The Portland daily press., 1899-09-01


Prof. Goodwin Smith writes to thu
Farmers sun in strong condemnation of
England's proposed Interference In the
Transvaal He says;
We have no more moral right to deprive
them OF their Independence than the
Americans had right to deprive Of their
Independence the Unitsd Empire Loyaiist
exiles who settled here. This is the fun
damental fact. and combined with IL is
the fact that the real object OF those who
are pushing the empire TO extreme meas
ures is control Of the Johannesburg
gold. III the Boeers have violated treaty
arrangements, let the arrangements be
enforced. II, as is now alleged, they
maltreat the native tribes, let the native
tribes be protected, though IL may be
delioately limited that our own punitive
expeditions are not exactly missions OF
mercy. Allowance must be made for the
natural unwiilingneas of these farmers
to be swamped by alien gold seekers and
hnanciers In the home which they have
made for themselves. We may at any
rate, without breach Of loyalty TO the en-
pire, desire that in the conduct of this
matter the spirit OF Lord Salisbury may
prevail over that of MIR. Chamberlain,
and that We may not without clear
cause have the blood Of the Beers on our
heads. The idea that the earth is given
by heaven to the Apgl0-Saxon and that
he has right to lay his hands ON any.
thing that he chooses, for the extension
of his peculiar civilization. may lose
something perhaps of It's charm since We
have seen the caricature Of It over the
way. Great Britain, it is said, is dis
interested, she would draw no tribute
from the Transvaal. Her detractors are
sometimes surprised at being told that
she does not draw nor has ever drawn a
cent of tribute from any of her Dependent
cies. All other imperial powers have
drawn tribute; Great Britain has drawn
none. What is more, 1t lie extremely
doubtful whether the commercial advant-
ages which she has derived from any one
of them, even from India, has repaid the
cost OF acquisition and retention. In the
case Of India, 1t Is difficult to strike the
balance, but the Crimean war, the virtual
object OF which WAS to guard the ap.
proaoh to India, must be sst uown on the
wrong side of the account. From the an
nexation OF the Transvaal there will be
no profit; but 1t will go to Messrs. Cecil
Rhodes Co. Great Britain will he left
with a dependency on her hands which,
as the Beers cannot be exterminated, will
TEEN with the seeds Of future trouble.
Some day the British people will begin to
ask whether this game. grand though 1t
may be, is worth the candle. In Aus
tralasia and in cur Northwest there is
abundant room for the surplus population
of Great Britain. which, there being no
financial profit, is the only substantial
object of imperial expansion.
Doubtless Prof. Smith let's out the
true inwardness of the Transvaal enter
prise. Disguised though 1t be with pre-
fences that 1t is for the purpose of right
ing wrongs. 1t is in reality a movement
to seize the Trarsvaal and make
1t dependency of Great
Britain. Two years ago 1t would have
met with almost universal condemnation
In this country, and the newspapers
would have teemed with denunciations Of
John Bulls rapacious spirit. But things
have changed. and the enterprise is gen.
orally commended now as gin the interest
of humanity and civilization.