Part 7 (2/2)

ARTICLE 10.--This Law comes into force immediately after publication in the _Staats Courant_.

S.J.P. KRUGER, _State President._ F.W. REITZ, _State Secretary._

GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, PRETORIA, July 26, 1899.

SCHEDULE A.

I ___________________ at present resident at ______________ in the South African Republic, formerly residing at ________________ in ___________ whose occupation is __________ desiring to reside for good in the South African Republic, hereby give notice that I, _______ years from date, will make application for letters of naturalization with the full franchise, and declare that I am acquainted with the duties imposed on me by Law No. ____, 1899, to obey the laws and commit no crime against the independence of the South African Republic.

PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS.

PROPOSAL OF GREAT BRITAIN FOR A JOINT INQUIRY.

_British Agent to South African Republic, August 2, 1899._

Her Majesty's Government authorize me to invite President of South African Republic to appoint delegates to discuss with delegates to be appointed by me on behalf of Her Majesty's Government, whether Uitlander population will be given immediate and substantial representation by franchise law recently pa.s.sed by Volksraad, together with other measures connected with it, such as increase of seats, and, if not, what additions or alterations may be necessary to secure that result. In this discussion it should be understood that the delegates of Her Majesty's Government would be free to make any suggestions calculated to improve measures in question and secure their attaining the end desired.

Personally I wish to add the expression of my earnest hope that Government of South African Republic may accept this proposal, and that we may proceed to discuss the composition of the proposed Commission, method of procedure, and place of meeting, at once. Government of South African Republic will, I feel sure, agree with me that, if proposal of Her Majesty's Government is accepted, the inquiry should be held as soon as possible.

ALTERNATIVE PROPOSAL OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.

_F.W. Reitz to British Agent._

_19th August._

_Sir_, With reference to your proposal for a joint enquiry in your dispatches of the 2nd and 3rd August, Government of South African Republic have the honour to suggest the following alternative proposal for consideration of Her Majesty's Government, which this Government trusts may lead to a final settlement: (1) The Government are willing to recommend to the Volksraad and the people a 5 years' retrospective franchise, as proposed by His Excellency the High Commissioner on the 1st June, 1899. (2) The Government are further willing to recommend to the Volksraad that 8 new seats in the First Volksraad, and, if necessary, also in the Second Volksraad, be given to the population of the Wit.w.a.tersrand, thus with the 2 sitting members for the Goldfields, giving to the population thereof 10 representatives in a Raad of 36, and in future the representation of the Goldfields of this Republic shall not fall below the proportion of one-fourth of the total. (3) The new burghers shall equally with the old burghers be ent.i.tled to vote at the election for State President and Commandant-General. (4) This Government will always be prepared to take into consideration such friendly suggestions regarding the details of the Franchise Law as Her Majesty's Government, through the British Agent, may wish to convey to it. (5) In putting forward the above proposals Government of South African Republic a.s.sumes: (_a_) That Her Majesty's Government will agree that the present intervention shall not form a precedent for future similar action and that in the future no interference in the internal affairs of the Republic will take place. (_b_) That Her Majesty's Government will not further insist on the a.s.sertion of the suzerainty, the controversy on the subject being allowed tacitly to drop. (_c_) That arbitration (from which foreign element other than Orange Free State is to be excluded) will be conceded as soon as the franchise scheme has become law. (6) Immediately on Her Majesty's Government accepting this proposal for a settlement, the Government will ask the Volksraad to adjourn for the purpose of consulting the people about it, and the whole scheme might become law say within a few weeks. (7) In the meantime the form and scope of the proposed Tribunal are also to be discussed and provisionally agreed upon, while the franchise scheme is being referred to the people, so that no time may be lost in putting an end to the present state of affairs. The Government trust that Her Majesty's Government will clearly understand that in the opinion of this Government the existing franchise law of this Republic is both fair and liberal to the new population, and that the consideration that induces them to go further, as they do in the above proposals, is their strong desire to get the controversies between the two Governments settled, and further to put an end to present strained relations between the two Governments and the incalculable harm and loss it has already occasioned in South Africa, and to prevent a racial war from the effects of which South Africa may not recover for many generations, perhaps never at all, and therefore this Government, having regard to all these circ.u.mstances would highly appreciate it if Her Majesty's Government, seeing the necessity of preventing the present crisis from developing still further and the urgency of an early termination of the present state of affairs, would expedite the acceptance or refusal of the settlement here offered.

_21st August._

_Sir_, In continuation of my dispatch of the 19th instant, and with reference to the communication to you of the State Attorney this morning, I wish to forward to you the following in explanation thereof, with the request that the same may be telegraphed to His Excellency the High Commissioner for South Africa, as forming part of the proposals of this Government embodied in the above-named dispatch: (1) The proposals of this Government regarding question of franchise and representation contained in that dispatch must be regarded as expressly conditional on Her Majesty's Government consenting to the points set forth in paragraph 5 of the dispatch, viz.: (_a_) In future not to interfere in internal affairs of the South African Republic. (_b_) Not to insist further on its a.s.sertion of existence of suzerainty. (_c_) To agree to arbitration.

(2) Referring to paragraph 6 of the dispatch, this Government trusts that it is clear to Her Majesty's Government that this Government has not consulted the Volksraad as to this question and will only do so when an affirmative reply to its proposals has been received from Her Majesty's Government.

NOTE.

In reply to the above proposals of the South African Republic, the Secretary of State for the Colonies declared Great Britain ”unable to appreciate the objections entertained by the Government of the South African Republic to a Joint Commission of Inquiry,” and refused to enter into a consideration of the alternative proposals of the South African Republic.

As a consequence of this refusal, the South African Republic communicated to Great Britain that the ”proposal for a five years'

franchise and extension of representation of the Wit.w.a.tersrand with the conditions attached thereto” had lapsed, whereby also lapsed the necessity of laying it before the representatives of the people for ratification.

During the month of September following, the negotiations failed to produce any agreement, and matters remained in this unsatisfactory state until, on October 9, 1899, the ultimatum of President Kruger brought affairs to an actual crisis.

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