The Hastings Standard Published Daily SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1897. SOUTH AFRICAN AFFAIRS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 352, 19 June 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily

SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1897. SOUTH AFRICAN AFFAIRS.

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

The budget of news cabled from South Africa during the week points to the continuance of an uneasy feeling in the Transvaal. The Pretoria conespondent of the Times, who is no doubt well-informed as to the public feeling on the Rand, is not hopeful of a pacific settlement of-the diferences between Her Majesty's Government and the Transvaal Government. Apparently the Boers wish to submit the matter in dispute to the arbitration of a Convention, and it is a question whether a Power holding suzerain rights under an expressed agreement can be properly called to arbitration. Does not the interpretation of the clauses of the Convention rest with the suzerain Power ? This will probably be found to be the case, an.* Mr Chamberlain cannot be expected to, neither will he under such circumstances, consent to the matter in dispute being adjudged by any third party. Indeed it is dubious whether the position can be termed or be dignified by the term dispute. The suzerain Power holds that certain acts of Mr Krnger's Govern - ment are at variance with the letter and spirit of the London Convention, and in a friendly manner the Home Government has asked for immediate attention to the matter. Of the more serious breach of the Convention —the Aliens Act—the Yolksraad promptly receded from its precarious position, and in the mllfcer of the closing of the drifts the same hasty retreat was beaten. It is therefore reasonable to believe that the minor matters will be settled in accordance with the viows of the British Government. Apparently President Kruger is dis posed t) conciliate the mining popula. fcioa aad to es-fcead & measure

support to an industry which is being harassed by the inordinate rapacity of rascally officials and unscrupulous monopolists. The excessive railway freights, the dynamite monopoly, and the labor laws have weighted the Rand mines, reducing them to a profitless point. It is not to be supposed that the miners could continue to distil wealth not for themselves but for the army of concession and monopoly holders. Notwithstanding repeated promises 011 the part of the Government at Pretoria to redress the grievances of the Uitlanders, those grievances are as real and as unbearable as they were when Jameson crossed the Transvaal frontier on his unsuccessful raid. President Kruger has professed, and still professes, to be desirous of attending to the Uitlanders. He set up a Commission, remarkable as being composed of men hostile to the Uitlanders, to enquire into the mining industry, and in the recent telegrams His Honor is reported to have stated to the Volksraad that the prohibitive railway rates would be reduced and the dynamite charges rendered equitable, at the same time expressing bis willingness to visit the Rand. There is a whiff of conciliation in this ; but there have been so many promises which have been broken as soon as made that there is ample excuse if President Kruger's latest soft sawder is taken rum ijratio .satis. Perhaps if the President was free to do as he desired the grievances would have been redressed long ago ; but Mr Kruger is swayed by the feeling of arrogance and restlessness, which is now plainly manifest. It is as much as his billet as President is worth to flout the racial feeling of his countrymen, and he is thus forced to play hide and seek with both sides. The temper of the Boer is exhibited in the peculiar proceedings in the Volksraad. While agreeing to the adjournment over the period of the Jubilee celebrations, several members of the Volksraad denied the suzerainty of Great Britain over the Transvaal. We shall see after next week what is Great Britain's reply to this jingoistic outburst on the part of the Boers. Pr Leyds, who recently had an interview with Mr Chamberlain, and returned to Pretoria immediately afterwards, must surely be fully cognisant of the reasons which actuate the British Government to assume its present attitude of firmness, and he, firebrand though he is acknowledged to be, must appreciate the dangers which threaten the Republic and the disaster which must result in any conflict with Great Britain. The strained position in South Africa is having a very bad effect on the mining share market in London. The suicide of Mr B. J. Barnato, the mushroom millionaire, is no doubt the result of the depression in Rand mining shares. He must have lost very heavily by the slump, and the fact that he feared he would end his days in poverty is corroborative evidence. Our own mining industry is seriously affected by the South African slump, and whereas twelve or eighteen months ago British capital was flowing in for the development of our mineral areas to-day that stream is dried up and the banks are strewn with the wreckage of scrip gamblers, mining brokers, and wild-cat company promoters. Until the Jubilee celebrations pass into history there will be no forward movement on the part of Great Britain ; but after that we fancy there will be vigorous action.