THE TRANSVAAL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 179, 31 July 1896, Page 3

THE TRANSVAAL.

End op a Prolonged Faroe.

BabNEY Cuts the Cords.

tf&OM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

London,' June 6. •fHB end of the Reform Committee Revolution farce is an eloquent commentary on the folly of treating a sow's ear as though tb were a silk purse. Mr Chamberlain has for weeks, nay, months, brought all his diplomatic armoury to bear on Oom Paul In vain. Hie motto was, like Lonnen's in ' Little Christopher Columbus,' igujourslapolitesse. No strong words, no nhiin speaking disfigured tho Imperial dispatches. Even when tbe ColonialSecretary had to remotely hint that unless Hi* Honor hurried up with regard to the urisoners it waa conceivably possible that ths House of Commoa. might feel hurt, the- dreadful words wore mitigated by tender inquiries after tho health of Mrs Krueer, Yebbhia soft language failed miser--bly to turn away the good old Paul's wrath.' Ho was infinitely distressed, sadly rained there Bhonld be such obduracy amongst his advisers. Personally he piclted with pity, personally he longed to release everybody, personally he had became ill with chagrin, bub what could a constitutional ruler do? The Volksraad ff ere his masters, -bet Mr Chamberlain D |ty the good intentions of a perplexed president. Upon thia deadlock entered (according to leport) Mr Barney Barnato at the end of a long string of oaths. Without joy circumlocation he jeered at Oom Paul, « 8 a senseless old idiot killing the. goose wllch laid the golden eggs. In other words he pointed oub thab tho minjno* industries of the Rand represented twe hundred millions, that the loss already eastained by the falling markeb figured up to twenty millions, and thab every day of uncertainty ac to the fate of the prisoners meant further depreciation of stock. Never did argument in this world havo a more in.tantaneouely convincing effect. Directly tha astute Barney hammered ib into Paul Krnt.er'B head thab the Republic was 1 paying the piper ' for the imprisoned reformers'than tho doors flew wide open. In twenty-four hours the whole lob, barring the lour principals were released, things on the. Eandtwere 'booming' and Johannesburg rang with 'huzzaa for Kruger ' and ' God bless Oom PauL Aa to the feeling of English peoplo with regard to this precious, finale to "the great revolution farce I append two opinions. The 'Daily Mail' lays •—' It is difficult to be quite serious ■aid impossible* to be quite respectful in writing of oil this miserable business. The trickery that, first betrayed the Reform Committee into disarmament, tha disreputable dodge of trying the prisoners under ,bd obsolete law of Draconian severity, the unexplained intrigue by which they were led t.o plead guilty, the preposterous enormity of tbe " bogey" sentence, the dribbling out of magnanimity in measured doses, and, finally, tbe sudden collapse of tho game when ib was shown to bo costingr toomofth money—all these things made up a pitiful story, and one thab will be read ten years hence with a better understanding of its trickery and a more cynical appreciation of its meanness.' The ' We*tminatoi Gazette' remarks that President* Kruger's shrewdness is as congpfcuoas as his magnanimity. For lob us consider for a moment what the situation ... Up to tbo present moment tho neb re.olt of the raid has been absolutely to diearra the Reform Party in Johannesburg, and to put them under an obligation as gentlemen to support, the existing form of Government. The varying degrees of complicity of tha forty five prisoners relea.cc. on Saturday in Jameson's Raid will never be accurately determined, but some of them, it ia certain, did little more than lend their names to the Reform Committee, and were, ab all evente, nob consulted about the nature of the operations. Men who carelessly lend their names to the 'flotation' of this kind of company must abide by the results, bub ib ia somethingfor the leaders to reflecb upon thab thoir action , hasexposed these men to a fine of £2,000 with prolonged proscription, on pain' of banishment, from the politics of tho Transvaal. And nob oniy that, but, inasmuch as the offence was in all cases alike ab least technically treason, the Boer Government has been put in a position in which it can quite legitimately say thab these penalties aro an act of the utmost magnanimity in comparison with what might have been inflicted, and was, indeed, inflicted, by the courts. If the whole thing had been planned from tho beginning to play into the hands of tho Boers, it could hardly li&vo been devised with greater skill for that purpose. Jameson's Raid must now be pronounced as in effect a consummate feliems for stopping the Reform movement, disarming the Reform leaders, and establishing the Boer Government in absolute security nt Pretoria. Nothing could look more absurd ab this momont than Mr Chamberlain's greab t-herne of Home Rule for the Rand.

Pecs-dent Kkuger' is Merciful and Releases the Reform Leaders.

A dispatch to the' London Times,' June 4th, from Capetown, conveyed the news thab President Kruger, replying to fche. thanks of the four leadere of tho Reform Committee, who wore released on that day, made a characteristic speech, saying : 'If mylittle dogs are naughty, I must whip them, but lam always sorry to do co. The next time I must get hold of a big dog. My little dogs bark, bub bbc big ones bite.' Thia reference to Cecil Rhodes, and the reformers, b.iows accurately, the 'Times' correspondent says, the feeling of the Boers. The four leaders of the revolt are now free, and ab liberty to return to their wveral occupations. Tho wife of John Hays Hammond, tho American engineer, 6ns of the leaders; is dangerously ill from over-anxiety, and nob expected to recover. A dispatch from Pretoria, Juno 11th, *aye: At a special meeting of the Executive Council on thab date ib was decided to t.loase John H. Hammond, George Farrar, «nd J. F. Leonard, three leaders of tho i,onanneßbur*_' Reform Commission, upon 8 fine of £25,000 each, or, in default, of fifteen years' banishment. Tho reformers Darned paid their fines nnd wenb back to the Kaod. Colonel Francis Rhodes, the fourth leader, declined fco sign the condition required, and the sentence of banishmenb will be enforced ■to-net-'..im. The news was followed by a he,.vy baying on fche Stock Exchange in •Johannesburg, and priceß boomed. The 'Times' is of opinion fchat, on the whole, fre.idenb Kruger has let off the 'htblo !%8' cheaply, nnd ab the same time mado * considerable addition to tho flourishing (treasury of the Transvaal. . As soon as the decision of the Council was announced, Barney Barnatd went, to the {tool with a check tor £250,000 to pay tho ooes of Hammond and Rhodes. Ho found, however, thab the matter had been jurenj/ed. Hammond, Farrar, and Phillips have signed an agreement to abstain hereafter from interference in the politic* of the Booth African Republic. Colonel Rhodes, *ho refused either to pay the tine or sign [he agreement, will, consequently, be Mslied. ./■fhe trial of Dr. Jameson and the other •iransvaal raiders, in England, is attracting fio attention. fi Hammond telegraphed fco hia friends in J"*1 * Francisco, June 13tb, fchab ho would 'e"o South Africa on fche 24th instant for fjnglantl. Rhodes ha» been conducted to "*° borders of the Transvaal by a Boer ®B°ort, and formally banished for fifteen •yean. '

Deputations of the Mayors of all tho towns of South Africa waited upon President Kruuer on June I4bh to thank him for hia clemency to the convicted reformers. Kruger pointed to the Bible with the remark that there was hia guide. He then referred to Cecil Rhodes who, he Baid, was acting as if he was egging on a dog-fight. He who caused the trouble was still unpunished.

Dispatches from Capetown, June 19.h, say the Secretary of State tor bhe Transvaal has telegraphed the British High Commiasioner at thab place, bo the effect thab, haying in view the peace and welfare of South Africa, the Transvaal Government is convinced that proofs in its possession which are at the disposal of Greab Britain now, completely justify nnd compel the bringing to trial of Cecil Rhodes, Alfred Bait and Dr. Harris, all of the British South Africa Company, and connected with tho Transvaal raid. The Secretary adds that tbe Transvaal Government is obliged to press this step on Great Bribain, and also to urge that all control of fche British South Africa Company (Chartered) bo transferred to Great Britain.

TeSeernma received at London from Buluwayo, Juno 19th, indicate that the Mashonas have joined the Matabole rising, and tho situation is much more grave. The Cape Mounted Infantry have been ordered to Maehonaland, and the Imperial troops up from Mafeking. The demand by tho Transvaal authorities for the .prosecution of Messrs Rhodes, Beit and Harris took bhe English public somewhat aback, in facb, the Leyda 'imperious telegrams,' aa they are called, have exasperated the Government and its supporters, who see in the affair the hand of Germany. The Conservative ' Globe' said on June 2Qth :—' The. impertinence of President Kruger and his Berlin-inspired Secretary of State will not. defeat, although it may delay tho British policy of consolidating the British and Dutch races in South Africa.'

South African securities have dropped in consequence of the Kruegoi-Leyd tele-

grams.