The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-10-12
THURSDAY, OCTOBER Il. 1899.
WARM THE TRANSvaAL.

President Kruger has taken the initia-
tive. and war in the Transvaal Is on
Great Britain IS prepared for the light ana
she viii 90 at Il in no half-hearted man.
ner. The South African Dutch are brave
,nen and they are spurred on by a sort
Of religious frenzy. They will make
desperate resistance and they will not give
up until they are compelled TO do so.
They hate the English, and every man oil
them will fight as with a personal foe.
II Is too bad that such a war should be,
IN this enlightened age, and yet 1t Is
hard 10 see how it could have been
averted
There are two sides TO the story. When
the gold fields Of South Africa were dis
covered large numbers of foreigners,
chiefly English. fiocked into the gold re-
gions. The Beers named them Uitlanders.
which Is TO say foreigners, The town of
johannesburg sprang up like a mush-
room, and Is to-day an English city OF
'nore than 10000 inhabitants, while Pre-
toria, the capital Of the State, contains
about 5000 inhabitants. The Uitlander
population Ol lllf NUull -AAAAAcAAi AN'-'N't'N
is at least twice as large as the native
population. These foreigners have also
the wealth. the intelligence and the energy
Of the country.
The Beers were at one time anxious for
foreigners 10 come In and occupy, and
In 1881 President Kruger went TO London
and invited Englishmen TO settle in his
Republic. But when the foreigners fiocked
in I'm such great numbers the Beers De
came alarmed, and saw that If admitted
10 citizenship. the foreigners ana not the
natives would govern the country. There
fore. the Beers took steps to preserve their
independence by restricting the voting
privilege. They first raised the probation
airy term OF qualification TO five years,
and then to fourteen years. 1t was re-
quired that the prospective citizen should
forswear allegiance TO any other State,
and even at the expiration Of the term
OF probation his admission depended upon
the will OF the President and of the
legislative assembly. called the Noiks-
raad. In short. there was no sort Of
guarantee OF citizenship to any Uitlander.
The foreigners protested and pointed out
that although they constituted the ma
jority OF the State and owned nine-tenths
OF the property and paid nine-tenths Of
the taxes, yet they had practically no
voice I'm the government. Some slight con-
cession was made in 1892 but II amounted
10 nothing. and the crisis was reached in
1896 when DR.. jameson made his famous
raid That raid was lawless. and created
sympathy with the Beers. 1t was "a set
back for Great Britain, but she still insist
cd upon a more liberal policy toward her
citizens I'm the Transvaal. Finally an
English miner was shot while resisting the
unlawful entry into his home Of Boer
policeman who wanted to arrest him on
the charge Of assault. The Englishman
showed that the assault which he had
committed was in self-defence, yet the
policeman was not only acquitted, but
praised by the presiding judge. This Incl
dent was the beginning OF the present
agitation. The Uitlsnders were indignant
and held meetings which were broken up
by organized bands OF Beers led by gov
crnment officials. The Uitlander Council
was formed with representatives from the
mines and the towns. Appeals were made
10 Sir Alfred Miner. Governor OF Cape
Colony and High Commissioner for South
Africa. In reviewing the situation he de-
clarcd that "the case for Intervention
was overwhelming" His view was sus-
tained b. Sir Joseph Chamberlain. As a
result there was a meeting on May 90
1893. between President Kruger and Gov
ernor Miner. President Kruger proposed
comforting the franchise upon aliens after
a residence OF nine years instead Of four
teen and that other questions In dispute
be submitted TO arbitration Sir Alfred
replied that there could not be any arbi-
tratlon between "a suzerain State and its
dependency.
Great Britain has since adhered to that
position. and President Kruger has refused
10 receda
Such Is a brief outline OF the causes
which have led up 10 the war, as Cleaned
from an article sn yesterdays New
York Herald As we have said. there
are two sides to the question. Americans
naturally sympathize with those'sho love
liberty. Independence and self-gove.n.ncnt
Sc. Great Britain does undoubtedly cxer-
elzs 3 suxersinty over tho south African
HAcn1bxc ana It y clearly her duty "