The times., 1899-07-06
THE TRANSyAAL QUESTION.
Origin OF the Present State of Af-
fairs in south Africa.


(From the New York Tribune)
No proper understanding of the present
situation in the Transvaal can be ATTAINED
without taking into consideration the his
tory of South Africa since its occupation
by the British. The Dutch made settle
ments on the Cape in the seventeenth CEN
tury; the first English settlers Joined the
earlier white inhabitants in 1895; the
British Government captured the territory
by force of arms in 1906. and the Cape of
Good Hope became definitely a colony OF
the British Crown in 1914. The white
population then consisted largely of men
of Dutch descent. though with a considera-
BILE admixture of Huguenot blood. English
immigration followed British sovereignty,
and in 1920 not less than 1000 British
colonists arrived at the Cape.
Meanwhile the Beers. as the Dutch set
tiers were called, resented the autocratic
rule of the British. and were especially in
censed at the interference made with their
right" to enslave the negro races. The
emancipation of slavery in the colony in
1894 was the cause of the Great Trek,
or exodus. of 1886. which led to the forma-
tion of Natal, the Orange Free State and
the Transvaal One grievance OF the Beers
was that when slavery was abolished the
slave owners received as compensation or
ders on London which they were COM
practically impoverishing them. Another
was that by order OF the Government they
were Obliged to surrender certain valua-
BILE lands on the Kei River, which had
been annexed In rage and disgust the
Beers began to go north and east into
the wilderness. Those who went north
across the Vaal River were practically un-
molested by the English. They were,
however, still claimed as British subjects,
ba nf
the colony issued proclamation TO that
effect.
In 1S4S, after quelling native uprising
beyond the Orange River. the Cape Gov
ernment formally annexed the territory
between the Orange and the Vaal under
the name of the Orange River Sovereignty
To accomplish this pacifcation the Gov
ernment became involved in conflict with
the Beers of the Orange district, who were
Joined by the farmers from beyond the
Vaal under the redoubtable Andries Pre-
torius.
A Kafiir war being then in progress, Pre-
torius took advantage OF the predicament
OF the British and proposed permanent
pacific settlement" and on January 16
1852, received from the Crown officers
guarantee that the farmers north OF the
Vaal had ''the right to manage their own
affairs and to govern themselves according
on the part of the British Government"
Two years later, at convention signed at
Bloemfontein, Great Britain also repudiat
ed sovereignty over the Orange territory.
Such was the origin of these two Boer
States, together containing about 1000
adult males. Under enlightened govern
ments the Orange Free State prospered.
Such was not the case in the Transvaal
for within its borders there were at least
IaI ota
ereign power. Finally one of these rose
above the others, and in 1858 the Volks-
raad passed the "Gronwet." or fundamental
law. which is still nominally the consti-
tuition OF the country. But it was not un-
til 1864 that all the Beers north OF the
Vaal agreed recognize NJ. W. Pretor-
ius, son of Andres, as the head of the
State. The white population there num-
bered about thirty thousand. Wars with
the large native population were fire.
cCeEt, the Boers refused to pay taxes, their
paper money was worth about one-fourth
Of It's face value, and the country was going
from bad to worse.
In 1876 matters came to crisis which
led to the Intervention OF the British Gov
ernment in Transvaal affairs and finally
to the annexation of that State on April
2, 1877. 1t came about in this way The
weakened and disorganized republic was
hemmed in by Kaffirs on the north and
Zulus on the south, and not only in danger
of determination itself, but. by failing to
repel the common foe of white men, be-
came a menace to every civilized COM
munity in South Africa
1t was then that the British Govern
ment sent Sir Theophilus Shepstone as
special commissioner to territories ad-
joining the colony of Natal to enquire
into the recent disturbances. He was en-
powered in certain events to exercise the
Jurisdiction of Her Majesty over such ter
ritories or some of them" On his arrival
at Pretoria he explained to the Executive
Council of the Transvaal that his mission
was to confer with the Government and
people of the Transvaal with the object CT
Initiating a new state of things which
would guarantee security for the future
After three months enquiry the COmmis
sioner became convinced that the only
method of effectually bringing safety 10
the Beers and of protecting British inter
ests in the other colonies was by annex
ing it to Great Britain, and he issued
proclamation to that effect The majority
OF the people readily accepted annexation
as affording protection against savage foes
that threatened them with annihilation.
OF the Executive Council only President
Burgers and Paul Kruger entered a pro-
test and refused to serve under the new
form OF government.
AS Sir Theophilus Shepstone entered the
Transvaal with only twenty-five Natal
mounted police TO back up his authority,
il cannot be said that he annexed the
country by force of arms. But he has been
blamed for too precipitate action, for had
he waited two or three months more the
Beers would undoubtedly have been COM
PEELED to seek British protection. His step
tf,a hafr
absorbed by Germany or some other Eu-
ropean power; but when little aid came
from the British, the former slight Op-
position to annexation became real Paul
Kruger went to England to protest, while
memorial protesting against this pro-
test and signed by many Beers. was also
sent to London. Kruger's protest was re-
jected and the Home Government was now
definitely pledged to maintain her author
ity in the country and to see that the prom
ises of local self government were full
filled.
The outbreak OF the Zulu war in 1877
kept the hands of the authorities full and
in part at least. prevented them from car
rying out the promised reforms. The
Beers complained at this neglect, especial
ly as the British Government had failed
to give them protection against the Zulus
This had been one of the chief reasons
Tor accepting dhleAattoh' "a SSNOHH uePu-
tatfon, consisting of Paul Kruger and p.
| ,Joubert. went to England to protest
again. Meantime many OF the Beers were
serving against the Zulus. and fully half
of the population were still in favor of
British rule The Government assured
Kruger and Joubert that it was impossi-
BILE to withdraw the Queens sovereignty
| from the Transvaal. This was in 1873.
Soon after the return of these delegates
Sir Bartle Frere proceeded to Pretoria. He
reported that many loyal Beers claimed