The Elbert County tribune., 1902-06-05


brought about directly by the refusal
of the Transvaal government to al
low the foreign element OF the popula-
tion to have a voice in public affairs
and like refusal to continue in force
certain railway and other public util-
ity franchises. controlled mostly by
British subjects. But the indirect
cause was elimination of unsatis-
factory conditions extending over
period of almost century.
From the first the Beers. Dutch
farmers of the Cape. were always in
trouble. Their uncompromising spirit
led them still farther afeld and into
strife with the natives. The relations
of the white men to the black caused
the first friction between the British
administration and the old settlers.
With Kruger in office the Beers be-
gan, in defiance of treaty obligations.
series of movements that necessitat-
ed a British expedition to drive them
out of Bechuanaland Goshen and
Stellaland, at a cost of a million or so
to the British taxpayer. Naturally the
British hold up these Boer raids. in
defiance OF treaty obligations, as an
Offset to the Jameson raid.
From this time the new "Transvaal
Republic" set out on the path OF in
dependence that ultimately led to the
war. Gold was discovered In the
Transvaal in 1886. 1t was field for
elaborate machinery and for immense
capital. These were furnished by the
ritlanders, drawn from every race un-
der the sun. but with the Anglo-Celtic
vastly predominant The mining cen
ters like johannesburg became full of
varied life and afforded strong con-
trast to the Dutch headquarters. These
uitlanders largely outnumbered the
original Inhabitants of the Transvaal.
They were heavily taxed and badly
used and they deafened Great Britain
with their cries. There was not
wrong which had driven the Boer
from Cape Colony that he did not
now practice on others. A wrong in
1885 might have been excusable; in
1895 1t was monstrous
In short. the Beers could not stand
the lust for gold. Their primitive yir-
tue vanished. The farmers were still
untouched by the new greed, but the
corrupt oligarehy at Pretoria, with its
nepotism. its accepting of bribes for
valuable franchises, its dynamite mon
opoiy, its crowd Of greedy Hollanders
who handled the stream of gold ex-
torted by way of taxation from the
miners. gave an exhibition of yenality
and corruption in the last degree alb
horrent to all right-minded and i'm
partial observers.
The uitlander was compelled to pay
nine-tenths of the taxation; was
heeced at every turn and laughed at
to the bargain. II he wanted a vote
he had to reside in the country four
teen years and then he might make
application. which had to be signed
by three-fourths of the Inhabitants of
his district and receive the assent of
the raad. Even then he was not ad-
mitted to irst-class citizen privileges.
Other grievances too numerous to
mention were ranking the uitlander
bosom.
In 1895 the Jameson raid" occurred
"a foolish undertaking to help the
Johannesburg uitlanders in their
struggle. The uitlanders did not rise !;
Jameson and his handful of follow
ers were captured by the Beers and
after much parley released.
The Free State had been established
rs republic by Great Britain riuch
against the will of its burghers, who
had even sought and obtained com
pensation for the withdrawal OF the
protecting power of the British. They
were not threatened in any way. Even
their alliance with the Transvaal