not another man in Utah
better qualified to pass an intelligent
opinion upon this question than is he.
since he formerly resided in the South
African republic and was a close OBJ
server of all conditions and incidents
in the land where now the clash of
arms is attracting the attention of the
world
Chafing under the challenge of a
morning paper that no Salt Laker who
ever lived in South Africa would at
firm that the Beers are not what the
prejudiced British picture them, Mr..
Geoghegan yesterday unfolded to The
Herald a startling array of historical
facts and undisputed figures in support
of the proposition that England is en-
gagged in a war of conquest. Mr.. Geog-
hogan quotes freely English historians
and British reports to show that there
\
full warping of judgment on what are
the real causes of the war in the Trans
vaal. Such high authority as the New
York Sun, an administration organ,
which favors an Anglo-American alli-
ance, corroborates every utterance of
Mr.. Geoghegan- ~ ~
Slavery Not An Issue.
AS to the claim that the Beers, who,
by the way are descendants of the
Dutch and the French Huguenots, the
best blood of old Europe. are sorely
vexed because the British abolished
slavery in the South African states. Mr..
Geoghegan shows that the English i'm
ported all the slaves, that the Bush
men, Kaffirs. Hottentots and other ma
tives never were slaves and that the
original Dutch laws forbade slavery.
There never was any demand from
Cape Colony for the abolition of slave
ry. because a condition. of servitude
was forbidden even before the English
came into the country. When the
great trek or migration took place
northward, there to flee from the OPP
preston of the British, confiscation of
Boer property was the order, but no
slaves were taken with the movers.
Speaking of the charge of brutality,
Mr. Geoghegan said he never saw any
of it practised by the Beers during his
residence in the Transvaal. The worst
/ ever saw" remarked Mr.. Geoghegan,
was for an Englishman to say to
Niger on the sidewalk. 'footsack.'
which is equivalent to saying get out
of here, you dog Where there are
thousand niggers, to one white man
there would be no show to get along
If the blackman were not made to feel
his inferioritv-
Patriotism and Education.
IF pride of country Mr.. Geoghegan
asserts, amounts to anything, Boer
is an African, and glad to be known as
such, which term to him is esteemed
the same as American is to us. Yet if
the name of African is applied to an
Englishman there he feels ilsulted. for
the reason that he has no patriotic
pride in that country With the Eng
lishman il is only a case OF temporary
residence, where he hopes to achieve
fortune TO take back to England to
spend. r.
II lived among the Beers nearly four
years and found them a gentle, hospit-
able people,. but bitter against the Brit
ish because of the wrongs suffered at
their hands. To the people of every
other nation they hold out the hand of
welcome.
THE Beers are not opposed to the
have means send their children to uni
versities in England. Germany and Hol-
land to be educated. Their republic has
a permanent fund for the maintenance
of common schools, seminarieS and col
leges. and there are about eighty of
these government institutions.
Citizenship Dangers.
THE great influx of Englishmen,"
AIr n
Transvaal on account of the fabulous
gold fields. They did not go there for
the purpose of becoming citizens of the
republic. These immigrants, or Out
landers as they are called, refused to
renounce their citizenship to Great
Britain, and consequently if given the
right to vote their first effort would be
to depose the government of Pretoria
and Snnex the state to Cape Colony
and the British crown. Why, therefore,
should not the Beers, who have SUI
fered so much at the hands OF Great
Britain while establishing a govern
nnent for their country. hedge them
selves with safeguards of this kind?
But as q matter of fact during the
recent negotiations President Kruger
did consent to grant the elective fran
chise TO British subjects after seven
years residence on condition that Eng
land would agree to declare absolutely
that il would withdraw all claim of
suzerainty over the Boer country. The
necessity for such a condition is obvi-
Gus, because if a dual citizenship eX-
listed the British subjects could simply
saw they violated no oath of allegiance
to the Transvaal in voting to annex the
country to Great Britain, inasmuch as
they had not renounced their citizen
ship as Englishmen.
..The duplicity of Mr.. Chamberlain in
refusing to accept this proposition and
telling President Kruger he was pre-
pairing a proposition to submit and en-
force. is most astounding. / would like
to know what else would be expected
of the Beers than to fight for their ex-
istence, as they are doing.
Taxation Propositions.
Suppose you have hundred poor
farmers eking out a miserable exist
ence from their holdings and near to
them a man who owns mine, out of
which he realizes a million dollars
month. Would it be fair to ask each
unit OF, the hundred poor farmers to
nav as much taxes as the mine owners
income? That is the taxation propo-
sition of the British. as 1 see it. l viii
further state that in the Transvaal the
treatment of foreigners by the Boer
government is far more liberal than our
fellow citizens are receiving from the
British taxing power in the Klondike
region.
This war is the result of personal
matter between Mr.. Chamberlain and
Cecil Rhodes. Chamberlain thought his
bluff of sending $4,000 soldiers would
cover the Beers and bring a great
measure of glory to him. making him
the recognized leader of political
thought in the kingdom. The war was
nilnosed by the brightest minds in Eng