The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-08-09
III.


Manifest destiny IL but a dignified
way of stating n fact which constitutes
one of the major theses OF demography;
namely. that from the reign of Eliza
'beth to the reign of Victoria the I'M
considered parts of the earth were
under compulsion to pass into the keep
ing Of the British Empire. We have
seen that Shilling and Fitz-Herbert an
nexed the Cape at time when 4 was
mere waste land, but because IL was
unattractive at that time the British
failed to confirm the rights thus ac-
qured The taking of the Cape into
British hands came later, came at
time when the refreshing place at the
tip OF Africa was seen to have value
as commanding a pathway along which
the wealth OF the world travelled.
From beginning to end OF the rule
of the Dutch Cape Town was nothing
but a marine station for the refresh
ment Of the ships IF the East India
Company. The restrictions which were
contained in the institutions which were
given to Van Rlebeek were the rule
of the Dutch settlement for The CEN
fury and half during which 1t
existed. The project was that the set
Element should make its own living.
the best administration was that which
drew least upon the Golfers of the
company At no time was It intended
that this marine outpost should enter
upon the new growth with which alone
colony can become a source Of
strength to the metropolis. The set
tiers were rather members of gar
rison than colonists. After the rich
soil of the land Immediately about the
fort had provided for the main
tenance OF the settlers the surplus prod
uct was not a source OF wealth to the
producers. IL could be sold only to the
comma dant as the local factor of the
company and at a price fixed by arti-
ficial decree of the directors in Amster-
dam. Purchases OF foreign wares
were to be made only from the ships of
the company, and here also prices were
established in accord with the market
value at home. Dissatisfied with the
restrictions and unable to secure the
advantages Of popular government the
more adventurous Of the Beers faced
the unknown wild and began that series
OF tricks which led in time to the es-
Enlistment of remote settlements far
from the law, the source Of the smaller
Dutch republics which have only within
the last five years been collected into
the now Union Of South Africa.
If conditions at the colony were such
az to prevent colonial development, con-
ditions at home were equally unfit to.
maintain the outpost. The Dutch pos
| sessions were always trading stations.
! When the trade fell off. when the station
showed a contrary balance. the company
felt no pride in carrying the unproiita-
! bic venture at loss. The Napoleonic
wars reduced the motherland to such
plight that 1t had no armed forces
with which It might defend the posses
/ sions of its great trading company
/ against foreign aggression. Therefore
there was no thought Of resistance when
/ the British came to Table Bay ms the
agents Of manifest destiny.
The first British conquest ~ the Cape
was really no more than an item in the
history OF the Dutch taking Holland.
Napoleon had set up the Batavian re-
public in the Low Countries the Stadt-
holder was refugee in England. Ad-
miral Elphinstone brought with his
I British fleet To Capetown letter from
| the Prince OF Orange authorizing the
comma ndant at the Cape to welcome the
| British forces, who We're sent by him
to serve as protection against tn"
| French After seven years of troubled
occupation the African possession was
restored to the Netherlands, bur now as
a political holding OF the state and not
AS minor appanage Of the trading
COMPANY. There were more seizures
and more RESERVATIONS in the unsettled
conditions of European politics. but in
the end the final acquisition OF title by
ri. thPattuh GR
settlement Of difficulties eminently
characteristic Of two such mercantile
peoples "a the vendor and the vondee'
The convention of August 10, lSl4'
within a week of an even century ago
determined this matter Of ownership
Great Britain paid six millions sterling
IN composition Of outstanding obliga-
tions Of the Netherlands and In return
became the owner of Dcmarara and the
Cape,
When. after similar fluctuations the
English assumed the ownership of the
Dutch settlements along the Hudson
the prime settlers held their own ir
peace; they remained the principal ele
ment Of the new British colony; to th'
present day the Knickerbocker tradi
ton is held in high honor as at leas
an unattainable goal wherewith 70 holt
IN check the pretensions OF the New
Workers whose lifelong residence II
measurable by a span of perhaps ter
or a dozen years out of their native
Pittsburg and Chicago. At the CAPE
there was no such social consolidation
Boer yet carries a sense OF obloquI
which il not disminished in the least h!
! It's close resemblance to its Englisi
derlvative boor. Titlander when use'
by the Dutch Of the South African set
Elements is more than term Of descrip
tive ethnology; 1t can become stinginl
! insult.
Here the parallel between the settle
ments of the Dutch West india Com
pany and that of the Dutch East Indii
5 Company ceases Their lines lie widel,
! apart: they so diverge that while tn
: knickerbocker is held in affectionat
though idle esteem. the Roer was through
many years Of battling the public enemy
and a brave one.
In the foregoing considerations sug
: gestion has been made of several of tn
conditions Of Rocr life which might tent
D to keep them severed from their Englisl
! cousins. To this We add the note of tn
e difference of language, for while tn
I Dutch has resemblance 10 English ol
@ the printed page 1t falls upCnuncompre
G bending ears. Likewise we add tn