New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-24
,amherlain will not be found

..,a,hood of a Chamberlain will not be found
u-nat. then 10 the object OF all this agitation?
r., so-called crisis In the Transvaal is to a
at extent n newspaper crisis; and the agita-
~, Is mostly a newspaper agitation The
,.rnerjcan sensational press has its equivalent
,sre The newspaper organs Of the Outlanders
- johannesburg are owned by capitalists;
~ who have made piles of money out OF the
'.nrtrv but who want to make more. Allow
-, 70 control the elections OF President and
.r,bers Of the Legislature through the newly
.,ranehised burghers. and the whole country
uos powerless and at their mercy. Large as
.No,r possessions are now, unmeasurcd wealth
Iii then be theirs. Since they cannot succeed
-. themselves they have managed to enlist
ne svmpathies (only too willingly granted) Of
.As British Government on their behalf. They
,ontrol an immense number Of newspapers. not
,r,v in South Africa. but also in England, be-
dos several influential French and German
journals on the Continent Of Europe. These
have been carrying on an uninterrupted re-
-orseless. INSCRIPTIONS campaign of fasehood
ND misrepresentation against the Transvaal
.s President and its people, with the utmost
.rccess The voice Of truth in respect OF the
,.,sblic is quite unheard People in Europe
I've been made to believe that the Outlanders
Eve cruelty oppressed and wronged in the
rransyaal Such facts as that taxation is far
,eSter than in the neighboring British colonies
o,s carefully concealed and perverted That
,,sre Is no country in the world where the gold
,,n,ng laws are so liberal. where the im-
,osts upon gold are slight. is a fact which
eonnot be contradicted, but that is never made
,rovn. with their usual cunning. these men
lave lately succeeded in getting the British
government 10 accept petition purporting to
came from the Outanders at johannesburg and
.o,,e,A with statements that are simply down.
tight falsehoods. How these signatures to
,hsss .petitfons were obtained; how strangers
rom far and near were accosted in the johann
,ssburg streets and besought by touts who
received a shilling a signature. to afix their
,smes; how signatures were procured by every
manner Of rascaly tricks-these are things
Known in South Africa, but unknown to the
outside world.
The Transvaal is the victim of cruel injustice,
IMPRESSION and wrong at the hands Of the Brit
sb Government. and Of miserable persecution
On the part Of the capitalists and their organs.
put IL there be a God in heaven He will not let
these things continue forever. The question
NAV be asked of Americans: What would they
Al under such circumstances? Have they,
whose ancestors fought for liberty, no sympathy
with those who are being ground down under
the iron heel Of oppression? VIII they see a
young republic, modelled to a great extent upon
their own institutions, but which labors under
The misfortune Of having the same attractions
for the stranger as Naboths vineyard had,
crushed by foreign tyranny without according
10 II at least their moral sympathy? Let Amer
,cans who know not what TO believe combine
70 send out a representative 10 inquire into the
tt1e state of affairs in the unfortunate Trans
vaal: but let him first determine not to allow
himself 10 fall into the hands OF capitalistlc
gang or to listen 10 their representations with
out due investigation. There IS. moreover, am
ule scope in the country for hundreds of Ameri-
cans who surely would do as well as the Eng
fish have done many Of whom have become
possessed of enormous riches from the gold
mines OF the Rand. They would be welcomed
as fellow-republcans. men who would not
aid the oppressor and the wTongdoer, but VINO
love freedom and admire the love Of liberty IN
Others. -.
Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, May 20,
1899