DR JAMESON ON THE RAID.

Otago Witness, Issue 2425, 5 September 1900, Page 34

DR JAMESON ON THE RAID.

A SPEECH IN DEFENCE.

During the course of his candidature for the Kimberley seat in the Cape Colony Parliament. Dr Jameson made an interesting speech on the raid. He defended the rattlers against the charge of being guilty of a mad and hopelcs effort, and of forcing the Transwal to arm.

You must remember, he said, thai at that time tho Transvaal was not armed like the Transvaal of to-day. .Apart from rifles in the hands of individual burghers, the whole armoury of the Transvaal was contained in the so-called Pretoria fort, guarded by, I think, three Siaata artillerymen, and its sole protection a broken do^n corrugated iron fence. — (Laughter.) Only a few days before our crossing the border, Judge Kotze, travelling north with Mr .Newton, told the latter that, seeing and recognising the serious discontent on the Rand, he wao then on his way to warn Mr Kruger that in his opinion any night 150 liandites, armed with sticks, could march across to Pretoria, seize that fort, and have the Transvaal in their possession. That was known at that time to Mr Kotze, the Chief Justice. Well, our Rand revolutionists had more than that number, not armed with sticks, but thoroughly well armed, and thoroughly prepared to carry out that very project. It uas to have come off on the day that I crossed the border. Unfortunately it did not come off, and now I ask you, such being the plan, if it was not a reasonable one. — (" Yes," an. 1 cheers.) Does anyone believe that shrewd Mr Kruger would not have come to terms if we had been successful up to this point?— his entire armoury in the hands of the Rand; the Rand itself armed and determined, but moderate yi its just demands. Mr Reitz, in his despatch to Lord Salisbury, states that the commencement of armament of the Transvaal was after the raid. This I deny. The Transvaal began to arm, or, rather, sent va'.t orders for armaments to Europe, somo time be/ore that. It commenced when Mr Kruger received a much greater eye-opener (especially because it was his fhvsl), and that was at the time of the socalled Drifts ultimatum of October* 1895. Then it wai thai Mr Kruger was informed that unless he yielded to the demands of the Cape Government war would be declared against him by the British Empire, and he further became aware of the fact that the Cape Government would assist the British Government. Then it was that Mr Kruger commenced his armaments, and this is proved by bis own published facts as to armaments and fortn for both Pretoria and Johannesburg, referred to in the last Uitlander manifesto before the abortive revolution. It is further proved by Mr Kruger's own statistics of expenses of the State, for whereas in 169'!- they were roughly about half a million, in 1C951 C 95 ihey were roughly p "million and ahp.lf. Now, as Io Hip hamperine of the Imperial Government. It ii perfectly true that if the Imperial Government had at that time

intended to take any effectual stc-.ps for the redrew ol grievances our action and its resultant failure would have hampered them in ! taking &uch s-leps. Bui it is equally true that it was because the Uitfanders of the Transvaal had given up all hopes of help from the Imperial Government that we were invited ] to help their. — (Cheers.) But they are slow to move, and they-crcciuired pome startling event to call their attention to the grievances of the TTiilander- and Io enlist their sympathy for iho^e gii'evancas. In this connection it is possible that even the raid may not have been an unmixed cvil — (hear, hear)— and v/hate\er shire it may have had in increasing the chao-- and complexity of the South African j probl2.li, tho?e evils have at all events brought j with them their remedy in the appointment | of our present Kigh Commissioner, Sir Alfred 1 Milner — (loud cheers) — under whose guidance , we can rely upon a final and complete settle- j ment of all our troubles. — (Renewed cheers.)