The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-02-02

without the condition as to the dropp-
ing OF the suZerainty claim.
A the government OF the South At
rican republic attached a vital import
ance to this condition, in view OF main
tanning its international status. it re-
fused to accept the proposal in this
form- 1t, however, reverted to the in
yitation for a joint inquiry, which il
agreed TO accept, but the British gov
eminent replied that Ii was too late.
n that as a matter of fact il no long
er adhered TO the invitation" Mr..
Reitz maintains that the British gov
rnme was determined not to aban-
don its pretension to s~uzerainty over
the T~ransvaal, and was prepared TO
make war with the South African re-
public over that issue.
Fol the British IL is claimed by Earl
Grey that 1.-The demands presented by
Sir Alfred Miner as the minimum of
OF what he would recommend the Out
landers to accept, were regarded as
most reasonable and Just. and as err
ing, II they erred at all, or the side of
moderation" He contends that re
peated and dishonest attempts were
made by President Kruger to throw
dust in the eyes of the public by offer
ing ilusory concessions, and although
the British negotiators perserver TO
the end in their efforts to reach a set
tlement which might be regarded as
a fair compromise between the pre-
tentionS of the Beers and the claims of
the Outlanders, ii was realized at
length that their ask from the first
had been hopeless. Negotiations were
finally brought to a close by President
Kruger, who hurled in the face OF
Great Britain an ultimatum, which
was followed up by the invasion of
British territories on three frontiers
OF the Transvaal and by proclamations
purporting to annex vast areas of the
Queens dominions to the Dutch repub-
lic."
HAD NO RIGHT TO INTERFERE.
Mr.. Bryce does not agree with Earl
Grey. That which caused the war;"
he holds, was the discussion of a mat
ter which was admittedly not a griev-
ance for the redress of which Great
Britain had any right to interfere, and
which, therefore, could not possibly
amount to a casus bell. This matter
was the length of time which should
elapse before the new immigrants into
the TranSvaal could be admitted to
citizenship matter which was entire
iy within the discretion of the Trans
vaal legislature. In the course of this
discussion the British ministry used
language which led the Transvaal peo-
piS ~ llcI liz = oSNSiA ~
ed to force the Boer government to
comply with their demands, and they
followed up their dispatches by send
ing troops from England to South AZ
RIGA.
1.-The Beers very naturally felt that
if they remained quiet until the Brit
ish forces had been raised to a strength
they could not hope to resist they would
lose the only military advantage they
nnScnCCn1 knonr1ino r. Uhan thaU
knew the reserves were being called
put in England, and that an army corps
was to be sent to South Africa, they
declared a having been previously
convinced, rightly or wrongly, that the
British government a resolved to
coerce them
AS to the alleged grievances of the
Outlanders. DR.. F. V. E~ngelenburg,
editor of the Pretoria Volksstem, puts
the issue in a most practical form. 1T
should not be forgotten he writes.
that from the earliest days of the gold
fields the Outlanders knew that the
South African republic was an oil
garchy;' they knew that the Beers were
'i~lliterate,' stupid ignorant and a
great deal more besides; they knew
that an:dynamite monopoly existed and
that president Kruger was a hard
nut to crack Notwithstanding this
knowledge, Outlanders have locked in
by thousands and foreign capital has
been invested amounting to several
hundred million pounds sterling.
During the first five months of 1899
Transvaal gold and other companies
were registered at Johannesburg with
a combined capital of over $4,000, 600.
In July last, in the midst of the crisis,
five new companies were registered,
with a capital of S., $50, 900. And Of all
OutlanderS only a section of the Brit
ish subjects are dissatisfied. Notwlth-
standing that the oppression OF the
T~ranSvaal 'oligarchy' has been told
and retold until the world has become
sick and weary, immigrants have con-
tinued to pour in from all quarters OF
the globe"
PRETEXT FOR INTERVENTION.
The Beers believe that the grievances
of the Outlanders were simply a pre-
text for British Intervention. They
are convinced that the real purpose OF
Britain's interference is the destruction
of republican institutions in South At
RIGA and the creation of a vast African
empire. They deny the right of the
British government to ave a voice in
the internal affairs of the Transvaal
republic. They contend that the Brit
ish government, in the convention OF
1884, formally ~renounced suzerainty
over the republic, n they maintain
that their republic is a sovereign pow
er and an international pc wer, which
has the right to make laws for itself
to regulate the franchise or laws Of
any other kind which DO not infringe
upon the civil rights OF any inhabitants
of the Transvaal. To give all Outland-
ers the franchise and proportionate
representation in the Volksraad would
be equivalent to putting the govern
ment of the Transvaal into the hands
of the immigrants. They believed the
British government was determined
to secure control either by the votes of
the Outlanders or by a wal to enforce
it's p%retention that it possessed suzer-