The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-01-14

statistics That Serm 70 Refute the British
War Party's Arguments.

Ons q the reasons In justification q tie war
with the TransyaAl which have been put forward
by Joseph Chamberlain and other members OF
The British Government ard by the war press in
England Is, that for nearly eighteen years tie
BoeIs had been hCcum llatirg artillery, rifles,
mclinite and German and ilG sldar officers to
Dust England from South Africa. The ,~N.stence
Of a conspiracy was alleged, the motive Of which
was the establishment Of the United States Of
South Africa, To include all the States and colonies
south Of the Zambesi, and the ornaments de-
scribed were represented as part e! the prepars-
tons toward the attainment Of that object All
this has been cont addicted b. the opponents u
the war, and they have challenged those who
advocated It to produce the proofs Of what they
assert But beyond vague statements attributed
10 missionaries and travellers not named. not a sin
gle item Of positive evidence has been put for
ward, while British Blue Books and correspondents
# the London Times refute beyond dispute the
allegations regarding the Boer ornaments relied
on by the war party to prove their case
The earliest reference To the ljoer ornaments
10 h. found Is IN the London Times ct Nov. 7,
1890, IN AN article on "NHtaI and the 1ransyaal
In 1870 The writer states hat h. visited tie
barracks ard arsenal Ia lrctorla The q andng
army, he says, was limited to = single battery #
obsolete guns, and the military efficiency was in
1859 beneath contempt In 1895 Major Robert
White v ~ ssnt 10 Pretoria Al the expense Of the
Chartered Company to investigate military condi-
ions IN the TrAusyAal, with the assistance IT
Col Frank Rhodes and Capt Ernest Rhodes.
He also visited the Pretoria arsenal, and nine
months later tie diary in which I've recorded lis
impressions WAS picked up on the field Of krugers-
dorp II contained This inventory Of The guns he
found in Pretoria,
Il Hall 4 dorm very old pieces Of ordnance.
morrars &c.
20 One bronze gun, 4 the date Of the Second
Empire
"3 AIr9ten Mayim-Nordenfeld,
i small mulzle loader in bad condition
The concluding remark Is "Noue Of tie guns
! saw WIS fit FIR much work" Tie inference
from tins is that tn best informauun thc Chartered
Company and MIR Rhodes could obtain was To
show that, SO far as artillery was concerned, the
Beers were, ON the eve Of the raid, almost abSo-
iutaly unprpNided
Early in 1906 cant. Yuunghustan1, v no visited
Pretoria fur the Times, wrote thsi riders for hat
'eries 4 field guns, quick tring guns and MaXimS,
md fr sufficient nile tu arm every buchanan
In South A'rica were Icing sent To- Europe: Euro
mean drll instructors and artillery men were teing
imprrt.d end Prs we've frIng instructed around
Pretoria On the most approved designs. One
H'tomYt had been made" he reported. to take
their country from them; they were thoroughly
convinced irGt. the attrmt' would le Renewed
al some future date; 81 The Beers were determined
10 he thor ughly on their guard the second time"
There was no concealment then on the p,ut 4
The Beers ss TO- what they were dong, and Capt
White estimate Il the Beer ornaments efGre
the raid when he writes; The Beers had very
nearly teen caught mapping at the beginning
q the year"
But there Is other and move conclusive evil
dence. The Lonfon DoHy NegS has appealed
" the famous V%!tl'nLeT manifest" and to the
Transvasl budgets The msnifrsto is dated
Dec q, 1893, and was written when the Johannes
burg @ nSihracy was NJ longer q secret That
manifest, reads that i2hu,GOo sterling is 10 le
spent on the completing Il u fort nj Pretoria, and
that orders have Teen placed in Germany fr
heavy guns and ammunition. The document
shows that Mt the end II 800. on the admission
Il the lllllnders themselves, the Beers we're
inadeQuAlely armed md had suddenly lcCuu
10 remedy their Deficiencies. The TrNnsvunl
budget tells The same story, For 1902 the mill
500, 700 IN 1874, slIO, 100 In 1885, the year
II the rid, II rose To- Sil6,5iO, and Jumped in
1929 h. 81, 300, 900 II has teer suggested that
the headings "rul lie Work. especial Iaymcnts."
""Sundry S%eryices;' hut the totals for these will
hear he test. In 1894 they figure ont To- s., 6t2,G3
for 1895 they rise O. 81, l26, go; aud in 1886 they
stgod 1T $40, $500 The ynid is the key 10
Then, ns 10 when tho beers took alarm is not
left I" conjecture. In the 81 JdmeSS gazette Il
Aug. 20 !act there appeared over the signature
"Anglo Afikandcr n remarkable account 4 n
consultation which the writer had with President
Kruger and Gen. Juutert in September, lb0d.
President Kruger asked him why the Chartered
Company was huyinR hundreds # horses" for
presentation 10 the new Volunteer RhOde,iNn
Horse. The President could see in this only
one meaning, which tie summed up in the saying,
Rhodes is going TO jump my country" and Gen.
Jouhert GENE 10 the conclusion that 1T il time
10 shut Cu- doors, MS robbers ~ ahoL." This,
then, is the story Of the Beer armaments; they
were President krlce 5 answer 10 Mr.. Rhodes $
raid. They were undertaken for defence and not
arr ressiOn, and tlev were continued leCau,s
the Beers knew that the men who had c, nsyircd
against their Independence in 1895 would renew
the attack before the chances # puliICyl warfare
in England might remove from the Coiori0I Office
In London their ally. Joseph Chamberlain.