Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1900-01-31
THE BRITISH AND THE BOERS


Times: The letters of all the Boer
advocates display almost total iguor
ance of facts. They all assume that
the ground of quarrel between the
British and the Beers is over the
question whether Britons and Amer
leans should have the right of natu
ralization In the Transvaal without re
nouncing their allegiance TO Great
Britain or America. This is simply
not true.
The whole foundation for the story
rs that the Orange Free State having,
Of IT. own accord. and without the
slightest pressure, granted this priv
lrge, the British Government request
ed the Transvaal TO do the same. and
that some argument was necessary to
persuade Paul Kruger u Weld upon
this point But he did WELD. long
before the slightest threat Of force
Vas made; aud there has never been
any Issue upon this point since be
welded; because il was theunauimou,
~ish of ali the people Of Dutch origin
IN South Africa outside Of he Trans
Vaal, and Of many of them inside the
Irausvaal, that this point should be-
conceded. The war has not. aud
never has had, anything to do with
this question.
These correspondents next assume
that the war has been waged >olrl,
over the question whether foreigner,
should b- naturalizrd, either In five
years or ia seven wears. This. also. +,
not true. Ia substance. 1t is not
even rue that the war has arisea o,rr
the question IF naturalization a. all.
The real cause Of the difficulty Wa
the gross injustice. insolrucr, corrup
tion, and oppression with which th,
BOer Government treated all for
riguers.
The British representatives cam,
10 the conclusion that. instead of De-
handing redress in detail for all IN.
scores of wrongs committed bv th.
Boer Government. and the preventio,
of many similar acts in the future. !,
would be better to accept com
promise, hy which the Outlander,.
constituting two thirds Of all th,
residents in the TranSvaal. should be
allowed to elect one fourth Of its
Legislature.
Under tremendous pressure from
his Dutch neighbors Paul Kruger
sullenly conceded something of this
kind in form. but persisted to a.,
last in reserving 10 himself AN absu
lutte right to interpoSe veto upon al
naturalizatiOns, and also to SO tix up
the representation that the Outlauj
crS should have no chance to elect So
much as one eighth of the LesisM
ture and no certainty of electing any
When asked to enter into a confer
ence for the purpose of settling th,
details of his pretended reforms. b,
first llatly refused; and then, under
great pressure from his fellow Dutch-
men, he offered To agree to confer
ence. provided Great Britain would
supulate never to ask anything NOR,
of him as long AS the world stood
This was obviously absurd. Neither
Great Britain nor the United States
OF America would ever make such d
stipulation with any power on the
globe; nor ought they to do so.
Some of your correspondents IN
dertake to defend the action of tn,
BOer Government toward the sixt,
Ontlanders, including six Americans
who were convicted in 1886 Of having
MANNED an insurrection, although
they had all tried to stop the Jane
son raid. There is hardly student
of criminal law who does not know
that their statement of law is entirely
incorrect.
Take, first your Irish correSpon
q nts, who tiercely declare that if the
Outlanders had been convicted of the
same offenSe in Great Britain. they
would have been hanged or blown
from the mouths of guns. The SIM
pie answer to this is that TIE same
oifense has been repeatedly commit
ted in Great Britain and Ireland dur
ing the last fifty years; that MANY
persons have been convicted, and
that not in single instance was even