The Hastings Standard Published Daily. MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1897. SOUTH AFRICAN CLOUDS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 277, 22 March 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1897. SOUTH AFRICAN CLOUDS.

For the cause that acks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

There is 110 mistaking the meaning ol the latest utterance of the coffee-con-suming President of the South African Republic. " While this unrest lasts my hands are tied and I must prepare for war " is the blunt statement oi President Kruger and read in conjunction with the news received by cable during the past few days there is very little doubt that machine guns and muskets with their sanguinary music will be appealed to very soon. The intensity of the Cretan crisis has caused the attention to be concentrated on the dramatic incidents that are being enacted in Eastern Europe, to the exclusion of all other incidents no less dangerously explosive. The Greeks and the Turks may yet afford Europe that " bath of blood " which has long been predicted; but while the best intellects amongst European statesmen are struggling with a solution of the intricate and involved Turkish problem, events in South Africa have been following in quick succession which protend a mighty catastrophe. Boer and German against British is the promise of South Africa. A struggle for supremacy in the southern portion of the Dark Continent is pending and the boom may be expected at any moment. The strain and tho tension must be very great now. The affairs which betoken a crisis have assumed a gravity since the commencement of this month and a retrospective view will help us to appreciate the situation. Tho Yolksraad and the High Court towards the close of last month disagreed 011 a constitutional point, and the deadlock which ■ still exists is to be submitted to the arbitration of the Chief Justice of Cape Colony, and there is a prospect of a pacific settlement. The dispute, however, was serious enough to draw from Mr Chamberlain a statement that Great Britain would maintain the convention in its integrity. A few days later there came the news that " A great feeling of unrest prevails throughout the Transvaal"; and President Kruger was reported to have said dark clouds were gathering over the Transvaal. By way of response to the Boer President., the British Government was reported on the ZHli inst. to bo considering the advisability of'increasing the number of military ollicers in South Africa, and of establishing a permanent military force there. The next day, on the pretext of bringing about, a closer union, it was stated that Kruger was to confer with the I'rosident of the Orange Free State, but. the practical part of thebiisiness was that President Kruger wished to have the military forces of the Free State increased. On the liiih inst. President Kruger had his appetite tested at Bloenifontein the capital of the Orange Free State, and in his post-prandial speech said it was not intended to work against the Queen's rights in South Africa, He was aware the Transvaal must abide by the convention. lie hoped eventually to see the union of the whole of South Africa. Four days later we get the fanfare of the Hamburger Nachrichten, Prince Bismarck's press which in re to the fact of Germany sending arm* to Africa -aid that (lermanvis so strong that she could tak< thi> lirld in south• we-t Africa wit! th. Boers again>t the Cape Colony Ih'i was on the !<>th inst., on tin* following day we lm\« Kritgvr saying that h>- uiu ■! prepare #•-« v..tt Till' "•■{ I'-ncc iif eVent.-i ie;i\e nrt room for doubt to the intuitions of the Uovrs Kuil the Gerumus. To drive

the British out of South Africa is the end and aim in view, but this we think the Hollander and the Teuton will find to be a formidable contract. The Boers need to be taught a stern lesson, for they have become reckless with arrogance since the 27th February, 1881, when with the superiority of numbers they wiped out General Colley and his small band of red coats at Majuba Hill. John Bull will never allow a repetition of such a disaster, and that the Home Government is fully alive to the intriguing of the Germans and the Boers is abundantly clear. The increase of the British forces in South Africa is in contemplation, and we may hear at any moment of an elaborate scheme by which British forces can be poured into South Africa. The naval force was strengthened some w r eeks ago by two modern and powerful cruisers, and more can be sent at a moment's notice, for, as the St James Gazette stated the other day, there is considerable activity in the dockyards, officers' leave has been curtailed, and ships are ready with steam up. If Germany is to aid the Boers it is difficult to know how she is to get her forces out of Germany. She is unable to transport one regiment of soldiers to South Africa, for the British navy could crumple up the maritime trade of Germany and blow her transports and warships to the bottom of the deep blue sea. Those who have watched South African affairs and are able to judge of the facts have predicted that nothing short of the arbitratment of war will restore peace and confidence. It is no secret that the Germans are aiding and inciting the Boers, and from the boastful tone and attitude of both Germany and the Transvaal it is evident that these two countries believe that the decisive moment has arrived. They will find, we have not the least doubt, that twisting the tail of the British lion is an expensive luxury. South African affairs are distinctly interesting just now.