The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-09-20

miners. The golden rocks of the Rand
would remain uncrushed forever II
they had their way. They wish only
TO till their farms, raise their stock
and read their Bibles.
But the glitter of gold and the CLINT
of diamonds attracted more and more
sons of Britain. Men of other cOun-
tries came too. There were some Ger
mans and a few Americans. The Beers
call them all uitlanders. or Outlanders
Finally the uitlanders became more
numerous than Beers. There are now
in the TIansVaal about 245,O0O whites.
OF this number more than 100000 are
English. Besides these, there are 10000
Germans 10000 Americans and few
hundreds of almost every other race
on the globe. So the Beers are actually
in a minority in their own land. The
remainder of their /, 900 600 population
is composed of blacks. chiefly Kaffirs.
But this little handful of, say, $4,000
Beers has retained absolute sway in the
territory which was wrested from the
savages- For all practical purposes
only native Beers have full rights of
franchise. They make the laws, levy
the taxes and grip with Jealous hands
the reins of government
Toward the uitlandeRs the BOer atti-
tude has been aggressive. autOcratic
and possibly oppressive 1t depends on
the point Of view. The British miners
have had to pay handsomely for the
privilege of taking out the treasures
which the Beers themselves neglected.
They have been heavily taxed. They
nopolies.
True, they have prospered and grown
enormously rich in spite of it all But
so have the Beers, and it is the Eng
fish who have done the work Year
after year the taxes have become high
er in spite of the indignant protests
sent to England.
The first time the Beers and the Eng
llsh clashed was when both were set
tied in what is now Cape Colony.
There came up the question of slavery.
The Beers claimed a right to enslave
the native tribes The British contest
ed the alleged right. In 1894 enamel
patton was proclaimed in the Colony.
which till then had been peopIed by
British and Dutch alike.
What added to the grievance of the
BOer was that the slaVeowners among
them received as compensation orders
on London which they were compelled
to cash on the spot at ruinous rates
The great exodus. or trek, of 1886 was
the result. Some 5000 Beers by a con-
certed movement abandoned Cape
Colony and moved on to the unknown
interior The bitter memory of their
sufferings from hunger and thirst and
from the attacks OF savage natives re-
mains as a legacy of hatred among
their descendants to this day
AT the Orange river the tTekkers di-
vided into two parties, one of which
founded the Orange Free State The
other, continuing farther eastward,
founded Natal. Both states were con-
quered by the English A majority of
the Beers. once more fleeing from Brit
1sh Ihraldom, crossed the river VaaI
and intrenched themselves in their
present position in the Transvaal.
Here four rival sovereignties were
established whose internecfne feuds
were finally harmOnized by union in
to one republic. In 1913 the gronwet.
or fundamental law, was passed by a
special volksraad elected for the pur-
pose, and it still remains as the nomi-
nal constitution of the country
But the Beers found themselves I'm
able to cope with the savage natives,