Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1899-10-11
ENGLAND'S RIGHTS IN THE
TRANSVAAL.


contains brief but very enlighten-
ing article upon "'rhe Relation of
England to the TransyaaP from the
pen of Mr.. James Gustavus Whiteley.
of Baltimore, Il gentleman who has
devoted himself to the study of diplo-
macy and international law The
reading of this article viii strengthen
the feeling of those Americans-and
they comprise doubtless the great
body of all our people-whoSe in
stinctive sympathy is with the Beers
IN their impending struggle with the
mighty power of Great Britain.
/ Whatever may be said from the point
of view of the resistless rush Of mod
ern wealth seeking activity -''mani-
fest destiny" >" if you please, but on a
low plaue-uo right minded man can
fail 70 share the feeling of the sturdy
farmers who form the far off Dutch
Republic Of Africa. in their anxiety
to preserve the simple institutions
and simple mode of life which they
have always cherished and which
they -re "on'r1 to en end through
the iHiluN ni horde of foreign gold
hunters. Nrvsrthelrss. IL has seemed
impoSsihle to deny the realty Of the
Outlauders' grievances: und English
writers have kept constantly TO the
front on the one haud the practical
inposSihiity of the attainment bv
! Ouflsndrr> full citizenship, and, on
the other hand. the right of England,
IN its capacity as "suzerain" of he
Trausvaal. 70 secure change in the
conditions objected lo
OF late. however, /, has been vico-
rously pointed out that these English
( OutlanderS DO not, for the most part.
wish to become bona ide citizens of
the TransvaM Republic, but wish to
have the privileges of such citizens
while remaining essentially English
as before; and the doubtfulness of
Great Britain's claim to right of
interference in the matter in anv
event has also been dwelt upon. On
both these aspects of the case, and
especially on the latter, Mr.. White
ley's article throws useful light The
object which jameson tried to effect
by force" he says, 1.-the Outlanders
are now trying to achieve by more
pacific means. They demand that
the franchise for the first Raad be
made more accessible. and that the
seats be so distributed as to give the
mining districts larger representation.
To grant this would be simply. as
Major O'Gorman once said IN the
House of Commons, 'to open the door
to the thin edge of the wedge The
Beers can no longer trek into the
interior. They stand at bay. If they
wish to preserve their institutions
they must take precautions to pre-
serve the franchise from the grasp of
foreign and transient 'diggers, whose
principal stake in the country is the
gold they can get ont of it. There
may be few Outlanders who really
intend to live permanently in South
Africa; but, in general, they are birds
of passage Mining camps are not,
In any country, usually considered AS
sources of political wisdom. More
over, dark suspicion haunts the
BoeriSh mind. To what base uses
may not these miners be put: The
mines are controlled by few large
corporations. Why may not the cor
pofatlons control the votes of the
miners and thus control the State it.
self? The Beers have no desire to
hand over the country to the British
South African Company"
AS to the international status of
the Transvaal, il is admitted on all
sides that it is not an absolutely SOW
ereign State-it is semi-sovereign
State. But this term, rs Mr. White
ley says, may mean anything from al
most absolute sovereignty to almost
absolute dependence. In the case of
the Transvaal, the degree of depen-
dence is defined by the Convention of
London, which was made IN 1884.
and which supersededed the Conven-
tion of Pretoria, made three years
earlier. BY the Convention of Pre-
toria. the British Governmant bad
| been granted 81 nun her of most IN,