The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-03-13
WAR OR
SURRENDER.
Salisbury Declines the United
States Offer Of Medi-
ation.
ENGLAND'S TERMS FOR BOERS
Answer to Kruger and
Steyn Made Public
Today.


The United States Charge d Affaires, Mr..
Henry White, saw Lord Salisbury at the
Foreign Office this evening and received
formal reply from the British Govern
ment, declining the good offices of the
United States in regard to peace. 1t is
| understood that the reasons of the Pre-
mier are identical with those already
cabled to The Associated Press.
In the House of Lords today the Premier,
Lord Salisbury, read the British Govern
ment's reply to Presidents Kruger and
Steyn. The concluding sentence is as
| folIows:-
s'Her Majesty's Government can only
answer your Honors telegram by saying
| it is not prepared to assent to the indie
pendence of either the South African Re
public or the Orange Free State"
A Parliamentary paper containing the
| kilograms sent to the British Government
| by the Presidents of the South African
! Republic and the Orange Free State and
| Great Britains reply thereto was issued
| this afternoon. 1t first gives the telegram
sent by the two Presidents to the Mar
quis of Salisbury as follows:-
"Bloemfontein March 5.-The blood and
the tears of thousands who have suffered
! by this war and the prospect of all moral
| and economic ruin wherewith South
Africa is now threatened make it neces-
| sary for both belligerents to ask them
selves dispassionately and as in the sight
| of the Triune God for what
are they fighting, and whether the
aim of each justifies all this
appalling misery and devastation. With
this object in view of the assertions of
various British statesmen to the effect
that this war was begun and is being
| carried on with the set purpose of under
mining Her Majesty's authority in South
Africa and of setting UP an Administra-
| ton over all of South Africa Independent
| of Her Majesty's Government, we con-
| slider it our duty to solemnly declare that
/ this war was undertaken solely as
defensive measure to maintain the threat
/ ened independence of the South African
Republics and is only continued in order
/ to secure and maintain the incontestable
! independence of both Republics as
| sovereign international States and
| to obtain the assurance that those
of Her Majestys subjects who have
! taken part with us in this ward shall
| suffer no harm whatever in person or
| property On these conditions, but on
| these conditions alone, are we now, as in
/ the past desirous of seeing peace re-es-
tablished in South Africa; while If Her
| Majestys Government is determined TO
destroy the independence of the Republics
| there is nothing left to US and to our
/ people but to persevere to the end in the
! course already begun. In spite OF the
| overwhelming pre-eminence of the Brit
| ish Empire we are confident that that God
who lighted the unextinguishable fire of
| love of freedom in the hearts of ourselves
/ and of our fathers will not forsake us
| and will accomplish His work in us and
! in our descendants. We hesitated to
| make this declaration earlier to Your Ex-
| celleney as we feared that as long as the
advantage was always on our side and as
| long as our forces held defensive positions
| far within Her Majesty's colonies such
declaration might hurt the feelings, and
honor of the British people but now
| that the prestige of the British Empire
may be considered to be assured py the
! capture of one of our forces 10Y her
Majesty's troops and that we have there
/ by been forced to evacuate other positions
which our forces had occupied, that DIM
/ Guilty is over and we can no longer hesl-
tate to clearly inform your Government
/ and people, in the sight of the whole
civilized world, why we are fighting and
/ on what conditions we are ready to re-
store peace
..The Marques of Salisbury to the Presl-
| dents of the South African Republic ana
| Orange Free State:-
..Foreign Office, March Ill have the
| honor to acknowledge our Honors' tele-
gram, dated March S, from Bloembonteln,
of which the purport is principally to de-
mand that Her Majesty's Government
shall recognize the incontestable indie
pendence' of the South African Republic
can and Free State as sovereign interna-
! tional States and to offer on those
terms to bring the war to conclusion.
4 ..In the beginning of October last peace
existed between Her Majesty and the two
Republic under conventions which then
were in existence. A discussion mad peen
proceeding for some months between Her
Maiesty's Government and the Soutn
| African Republic, of which the object was
to obtain redress for certain very serious
grievances under which the British resi-
j dents In South Africa were suffering In
/ the course of these negotiations the South
African Republic had, to the knowledge
| of Her Majesty's Government, made con-
i siderable ornaments and the latter mad,
consequently taken steps to provide cor
4 resnonding reinforcements of the British
garrisons at Cape Town and in Natal
mo infringement of the rights guaran-
i +aad Inv the conventions had, UP to that
noint. taken place on the British side
A Suddenly. at two days notice, the South
i ,African Republic, after issuing an insult
4 ding utimatum, declared war upon Hell
Majesty. and the Orange free State, with
4 | whom there had not even been any dis
cussion. took a similar step. Her Ma
4 iastv,s dominions were Immediately in
waded py the two Republics. Siege was
laaid to three towns within the British
frontier. a large portion of two colonies
was overrun with great destruction OF
4 property and life, and the Republics
i cla tmed to treat the inhabitants of ex-
tensive portions of Her Majesty's domin-
q ions as If those dominions had been an
nexed to one or the other of them.
.sIn anticipation of these operations the
South African Republic had been accu-
mulating for many years past military