The colored American., 1900-03-17
The Boer-E English War.
Sergeant Gibson Takes Issues With Mr.
Arnett and Tells of EnglandS Charity
and Boer BarbariSm.
Vancouver. Washington


before the Congressional Lyceum, upon
the British, Boer Con f1ict," defending
the Beers! MIR. Arnett has written and
spoken like q man in a dream, and
that dream bereft of logic and graft
tude.
First, 1t has only been a few years
since we begged for EDgland's opinion
en- the lynching evil. Did We get il?
Ask your conscience reader. Here Is
where Mr. Arnett shO VS. his ingratitude
and lowers the prestige of the Afro
American with the English people
He said that the cause of the present
trouble was Englard's ''greed for
gold" Here is his want of knOwlt dge
of the true cause. Consequently l beg
to be allowed to quite lIttle history
not for Mi. Arnett's benefit alone but
for the entire Afro American race.
From the first white settle ment of
the Transvaal, when the BOers sue
ceed, d IN Wrestling that country from
the Zulus down to 1850, four separate
Dutch republics, each with very small
population was created the Ttin, acting
under separate laws, disconnected and
Jealous of each other, with slavery prac-
ticed: their theory being that the Bible
licensed the same. The qUaIrels OF
these four republics, especially those
between Presidents PIeteriOus and
Putgietes. and their dissensIon alarmed
the colonial Office in London, which,
fearing that unless these republics
were consolidated, 1t would be hard to
resist the fierce attacks of the natives,
then thirty to one white man; encour-
aged their consolidation by treaty or
convention made on January II, 1852,
at San River. whereby Pretorious'
Transvaal republic, was, at the request
ef Pretorious himself, recognized by
Great Britain as the only re public, and
this treaty called the 'San River Con.
vention," guaranteed to the people
"ths right to manage their own affairs
and to govern themselves according to
their own laws" as a free nation. Viz
tually establishing Boer independence
in the Trsnsvaal, precisely similar to
what the British did with its American
colonies when il recognized the United
States of America. Both rival Dutch
presidents-PretoriOus and POtgIetes-
died the following year, and Pretorius'
son was proclaimed first president Of
the united "Dutch African Republic, I"
Next year $3.50 Herman Potgietes
and his family were murdered, presum'
ahlv by Boers; and thereafter Pretorius
invaded the Orange Free State, but a
treaty of peace was made between the
Orange Free State and the Transvaal
Republic ON June l, 1867, whereby
each agreed to govern itself free Of the
other. However, when Great Britain
recognized the independence of the
Pretorius Transvaal Republic in 1862,
the treaty specially stipulated. to
which the Beers agreed, IN return OF
their indie pendence, that slavery should
absolutely and forever be abolished, and
should not be permitted or prscticed in
anv form whatsoever. But this cOndi-
t,on vas afterward set aside by the
Beers, because black children were for
wears afterw I'd kidnapped and trained
IN work in the Boer fields, had their
nrice. and as little protected as any
other livestock. When the British
raoyssented to the Boer governmen,