Washington sentinel., 1899-09-16

WHAT LEAD TO THE THREAT OF WAR
NTHE TRANsvAAL,
In 1895 the British took possession of
the Cape country; it was restored to the
Dutch in 1903, and England again, and
finally, took possession in 1906
The Dutch French colonists quar-.
relied with the english continually, and
numb rs Of them "trekked" or tracked
northward in search Of farming lands
Their first settlements were IN Natal
but from there also the English drove
them, and then they "trekked" into the
Transvaal, where, on an unpromising
upland, 8 600 feet alb We the sea level,
they became Boers-"farmers." There
they hoped the British would leave them
alone, and their hopes might have been
realized. had not the discovery Of gold
been made there in 1866
Prior TO that time, in 1852 the English
had sckuO Owledged the independence Of
the Transvaal, the South African Repub
lie In 1854 the Orange Free States
were also declared independent, but bv
bo treaties and conventions England
retained suzerainty.
There was trouble IN 1881 when a
force of British was repused at Majuba
Hill, the incident leading to a revision
OF the convention in that year and again
IN 1884 1t is the latter which defines
the degree of su hority reserved by
England under its suzeraIuty, and the
con entions over which are involved in
the present trouble. By its terms the
South AirIc n Republic has full powers
to make and amend it's constitutions
and administer its internal affairs. but
IS prohibited from making any treatV
save with its neighbor, the Orange Free
Staies, without the consent OF the Queen.
By this time British, Americans,
Germans and French were 20 urins into
the gold country, and Johannesburg
began To- take on The size and character
of an American mining town This
annoyed the Beers, but their thrift did
not desert them. and although they
avoided mining and stuck to their arms
they found many means to derive
national revenue from the CutIanders.
The Government under President
Kruger levied transport duties, stamp
taxes, license fees, franchise costs,
customs and monopoly charges on such
a mining necessity as dynamite.
The British in the country appealed
to London, and London appealed to
| Pretoria, but there was no redress BY
1896 the Outlanders we're paying to the
Boer government revenue oi S., ooo, 900
annually, which consis' ed almost
entirely OF tax on mining.
Then a number of prominent Engl sh
| and American miners formed IN Tohan-
nesburR what has passed into history as
the National Reform Union Committee.
| Of which Lionel Phillips was Chairman
and John Hay Hammond. an American,
an officer. They were in communica-
tlon with Cecil Rhodes, resident direc-
tor OF the British South Africa Com Jany,
aud Leander Starr Jameson, k lown as
"Dr Jim
What happened IS OF too recent occur
renee and too sensational to have passed
from the me Emory OF readers.
The first battle Of the Jameson raid
occurred at KrugeTsdorp on Jan 7, 1896
the second at Doornkop the day follow
ing, when Iameson's already defeated
raiders were all captured by the Beers.
AS to the composition and purpose OF the
raiders no better evidence can bequoted
than that given by one OF the raiders
Capt. Thatcher, and cabed to the
Worla on Jan G8:
I'VE were 600 strong. Besides, there
were 100 Kafirs. There were three
wagons, eight Maxim and three Whit
worth Guns. We knew what we were
going to do. It is all rubbish about oui
thinking We were going to fight natives.
Somebody blundered," wrote the
English poet laureate.
President Kruger turned over the
raiders to the British Government, which
sentenced Jameson to fifteen months il
Jail and some a his officers to shorter
terms, alter making them the heroes o
London tor weeks.
Kruger arrested hundreds OF Outland
srs in Johannesburg on the charge o
treason, and upon trial four wer