The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1899-09-24
THE LION AND HIS PREY.

situation does, indeed, seem very
acute. Latest dispatches report
that the Orange Free State sides
with the republic, but whether this
simply means moral support or an
offensive alliance remains to be
seen.
Meanwhile both principals con-
tinue their preparations for war.
Arbitration is a possibility, but its
probability is not strong. The
Beers still insist upon their rights
under the London convention,
while England is equally persistent
in demanding the abrogation of
certain articles.
England procrastinates her reply
to the last note of the Transvaal
and takes advantage of the delay to
mass troops for the subjugation of
the defiant republic. This action
has its counterpart in the military
activity of the Beers. Both are
prepared for eventualities.
Through the maze of diplomatic
questions which have been infused
into the controversy, one salient
point stands out so prominently
that it cannot be concealed or MINI
flied. The whole civilized world
recognizes that the Beers are con-
tending for national existence.
The five years franchise for Uit-
landers, on which England insists,
is the gist of the controversy. and
when one considers the con-
ditions which England attaches to
this demand he must recognize it's
unrighteousness and its utter in
compatibility with representative
government.
The Beers are required to give
the franchise to all foreigners, or
Uitlanders, within the borders of
the republic, permitting them to
retain their present allegiance. The
Beers say, and justly, that this
would subyert and destroy their
national existence, as the Uitland-
ers have a large majority and
would annex the republic to the
British possessions.
Citizenship is an essential to the
exercise of the elective franchise in
representative government, and
to permit foreigners, holding allie
glance to their respective govern
ments, to vote, would, in this case,
be to place the ballot in the hands
of an irresponsible majority, avow-
edly antagonistic to the present
form of government:
When the Beers were driven
across the Vaal river by the confs-
cation of their property by the
British in Cape Colony, they ear
ried with them the same desire for
liberty and freedom from mon
archical forms as inspired the pill
grims on the Mayfiower, and like
them, they have carved free state
from the wilderness and wrested
peace and happiness from the hos
tile natives who surrounded them.
1t is no wonder that they now
rise in armed resistance to foreign
interference which in its full frui-
ton means the loss of their free
dom and the subversion Of their
established government.
That they are excellent fighters,
even the English admit, and when
they are told that they are too
weak to cope with so formidable an
adversary, they point with pride to
Majuba Hill and say that it teaches
them they are not weak.
SO they stand, circied by their
mountainous defenses, calm and
unfinchlng, confident in their abil-
ity to defend the rich heritage
which their fathers carved from
the wilderness and purchased with
blood and treasure. The civilized
world awaits the issue. but with
less confidence, and it still hopes
for a peaceful solution.
The pardon of Dreyfus is the ex-
Z L