The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-21
THE TRANsVAAL's REPRESENTA-
TIVE.


The speech Of Senator Hale in the SEN
ate on Friday, on the amendment to Sen
ator Aliens resolution calling for informa-
ton from the Secretary of State as to
whether recognition Of Representatives of
the Transvaal republic had been refused
| by this country, is calculated to create a
rather painful impression in England.
! Only recently Mr.. Balfour, the leader Of
the Conservatives in the House of Com
mons, in a notable speech, said that the
! war in South Africa had served to tighten
! the bonds of friendship of English-speak-
! ing peoples the world over If Senator
| Hale is well informed the English sta5es-
man is mistaken. The Senator is of the
| opinion that at least nine-tenths of the
people of this country are in sympathy
with the Beers. His statement passed I'M
| challenged in the Senate. That is pretty
| good evidence that the sympathy in that
body with the British in the South Afri-
| can war is not very great. 1t is worthy
of notice that while meetings have been
held in many parts Of the country for the
purpose of expressing sympathy for the
Beers there have been no such meetings to
| say kind word for the British
There is no doubt that the people of this
| country are in sympathy with the Beers.
There are two reasons for this One IS
that the Beers are fighting for their in
dependence, and 1t is but natural that the
sympathles of the American people should
be on the side of those struggling for lib
| erty. The other is that the Beers are the
weaker party Two small republics, con-
tanning population of not more than 300,
900, are resisting the greatest empire in the
| world and they are showing such pluck,
determination and soldierly qualities that
| they are commanding the admiration of all
| civilized peoples
II is not known whether the administra-
| ton sympathizes with the British or the
| Beers. 1t has to look out for the interests
of the country. The people are free 30
| think and talk as they please, but the ad-
| miuistration is not. If it should make
mistake and involve the country in cost
| ly war, The party it represents would be
| driven from power very quickly The
people, while reserving to themselves the
right to sympathize with nations in trou-
| BILE, do not permit that privilege to the
administration. They depend upon it to
guide the ship of state safely through dan
gerous channels, and they do not hesitate
to punish it if it proves itself unequal to
the responsibilities resting upon it.
1t is supposed that Senator Aliens res
olution aud Senator Hales speech had
some reference to Mr. Montagu White
who, it is understood Is in this country
as the representative of the Transvaal
republic He was the consul of that-re-
public in London. Whether he is here
| as a consular agent or in a diplomatic ca
pacity is not yet known, as he has not
sought an audience with the Secretary of
| State.
The department. of state refused to re
| ceive Gen. O'Beirne as the diplomatic agent
of the Transvaal republic on the ground
| that he was a citizen of this country That
reason seemed to be very generally eatis-
factory Mr. White, however, is citizen
of the Transvaal, aud is understood to be
well qualified to represent his country in
any position in which his services may be
needed
If il is his mission to get the President
TO express his sympathy for the Beers in
their efforts 10 secure their independence,
or to ask him to intervene in the South
African war with the view of bringing it
to an end, he win not meet with any sue
cess. For the President to take position
in favor of the Beers or to offer to inter-
veue in the war without knowing that
such an offer would be acceptable to the
British government. would provoke trouble
between this country and Great Britain.
Senator Hale in his sensational speech,
said that he did not wish to bring about
| international complications and did not
desire war. 1t is hardly probable there
fore that he wishes the administration TO
take any steps that would be regarded by
Great Britain as unfrlendly,