The Irish standard., 1899-09-23

desire to maintain state independence
and nationality.
Jamesons S raid was 4 convincing dem
onstration oil the foreign designs to
overthrow the commonwealth.
Although the aliens in the Transvaa
outnumber the natives. and have once
made war on tho native government, the
Boers have never adopted against these
aliens such restrictive measures as the
United States enacted against a bcggar-
ly handful OF inoffcnsivc Chinese. The
great American people. then about Co.
100000 strong, forbade the Chinese to
even land on their soil, although the
number OF Chinese then among them
was limited to the thousands. ANY one
can go to the Transvaal. and stay as
long as he plcases.
The trouble in the Transvaal arises
because the foreigners, who threaten to
swamp the country, are mainly Eng
lishmcn, and not Chinese.
The English. by virtue OF their power
and nnastcriulncss. demand those COM
p'e'c political rights which Englishmcn
are accustomed to have the world over.
The Beers. obcying the instinct OF self
preservation, have cndcavorcd to keep
the government in their hands, and,
therefore, have erected severe rcstric-
tions about naturalization and the fran
chisc. Theoretically we cannot defend
those restrictions, but we can at least
note the fact that when the English
want to hang on to country, even one
not their own, they do not hesitate to
tighten the screws OF their authority
even worse than the Beers ever have in
the Transvaal
The English make loud complaints OF
the tyranny OF Kruger, but what OF the
tyranny OF the English in a land where
they arc all in6nitcsimal part OF the
population? AS india" a London
journal, says:
In the Transvaal floating popula-
tion OF immigrants complain that they
have to pay officials who are drawn cx-
clusively from the permanent residents
i'll the country. In India the fixed pop
ulation, without voice or vote, has to
pay floating body Of officials, and has
not only to pay them at no mean rate
while they remain in the country, but
has to remit large sum in pensions
and allowances when they return to
their own country, thereby increasing the
tribute which India has to give to Eng
land, and which has so evil an effect on
the conditions OF India's foreign trade.
II it be an injustice TO the Uitandcrs
that the officials OF the Transvaa are
independent OF them in the matter OF
payment and have salaries to which
many OF the taxpayers have never
agreed, how much more fragrant is the
injustice to India. The Indians arc
poor, the people OF johannesburg are
rich.
The English complain that in the
Transvaal they have no control of the
education OF the country. Nor have the
Indians in India.
Indeed, when few Indians do be-
come educated they arc apt to be viewed
with suspicion by their English masters.
Freedom OF speech and the press do
not exist in India, while there is no
comparison between that country and
the Transvaal in the matter OF arbitrary
arrest and Imprisonment.
In the matter OF municipal govern
ment the English complain because
they have no power in their own town
o! Johannesburg. Yet what is the situ-
alton in Calcutta? After some progress
toward admitting the taxpayers into the
local government of the city, the Eng
lish are now starting reaction And
the same British newspapers which have
constituted themselves the spokcsmcn
OF freedom in the affairs OF the South
African republic favor scheme by
which all the most important civic bust
ness OF Calcutta will be decided by a
body only minority OF whom repre-
sent the great mass OF the taxpayers OF
the city, while the majority are to be
drawn from the small European COM
munity.
1t is not struggle for principle,
therefore, which England is waging in
the Transvaal. She adopts the most
despotic methods OF government where
ever they seem necessary to insure her
supremacy and keep the empire intact.
Her struggle is really for that power
which Englishmcn claim everywhere as
theirs by right. The same methods she
uses in behalf of her own interests in
India are condemned when used against
her, in modified form, in South Africa
by government bent on its own pres
crvation. Our sympathy with the Eng
lish in the Transvaal dispute is consid-
crably modified by these facts.
The struggle is not so much over
morality as over gold mines.
Conccding, as we must, that Boer
civilization is not so advanced and
splendid as the English, still the Beers
must be conceded the moral right which
is founded on nature, to defend their
political independence as best they may