THE SITUATION IN THE TRANSVAAL.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10381, 26 June 1899, Page 2

THE SITUATION IN THE TRANSVAAL.

\:r:-.'_ . *■„_,<,-:, o- —-. ; - *•'' ''' *.'-. ;,.ay T_-_-iiDn*on. of ths rasss. , Knows" rather owawtateV Jjiaf case. r It is extremely dc-ob-ft-lif there are. between forty-and nfty thousand" of British origin in the Traneyaal, as the white nationalities are very mii-id. -X It is hard to say whe**-her they /"have raised the from indigsaic© to opulence.'' aa linosfc Of the work in the mines is done by -iatlvcs. .' . ,'?_ f p-V-ECa says: "In Johannesburg they arc de-. ] iiied the.right oE public meeting." Galling ■ this, no .doubt, bat ctnly to be expected after that theatriqid farce, the Jameson Baid. Ha also says: **Great Britain may soon have to grapple* with, a carefully orgsuused rebellion. '*• - As far as' one can see, Kruger in his little Repnblic has the. rebellion already.' ' In conclusion," "One who Knows" quietly ignore** England's greatest statesman, W. E. Gladstone, wlio.cafied the" last Boer war "an unrighteous war," and was glad to with-draw-from it; and I think tlie statement of Mr Gladstone is .good enough for most __"nglis-*j-n-*3i. At the bottom of the whole matter at the present timo will be found the good old god, Mammon.—Yours, &c, IX. TO THE ED-TOH OF IHE FRRS.S. Sir, —Your correspondent "X.X." is evidently not aware that England is bound by -the London Convention to protect the interests of the Uitlauders. The Uitlauders comprise all the nations of Europe and Asia, and are.by no means wholly English. France," Germany and America have much ca*o:tal invested in the Transvaal. Far from' T bullying the "small Republic," the English Government has displayed so much patience and forbearance as to border on weakness, and the Press of intereffted Powers hare not been slow to show their disapproval. Will "X.X." be surprised to hear that the "Gazette Colonial©," the "Temps," and the "Bebats" have loudly clamoured for the protection of their country's interests, and the English Government has been served -with a- memorial from French investors praying for the "protection of foreign capital in the Transvaal." Strange that "X.X.," an Englishman, should howl his. own country down as a "bully" when foreign nations taunt England with weakness, and call on her either to enforce her rights as suzerain, or stand aside and permit other nations to protect the lives and interests of their own countrymen.— Yours* &c, G.A.M.B. TO THE EDITOR OS* THE PRESS. . Sir, —Would you kindly grant' mc space in your valuable columns to endorse the remarks of "X.X." on the Transvaal question. lam glad to find there is at least one Englishman in Christchurch who can rise above that marrow, sentimental spirit, called patriotism, and'-criticise his nation's Government when he t.T*inTrq they are in the wrong. If patriotism impels one to applaud eyery action of a bullying Power towards a small State, and every bombastic utterance and threat made by British politicians, then I am glad I am not a patriot. The trouble in the. Transvaal is caused, as was the Spanish-American war, by speculators, and "these discontented ITitlanders arc mere marionettes in the hands of men like Rhodes, Beit, and others. The Volksraad of the Transvaal has only done what other "States will have to do for their own safety, viz., make a distinction between the floating and. the settled units of the community. Every State has a right to enforce its own laws without __indrahce by outside Powers, and jn.the case of the desperate class of men that have flocked into the Transvaal, by withholding from them the franchise the burghers" are only saving -themselves from being over-swamped. Let hs hope the time is not far distant when the .best patriot is that man who respects the laws of au nations, and does not make a fetish, of his own country's flag with all its attendant black history of murderous crimes attached.—-Yours, etc*, " T.R.C.

TO TH3 EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sir, —Your correspondent "One Who Knows" is very much, wide of the mark in his statements about South African affairs. That the Uitlander is suffering under grievous disadvantages in the Transvaal no one "wi'tth any knowledge of the system of Boer Government will deny, but when, "One Who Knows , ! steps over the Vaal river and undertakes to enlighten the general public on Ca<pe Colony affairs he displays an ignorance of the true state of thongs in that colony which is inexcusable to anyone who presumes to gire information, to the public. There are several things in "One Who Knovra'-" letter wtoich are contrary to facts, but I 'will only mention two. First, that the Batch farmer in Cape Colony is hostile to British rule, and second, the character of the present Government. Your correspondent says: "The whole of the farming portion of the Dutch in Cape Colony are armed and fully mounted, and by far the greater proportion are hostile and disloyal to British rule." Speaking from a personal knowledge of the Dutoh farmer, I say this is not true. They are neither armed nor fully mounted, if the terms are used in the'sense of them keeping up a preparedness for possible hostilities with £ho British. A Dutch farmer woirid not be fully equipped for his ordinary routine of work without his horse and gun, but to misoonstrue this equipage into being

"fully; armed and mounted" for war is simply ridiculous. The Cape.Colony Dutch are not ■hostile, but distinctly friendly to British rule, and in trie event of war between England and the Transvaal those who would not take up anna under the British, would be neufcraL Your correspondent's second statement, on the subject of the character of tiha present Government is outrageous. I will defy him ta tjuote a single sentence utteredby any member of the present Government that can with the great stretch of the most (malignant (imagination 'be construed into seditious language, or any act on the part of the membana of the present Government that can be so construed. •Mr Sbhreaner, the present Premier, is as worthk of being trusted as a loyalist as is our Premier. Poes "One Who' Knows" know that iyftior to the- Jameson, raid that there were no two', statesmen in" South Africa so closely allied in politics es were Mr Schreiner and Mr Cecil' Rhodes." It was the latter's duplicity in pretending he had nothing to do with fihe raid, amd bis subsequent confession when* fee'was found out, that brought about -lire estrangement between+Jwse two great men, and but for the raid olunder.no doubt Mr Rhodes would td-day have been the Premier of tfo& colony, and Mr Schreiner his Attorney-General; .which was the position of things* before the raid took place. The present Government of Cape Colony is made up" of gentlemen who are loyal to the cots to the British Crown, In fact, an anti-British Government' in thab colony is as impossible as it would be here, because the material necessary to compose such a Government does not exist there.—Yours, &&, GAPE.