Abilene weekly reflector., 1899-09-21

frAncnlse isw. but said be believed
way should and could be found to q
: tsblish an arbitration court. As I
suzerainty, the least said the soones
mended, remarked the state secretary
{ In the forecasts Of President Kru
gers reply there is undoubtedly larg'
basis of truth which seems to bring ths
dispute within q measurable distance
Of war.
. Last evening the press association
issued curious statement to the effec
that as soon as the garrison in Nata
} had been sufficiently strengthened thu
Transvaal government would be called
upon to accept new convention, al
ready drafted, which, while guarantee
ing the integrity Of the Transvaa
state, provides for the demolition OF
the forts and limits the armed force oil
the Transvaal to number deemed suf.
ficient to maintain internal order.
According to the press association,
the convention will demand that the
diplomatic agencies be suppressed and
the judiciary be made independent Of
the executive.
This statement, which realizes the
extreme demands OF the Outlanders
must be accepted under reserve at the
present stage, but it is not unlikely to
be semi-otticial hint as to the next
move Of the government should Presi-
dent Kruger prove obdurate.
The morning paper editorials regard
the crisis as having reached its most
acute phase. The Daily News says:
"We refuse to believe that Presi dent
Kruger is so foolish as to reject Mr..
Chamberlain's moderate demands"
The Daily Chronicle, which appeals
again to Mr.. Kruger "to accept while
it is yet time and before England's
terms become harder" says: "A re-
fusal of the present terms will involve
the ruin of the state over which Presi-
dent Kruger presides. The British
government have placed their first and
second moves in the game and must
perforce play the third and then the
fourth. If Mr.. Kruger haggles the sin
ster conditions in South Africa will
grow worse until catastrophe is
reached"
Other papers talk Of the imminence
of war, and all the dispatches from
South Africa continue to describe the
military preparations on both sides.
The Pretoria correspondent of the
Daily Chronicle says: "The Beers assert
that Mr.. Conyngham Greene, British
diplomatic agent at Pretoria, knew it
was their intention to adopt the atti-
tude they have regarding suzerainty
and that he tacitly encouraged them as
the documents show His 4S-hour de-
uand and the string Of blue book in
nuendoes for which he and Sir Alfred
Miner are responsible have produced
an official atmosphere in which any
thing is possible. At the same time
Mr.. Hofmeyr and practically every
member Of the Cape Afrikander party
have wired, urging acceptance Of the
British demands
The Pretoria correspondent OF the
Times, in his forecast of the Trans
walls reply, declares that the Beers
lay stress on the seven-year franchise
law, though offering to consider Brit
ish suggestions as to its working and
for the rest take their stand upon the
London convention.
The Times says: "We cannot believe
that President Kruger will reject the
latest proposals of the government and
~s would remind him that even Mr.,
morley mas iiuoroou U,e 49,, w. $780,
chise and urged him to accept the Cape
Town conference"
The Pretoria correspondent of the
Guardian, telegraphing
Friday, says: "The situation has be-
come extremely grave. The material
changes in the draft Of the reply deliv-
cred to Mr.. Greene yesterday are due
10 representations from Bloemfontein
md the disposition Of the volksraad."
A SUMMARY OF THE REPLY.
London, Sept. 16.-A dispatch gives
what purports to be a summary
If the rel.y. which is similar to the
other forecasts, concluding as follows
THE Transvaal feels at liberty to de-
part from the joint inquiry, which she
in the bona fde belief that it
would lead to a final settlement"
The correspondent adds: Both the
PRESIDENT and the executive council are
irmly convinced that no fnality is in
ended and that further concessions
would only postpone the struggle.
rhe Transvaal regards herself as
ricked into proposal by Mr.. Cham
'erlain. The Orange Free State will
certainly stand by the Transvaal."
London, Sept. lS.--The Morning Post
says: 1.-THE Beers mean to fight. That
is the plain English Of It,"
The Standard says: "The Transvaal
note is unsatisfactory and, indeed, a
dangerous composition. 1t might be
going too far to say that the last hope
'fpeace has vanished or that diplomacy
nas said its final word. but v is idle to
IS OF THE TRANSVAAL AND