The Irish standard., 1900-02-17

Jewels in its hills and such war can
not be approved by the people of this
country. That little nation that is fight
ing for the right cannot be subdued;
but if the nations OF the world do not
cast their vote in the balance the
struggle must end with the strong in
the end. England should not have the
sympathy OF this country in this war OF
determination AS l have said, have
always stood for the weak against the
strong, and so will l continue to stand
when l have been counted in as
mayor" Continued applause.)
Rev. ]. II. B. Smith, who spent
some years in the Transvaal and who
knows the Beers intimately, gave one
OF the most interesting talks OF the
evening 81 have enjoyed the hospital
ity OF the Beers" he said, "and know
something OF them. All this people
ask is to be let alone and be permitted
to do as we are doing. England is
paying them wonderful tribute when
she is sending i'll 100000 men and all
of her best men and generals. In this
country she is using the press to show
herself up in good light and to mis-
represent the Beers. We are getting
our news and facts with an English
coloring, and we should discount every
thing we read about the Beers. l am
sorry to have to speak against Eng
land, for l love her, but some of her
best men arc speaking against her to-
day. (Applause)
You hear a great many untrutlls
about the Beers; you will hear they are
a cruel people, cruel to their families
That is downright lie. You will hear
that they are filthy people, and that
is another lie Their floors are as clean
and polished as hardwood floors, and
one could almost eat off them. They
are charged with mistreating the ma.
tives, and l don't stand with them or
that, but they are misrepresented ii
this, too. They have had terrible his
tory with the natives, and their treat
nent of them is to be favorably com
pared with our treatment of our In
dams. The trouble is over the mines
In Kimberley half dozen men rur
things, headed by Cecil Rhodes. TIL,
natives are in a sort of slavery. If 20,
want to know about the rights of tlli
thing, ask where the other Uitlander
besides the English are, and you will
find most OF them on the side of til,
Beers.
My sympathies are thoroughly will
the Beers in this fight l love Eng
land, and my heart is filled with sor
row as l see her now Half dozen me,
selflshly hurried her into war, mad nov
she is humbled before the nations. The
Beers can never be conquered. The,
have been compelled to trek and fgh
Tor years for their liberties, and they
have not secured them. They may bt
killed, but they cannot be conquered.
c. 0. Baldwin gave an interesting
sketch of the history leading UP to til,
present struggle. He showed by tina
history that England's claim of a RICH
to dictate to this people has never ex
listed, and that she has not claimed i
for years. 1t is England's greed fol
gold that has brought this on, for she
did not discover that she had any claim
in the Transvaal until the discovery Of
gold. MIR. Baldwin showed that the
matters at issue between the Beers and
British, matters of local government
and suffrage, etc, are all reasonable de-
mands on the part OF the Beers. They
ask no more than this country does Of
chose ioreign-born peoples who come
here. They are required to live here a
stated time before voting, non-voters
are not allowed on juries, the home
language is taught in the schools, non
voters are taxed and kept out Of office
All of these things are among the prin-
cipal objections of England. They are
lighting for the same things that we
ought for from Lexington to York
town. Liberty is to-day pouring GU,
its last libations OF blood from the bo-
som OF many a Boer on the plains Of
South Africa.
The collection was taken up at this
point, and about $500 was raised for the
Boer Red Cross fund. c. E. Lovett
was the next speaker, and he said he
was glad to be able to say word for
this struggling people He had had
three ancestors who had fought in the
revolution against the same power, and
he synlpathized with the sturdy Beers
who are fighting for freedom. HI
called attention to a distinction. 1t is
claimed that when the British fight in
the Transvaal against taxation with
out representation they are doing wha1
our ancestors did. 1t should be re,
membered that the colonists were sub
jects OF Great Britain and entitled tc
representation, while the British in AT
RIGA are merely Outlanders. AS to suf
iragc, is the United States asking thu
right for her citizens there? He die
not believe that even the might o
| Cr..,, p,;.,;,, could cooouer 4 Deoo1,