The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-11-12
bow Beers DARED uifb British.
AbogneSh Bankruptcy
British Protection Came Arrogance Leading
Revolt Ending in the Disaster Of Najuba HILL

and negotiated a loan for building
railroad from Delagoa bay to Pretoria.
He succeeded so far that he landed the
material but was unable to raise money
for laying the rails, and | think they
are still rusting in the Delagoa bay
marshes. The Transvaal republic was
unable to pay the interest on the loan
made by this Napoleonic president.
Worse than national bankruptcy was
the trouble on the borders. The native
tribes living adjacent to the Trans
vaal. becoming aware of the impover-
ished condition of the Beers. were
threatening to inundate the country.
This was inimical TO British interests.
for the natives once in possession of the
Transvaal republic and flushed with
victory over the uSurping white man.
would probably have attempted TO over
run Natal and the Cape Colony. In this
extremity a number of the influential
Beers signed a petition 10 the British
government asking for protection.
Nothing can more emphatically demon
strate the hopeless condition the. Beers
were in than this appeal of theirs to
the generosity of their hated enemy. |
am far from saying that England is
always actuated by purely unselfjSh
motives. and even in this instance her
philanthropy was not unaduHerated,
since her interests Were at stake; still
S4c COQiu easily nave lclS Tie DOCAS "
their fate and defended her own Dor
ders from native raids. She decided,
however to respond humanely TO the
Beers appeal. and sent a few troops,
who entered the TranSvaal without OPP
position and formally took IL under the
protection of the British flag in the
early part of 1871 do not remember
hearing a single dissentient opinion
among my Dutch acquaintance in
South Africa at the time of this an
nexation. The Beers living in the Cape
Colony. Orange Free States and Natal
were aware of the deplorable condition
their Transvaal friends were in and
considered England's act necessary
one.
Cause of Revolt.
The question, then, is: why did the
Beers subsequently revolt. when the
annexation took place at their express
wish?" As near as 1 can arrive at the
facts, it was due partly to the treach-
erouS ingratitude of the semi-civiliZed
Beers, and partly to the action of the
English officials sent to govern them.
These officials despised the Beers and
took no pains to hide their contempt:
For my part. 1 heartily sympathize
with the Boer in the position he then
found himself. The Boer has an intense
desire for freedom. He longs to feel
as unfettered as the springboks which
road over his untitled acres. The ques<
ton as TO whether the Boer is qualified
for such freedom, considering his pres
ent surroundings, is quite another mat
ter. The fact remains that he loves lib
erty-by this 1 mean his own personal.
unenterprising liberty-he is not inter-
ested in the liberty of anyone else. The
burghers, therefore, who signed the Pc
ttition asking England to annex them,
must have felt a gnawing at their heart
strings at the thought of again being
under British authority, which, to them,
meant degradation. Nothing but the
sense of the extreme urgency of their
case could have impelled them to this
step. Now, it seems to me, that this
fact should to some extent have been
considered by the officials sent by Eng
land to rule the Beers. and that their
conduct towards the Beers should have
been guided accordingly Quite the con-
trary appears to have been the case.
have been informed that the ex-presi-
dent of the Transvaal republic coming
on one occasion 70 interview one of the
English officials, had TO cool his heels in
the ante-room of the officials Office for
two hours, at the expiration OF which
he was told by a footman that the Brit
ish official found it inconvenient to see
him that day, and that he had better
call again the following week. If this
was the case, and am inclined to be-
lieve ii, il goes to show that no GUAM
tity of offfsial varnish no amount of
red tape, no number of high sounding
titles can effectually conceal the true
nature of an English lackey. The reader
will please understand that 1 am not
speaking of Englishmen in general
am abiding to English lackeys-titled
and untitled.
English to Blame.
1 repeat that the inccnsiderate con-
duct of the English officials at Pre-
toria towards the Beers FASTENED the
events of 1SS0-1. though / am not at
all sure that the revolt of the Beers
would not. in time. have taken place
anyhow. Let us look for a moment at
the circumstances in the case. England
had paid the TransvaaPS- debts. she had
relieved them from Immediate alarm
of a native invasion; she had given
commercial prosperity to the country.
Under these new and prosperous con-
ditions many Beers from the surround
ing countries joined their Transvaal