The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-09-26
TEXT or LAST BRITISH REPLY
GIVEN OUT BY THE FOREIGN OF-
 FICE LAST NIGHT.

Tran,vaal Told That the Imperial
 Government Is Compelled to Consider
 New Proposals for Final Settlement of
 All Issucs-These Proposals Will be
 Communicated Later-Charge of Bad
 Faith Resented.
 London, Sept. 25.--The officials of the fo1sign office gave out this evening the text of the letter of the secretary Of state for the colonies, Joseph Chamber lain, to the British high commissioner in South Africa, Sir Alfred Milner, dat ed September 22. The British reply ex- pressed regret that her majesty's offer, No 5, of September s, had been refused, and said:
 ''The object her majestys government had in view in the recent negotiations had been stated in manner which cannot admit of apprehension, viz, to obtain such substantial and immedi- ate representation for the Outlanders as will enable them to secure for them selves that fair and just treatment which was formally promised them in 1881 and which her majesty intended to secure for them when she granted priv ileges of self-government to the Trans vaal. No conditions less comprehensive than those contained in the telegram Of September can be relied on to effect this object The refusal of the South African government to entertain the of- fer thus made, coming as it does after four months of protracted negotiations, themselves the climax of five years ot extended agitation, makes it useless to further pursue the discussion on the lines hitherto followed and the imperi- al government is now compelled to con- slider the situation afresh and formulate new proposals for final settlement or the issues which have been created in South Africa by the policy constantly followed for many years by the govern ment of South Africa. They will com municate the result of their delibera- tions in a later dispatch
 In a later communication, dated Sep tember 22, the imperial government takes up the charge of breach of faith insinuated by the Transvaal secretary of state, MT Reitz, September l6, which" it is pointed out, Eve cannot pass over in silence.'' MT. Chamber lain then says: "The proposals made -hy the South African Republic. in it's letters of August 19 and August 20, were not induced by suggestions given by the British agent from the state attorney, as claimed and that, on the contrary, the state attorney sounded the British agent, both in writing and in conversa- ton. as to the conditions under which the imperial government would waive the invitation to a joint inquiry, and these communications resulted in pro- posals made by the South African gov- ernment in those letters. It is impossi- ble that the South African government could have had any doubt as to the inn perial governments answer to the con- ditions named, and my reply was actu- ally the same as the British agent had foreshadowed to the state attorney and which. therefore, the South African government must have anticipated in making the proposals. The imperial government also denies that its tele- gram of September 8 substituted an en- tirely new proposal for the invitation to the joint commission of inquiry"
 The imperial government then quotes the dispatch from South Africa of Au- gust 19. containing an alternative pro- posal identical with that which the inn neria] government is said to have sub- stituted: and the communication then nroceeds as follows: "The imperial gov- ernment sees no ground for misappre- hension on the part of the South Afri- can Republic as to it's answer regarding non-interference and suzerainty as the in,nerial government had already said that it would not press for the appoint ment of joint committee of inquiry in view of the fact that such an inquiry would, in the opinion of the government of the South African republic, prejudice the right of full independence, repeat edly recognized by the imperial govern ment. As to the use of the English lan- pua ge in the Volksraad, the imperial government regards this as reasonable and is astonished that the government of the South African Republic should deem it unnecessary and make it point of denying that the South African Re- public ever proposed the same to the British government"
 Reply of the Transvaa1.