The Forrest City times., 1900-03-23
FORREST CITY, ARK, AFTERNOON, MARCH 23 soo
BRITAIN AND THE BOERs.
The British Side of inc w.r ,n south Africn Presented by
 Prof. W. ID. Mackenzie.

ot. Louis, March 21..At a mass meeting, called to raise funds for the widows and orphans of "Tommy At. k-ns,' the Absent Minded Beggar'' Who IS fighting his country's battles m south Africa, held in this city, Mon- day night, Prof. w. Douglass Mac ken7ie, of Chicago, who has spent some time in the Orange Free State. presented the British side of the COD. troNersy. He said in part:
 he claim of the Boers that they are
 lsEtlng for freedom and independence IS superficial. The Transvaal is at war be- Gause II refused to become a republic; enat the Transvaal live up to it's claim ana be the republic that it claims to be T, rhe nations of Europe who are against England in this struggle are the same tha- were against this country durinr the war with Spain. People who throug ..he streets at Paris and cheer every Brit uisappointed when they heard the news or the American victory at Manila.
 England advent in the Transvaal will not not De the means of depriving people of ameir homes, as some people claim. throughout her history, England has made homes the world over, and not de- siireyec sir them: some say that Great Brit- that when this war is over England will nave much less gold than she had when M she went into this struggle. England did not start this war for the purpose of gaining gold or for any other gain, or to tax the people of the Transvaal England mas been busy forgetting how to tax col onies ever since l776: Some years ago Kru- ger tried to subsidize the Orange Free Sia,c s,ns oos and offered to pay to the state the state refused nffar fall ger that such an action would mean war With England. The next year the gov ernor died, and Kruger immediately made the same proposition to his successor who accepted the offer. The man who signed the treaty with Kruger is the same man who signed the ultimatum that dragged England into the war in South Africa.
 England has not asserted any rights Tn the TranSvaal other than those which peiong to neighboring governments for the protection of it's subjects. You have been told how the Boers were intimidated into signing treaty which annexed them to England in 1852. When this treaty was signed there was not British soldier in the country. Later the Boers were given sei1-goyernment. and their government deeayed in few years. and they showed that they could not maintain govern ment at that time. They were at the mercy of the savage tribes that infested their borders, and England again had to come to the rescue of the people and save them from extermination. The En- glish colonial minister and the president Of the Boer republic together drafted the annexation papers. In 1881 self-govern- ment was again granted the Boers and this government. which they have mis- used since that time, was voluntarily granted to them by Great Britain.
 Great Britains only object in the Transvaal is to secure just treatment for her subjects and when she secures it for them she secures 1t for all other subjects When President Kruger was asked by Sir Evelyn Wood if all Englishmen settling in the Transvaal would be granted the same rights the burghers. he was told that they would be allowed the same priv ileges as the subjects of the Boer govern ment. How that promise was kept you all know. Englishman and others are talked for everything, but they are not al lowed to say how the money shall be spent. They are not benefited by it: thev have asked to be allowed a voice in the government but their requests have been refused.
 England asked the same thing and met with a like refusal. She asks no lotger; she demands now, and she will see that all have equal rights