THE SITUATION IN THE TRANSVAAL.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10384, 29 June 1899, Page 6

THE SITUATION IN THE TRANSVAAL.

l . . ; TO TH-fe EOEt-K OF «B__. PM-SS. . "X.X.," etc., | I Who side with the *i*rausvaal in the present ' crisis, either do not the histoty pi South Africa and the -facta of the case, or else -Ay themselves open to the suspicion! of being partakers of Kruger s Secret Service ' Fund, which supports Boer apologists broadcast throughout the world, often in very > unexpected places. The Transvaal Government is vile and corrupt, anil its rule worse than that of the, unspeakable Turk. ... j The British, claim no more than equal rights for every white man south of the Zambesi. They ask nothing from the i •Transvaal Boer that the Boers in Cape ' Colony, Natal* and Rhodesia do not receive under the British flag. Surely a most, righteous claim, and more particularly so j seeing that the Uitlanders pay nineteen-twentiet-is of the whole revenue of the . TransvaaL ' . The Africander Bund, together with the Boers in the Orange Free State and Transvaal, have for their ultimate goal the, extinc- i tion of British rule and influence- in South Africa, the Boer on top, the Briton underneath. The latter is considered an inferior being, and is to be eventually treated as he is to-day in the Transvaal, thanis to Majuba Hill and Gladstone. The British Government is to-day espousing a most righteous cause, which should have the support of every man who has lived and thriven under the free flag of Britain. Were I a young man the Uitlander cause should, if it was wanted, have the assistance of the rifle of A TRUE BRITON. TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. i Sir, —Mr Baity is wrong in inferring that universal suffrage for the English people is the moral to be drawn from the present trouble in the Transvaal. History teaches ! us that the popular voice in every country is always for war, whether tho people are , represented by a Parliament or not. The latest —the Spanish-American —war was an instance. There, in the United States,, we had the spectacle of a great democracy crazed with the. lust oi' murder, and crying out against, its leaders when its voracious appetite for the ghastly details and horrors of war was not fully supplied. In the cause of the gallant little nation that fought for its honour against the great Republic, not one word of sympathy came from England, but that Christian Power stood side by side with the other bully for the sake of British investors. No, 3lr Barty, the less tlie peoplo have to do with the government of the outside affairs of a country the better. "what England wants is to get rid, of the panderers of the bad old school of statesmen, and infuse a little of the "bear and forbear" policy into its foreign relations. However, it would be a crime at this end of the century for our country to go to war with another Protestant State.—Yours, &C -' V.R.C. TO THE EDITOR C"? HIE PRES3. Sir, —Any statistics re white population in the Transvaal can be only approximate. If there are "over 40,000 British," as "One Who Knows"' asserts, how comes it that 22,000 only signed the petition to the Queen a few months ago? "One Who Knows" misses the black •labour question. Nine-tenths of the work in the Transvaal mines is done by native blacks, of various tribes, who are examined every night to see if perchance they may have concealed some small diamond from their millionaire employers. With regard to the Uitlanders' grievances, one would mot expect to find the President giving them feather beds to lie on, considering the treatment they have meted out to hdm. Anyone who has knocked about digging 3 knows what a nice lot some of these adventurers are, and they want strongly handling. The present writer lived at the Cape for a short time close on thirty years ago. The feeling between the Dutch and English at that time was'as good as could be desired. What altered it? The finding of gold, "diamonds "by tho ton," followed by a host of mining speculators, mushroom empire-mak-ing, backed up by Qiamberla'm, and all the hosts and swarms of parasites connected with shares of every sort and kind. The mining laws and dynamite monopoly "arp not liked by these people, and they want to get the country into their own hands. 'Moreover the Transvaal and the Orange > Free State axe the Naboth's' vineyard to Rhodes's South African Empire, "hinc illce; labhrymce." As "One Who Knows" has. mentioned militaiy matters, here is an episodeT,he summit of Majuba Hill was .stormed actually by sixty Boers,, the troops who were there fled, got panic stricken. "Colley stood until death met him, with his' face to the enemy," as his biographer .ay£, "George Colley had died when his troops deserted him." In conclusion, I am a loyal Englishman, but as' one who is fond of justice the spectacle of England in -the Transvaal disgusts me. Thanking you for the space you have so kindly given to the subject.—Yours, etc., A. A. TO THE EDITOR OV THE PRESS. Sir, —"One Who Knows" has given his answer to my letter on the Transvaal difficulty without wasting any words. I will ask your pemissioo-. to refer to his Vindication of his first statement. "A certain Dutch member of the Cape Legislative Asembly used threatening language in speaking of tlie British colonists and a reverend gentleman expressed an opinion that certain actions en the part of the British towards the Dutch would bring about a rebellion. This is your correspondent's case against tho. Dutch feirmer, as a disloyal subject) to tho British Crown. Could anything be more feeble? To further emphasize the ridiculousness of. his case, "One Who Knows" says, after admitting the loyalty of the Dutch subject, and also that he would be neutral in the event of war, that —s loyalty is only lip deep, and that it would be turned into hostility if the Boers happened to gain one or two successes. This is very unfair supposition. What right has your correspondent to cast so unworthy a reflection upon, a respectable -omot-oi-ity, the;'most of whom have been born under the British flag and knowno other Government but ours, and who have as-yet done nothing to justify such an aspersion. - * =* In answer to my challenge anent his statement that the present Government is a seditious one, your correspondent asks do J believe that such men as Merriman, Sauer and Hofmeycr aro loyal to tbe core. Why should I not believe it? "One Who Knows" was requested to give the answer. Mr Sohreiner, I notice, is a finer man now.. What has contributed to bis conversion since your correspondent ""dubbed" "him as the head of a seditious Government. As_a matter of fact Mr Hofmeyer is not in the Ministry. If he were we should have every reason as Britishers to be proud of him, for the services he has rendered to "his country and to the British Empire. No statesman in South Africa has been entrusted by his own Government, and on the behalf of the Imperial Government, with so many important and delicate commissions as has Mr Hof_r__.yer- and yet we are asked to believe by "One Who Knows" that this gentleman is the embodiment of, disloyalty to the British Crown. The High Commissioners of South Africa and the Imperial Government evidently are not of the same opinion as 'One Who Knows." Mr Sauer is a statesman and a gentileman, and as a reward for his services to ihe State has been offered a knighthood, but he ' declined. it. .This is quite 'a new method of recognising disloyalty. Mr Merriman is an Englishman, and as a statesman he is sought after by all "Mi-Hstry conetructors." Mr Rhodes made him his r frea_rnrer-Gej__si*-_L Your correspondent further states the Cape Cabinet is a seditious one, because the Kimberky vct_-_ntea*s did not get their new rifles as soon as they thought they ought to have got them, and further because the Colonial Secretary stopped a special train which was to convey a number of voters that were likely to go against the Government of which .be was a member. Herein is a new standard' of loyalty. What would happen ii we were

Itd judge oaf Cabinet. M-iustry by the same J atand_-mt *• *■ '--.--* , - j - Your 00-Tespo__d«-t is evidently, actuated •» by a -_fc_*o__g teas against the Ttansvaal and | ] j the Dutch Cabk-eir rather than by British j fair play. Why this overstatang ofonr case to. tJie detriment <>f-those wit-i.waom we have a grievance? „. This land o£ tiling has , done more to block the needed reforms in the Transvaal than all tho precaaoeived notions j of how the people should be governed on the part of the President of the Republic, and ; that is saying a great deal. —Yours, &c,^ CAPE.