The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-07-08
commonwealth.

The trouble in the Transvaal arises
because the foreigners, who threaten to
swamp the country, are mainly Eng
lishmen. The English, by virtue Of their
power and masterfulness, demand those
complete political rights which Eng
lishmen are accustomed to have the
world over. The Beers, obeying the
instinct OF self-preservation, have en-
deavored to keep the government in
their own hands, and, therefore, have
erected severe restrictions about natural
ization and the franchise. theoretically
we cannot defend these restrictions, but
We can at least note the fact that when
the English want to hang onto a coun-
try, 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 land where
they are an infnitesimal part of the pop
ulation, as India. A London journal
says:
"In the Transvaal floating popula.
ton of immigrants complain that they
have to pay officials who are drawn ex-
clusively from the permanent residents
i'll the country. In India the fixed popu-
lation without voice or vote, has to pay
a 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 allow
anccs when they return to their own
country, thereby increasing the tribute
which India has to give to England, and
which has so evil an effect on the condi-
tions OF 1ndia's foreign trade. II it be
all injustice to the uitanders that the
officials OF the Transvaal are indcpend-
ent 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 are poor, the people OF Jo-
hannesburg 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 become educated, they are
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 government the
English complain because they have no
power in their own town OF Johannes
burg. Yet what is the situation in Cal
cutta? After some progress toward ad-
hitting the taxpayers into the local gov
ernment Of the city the English are now
starting reaction. And the same Brit
isll newspapers which have constituted
themselves the spokesman OF freedom in
the affairs OF the South African republic
favor scheme by which all the most
important civic business OF Calcutta will
be decided by body only a minority Of
whom represent the great mass of the
taxpayers of the city, while the majority
are to be drawn from the small Europe
an community.
1t is not struggle for principle,
therefore, which England is waging in
the Transvaal. 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 a government
bent on its own preservation. Our SYM
pathy with the English in the Transvaal
dispute is considerably modified by these
facts. The struggle is not so much over
morality as over gold mines.