THE TRANSVAAL SITUATION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1424, 15 June 1899, Page 33

THE TRANSVAAL SITUATION.

LONDON, Friday. The “Standard” declares that the suzerainty of Great Britain over the Transvaal Republic is not to be bartered away. If stronger measures are required to make President Kruger realise that the paramountcy of Britain is a reality, then, observes the “Standard,” stronger measures must be taken. CAPETOWN, Friday. On the pretext of holding a religious meeting, several thousand armed Boers have gathered at Volksrust, on the northern border of Natal. It appears that Sir Alfred Milner, Governor of Cape Colony, .and High Commissioner of South Africa, at the termination of the conference with Mr Kruger, the President of the Transvaal, expressed his disappointment' at the absence of a liberal offer on the part of Mr Kruger, thus relieving Great Britain from any obligation to intervene to secure the redress of the grievances of the out landers. Sir Alfred Milner, in terminating the interview, added that internal reform in the affairs of the Transvaal was necessary to preserve the independence of the Republic. Great Britain, he observed, wouid never allow’ arbitration by a foreign Power between herself and a country over w r hich she held the powers of suzerainty. , LONDON, Friday. The Right Hon Joseph Chamberlain, in reply to a question in the House of Commons, said a new situation had been created in the Transvaal, as the outcome of the conference between Sii Alfred Milner and Mr Kruger. He said that Mr Kruger’s alternative proposal was entirely inadequate. A dispatch forwarded to Sir Alfred Milner, which had been temporarily withheld, covering a reply to the petition of the outlanders, would be communicated forthwith to the Transvaal Republic. CAPETOWN, Saturday. President Kruger, at the termination of the Conference, acknowledged that Sir Alfred Milner’s attitude throughout had been one of friendly suggestion rather than demand. He expressed the hope that in the future they would understand each other better. It is explained that the suggestion made by Sir Alfred Milner that the question of the indemnity claimed by the Transvaal Government in connection with the Jameson rail should be referred to arbitration was not intended to apply to the differences of opinion on the subject between Britain and the Transvaal, but merely that between the Transvaal and the Chartered Company. A suggestion was made by the British representative that, failing the granting of the franchise, the outlanders be given partial control of the gold fields administration. This, however, 1 resident Kruger declined to agree to. The Transvaal President asserts that Sir Alfred Milner’s proposal as to the franchise —viz., that it be conferred after five years’ residence, and that this provision be retrospective—would result in the immediate overmastering of the old burghers, and w r ould not tend to fusion of the races. . CAPETOWN, Sunday. The Volksraad of the Orange Free State has passed a resolution endorsing Mr Kruger’s action at the Conference with Sir Alfred Milner. The first Raad of the Transvaal Republic, in approving of Mr Kruger's attitude, asked that the President s franchise proposals should be added to the Bill, and that the people should be shortly consulted on the wnole question. An anxious feeling prevails at Johan”“bUrg' LONDON, Sunday. All the Rand stocks have slumped. The heading English newspapers urge that the British Government insist on Sir A. Milner’s proposals being agreed to by the Transvaal Republic. Some go the length of advocating the sending an ultimatum to the Transvaal Government. The public generally, however, do not desire to precipitate a crisis. The Continental papers that have been reviewing the situation are largely favourable to Great Britain. The French press is, however, critical and hostile. The American journals adopt a friendly tone. CAPETOWN, Sunday. Sir Alfred Milner, Governor of Cape Colony was accorded an enthusiastic reception on his return to Capetown. The public expressed their admiration with his fairness, and of the Right lion Mr Chamberlain’a action in not interfering with Sir Alfred Milner’s freedom of action in the Conference with Mr Kruger over the Transvaal affairs. A mass meeting of outlanders has been held at Johannesburg, at which

resolutions were adopted thanking Sir Alfred Milner for the proposals he had put forward for the settlement of their grievances at the recent Conference with Mr Kruger, and declaring that they were the irreducible minimum of their demands. A further resolution was carried to the effect that no settlement would be satisfactory short of equal rights to all the white inhabitants of the Transvaal. PRETORIA, Monday. Citizens ' belonging to influential circles at the capital of the Republic are strongly in favour of a peaceful solution of the dispute with the outlanders. Extra rolling stock has been sent to Johannesburg to provide for the traffic should an exodus take place. [A Cape Colony contemporary contains the following paragraph : —•“ President Kruger was present at the South African Baptist Congress on the 31st of March, and preached a long sermon, in the course of which he emphasised the importance and necessity of universal peace, and trusted that the day was not long distant when this would be attained.” If Mr Kruger had been sincere, and wished to avert any disruption in the Transvaal, he would have acceded to the terms proposed by Sir Alfred Milner for the settlement of the outlander§’ grievances. But while Mr Kruger was preaching his sermon, his orders for doubling'the guns and men on the forts at Pretoria and Johannesburg were being varied out.J